Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

Forget falling oil prices globally Every day the reports both in the foreign television stations and in the newspapers that the price of oil has fallen to near five-year lows catches the eye. Last year at this time oil was being sold on the world market at about US$120 per barrel. Today the world market price is US$42 per barrel. The significance of this is the lower prices of so many oil related things. For example, travel has become cheap in the rest of the world. Gasoline prices have fallen to unbelievable lows—in the United States to US$2.20 cents per gallon. Such low prices operated when the United States was obsessed with large cars. The rising prices saw a shift to the smaller cars hence the preponderance of foreign made cars in that country. Air travel is also becoming cheaper although in the days when the oil prices began to fall, the various airlines argued that they were maintaining the high airfares to recover their losses. Indeed, there was a time when they were forced to try all manner of things to simply remain afloat. Many folded. However, the air fares are falling because the traveller is not going to allow the airline to make the phenomenal profits. One wishes if Guyana could put similar pressures on the government. Despite the oil prices falling by more than 50 per cent, nothing has changed in the marketplace. Gasoline and other fuel prices remain at the same level as when the cost of oil on the world marked was US$120 per barrel. Motorists are still being asked to pay US$5 per gallon for gasoline. Dieseline and kerosene are still at the high prices. The major beneficiaries of the lower prices, then, are the Guyana Government and the petrol dealers. In fact, the government sought to capitalize early. As soon as the prices began to fall the government hiked its excise tax on fuel to 40 per cent. Although no announcement has been made we are certain that the government is collecting its maximum 50 per cent excise tax on fuel imports. This will surely ensure that he price remain high to local consumers. Consumers of electricity are also enjoying nothing. We can still remember the fuel charges to compensate for any rise in fuel cost. There was no secret that the power company could not be expected to operate a loss hence the fuel charges. But by the same token the power company should recognize that it needed to provide its consumers with an ease in better times. The fact that the power company is battling high technical and commercial losses should be of no concern to the consumer at this time. In any case the consumer foots the bill for the commercial losses. People should be paying about 40 per cent less on their energy bill but even here the government is unyielding. One would suppose that the argument is that the government is bent on collecting as much money as it could; this is the businessman’s mentality—make huge profits when the opportunity arises. The situation is such that even the airlines operating out of Guyana also capitalize on the position on which the government has put the people. The cost of an airline ticket is still high and some airlines even compound the issue by charging for an extra piece of luggage as they did when the oil prices were high. Because of the insistence of the government on filling its coffers people who are always petitioning the government for pay increases cannot even enjoy the reprieve that should provide them with a bit of disposable income. There can be no explanation for the continued high cost of things in the market place at a time when every other country is passing on the lower oil prices to its people. And surprisingly, there is no strident call for this to happen. It is as if every section of the society expects to be milked.

Thursday January 15, 2015

Letters... Where your views make the news

Parliament must be reopened and its work must continue DEAR EDITOR, Clement Rohee must be told that the wellbeing of this nation is for the people to determine. And in the instance where the people, through their elected representatives and government, have submitted themselves to institutions such as laws, universal declarations, charters and international conventions, the purview is no longer his or the PPP’s to unilaterally determine what is best for the people. The unchecked arrogance of these men and women, who have hijacked nearly every public institution in this country, needs to be met with robust response. It ought to be repeated that while prorogation is an aspect of our parliamentary system and enshrined in

the Constitution, its present application is misplaced. The President cannot shut down the nation’s highest democratic organ because there is a difference between the opposition and his government. The people’s voice, through their elected representatives, cannot be silenced because the President has appointed to himself supremacy over the people. There is no moral justification for the President’s action, neither is the President above Article 9 (i.e. sovereignty belongs to the people) and Article 50 (supremacy of the parliament), two critical elements in our governance structure. It helps the cause in our pursuit for good governance that Guyanese can count on their international brothers and sisters by virtue of being signatory to

charters, conventions and declarations. However, at the end of the day, it is we, the people, who will have to lead the charge to have this matter resolved. We will have to stand together, unwavering in our strength and determination to have the institutions we put in place to manage our affairs work for us, and zealously defend them from being hijacked for personal purposes. Prorogation, in principle, is used to bring an end to a parliamentary session. Usually, at the beginning of each session a parliamentary agenda is placed before the Legislature. Usually, before the session is brought to an end, an evaluation of the programme for the period is done. Our National Assembly is being brought into disrepute by the (Continued on page 23)

Freddie Kissoon was right, but not accurate DEAR EDITOR, Please permit me to respond to Freddie Kissoon’s letter of January 11, 2014 captioned “The names of those who judged my intellectual ability at UG,” in which he states, “Prior to my contract termination by the Council of the University, there has never been a single instance where the council since the birth of the university in 1963 fired an academic without a request for such coming from the academic/ administrative organs of the university.” Firstly, congratulations to Mr. Kissoon for this vindication to what he has stated all along: that his ouster from UG was illegal. He was right. I have seen elsewhere Mr. Kissoon stated that he does not expect UG to compensate him, I believe strongly that the institution should, in the spirit of the dictum in R v Sussex Justices ex.p. McCarty, ‘justice should not only be

done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.’ Secondly, for historical accuracy I humbly submit that the termination of Mr. Kissoon’s employment, contrary to what he has stated, may not have been the first instance of an academic whose employment was brought to an end by the Council “without a request for such coming from the academic/ administrative organs of the university.” Ug’s Council has been too long at the behest of the political directorate of this and the previous administration. This must change. In July 1973 the University’s Board of Governors decided not to renew the contract of a Sociology lecturer, Mohamed Insanally, the headline in the Sunday Graphic read, “Insanally fired from university.” The Faculty Board and Staff Association objected to the decision. Insanally believed that he was

fired because he was a leading figure in the then Guyana National Liberation Front and a strong critic of the government. He was not given an opportunity to respond to the charges against him by the Board and no substantial evidence was presented to the Board. Additionally, the Appointment Committee, headed by the Vice Chancellor (Dr. Dennis Irvine) had recommended that Insanally should be employed for another three-year period. By the end of July 1973 the UG Group of the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO) had put out a strong statement, “This latest move of the Board of Governors packed with adherents of the People’s National Congress, is a naked and brutal show of discrimination calculated to silence dissidents who express their criticism of (Continued on page 23)

The hot air about traffic accidents DEAR EDITOR, The writer got a driver’s licence in 1958 after rigid testing by the team at Brickdam Police Station. The procedure was de rigueur in those days. Driving lessons was given by a friend, who was a meticulous teacher, with ‘L’ signs prominently displayed on the back and front windscreens of the small Morris Minor, as specified by the Traffic Regulations. I wondered whether these had changed when, not so long ago, I overtook on Thomas Road who by behaviour was that of a learner driver. Driving past more slowly than necessary I observed that a Khaki–uniformed female police officer was nervously attending the steering wheel; unaccompanied by a coach. How times have changed! With my ageing disabilities I have since resorted to the continuing risks of taxis, all of which are ‘controlled’ by one-handed drivers, the other usually too busy manipulating a cellphone. The amalgam of experiences indicate almost a total, unfamiliarity with, (or disregard for) Traffic Regulations; and an insistence on

having the right of way at all costs. There is little evidence of their having undergone the old police testing, if it exists; rather the display of contempt for the minimal traffic signage there is. (Speed limit signs are conspicuous by their absence). Notwithstanding, one is impressed (or rather depressed) by the facility with which these untrained public transporters in particular access their driver’s licences. Not that this concern isn’t applicable to private drivers. In discussion with one mature taxi driver, the latter puts it down to the system’s willingness to accommodate extended families and friends – too often at a black market price. Another taxi driver who held similar views went on to place blame on poor traffic management for the avoidable number of accidents, because of, he posited, the perceived collaboration with some of the law-breakers. The other day I entered a taxi with the fresh smell of newness, and quickly became aware of a television set playing – for me a distraction of the driver’s attention to the traffic. He took my hint and switched off. Then he began in very

articulate style to describe differing features in various makes of vehicles. It turned out he was a graduate apprentice from GuySuCo’s Training School at Port Mourant. He went on to opine the standard of vehicles imported into this country would not be acceptable in the USA, partly for safety reasons. This prompted me to reflect aloud on the presence of air bags in this and other vehicles. He assured me of the various points of installation in his, and that they were common in many other vehicles. When, however, I observed that with all the horrific motor vehicle accidents reported I could not recall any mention of airbags being operational, my mechanically trained colleague had no answer. So the question is left to be answered: if in fact airbags are installed in at least a proportion of vehicles on the country’s roads, why aren’t they operational? Should not the controllers of traffic who bemoan the highest road fatality rate around investigate and provide an acceptable answer? Awaited with bated breath! E.B. John

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news

We need to be more solution-oriented for our sustainability DEAR EDITOR, Perhaps the most frequently asked question in Guyana these days is, ‘when you think is Elections?’ This however, speaks to the awareness and interest of the population currently in our country and its affairs and development. So, I would like to give my mouth liberty, or rather my pen liberty. I think that General and Regional Elections will be in the latter part of April 2015. Now that that is out of the way, my prediction is that we will have a change. At this point, I am not certain whether the change will come from within or from without, but I am almost 100% certain that we will have change.

Guyana will never be the same again and can never be the same after these Elections. There is a popular view that everything we do as human beings, is done either out of the emotion of love or fear. These Elections, one is getting the impression that more Guyanese will vote out of the emotion of love – love for country, love for each other, love for a better future for their children and grandchildren, rather than out of fear – fear of each other, or fear of the East, West, North or South. So having stated that change is a done deal. After Elections what? As of May 2015, assuming that Elections is held in April, what is the

development path that Guyana will take? What are the strategies from political parties contesting for the Elections? What is still not forthcoming in a clear and decisive way is what are the Alliance For Change (AFC), A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C)’s strategic plans/programmes for Guyana? What are their strategies for: Creating greater employment? Reducing crime, improving security and creating a more peaceful society? Attracting more foreign investment? Developing a more skilled and trained population? Building

a more cohesive society? Developing a more functional and trusted judiciary? Improving respect for the Rule of Law? Youth development? Among other issues. Whichever government takes office after the next Elections, some serious adjustments would have to be made if the new administration would be serious about moving Guyana forward in a competitive and sustainable way; locally, regionally and globally. The disposition of leaders and people of Guyana to their development has to be elevated to another level for sustainability. I will mention five categories in which I have

SUGGESTING NAMES BEFORE POLICIES IS VERY DANGEROUS DEAR EDITOR, I notice a letter from one of Guyana’s political matchmakers, who claims that, “pro-democracy leaders will agree that positive change in Guyana must begin with the PPP’s removal from office.” What hogwash! Leaders do not decide if the PPP stays or goes, even the political pundits, political elite or commentators do not make this decision; the masses do. If one were to listen to this shallow line of thinking, one would think that Mr Moses Nagamootoo is some commodity to be traded in the political market place. Clearly these political commentators do not know the intrinsic value of Mr Nagamootoo and his history of struggle in the antidictatorial movement for over 50 years. He is no opportunist, and it is not in his DNA to trade his political beliefs and principles to every suitor who whistles. He is a political institution that is committed to a principle of emancipating the working class from the chains of impoverishment that several governments of Guyana imposed on them. Both the PPP and the PNC are guilty of this impoverishment of our people, more so this JagdeoRamotar cabal. It took Mr Nagamootoo

years to identify the right collection of youths with the right values with whom to throw in his lot. He found them in the Michael Carringtons and the Charrandass Persauds and the Nigel Hugheses and the Khemraj Ramjattans. This does not mean there cannot be a coming together of the anti-PPP forces, but it has to be done on the principle of ensuring that the political vacuum left by the PPP is filled with a collection of solid principles and programmes that will truly aid in the process of emancipating the poor and the working class from the drudgery of day-to-day living. With a Moses Nagamootoo in power, the people of Plastic City in Vreed-en-Hoop or Tooppoo in Albion or Pigeon Island on the East Coast can dream again to one day own their own home with safe potable water in a safe community. But these things do not come with mixing and matching names and faces without a programme. That is like putting the cart before the

horse. What these political newcomers do not recognize is that the Guyanese voters will smell their political opportunism from miles away if they only put faces up without programmes. There must be some fundamental commitment to a set of policies that will culturally change how we do business in Guyana and how we share the patrimony of the people with all the people of Guyana, especially the poor and the working class. We can never go back to the old system of governance that we experienced under the PNC, and what we continue to experience today under the PPP. Before we even talk about candidates, we want to read in black and white what all sides think about a new constitution and what exactly they would want in that new constitution. What detailed policies and plans do they have for the traditional industries – sugar, bauxite, gold, timber and rice? What detailed polices and plans do they have for the new emerging economic centres of ICT,

tourism, plantation-type agriculture with associated value added processing? How will they go about empowering our youths with a firm timeline with clear deliverables? What are their detailed thoughts on renewable electricity and what will they do and why and when? What are they thinking about value-added industries like ethanol production, jewellery manufacturing, etc? Therefore this wild adventure to suggest names before suggesting policies is very dangerous. So I appeal to all those who think they can do a better job than the PPP to start putting concrete ideas, proposals and policies on paper and start sharing these with the masses. The old people always said, brilliant minds focus on ideas, superior mind on issues and shallow minds on (Continued on page 23)

assessed our leaders, people and institutions/ organizations. These are: as: Initiators, Coordinators, Implementers, Strategists/ Thinkers and Finishers. For the most part our leaders – government and opposition, people and institutions have been largely initiators or in the initiating stage. Some examples of this are our approach to projects and matters brought before parliament. On the coordination front, once again, our leaders, people and institutions/ organizations are so divided, that in too many cases, coordination has become a major challenge. It is difficult to have people working together if they are not talking to each other, or at least respect each other. An example of this is the Mayor and City Council (M&CC). On the point of implementation, too much focus of the leaders and institutions are on social trust and relationships, instead of on competence, experience, expertise and professionalism. In order for the scale of implementation to improve there must be a shift in this approach. In the area of strategist/ thinker, there has been some degree of more thinking than strategy or strategic approach by our leaders, people and institutions. Nevertheless, there seems to be more a culture of thinking in a crafty and cunning way rather than an emergence of clever thinking or smart thinking. On the note as to whether our leaders, people or institutions are finishers or completers, this is to a very low degree. Some examples are projects. Too many projects are initiated and not completed. One of the reasons for this is that the focus is

more on initiating projects, rather than finishing. In order to have a good finish our leaders, institutions and people have to get the conceptualization, the initial stages right. Finally, the new administration has to be more solution-oriented and develop a more problemsolving culture. Let’s examine the Budget in the Tenth Parliament. The Opposition had and still has an issue with the government’s approach to developing the Budget and has suggested some adjustments to the approach. The government held onto to its position that it is the Executive Arm of Government, which is the policy-making component, and continued along a certain line. The AFC then submitted a no-confidence motion to the Clerk of the National Assembly against the Government. The President then prorogued Parliament to avoid the no-confidence motion being passed. Where is the solution-oriented approach in this? Could the solution have been had if the government or the opposition had compromised or taken some other course of action? I can go on with other examples, for instance the frequency of either the government or the opposition taking matters to the Courts. Could there be other ways of finding solutions? Finally, the Judiciary as the third arm of Government has to emerge as a more solution-oriented institution. Hence, it has to evolve above partisan interest and rebuild trust and confidence in its ability to contribute towards and nurture a culture that is problem-solving and solution-oriented. Audreyanna Thomas

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 15, 2015

Govt. rejects Pegasus offer for Marriott's US$8M equity …pick up US$8M cheque from my lawyer - Badal More than one week after a local hotelier offered to plug US$8M in the Marriott Hotel, Project Head, Winston Brassington, has refused. Brassington, in a statement from Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI), in turning down the offer, believed that Robert Badal, who owns majority stakes in the nearby Pegasus Hotel, could not be serious. The statement from Brassington and the Government would raise even more questions about where they are finding the billions of dollars needed to complete the hotel. Government has, as part of its stakes, plugged almost US$22M of the US$57M needed for the completion of the hotel. The remaining monies would have been coming from a US$27M syndicated loan from Republic Bank and US$8M from a private equity investor. Those monies now held up as a court action has been filed to block transfer of the properties to the bank for the financing. Badal earlier this month said that Pegasus is willing to plug in the US$8M needed

that will give the neighbouring hotel a 67 percent stake in Marriott. However, it is more than clear now that Government is not interested in local investors. Where it raised the monies from to take the hotel to an almost complete stage has been kept in the dark as Brassington and Government have both refused to comment. Yesterday, AHI in its response to Badal’s offer for Marriott argued that the businessman is not serious since he had not in the initial stages shown interest. “Advertisements inviting investor(s) expressions of interest to participate in the Marriott Hotel project’s private equity were widely published since 2009, both locally and internationally, and were placed in all of Guyana’s embassies and consulates abroad. Yet not a single local investor, including Mr. Badal, had expressed an interest in investing in the Marriott Project. On the contrary he has vehemently opposed this project.” Brassington pointed out

Winston Brassington that in 2013; AHI announced it had secured an investor. However, it was not until May last year that AHI and Republic Bank were able to release the name of the investor. The investors who were said to be Victor How Chung Chan and Xu Han are principals in the British Virgin Islands (BVI)-registered, ACE Square Investments Ltd. AHI said that both Stabroek News and Kaieteur News, in October 2013, reported extensively on a

statement issued by Badal attacking the feasibility study as “unrealistic assumptions.” “In his statement, Mr. Badal predicted “crippling operating losses” for the hotel, “with no cash flow being available to cover interest rate payments as this outfit would not even realize 15 per cent occupancy.” AHI also said that the hotelier, who also controls Guyana Stockfeeds Limited, had made it clear that Marriott “would rapidly lead to bankruptcy.” Badal had said that he wanted the same tax breaks that Marriott is getting to be made available if he is approved as the investor. However, Brassington said that terms and conditions for the investment, including those mentioned by Badal,

were a matter of public records since 2012 and have not changed from the inception of the project. “Mr. Badal cannot, therefore, credibly claim ignorance of these conditions and incentives when, in October 2013, he described the Marriott investment as “an indecent assault on the private sector and fraud on the taxpayer.” “Clearly, Mr. Badal’s reported sudden about face and declaration of interest in becoming a major investor is not to be taken seriously.” The extravagant incentives and other benefits to Marriott have left other hotel operators extremely worried as the new 197-room hotel in Kingston, when it comes on stream this year, is more than likely to close them

Pegasus Hotel’s owner, Robert Badal down. Last month, Brassington admitted that financing for the project was in jeopardy because of the court case filed by Opposition Member of Parliament, Desmond Trotman. That case immediately raised questions of where government was getting the monies from to continue building the hotel. Yesterday, Badal said that neither Brassington nor AHI have called him to find out (continued on page 9)

Surinamese trade delegation heading to Guyana The Government of Guyana, the Private Sector Commission and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Surinamese Trade Mission/ Delegation from today to Saturday. It is expected that the Ministers of Trade and Tourism along with other delegates including representatives from the Surinamese Private Sector and Manufacturers Association will attend. The overall objective is to explore the opportunities for increased trade and investment between Guyana and Suriname, and to develop a strategy and plan of action to take advantage of the opportunities identified. According to the Guyana Tourism Ministry, the opening ceremony will be held today at the Princess Hotel at 19:00hrs. A mini exhibition will also be held from 18:00 hrs. During their stay,

members of the visiting delegation will participate in a series of meetings, workshops and site visits. Suriname has chosen to act on recommendations from a study conducted on the Opportunities for Enhancing Export Trade between Guyana/Suriname and Brazil have planned the visit to assist in developing a strategy for enhancing trade between the two countries. The Ministry noted that Guyana, Suriname and Brazil are independent states, which along with French Guiana collectively occupy the central and north eastern portion of South America. Each state shares similar borders, with Suriname to the east of Guyana and Brazil to the south of both Suriname and Guyana. There are many roads and bridges that link each state, where informal trade takes place. Guyana’s most recent link to Brazil came with the completion of the Takutu River

Bridge in 2009, and the Surinamese government signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese firms for the construction of a road and rail to Brazil. Brazil, Guyana and Suriname possess low population densities, with 60, 10, and eight persons per square mile, with the estimated average for South America being 22 persons. These three states (including French Guiana) are also non-Spanish speaking. There is also a significant population of Brazilians living in both Suriname (40,000) and Guyana (10,000) mostly involved in the mining industry. The economies of Brazil, Guyana and Suriname also concentrate significantly on the agriculture and extractive industries. Brazil has signed partial scope agreements with both Suriname (2005) and Guyana (2001) that give preferential access to a wide range of goods into the Brazilian market. In his New Year address, President Donald Ramotar promised to deliver a bridge across the Corentyne River and a road linking Guyana and Brazil, “During the next term of office, my Government will work with our partners to bridge the Corentyne River and to complete the road from Brazil along with the accompanying deep water harbor,” he said.

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Defiant CHARLIE HEBDO fronts Muhammad, drawing more threats PARIS (AP) — In an emotional act of defiance, Charlie Hebdo resurrected its irreverent and often provocative newspaper yesterday, featuring a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover that drew immediate criticism and threats of more violence. The newspaper unapologetically skewered other religions as well, and bragged that Sunday’s turnout of a million people at a march in Paris to condemn terrorism was larger “than for Mass.” “For the past week, Charlie, an atheist newspaper, has achieved more miracles than all the saints and prophets combined,” it said in the edition’s lead editorial. “The one we are most proud of is that you have in your hands the newspaper that we always made.” Working out of borrowed offices, surviving staff published an unprecedented print run of 3 million copies — more than 50 times the usual circulation. The first edition since an attack by Islamist gunmen sold out within minutes. It appeared on newsstands yesterday, one week to the day after the assault by two masked gunmen that killed 12 people, including much of the weekly’s editorial staff and two police officers. It was the beginning of three days of terror that saw 17 people killed before the three Islamic extremist attackers were gunned down by security forces. Before the new edition was even released, one of Egypt’s top Islamic authorities had warned Charlie Hebdo against publishing

more cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Dar al-Ifta, which is in charge of issuing religious edicts, called the planned cover an “unjustified provocation” for millions of Muslims who respect and love their prophet and warned the cartoon would likely spark a new wave of hatred. Indeed, criticism and threats immediately appeared on militant websites, with calls for more strikes against the newspaper and anonymous threats from radicals, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based terrorism monitor. The latest cover shows a weeping Muhammad, holding a sign reading “I am Charlie” with the words “All is forgiven” above him. Zineb El Rhazoui, a journalist with the weekly, said the cover meant the journalists are forgiving the extremists for the attack. Renald Luzier, the cartoonist who drew the cover image under the pen name “Luz,” said it represents “just a little guy who’s crying.” Then he added, unapologetically: “Yes, it is Muhammad.” Speaking at a news conference in which he repeatedly broke down crying, Luzier described weeping after he drew the picture. “I wrote ‘everything is pardoned’, and I cried,” he said, adding that at that moment the staff understood the drawing would be the cover. “It is not the cover that the world wanted us to do,” he said, tearfully putting his head down on the table at one point as colleagues embraced him in a group hug.

U.S. Secret Service dumping senior officials after security lapses (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service will remove four senior officials while another has opted to retire, the latest shake-up after a series of security lapses at the agency charged with protecting the president, an agency official said yesterday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Acting Director Joseph Clancy had told the four assistant directors who oversee the agency’s missions of protection, investigations, technology and public affairs that they must leave their jobs. The departures represent a house-cleaning within top management. “Four assistant directors have been notified that they’re being assigned to other positions,” the official said. Recent lapses by the agency include allowing a knife-carrying man to jump a fence and run into the White House last September in one of the worst security breaches since President Barack Obama took office in 2009. Clancy told Congress in November he was seeking to establish a culture of trust within the Secret Service after replacing Julia Pierson, who resigned under fire as agency director on Oct. 1. The assistant director in charge of Secret Service

training, who also headed Obama’s protective detail, disclosed in recent weeks that he was retiring. “Change is necessary to gain a fresh perspective on how we conduct business,” Clancy said in a statement. “I am certain any of our senior executives will be productive and valued assets either in other positions at the Secret Service or the (homeland

security) department.” The Washington Post first reported the story. Several other incidents have tarnished the agency’s reputation. In 2012, Secret Service agents sent to Colombia to prepare for Obama’s arrival at a summit meeting capped a night of partying at strip clubs by taking several prostitutes back to their hotel.

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Thursday January 15, 2015

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THE DEARTH OF SOCIAL CAPITAL IN GUYANA Earlier yesterday, I toured Fun City located at the Princess Hotel. It is an impressive game arcade that matches any that I have seen in the developed world. Those visitors to Guyana, who always complained that when their children come to Guyana with them on vacation there are not sufficient activities for them to engage in, are going to find Fun City the answer to their concerns. As I gazed at the many offerings at Fun City, I noticed that foreign nationals were involved in the management of the area. I later found out that foreign interests had actually acquired the hotel in which is located this grand entertainment and fun arcade.

I asked myself a question, why it is that a group of Guyanese entrepreneurs did not come together and establish something like this, preferably outside of the city where it could have catered for the hundreds of thousands of children that do not reside in Georgetown or near to Providence. The answer as to why we have seen phenomenal development in the form of buildings and businesses being established throughout the country, but a lack of entrepreneurial drive to establish something like this Fun City is because of the dearth of social capital amongst the Guyanese people. Francis Fukuyama expounded on the value of

Dem boys seh ...

Donald got memory lapse, Granger cheap When people get old nuff things does happen to dem. Some does get confused, some does get forgetful and then there are those who have no control over dem bladder. Some people when dem drink, people like Anil and Brassington, does behave like old people wid weak bladder. Anyhow, dem boys ain’t talking bout Anil and Brassington today. Dem talking bout old people. Brains of older people are slow because these people know so much. Brassington is like that but is not that he old, he always thinking about correcting one lie after de other and Donald know this. Old people like Donald does tek long fuh remember things. Is not that he getting senile; is because he got more information in he brains, he belly and de other bee, but is de kind of information he want forget. Scientists believe that just like how a computer does struggle as the hard drive gets up, so too Donald struggling to remember things. That is why Jagdeo and Brassington want he to stay in office forever, and is not only that he does tek long to remember, is that he don’t know. Dem boys been when he dial Irfaat number and seh, “Good Morning Mr. Luncheon.” Also, when he get up fuh go in de Cabinet Room to get things done, and when he get there, he stand up wondering what he go deh for. Dr. Babbie tell dem boys is NOT a memory problem, that it is nature’s way of making older people do more exercise. Granger older than Donald but he is a man who does tek he exercise seriously. He started jogging near his home. On each run he happened to jog past a sweet-looking lady standing by de Culture Centre, day after day. With some nervousness he would brace himself as he approach her for what was most certainly to follow. “50 grand!” she would cry out.”No, 5 grand!” shout back Granger. This continue between de two of dem fuh weeks. He’d run by and she’d yell, “50 Grand!”, and he’d yell back, “5 grand!” One morning however, Granger neighbor, Yvonne, decide that she want to tek a run wid he! As de two of dem approach de Culture Centre Granger realize that de sweet looking woman would bark her ‘50 grand’ offer and Yvonne would wonder what he was really doing on all his past joggings. As they jogged past de Culture Centre Granger become more nervous than usual. Sure enough, there was the sweet looking lady! Granger try to avoid her eyes as she watched the pair jog past. Then, from the gate, the lady yelled... “See what you get for 5 grand!?” Talk half and never be cheap to a woman.

social capital - the trust that exists amongst individuals and groups of people. It is this social capital that is claimed as the basis for the success of capitalism, since individuals from disparate backgrounds and resources are able to come together to form enterprises and corporations, the backbone of the success of the capitalist system. Trust is what allows this to happen. Trust is what allows a person with an idea to be able to make millions off of this idea, because he knows that there are persons with capital who are going to help him to turn this idea into a tangible product or service. It is social capital that allows business people to come together and to combine their

efforts to fund major investments. One of the reasons why Guyanese entrepreneurs never conceived of a project such as Fun City is because of the challenges of social capital. The business sector of Guyana does not have that reservoir of social capital to fall back on. And therefore what we have is more or less individuals venturing out on their own. The limitation of this, of course, is that the financial resources at the disposal of the individual more or less would, in Guyana, determine the scope of size of the operation financed. Thus, if one individual cannot raise the funds to open a facility like Fun City, the idea would die, because

Apology/ correction The statements attributed to the Deputy French Consul David Bertilli in yesterday’s issue of Kaieteur News and titled ‘French envoy echoes call to defend press freedom’ were in fact made by the Honorary French Consul, Pierre Saint Arroman. The photograph published within the article is also that of Mr. Saint Arroman, Guyana’s Honorary French Consul for more than a decade. Kaieteur News apologies for the mix-up and for any inconvenience caused.

peripheral elements of the commercial class. They will in other words continue to be marginalized, because there is not the reserve of social capital that would allow them to venture into other businesses. We know, for example, that one of the fastest growing sectors of Guyana is the importation of motor vehicles. There has been a tremendous growth in motor vehicles in the country. Each of these vehicles has to be washed and service. This creates a huge market for wash bays and low cost servicing. But is this happening in Guyana on a massive scale? Are state-ofthe-art wash bays being established at a rapid rate to cater for this huge increase in vehicles? The answer is no. And why not? The answer is the absence of social capital in this country. Unless we correct that, we are doomed to failure as a capitalist economy.

Rape accused remains in custody as DPP advice sought Honorary French Consul, Pierre Saint Arroman

Govt. rejects Pegasus ... From page 6 how serious he is. “I stand by my earlier statements on the lack of feasibility and economic justification of this project. I believe that this project is an indecent assault on the local private sector and fraud on the Guyanese taxpayer by the powers within the PPP/C Government. It was my conviction all along and that of decent, credible businessmen in Guyana that Mr. Brassington and those whose instructions he executes, create these vehicles to commit fraud, enrich themselves and their friends and would not entertain proposals from decent businessmen.”

unlike what happens in other parts of the world, the absence of social capital in Guyana simply means that people do not trust each other sufficiently to come together as a group for large investment projects. The dearth of social capital means that there is simply not the incentive for Guyanese persons to pool their resources and to get into major investments in Guyana. Obviously there are partnerships in Guyana and there are corporations and companies. But if Guyana is to really develop, we have to have much more of this. Guyanese have to think big and to think about doing things with other Guyanese. Nothing better reflects the absence or dearth of social capital in Guyana than the proliferation of vending. No one has yet come up with an idea to bring together these small entrepreneurs with their market knowledge so that they can grow beyond vending. The vast majority of vendors will not outgrow vending. They will not become importers. They will not become part of the manufacturing class. They will for the greater part remain

The businessman said that he finds it difficult to believe that a minority Government would spend US$60M of poor taxpayers resources to build a hotel when it cannot find the resources to equip the police force with “breathalyzer kits and mobility to fight escalating crime, provide basic health-care, and reliable electricity supply in one of the poorest countries in the region”. “The fact is that now that the Hotel is completed with funds which sources are yet to be disclose, approved and audited, my offer is firm. Send the agreement to my attorney for review and uplift your US$8M cheque. Deal done.”

As investigation continues into last Sunday's rape of a 45-year-old woman by her 23-year-old nephew at the woman's No. 67 Village, Corentyne residence, the man remains in custody. Investigators are preparing to send the file to the DPP for advice. According to information the woman who lives alone, was at home when her nephew who would frequently visit her home, broke into the house. An argument ensued and the man began to harass the woman. He eventually overpowered her and raped her. It is understood that the woman was also

sodomised. The man who lives at No 58 Village, Corentyne was reportedly under the influence of alcohol when he committed the act. The woman was able to shout for help and residents nearby came to her rescue. The man was given a sound thrashing. The woman was subsequently taken to the Skeldon Hospital where she was treated while the perpetrator was eventually arrested and taken into custody. He reportedly confessed to the crime and told investigators that he was drunk and did not know what he was doing.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 15, 2015

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

Meeting the devil: The PPP at 65 It will take a huge act of shameful writing for any historian to elevate the PPP as a great historical party after its unspeakable record of tyranny in government the past twenty-two years. There is absolute certainty about it – the recording of history will put the PPP Government in the most sordid light. A denial of the PPP descent into unhistorical abomination can only come from persons who are versatile in propaganda stuff, who are beneficiaries of the

PPP venalities over the long years. Early last year, I wrote a review of a history book authored by a very high official in the PPP government, though that person is not in the PPP leadership. The next day I scrapped the article. The section on the sixties was just plain, dishonest writing. Why should I alert people to the fiction PPP supporters write about Guyanese history? Why should I do PR work for the PPP? Today, the book lies in obscurity and that

is where it belongs. As the days wear on in 2015 until the expected election date, the emanations from the PPP will be saccharine, flowery and poetic about the great deeds of the PPP since it was born 65 years ago. But in a country with a population whose demographics put the younger generation at over sixty five percent, those selfaggrandizements will hardly help the PPP to convert young Guyanese. I was invited last week by AFC activists to address the folks of Providence/Peter’s Hall on the Government’s ongoing denial of compensation over an incompetently repaired koker door that inundated the two villages resulting in personal losses of over two hundred million last year. The Government is offering them a mere eleven million dollars. These villagers have met the

devil in person, the devil who is now 65 years of age. While the meeting was in progress, two young East Indian males on a motor-cycle drove up next to me to speak to one of their friends; I engaged them. And the PPP’s Achilles’ heel was exposed. A twenty-eight-year-old Guyanese only knows one government, the PPP. The two young men I spoke to were not interested in politics because for them there was nothing the Government has done for them. After twenty years in power, the 65-year-old “grand” party of Guyana cannot sell its history, generosity and nationalism to a young Guyanese population. And the reason it cannot be so, is because it never had those things in the first place. The illusion that it had those values appeared real to the post-70 generation because Forbes Burnham

could not control his authoritarian instincts. Cheddi Jagan became Cheddi Jagan because Forbes Burnham could not remain as Forbes Burnham and had to prove to Guyana that he, Burnham, was too great to be an ordinary democratic leader. This illusion is now dissolved inside the castle of sand that the PPP built since it came to power in 1992. Today historians and social scientists in Guyana and the region frown upon the tall story of the bad days of the PNC in power. The Walter Rodney Commission (I will have more to say about the role of Mrs. Patricia Rodney) is the deus ex machina of the PPP to preserve what never existed. The Commission has become a failure with judges whose biases are openly displayed and governmental witnesses whose testimony amounts to a circus. Robert Gates has single-handedly reduced the Commission to a farce. Shaun Samaroo’s reporting on the Commission’s hearings for the Chronicle was like Gates’s testimony, a testimony to the moral bankruptcy of the 65year-old “grand” party of Guyana. But if you want to see how a farce morphs into a circus just watch the GeneralSecretary of the “grand” only

Frederick Kissoon party, performs at his weekly press conferences. Just watch the commissar for information, Charles Ramson, when he addresses the media. Just watch the President himself reason about politics in Guyana, and what is laid bare is the illusion that the grand party made real when it was in opposition – that it had history, generosity and nationalism. The PPP’s twenty-two years in power is marked by murder, criminal behaviour, sexual deviancy, unbelievable levels of corruption, morbid incestuousness, ideological racism (of which Mr. Jagdeo is the chief exponent), party paramountcy, savage, bestial vindictiveness, incredible corruption and daily doses of Philistine behaviour that borders on the semi-civilized. History will judge the PPP in all the ways that are harsher than any past government in Guyana even during colonial times. The “grand” old party is 65 years old and is wearing the Emperor’s New Clothes.

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Police examining bullet recovered from slain woman’s body Investigators are examining two warheads that were recovered from the body of slain auto dealer’s wife Patricia Sanasie. The bullets, which are believed to be from a .45 calibre bullet, were retrieved during a post mortem examination of the woman’s body that was done yesterday. The post mortem revealed that Sanasie died from shock and haemorrhage due to multiple gunshot wounds. Her body bore five such wounds. Sanasie was shot dead outside her Atlantic Ville, East Coast Demerara house last Monday night in what is being described as an execution. A police source told this newspaper that investigators are hoping that the recovered warheads shed some light on the way forward with the investigations. “This is one of the things that we are looking at. Although (the bullets) are a bit damaged, we are hoping to get something out of them,” the source said. Investigators are also

following other leads including the model of the car that transported the killer. Police were able to identify the model of the car after reviewing footage from a surveillance camera in the immediate area of the shooting. According to the source there are not a lot of cars in Guyana like the one that was used and investigators are hoping to narrow down their search soon. When asked if the police had any suspect in mind, the source replied, “we are hearing all kinds of things but we can’t go and arrest people without any proper evidence.” Meanwhile, the dead woman’s daughter remains fearful for her life, having stood by helplessly and watched a gunman pump the bullets into her mother. Ramona Sanasie, who was with her mother on Monday night when she was gunned down as she was about to enter her yard, is convinced that her mother’s death was a hit orchestrated by a close family member. Since the killing, the

young woman has been in the protective care of relatives who also told police that they too feared that she could be harmed. This is despite the fact that her mother’s killer seemed disinterested in her, even while she was screaming as she saw her mother being shot. Robbery has been ruled out, since the killer made no attempt to take anything from the victim, even though she was wearing expensive jewellery at the time. “This looks like a clear execution. The killer was only interested in killing and making a clean getaway,” a police investigator told this newspaper. They are probing the possible link of the woman’s estranged husband to her death and are hoping to question him soon. However, that appears to be a tall order, since there are reports that the man who has been out of the jurisdiction since before Christmas, has told family members that he is reluctant to return to Guyana for fear that he will be arrested by the police.

The dead woman and her husband, Deokaran Sanasie, owner of Ram’s Auto Sales, had been embroiled in a prolonged dispute. The couple was expected to be in court this week for a division of property hearing. On February 14, 2014, Mr. Sanasie survived an attempt on his life after gunmen shot him outside his Fourth Street, Alberttown business. The husband had accused his spouse of hiring the gunmen to execute him. He provided investigators with a recording of a conversation to support his claims. The woman had denied the allegations claiming that her husband was delusional and needed psychiatric help. She was never charged. The woman subsequently obtained a restraining order preventing her husband from coming close to her. The now dead woman had also provided the police with

The dead woman and her husband in happy times. a recording of her own that spoke of a plot by her husband to kill her. According to reports, the woman had provided the police with the name of an ex-policeman who

had claimed that he was paid by her husband to kill her. Police had arrested the man, but he denied being involved in any execution plot.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 15, 2015

Granger court action against unapproved spending …

Finance Minister acted constitutionally in spending monies unapproved by Parliament - Nandlall Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, continued to argue yesterday, that a Conservatory Order to stay all spending and/or any further spending by Finance Minister Ashni Singh, or other Ministers is not necessary. The Minister was within his constitutional rights to do so, said Minister Nandlall. Yesterday before Chief Justice, Ian Chang, Nandlall responded to an application for a Conservatory Order to stay all spending and/or any further spending by Finance Minister Ashni Singh, or other Ministers designated by the President on programmes disapproved by Parliament. The application for a Conservatory Order was filed by Opposition Leader, David Granger in wake of statements of excess presented to the National Assembly by the Finance Minister. Granger is seeking a Conservatory Order to stay all Government’s spending until the court matter has been heard and determined. Last year, some $36.75B

Attorney General Anil Nandlall was disapproved by the Opposition-controlled National Assembly. The disapproved monies included some $1.3B from Office of the President (OP) under its Administrative Services programme; $3.8B also from Office of the President for capital estimates also under Administrative Services; some $22B from Ministry of Finance; $1.1B from Ministry of Amerindian

Affairs’ Development Fund; $6.78B from Ministry of Public Works capital works and $1.3B from the Ministry of Health’s Regional and Clinic. However, the Finance Minister admitted that some $4.5B had been spent for the period ended June 16, 2014. As such, Granger is asking the court to declare that the National Assembly, in keeping with Article 218 (2) of the Constitution, lawfully disapproved in the annual estimates of Revenue and Expenditure of 2014. The application presented before the Acting Chief Justice named Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, the Attorney General and Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, as the defendants. Yesterday, Nandlall advanced submissions, maintaining that the Finance Minister was well within his legal boundaries to spend, since he followed procedures outlined in Article 218 of the Constitution. He said that assuming the court had jurisdiction to grant the order, it ought not to be

granted since particularly Article 218:3 the Constitution allows for Minister of finance to lay a statement of excess in the parliament after expending monies for which no appropriation has been made in the appropriation act of any given year. Nandlall argued that the Minister of Finance has faithfully complied with the procedure outlined in the constitution. “He has done so in the years 2012 and 2013. Similarly he has lain before the National Assembly statements of excesses, and those statements of excess were approved by Parliament. The contention is now being advanced that the Minister of Finance in identical

circumstances has committed some constitutional violation.” “In any event, most of the monies that have restored under the budget for 2014, if not all, have already been expended. So you cannot grant an order to restrain an act which has already been committed,” he stated. The AG further expressed that Article 219:1 of the Constitution and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, provides that in any given financial year “whether there is a prorogation or not, is immaterial. A Government is intended to spend money for the provision of services for the public to the tune of 1/12 of what constituted the

budget for the year preceding. “I don’t know if the court can determine anything else than that,” he added Attorney-at –Law, Basil Williams, stated that the AG’s statement were at best erroneous. Williams is part of Granger ’s team of legal representatives. He noted that the Attorney General is yet to provide the court with evidence to support spending of unapproved monies. “The Minister must present the court with evidence to support that the government can spend where Parliament has not authorized and approved.” Williams held that he is very confident that there is no law anywhere in the region or Caribbean to support such spending.

School security of paramount importance says Lyte Security at schools across the country is not one that can be taken lightly, said President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, as he indulged this publication in an interview recently. The need for security, he said, is especially important in light of the fact that there has been an upsurge in violence in the school system. And violent situations, according to him, have not only been among students, and students and teachers but rather there are occasions that parents feel the need to be violent as well. “There are times when parents and guardians would try to barge in the schools to attack teachers if they feel that a teacher has not treated their child or children in a proper way,” said Lyte. There are some cases that even warrant the attention of the police. There have been requests made by some schools for the Police to patrol the area of the school to dissuade some violent activities. The security concern, Lyte related, is one that has been raised at the level of the Ministry of Education, even with the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand. He said that while schools do have security personnel, the quality of persons attracted to this profession are not always capable enough to prevent some of the violent activities that persist. “They are not generally able-bodied. I mean no disrespect to the persons who are employed but

usually (some of these security firms) attract aged persons who can hardly move around, so if somebody comes to the school to attack you they really can’t provide any security...it (security work) also attract a large number of females,” Lyte considered. “No offence to the women but a lot of the time we need to have male figures as well as females,” said the GTU President. “Troubled schools should always have at least two security guards.” This is in light of the fact that if a visitor arrives at a school they must first go the office. One security guard should be responsible for taking that visitor to the office while another remains stationed at the school’s gate. Without this measure in place the school’s premises could be left unmanned allowing for a number of eventualities, Lyte speculated. “We have been advocating for this to be addressed,” said the GTU President. But according to him, “What we have been hearing is that, the Ministry of Local Government has to deal with that, Ministry of Education can’t deal with that.” The problem with this, however, is that the GTU is seldom allowed an opportunity to negotiate with the Local Government Ministry. Lyte added that addressing violence among children within the school system could be better addressed if closer attention is placed on corporal punishment. According to him, even with a moderated

GTU President, Mark Lyte version of corporal punishment in place, some children within the school system exhibit behaviours that are less than acceptable. This state of affairs, according to him, permits teachers very little scope to deal with some children who are prone to violent activities in the school environment. “ Violence remains a major factor...it is a burning issue,” said Lyte as he alluded to violent situations that see students attacking each other and even cases of student violence against teachers. The GTU President amplified the need for strategic measures to be put in place to address challenges in the school system such as Guidance, Counsellors and Welfare Officers. “Because of the numerous problems we have in our school system teachers are required to do their normal duties, and also battle with children who are deviant and so this poses a challenge for teachers,” added Lyte.

Thursday January 15, 2015

Alleged gang-rape…

Kaieteur News

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Victim referred to Aishalton teacher’s transfer struck down by local Village Council psychiatric clinic

The teenager who was allegedly drugged and raped by 10 men in a house at Vreeden-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD) on Old Year ’s Night, has been referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s Psychiatric Ward. This is according to the teen’s mother during an interview Tuesday. The Bellevue, West Bank Demerara (WBD) woman explained that since her son was admitted to the hospital, he is not speaking, eating or walking. He hardly recognizes his relatives. She said that she was informed that the young man is still traumatized over his assault and is probably shy to face people. Because of his condition he was transferred to the Psychiatric clinic. The woman added that while her son is still admitted to the Male Ward, a Psychiatrist would usually visit him in the ward. So far, police have arrested one person who was allegedly a part of the gangrape. That individual was later released on station bail. Police said that they are awaiting a statement from the teen before they proceed with their investigation.

However, due to the teen’s physical and mental condition, he is unable to provide such a statement. A medical report submitted to police by the hospital has indicated that there was some sort of sexual activity to the teen’s anus. According to reports, around 16:00 hrs on December 31, last, the teen left his home to attend an Old Year’s Night party with a friend. The teen’s mother told this publication that her son did not return home later that night. “The next day (New Year’s Day) about five o’clock in the afternoon (17:00 hrs) I get a call from my son’s friend. He said that my son would sleep by him the night and come home the next day (Friday, January 2) and I said that was okay,” the mother said. She added that later that night (New Year’s), she received another call from her son’s friend. “He call and tell me that he sending my son in a taxi, but my son reach home till around 11 o’clock (23:00hrs) that night. He came with a car and as soon as the car stop, he run out,” the mother of nine said. “My son was in a terrible condition. He was scared for his life; he was nervous, his

body was trembling and I could see he was in pain.” According to the devastated mother, at that point she did not question the teen much, since he was in too much discomfort. She said that he later asked to use the washroom. “I hold him up, but he couldn’t defecate. He was just shaking and he was crying out for belly pain. When he wiped himself, there was a lot of blood on the tissue and I hold him up and put him to lie down on a bed.” The mother said that when she questioned her son, he related the dreadful news to her. “He said that his friend jook he with a needle, he and about nine other men rape him in a house.” She said that the teenager’s arm was swollen which seemed to indicate that he had indeed been injected. The woman said that her son told her that the men then locked him in the house and later went back for him. “He said that the boys took him somewhere and they were going to shoot him, but a lady see and shout, and tell him to run. He run and jump in a taxi and the car bring him home,” the mother said. Investigations are ongoing.

Regional Councillor lobbies for rice farmers’ payment Farmers in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) continue to decry the prolonged problem of nonpayment to farmers by millers after they would have sold their paddy. The issue of nonpayment to farmers was again raised by Alliance For Change Councillor, Naith Ram, at the January statutory meeting. “Farmers have sold paddy for more than five months now and have not been paid. These farmers have families to maintain and have to find the necessary capital to go back in their fields.

Ram stated that the Rice Factory Act needs to be revisited and if millers fail to pay farmers their monies after they would have sold their paddy over 14 days, their licences should be revoked. Region Two Chairman, Parmanand Persaud, told Ram that the Government allocated $2.1B towards the payment of rice farmers, almost some two weeks ago. He added that the farmers have the tools to take those delinquent millers to court but they are not doing so. Ram is maintaining that

when paddy is sold to millers it is believed t h a t t h e Factory Act would become operable. He added that the Act unequivocally states that fifty percent of the value of the produce be paid within a two-week period. Ram said the Act further states that within 42 days, full payment would be made. The AFC Councillor further argued that the legally binding Factory Act also states that if there is a failure to pay, then an interest rate of two percent becomes applicable.

March deadline unlikely; BK blames Public Works, GT&T for East Bank road delays From page 14 that the problem with the project is that the Ministry of Public Works is not doing a good job of management and supervision and as a result the work is constantly being extended by delay after delay.” It may not be difficult that four-lane extension will not be completed until next year. We condemn in the

strongest possible terms every effort to publicly shift the blame for the delays from the Ministry and the utility companies to BK International.” Four years ago, in December 2010, Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed a US$22M financing agreement to extend the four-lane thoroughfare from Providence to Diamond, East

Bank Demerara. The delays have been frustrating with congestion becoming a norm along the East Bank link. The project had been divided into three lots- Lot One, to Dipcon, is approximately 56 percent completed; Lot Two, contracted to Gaico Construction, is 90 percent done, while Lot Three is 60 percent completed.

After claiming to be under intense scrutiny and facing possible transfer to another teaching district, John Adams, the Aishalton educator who was allegedly slapped by a member of the Presidential Guard, was voted by members of the Village Council, to continue his residency in the Region Nine village. Adams had been criticized from sections of the village for publicising the alleged incident, with some members calling for his removal as a teacher and resident. The decision to allow Adams to continue living and teaching in the community came at an Aishalton Village Council meeting this past Sunday. Several weeks ago, Adams was at a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) public meeting in the Region Nine village, where President Donald Ramotar addressed an open forum. During the rally, Adams was said to be openly questioning the policies of the President and his administration. Policies like that of the President’s prorogation of Parliament and the continued appointment of Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, after a serious threat against this publication were questioned by the residents. As the speech continued, Adams related that the Head of State was not addressing matters that directly affected Aishalton. He said that the President focused more on lambasting the parliamentary opposition and the independent news outlets, Stabroek News and Kaieteur News. After admitting to criticising the President’s speech, Adams said that he was singled out by rally organisers and later confronted by two members of the Presidential Guard. Adams claimed the men questioned him on whether he did in fact criticise the President’s remarks, which

Aishalton teacher, John Adams resulted in one of the guards slapping him. Since the issue was sparked Adams related to Kaieteur News, that he has received support from other villagers and villages in the South Rupununi for his outspoken action at the PPP/C rally. According to Adams, he has even received calls from neighbouring Toshaos who shared his sentiments with regard to the President’s speech. In an interview with Herman Ritchie, an executive member of the Aishalton P a r e n t - Te a c h e r s ’ Association, he revealed that

when the issue of Adams’ residency was raised, the majority of those present at the village council voted to allow the educator to continue his teaching position in the village. The decision was met with little opposition, notably from supporters of the PPP. “(At the council) the decision was made that John Adams should stay and carry on his work at the school,” said Ritchie. Ritchie further related that a motion was proposed in relation to what the village should do next, about Adams’s slap allegations. He said that the public agreed that Adams should receive a formal apology from the Office of the President and the Presidential Guard. “People didn’t like what happened at the (PPP/C) meeting,” explained Ritchie, “it was a public event and people should’ve been allowed to raise their concerns without threat.” Moreover, this publication understands from Aishalton’s Toshao, Bernand Conrad that the topic of Adams’s residency was indeed formally voted on. However, the village did not officially vote on the next course of action with relation to Adams and the Presidential Guard.

East Ruimveldt man shot twice after row A 43-year-old man of 596 East Ruimveldt Housing Scheme is currently nursing gunshot wounds at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after three men allegedly called in as reinforcement opened fire on him following a row with another resident of his neighbourhood. A relative of Eustace Thomas said that she was inside her house when the incident happened. She said that gunshots were heard and she was told that her relative was shot twice; once in the leg and an-

other in the shoulder. She said she is personally unaware as to the reason the man was shot. But according to persons, Thomas was shot by three young men who exited a car, she said. The newspaper was told that Thomas had an argument with another person and that person reportedly called in other persons who shot the man when they arrived on the scene. Kaieteur News was told further that the man was admitted to the hospital and was supposed to undergo surgery to remove the bullets.

CARICOM: The Trans-Pacific ... From page 20 to have a strong intellectual property rights framework. This indicates above all else that there is great urgency in the need to regulate the international intellectual property rights space in a way that has not been possible through TRIPS, and also opens the space for Caricom to evolve its own framework which will take advantage of this new era. One cannot but take notice that the United States has completely ignored Caricom in these discussions, indicating that the region is not to be

taken seriously in these kinds of international arrangements, with the result that Caricom and its Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) will be on the receiving end of whatever trade deals and intellectual property rights agreements result from this new arrangement with no way out. Perhaps it is the intention of the Caricom policymakers that the region become the sun, sand and sea playground of the rest of the world , but even here it is doomed to failure because there are substantial resources in this regard in many other parts of the

world. Caricom needs to rework its policies and get to work on becoming a respected voice in the international sphere. It is time to get busy in the world of international intellectual property. BIO Abiola Inniss LLM, ACIArb, is a Ph.D. researcher at Walden University U.S.A in Law and Public Policy and a graduate of DeMontfort University School of Law U.K. She is a leading analyst and author on Caribbean Intellectual Property and the founder of the Caribbean Law Digest Online.

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VACANCY Admin Assistant, within the vicinity of E.B.D & W.B.D. Must be well spoken & have 5 CXC subjects including: Maths & English. Email: snow198390@hotmail.com International Cruiseline Purser officers, waitresses, waiters, cooks, receptionists, storekeepers, cleaners, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, musicians etc – Tel: 231-6296, 650-9880 24 Hour East Coast Guyoil needs night pump attendants, salesgirl, office assistant & handyman- Call: 695-9880; 669-4755 Waitresses to work at a Bar at Agriculture Road –E.C.DTel:612-2522 Cashier, pump attendant, cleaner. Send application to Shell Ramsburg, Providence E.B.D Night Shift Supervisor, emailshellramsburg @gmail.com or Shell Ramsburg, Providence E.B.D Vacancy for experienced dispatcher- Call: 231-4000 or 231-4001 Work from home; earn $5,000-20,000 daily, www.jobfairworldwide.com Call: 233-6517; 622-1957 Call Monday – Friday 9am-5pm Restaurant: Kitchen, dining, bar & office clerk, accountant. Apply in person to 176 Middle St. Georgetown. Senior Machinist, Mechanic, Welder Fabricator - Apply at Technical Services Inc. Lot 18-23 Eccles EBD Driver, Tool Room Clerk, Accountant, Cleaner (Male for workshop)- Apply @Technical Services Inc. 1823 Eccles EBD One male security guard for the night – Contact: 225-8205 One live in maid – Tel:2251478; 674-9114 Bond clerk, Cleaner, Accounts Clerk, Waitress/ Waiter, Security Officer & Engineer; interested persons can contact: 603-4094 Experienced bartenders – Call between 7am to 9am: 225-8572 1 Female Sales representation, between ages 18-25, must attain atleast two CXC Subjects – Contact: 227-1042 HEALTH Money Back guarantee; cleaner, clearer younger looking skin in two weeks, also flatter stomach – Call: 684-9409; 699-4211

Kaieteur News

SALON

FOR SALE

VEHICLE FOR SALE

WANTED

Make Up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, Black Opal and Sacha cosmetics. Call: 647-1773/660-5257

LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754.

1 Toyota Hilux Surf; 3Y engine; AC, Off Road, Suspension & Tyres – Price $1.5M negotiable – Call:6662027 Toyota Prado, Price$5.5M Neg. Call: 643-2403 1 RZ Super GL – Call: 2332055; 625-9896

Security Guard: only experienced with weapon, flexible working hour – Monday -Saturday Police clearance needed Call: 2318344 Salesgirls & porters; apply with written application at Best Buy Food Supplies @ Lot 1E Dennis & Middleton Street Campbellville.

CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE AUTO RENTAL: CARS & SUV FOR RENTAL-$4,000&UPPERDAYCALL: 643-5122, 219-3900, EMAIL: PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM

Two 320CL Caterpillar, Excavators; good condition, price to go - Call: 611-4775 FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620

SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. – CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Guyana Passport & Visa Forms Application, USA, Canada and England. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. Repairs & spare, fridge, freezer, A/C, washers, stoves. Contact Nick: 683-1312, 627-3206 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call Sabita: 225-6496, 6626045 REPAIRS AT LOW COST: FRIDGES, AIRCONDITIONERS, WASHING MACHINES, TVS, MICROWAVES, FREEZERS- CALL: 6294946 OR 225-4822 Repairs to refrigerators, gas stoves, washing machines, AC Units- Call Lindon on 641-1086; 694-2202 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer Call Omar:2310655,683-8734 Services & repairs to gas stoves, washing machines, electric stoves, deep fryers – Call: 688-0183 HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING AND ESTIMATES FOR ONLY $15,000- CALL:6949843/227-2766

GT TOOL RENTALS: COMPACTOR; CHIPPING HAMMER RANSOM & FLOOR SANDER, (SALE) & MORE, JACK HAMMER, CONCRETE SAW - CALL: 675-0767, 667-2535 Furnished Apartment – Earls Court, LBI, with wireless internet, patio & parking (quiet area) US$700 monthly - Call 691-0551 Spot to rent for a salon person with their own equipment - $25,000 monthly – Tel: 672-4765 Two/Three/Four bedrooms houses located at Durban Backlands & Georgetown – Call: 223-8479/647-3768 or www.spaceseek.gy Prime business place for offices on Sheriff Street – Call: 627-6740 2 & 3 Bedrooms apartment for rent @ Mon Repos E.C.D - $55,000 – Contact: 692-9295 or 660-5233 Commercial buildings & Bonds available right now – Call: 223-8479/647-3768 or www.spaceseek.gy Executive houses & apartments – Tel:223-8479; 647-3768 www.spaceseek.gy

CAR RENTAL DOLLY’S CAR RENTAL CALL: 225-7126/ 2263693 DOLLYSAUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM/ WWW.DOLLYSAUTO RENTAL.COM Aidan’s Car & Pickup rental, cheap rate, low security – Tel:698-7807; 690-6494

PEN PAL Companion for retired gentleman 38+. Reply with photo to bobbyother@yahoo.com. FOR SALE/FOR RENT American Pool Table – Tel: 277-0578

Thursday January 15, 2015

LEARN TO DRIVE Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj BuildingTel: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997

Promix BX with microrize $10,500 per bag; ask for Rayman - Call: 615-2346; 6280200, 263-5300

Pitbull Bus - $3.250M, VVTI Bus - $2.675M, Runx $2.275M, 212 -$2.150M, Allion -$2.4M, Raum $2.250M, Sienta - $2.100M – Call:623-6070

Tacoma/Tundra Parts, Canter black box, HC engine Call: 680-6374 1- 10,000 Watts alternator (new), 1-small diesel engine (used) – Call: 669-7224

Nissan Titan for sale; immaculate condition, owner leaving country – Call: 6414556

Brand new power fist, 6,500 watts gasoline generator on wheels 110/240 volts AC/DC Contact: 617-2205; 681-1032

Toyota Spacio, Body Kit, Rims, spoiler, CD player; never registered - $2.1M – Call: 617-2891

Generator – 65KVA Perkins 4236 Engine – Tel: 623-9761 4 Piece High Definition Security cameras with installation from $90,000 – Contact Randy: 611-3038 Transformer: 25KVA industrial single phase 480/ 240/120V U.S.A PAD MOUNTED– Tel: 623-9761 Panel/Fancy Glass Doors @ HADCO in Bagotstown Public Road, Next to Harbour Bridge Mall – Call: 233-6743 Fully reconditioned; 6 head Robinson wood, planer for sale – Contact: 642-3828; 6680097 400 LB Cat guts, 5 inch for sale: 695-9860; 698-8998

We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 TacomaCall:680-3154

PROPERTY FOR SALE Land with small concrete house; for sale in Grove over 8,000 Sq. Ft. Call: 612-4030; 216-2759 Houses & house lots for sale in 1 of Guyana’s top luxury gated communities, located @ Eccles E.B.D – Tel:2272913; 683-3033 Commercial Properties on Regent Street (double & single lot, Size: 81X113 & 41X115- Call: 223-8479/6473768 or www.spaceseek.gy Executive house in Bel Air Park waiting to be designed by you - Call: 223-8479/6473768 or www.spaceseek.gy Executive houses located in Georgetown, E.C.D & E.B.D Call: 223-8479/647-3768 or www.spaceseek.gy ACCOMMODATION Harmony Inn Apartments: comfortable & clean apartments & rooms - $5000, $6,000 & $7,000 – Tel:6680306; 218-1400; 694-7817. Your luxury hideaway……

AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call:680-3154 1 Honda 600RR, Toyota 212, 192, 170, Raum, Allion, IST, AE100 Sprinter, Honda CRV Tel: 644-5096; 697-1453 One Toyota Voxy recently registered; immaculate condition; GSS Series –Call: 643-0266 One F350 Ford 4X4, Turbo Charge 8 Cylinder Diesel Solid Def 4WD - $4M Negotiable - Call Junior Percival: 261-5304; 665-4611 One FX4 F150 Ford 4X4 Super custom sports model - $3.8M NegotiableCall Junior Percival: 2615304; 665-4611

Female general worker to work at Harmony Inn (Shift System) @ Georgetown & Parfaite Harmonie – Call:2180221; 218-1400 One experienced cook to work in snackette- Call: 2230955; 697-4326 (between 9am-5pm) One barber, nail technician & hairdresser – Call: 2255360; 625-7844; 687-7566 1 Live in domestic or maid to work; salary $50,000 monthly; age 25-45 - Call: 675-7043; 688-5409 or 6645199 One babysitter; one maid. Attractive Salary. Call:6388033 One cook for family in the interior – Tel: 691-6260 Sales clerk to work @ Nanda’s Boutique 223 Camp St. Next to Shell Gas Station, apply with application 2 Experienced salesgirls, $18,000 per week – Call: 2239677 between 8am-5pm Experienced Roti/Puri Cooks, Pastry makers, cleaners – apply @ Hack’s Halaal, 5 Commerce Street. One live-in maid; must know to cook; preferably from country area – Tel: 691-6260 1 Live in housekeeper and Te a c h e r t o g i v e c h i l d lesson in Diamond – Call: 675-8101 Urgently needed two house lots to buy in Parfaite Harmonie – Tel: 675-7292

One Ford Driven Tractor 60HP, 600 Hours; almost new - $2.2M negotiable - Call Junior Percival: 261-5304; 665-4611

Attractive live in waitressCall: 327-0252/674-4665

One Toyota Prado – PFF8555 Contact Partners in Rural Development- Tel 226-5891, 2277839

One able bodied male clerk @ Tatabu Trading Enterprise – Call:225-2313; 226-1497 Porters wanted to work at grocery stalls @ Stabroek Market – Tel:226-9800 1 Female cleaner; apply @ Technical Services Lot 18-23 Industrial Site Eccles.

WANTED Drivers for canter lorry to sell water - $25,000 & Porter to work on water truck- $18,000 (WCD) Call:684-8231; 6294236. Live in Husband and wife – Driving & domestic duties, excellent rates – Tel:227-1830

One live in handyman to work in G/Town – Call: 6645199; 675-7045 Salesgirl to work in Georgetown, between ages 25-35 - Call: 674-1767, 6422994, 675-7043 1 Live in domestic between age 30-45, salary $60,000 monthly – Call: 674-1767; 661-1301 (Continued on page 23)

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Night lines banned at shops in some Venezuela... From page 7 She joined two other governors, in the states of Bolivar and Yaracuy, who have announced the same measure in recent days. “Nighttime lines are dangerous for the people,” said Bolivar Governor Francisco Rangel. In some places, officials are also limiting access to shops to particular days according to Venezuelans’ identity card numbers. The shortages have hurt the popularity of President Nicolas Maduro, which hit 22 percent in December, according to local pollster Datanalisis. Foes say 15 years

of “Bolivarian socialism” under his rule and that of his predecessor Hugo Chavez are to blame for Venezuela’s economic recession, the highest inflation in the Americas, and shortages. But Maduro, 52, says a wealthy elite and opposition activists encouraged by Washington and foreign media are seeking an “economic coup” via hoarding and price-gouging. “It’s a strategy to try and upset the people and turn them to extremes, to destabilize the country,” Maduro told the Telesur TV network late on Tuesday during a visit to Algeria.

Maduro has been visiting China, Russia and other countries to seek financing as well as action from the OPEC grouping on tumbling crude prices which have exacerbated Venezuela’s economic malaise. In his absence, opposition leaders have been seeking to overcome internal differences and forge a unified strategy against Maduro. On Wednesday, key opposition figures called for peaceful mobilizations in the coming days. Violence at protests last year caused the deaths of 43 people, including

demonstrators, government supporters and security forces.“This thing they called revolution is over ... This government and this project are in a terminal phase,” Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate, told reporters. Jailed protest leader Leopoldo Lopez, in a joint statement with two fellow hardline opposition leaders, called for Maduro’s resignation. “Venezuela’s problem is not $40 oil. It’s the Maduro government’s corruption and incompetence and the unviable Cuban model they impose on us,” they said.

Defiant CHARLIE HEBDO fronts Muhammad... From page 7 Charlie Hebdo had faced repeated threats and a firebombing for depictions of the prophet, and its editor and his police bodyguard were the first to die. Many Muslims believe all images of the prophet are blasphemous. The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo maintained the intentionally offensive tone that made the newspaper famous in France. The first two pages included drawings by the slain cartoonists: One showed a well-known late French nun talking about oral

sex; another showed Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders dividing up the world. The lead editorial laid out a vigorous defence of secularism, and of the newspaper’s right to lampoon religions and hold their leaders accountable — and ended with a critique of the pope. But most of the controversy centered on the cover and its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. Around the world, news organizations took different approaches to illustrating

stories about the Charlie Hebdo cover. In the United States, CBS programs and The New York Post ran images of the cover, while the ABC network didn’t. The New York Times also didn’t publish it, but included a link to it. CNN didn’t show the cover online or on the air. The Associated Press had not run previous Charlie Hebdo cartoons showing Muhammad, and declined to run the latest one as well, based on its policy to avoid images designed to provoke on the basis of religion.

I n E u r o p e , S p a i n ’s leading daily newspapers published the image online and the state broadcaster showed it on news bulletins. In Britain, The Times of London, the Guardian and the Independent went with the image, while The Daily Telegraph didn’t. The BBC showed the new cover on news p r o g r a m s . G e r m a n y ’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung all used it on their websites.

Letters... Where your views make the news

Parliament must be reopened... From page 4 departure from acceptable norms and practices noteworthy in the British Commonwealth. The Executive, by not having the majority in the Legislature, is engaging in acts to undermine democracy and the working of this branch of government. The opposition and all are reminded rights and privileges carry responsibilities. And in this case, the opposition has a right and responsibility to vigorously pursue holding President Ramotar accountable, and in so doing, pursue their demands for him to lift the suspension. The resignation by the opposition and sections of society to await elections rather than addressing prorogation, which is a rape of the spirit and intent of the constitution, is aiding and abetting illegality in the system and conferring on the President immunity never bequeathed by the constitution. To resign and support the president’s action is equivalent to accepting public officials threatening citizens under the pretext that the constitution gives them the right to freedom of expression. Rohee has the temerity to tell this nation that he has to examine if the British

government’s call for lifting the suspension helps the opposition. He has got it all wrong. This issue is not about the APNU, AFC or the PPP. It is about what is just and fair for the citizens of this country and the respect for their institutions. It is about a constitution that speaks to three branches of government. It is about a constitution that talks about the democratic organs of state and reposes supremacy in the parliament. And if it was well and good for the diplomatic community to be involved in our political affairs prior to 1992 with the PPP leading the call for involvement, then it is hypocritical today to find said involve-

ment unwarranted. As we seek to take our country back, all constitutional course of action, including protest, must be pursued. The opposition finds itself on the wrong side of history, regurgitating and running behind Ramotar’s message about elections at the expense of finding ways and means to have the nation’s highest democratic organ operational. The opposition has to be careful it is not enabling the PPP violating the spirit and intent of the constitution and shutting the people out of involvement through the National Assembly by encouraging the President’s unjustified and abrupt termination of the

SUGGESTING... From page 5 people. History has shown the PPP will always beat the shallow minds that dwell on racism and faces, but can never beat the brilliant minds that dwell on ideas. The PPP never lost the majority since its inception over 60 years ago save and except for two years – in 1964 (UF) and 2011 (AFC). In 1964 it was that dream of the ‘Highway to Happiness,’ which provided a plan that energized a significant number of people.

Again in 2011, it was the AFC with their Action Plan of ‘Making the Right Turn’ that offered that energy to over 35,000 people. The matchmakers have to go and come again since clearly they have failed to recognise what the AFC brings to the table – top notch ideas, programmes and policies, and on top of that the ‘bright steel’ of Guyanese politics – Cde Moses Nagamootoo. Sase Singh

work of the 10th Parliament. The prorogation must be lifted. Parliament must be reopened and its work must continue. Lincoln Lewis

(From page 22)

TO LET Fully Furnished vacation home with all amenities- Call during working hours – Call: 227-1218. One two bedroom house to rent in Grove East Bank Demerara – Call: 266-0892; 681-1047 One flat, 4 self contained bedrooms in a gated community (Versailles) on the West Coast of Demerara – Contact: 658-1328 Furnished two bedroom apartment for short term/ overseas visitors – Contact: 699-7559 One Two bedrooms house Contact Joy: 218-1285 One bedroom apartment for couple ($30,000) monthly – Call: 223-3959 or 660-9463 One two bedroom apartment at Parfaite Harmonie, W.B.D, Price $30,000 (monthly) – Tel: 697-1686 Three bedrooms upper flat concrete building, parking $70,000 monthly @ Block 8 Agriculture Road E.C.D – Call: 687-1050

EDUCATIONAL Child care, care for elderly, body massage, dressmaking, cakes & pastries, cake decoration – Contact: 264-1052; 663-7930 Certificate in: Cosmetology, nails, wig designs, early child care/ care for elderly classes commence February Call: 6665241/ 619-7603 Computerized Accounting Quick Books; Peach Tree; Excel 2013 @ Micrographics , Vreed-EnHoop: 264-3057 9 Courses Diploma In computers: offices 2013, IT - $30,000 @ Micrographics , Vreed-En-Hoop: 264-3057 Practical Electronic Course; Starting 12th January 2015Call Abdul Electronics: 2266551; 225-0391 Balloon Decorating Classes. January 31st – Call: 225-3133 or 613-7513 for more information & registration Earn a certificate in cosmetology or nails alone – Call Miss Jenny: 225-5360; 625-7844; 687-7566

Freddie Kissoon... From page 4 the establishment.” October 1973 saw a “Six point demand on the Government” by the PPP which included, “1. The fullest respect be given to academic freedom or the right to dissent, at the institution.” And, “2. Immediate end to discrimination and harassment of students and teachers.” Also, “4. Reconstitution of the UG Board to reflect all shades of opinion.” UG was by this time celebrating its tenth anniversary, and on the occasion of the October UG Convocation, Insanally in public protest used the opportunity to return his Bachelor of Science diploma torn to the Vice Chancellor. Insanally had graduated with honours, winning the Chancellor ’s medal for outstanding performance. Sherod Avery Duncan

LAND FOR SALE 1500 Acres Transported Land @ Bartica 2 ¾ miles River Front, Virgin Rock, Quarry Resort – Call Mark: 704-4652222/603-1266 Double Land (300X100) @ Lot 7 Tuschen E.B.E – Call: 672-2215 Eccles - $4.5M, Tuschen $3M, Providence - $5.5M, Herstelling - $5.5M, Parfaite Harmonie - $1.5M, $1.6M – Tel:675-7292; 652-2018 Lot 12 Mon Repos E.C.D – Tel: 220-7330 House Lots in 1 of Guyana’s top luxury gated communities @ Eccles, 60X100 - $7.5M. (Special prices) – Call: 227-2913; 6833033 Eccles: Commercial lots for sale at Eccles – Tel:227-2913. Cell: 683-3033

Page 24

Kaieteur News

Thursday January 15, 2015

Police will be working to foster closer relationship with the public - Commander 'A'Division For this year, police in 'A' Division will be working assiduously to foster a closer relationship with members of the public and with faith-based organizations in the District. According to the Divisional Commander and Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken, during a recent interview with this newspaper at his office, by building a stronger relationship with the public and faith-based organizations, it helps the police a lot in terms of gathering key information. “By doing so, it enhances our intelligence capability and since we have made our numbers available, our phones have been ringing off the hook. People are speaking to us and giving us information,” the senior official said. He explained that his division was able to solve a number of cases via intelligence. “We have solved a lot of crimes and people were placed before the court.” This newspaper was told that once the police obtain information from members of the public, it is then processed

into intelligence by police detectives after which ranks will act on the intel. A police detective told this newspaper that it was information they received from members of the public that led to the arrest Howard Rambharose months after the police had issued a wanted bulletin for him. Rambharose is allegedly the accomplice of Kevin Fields, the bandit who was shot dead on July 14, last during a botched robbery at Ramchand's Auto Spares Store in Campbellville. Fields' accomplice managed to escape but was captured and is now in prison. “When Ryan Couchman (the man, who allegedly tried to rob an off-duty cop on January 4, last at Soesdyke) was shot and taken to the hospital, we received a call from a member of the public who informed us that a wanted man was there at the hospital,” the police source said. He continued, “The person said that it was Howard Rambharose and right away

we went there and Rambharose was arrested and later placed before the court.” Also, fo u r m e n f r o m Sophia were remanded to prison on October 24, last after they allegedly shot and killed a 23-year-old Electrical Engineer, Abdool Saleem, in front of his Prashad Nagar house four days before. It was information the police received from members of the public that led to the arrest of the men who later confessed to the crime. The Commander said that his team plans to review last year and build on the weaknesses and develop on the strengths. “While we had a 13 percent decrease overall in serious crime, we had an increase in armed robberies, rape and fatal accidents... Those are critical areas for us and we are going to work assiduously to reduce that,” the senior official said. He is urging members of the public to continue to call and share information with the force.

Haitian president expected to issue executive order to hold crucial elections PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (HCNN) — Haiti’s barrier to the holding of crucial overdue elections has now been lifted with the end of the term of the legislature, opening the possibility for the Caribbean country’s leader to issue a decree to facilitate the organization of the ballot which has long been blocked by recalcitrant opposition Senators. Haitian President Michel Martelly is expected to issue an executive order to facilitate the holding of elections to renew two-thirds of the 30member Senate and the entire lower chamber within the next few months, which will allow Parliament to be functional again. Martelly said he has no plans to abuse his power to rule by decree in the absence of the legislature, whose constitutional term expired on

Monday, while assuring that he would take an executive order only when it is absolutely necessary, such as a decree to declare elections. “My plan is not really to rule by decree but one decree that I will issue is to declare elections, which is absolutely necessary,” Martelly told HCNN on Tuesday. Martelly’s constitutional term expires in February 2016 and the country will also hold a presidential ballot by October this year to elect his successor. Now, only 10 out of 30 senators remain in office and they cannot hold any session because a quorum of at least 16 senators is required, which means they will not be able to make any decision. Martelly’s critics have blamed him for failing to take the necessary measures to hold elections in time to avoid

Teachers Union concerned ... From page 19 Primary school which was recently rebuilt, Baptiste said that the facility is one that could accommodate some 800plus children. He nevertheless, stated his concern about the recreational space of the school hinting to the fact, that it may not be conducive enough for the older students. Baptiste is hopeful that the publicising of the situation would be one that could allow

for speedy action in addressing the concerns at the school some of which, he noted, are similar at other schools including St Agnes Primary and Central High. “Going public now may speed up the administration of the (Brickdam) school to make sure that the Board does what it is supposed to do, all for the benefit of those little children who need to be a little bit more relaxed,” added Baptiste.

the dysfunction of Parliament, while others cast the blame of Parliament’s caducity on recalcitrant opposition senators who have been blocking Parliament, since April last year, from passing the legislation needed to facilitate the ballot. Lawmakers had until midnight on Sunday to meet and pass the legislation in which they were allowed to extend their term until April, for the members of the Lower Chamber (Chamber of Deputies), and until September for Senators. However, a significant number of senators boycotted a joint session on Sunday, which would have opened the way for such an outcome, before the official end of their term, on January 12. In the meantime, several opposition parties joined Martelly in signing an agreement to aid the electoral process, which has been stalled because of a lack of political will on the part of several sectors and actors. Martelly, the newlyappointed prime minister, Evans Paul, and political adversaries continue with political talks to smooth the progress of efforts to form a consensus government to replace the resigning cabinet of former prime minister Laurent Lamothe, in a move to ease the general political atmosphere, as preparations for the balloting progress.

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 25

Venezuelan president to meet Putin Cuba, EU agree new talks as oil-dependent economies sink in March: European sources MOSCOW (Reuters) Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin today as he ends his tour aimed at trying to persuade big oil producers to cut output to stop the price rout. Prices of oil, cornerstone of both the Russian and Venezuelan economies, have touched their lowest in almost six years and Maduro traveled this week to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Algeria to gather support for his diplomatic push. “The situation on the global oil markets along with some other issues will be among the topics to be discussed,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Itar Tass news agency. Venezuelan and Algerian officials have this year initiated talks over production levels between Russia and producers group OPEC, but officials in Moscow have said the country, in which around 40 percent of output is in private hands, would find it technically tough to cut. Russian energy minister Alexander Novak took a similar line yesterday, saying volatile prices were part of market patterns. “Many countries agree that any artificial action to change the situation on the market is impossible,” he said. Yet Maduro’s move is supported by some in OPEC such as Iran and Venezuela, who want output cuts from the organization but can contribute little themselves. However it has met a cool

Vladimir Putin

Nicolas Maduro

response from core Gulf OPEC producers. Saudi Arabia rejected output cuts at the last OPEC meeting in November, saying it would only lead to a loss of market share. Gulf OPEC sources have said Saudi might consider cutting production if non-OPEC members, such as Russia, joined in. Russia agreed to symbolic output cuts in tandem with OPEC during the 2001 price collapse, but never followed through on its pledge, causing anger among OPEC members. Since then Moscow has continued to push crude output to new records, eventually overtaking Saudi Arabia as the top global producer in the last decade. But the slump in oil prices combined with Western sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine have led to currency and budget crises much worse than in any year of

Putin’s 15-year rule and made Russia think hard about its choices. Russia’s finance minister called yesterday for a cut in planned spending and its economy minister said there was a high chance Russia’s credit rating would be downgraded to “junk” status. “The state cannot have the kind of spending it used to have with economic growth ... (and) with the oil price at $100 per barrel,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. Moody’s Investors Service said on Tuesday there was a high risk Venezuela would default on its debt. Russia depends for half its budget revenue on energy, while Venezuela depends on oil for 96 percent of its hard currency revenue, leaving its economy at the mercy of a market that has seen prices drop 60 percent since June to under $46 a barrel.

Foreign exchange woes...

Rowley blames Central Bank The Express - Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley has blamed the Central Bank for the foreign exchange woes businessmen are facing. He says an “unannounced” move by Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran to change the foreign exchange allocation resulted in entities who did not have a client base being given equal access to foreign exchange. “There were four additional handlers of foreign exchange created by the Governor of the Central Bank,” Rowley said. “Those people now had access to foreign exchange in very much the same way as the banks that had the client base. Arising out of that is that they are now in a position

to buy foreign exchange directly from the Central Bank and keep it for themselves and the governor of the Central Bank is now accusing them of hoarding foreign exchange,” he added. The Opposition Leader was addressing businessmen at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, held at VayBerri on the Greens Restaurant in Trincity Tuesday. He said as a result of the governor’s actions there was no longer confidence in the foreign exchange distribution system. “Before there was confidence in the distribution for 15 years and everybody, high and low, rich and poor knew that foreign exchange was available so there was no

need to war. When that change was made and persons now have available to them access to the source, bypassing the banks, and the banks didn’t have enough for their customers, a confidence problem was generated and it continues to this day,” Rowley said. He noted that because of falling oil prices the inflow of foreign exchange was set to drop significantly and this would result in further unavailability and hoarding. “That is the environment in which you are asked to do business, but there are persons who are telling you that we are in a much better place now than we were before. Well we are not, we are in a very precarious position.”

Brussels (AFP) - Cuba and the European Union have agreed to meet in early March for a third round of negotiations aimed at normalising ties, EU sources said yesterday, less than a month after a historic breakthrough between Havana and Washington. The EU and Cuba, which began normalisation talks last year after ties were suspended in 2003, had initially planned to hold a third round in December before they were called off twice. “Now there is a new date for a round of negotiations on March 4 and 5,” an EU diplomat said. “The EU condition is that Cuba does not ask for restrictions on the subjects discussed, particularly on human rights issues and the role of civil society,” the diplomat said. Two rounds of talks were held last year but in December Cuba suspended a planned

third round which would have tackled the sensitive rights dossier. An EU source said the two sides agreed in principle to meet again in early March in the Cuban capital Havana. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini welcomed a breakthrough US-Cuba accord last month to re-establish diplomatic relations after more than 50 years as a “historical turning point.” Mogherini said at the same time that the EU also hoped ultimately to be able to “expand relations with all parts of Cuban society.” EU-Cuban ties were suspended in 2003 when Havana launched a crackdown and jailed 75 dissidents in a direct response to calls for liberalisation and greater respect for human rights. Cuba is the Americas’ only one-party, communist-ruled state and is alone in Latin

Federica Mogherini America in not having a political dialogue with the EU. The EU bases its approach to Cuba on a 1996 “common position” document which states that economic cooperation must go hand in hand with advances towards a pluralistic democracy and respect of human rights.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 15, 2015

Night lines banned at shops in some Venezuela states; scarcity persists

People line up outside a supermarket to buy toilet paper in Caracas. CREDIT: REUTERS/JORGE SILVA (Reuters) - Governors in three Venezuelan states have banned overnight queuing amid huge and sometimes rowdy lines around shops across the scarcity-plagued country. Shortages of basic consumer products from milk to toilet paper have worsened since a lull in distribution over

the Christmas and New Year holidays, prompting many to wait from the early hours on foot - or in hammocks - before shops open. The ubiquitous lines and frequent jostling for places when shop doors finally open are an embarrassment and irritation to Venezuelans

across the political spectrum. There have also been scattered protests and arrests. “We are going to prohibit lines outside commercial establishments,” Falcon state governor Stella Lugo said late on Tuesday. “Security forces have been instructed.” (Continued on page 23)

New Sri Lanka govt. calls for ‘conspiracy’ probe on ex-president

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s new government yesterday asked the police to investigate what it called a “diabolical conspiracy” by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to hold on to power even after he was defeated in an election last week. New President Maithripala Sirisena is trying to shore up his government and prevent a comeback by the former rulers in parliamentary elections that may have to be held this year. Rajapaksa has denied the allegations against him. His allies say they have been subjected to threats since the election and they have asked for government protection. The former president and those around him are coming under a level of scrutiny

Ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa unthinkable until he was voted out of office last Thursday, ending a decade in power notable for its

concentration of control among a coterie of relatives and allies. On Tuesday, opposition politicians filed a series of detailed corruption complaints against Rajapaksa and his brothers and son, who also held government posts. Another filing asks for Rajapaksa to appear in court on Jan. 26. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who filed the latest police complaint, said the government had reliable information that Rajapaksa along with his brother and former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the incumbent chief justice and two other politicians discussed declaring a state of emergency while the counting was going on. Chief Justice Mohan Peiris was appointed by Rajapaksa after the contested impeachment of his predecessor. The new government believes Peiris has weakened the independence of the judiciary and during the election campaign vowed to have him removed. On Monday, lawyers protested against him in the street. “They also discussed the possibility of the army taking over the election commission, arresting the election commissioner and even obstructing the counting in the different part of the country by using the armed forces.”

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 27

NAGICO Super50 bowls off today in T&T Jaguars face Volcanoes in opening match By Sean Devers in Trinidad In Association with Carib Beer, GT&T Lifetime Reality & Cascadia Hotel When the 2015 NAGICO Super50 cricket tournament commences in Trinidad & Tobago today the Guyana Jaguars will be looking towards a successful opening match against the Windward Islands Volcanoes in a Day/Night match which starts at 13:30hrs at the Queens Park Oval to kick-start their campaign to win their 10th Regional 50over title and first since 2005 when they beat Barbados at Bourda in fading light. Guyana, who lost to Barbados in last year’s semifinal in Port-of-Spain, are without Leon Johnson and Narsingh Deonarine who are with the West Indies team in South Africa, Assad Fudadin (broken finger) Shemron

Hetmyer and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, in the West Indies under-19 team participating in this competition and last year’s Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, not considered for selection by Cricket Guyana Inc. Guyana beat the Windward Islands by 22 runs in last year’s tournament at the ‘Oval’ on the back of halfcenturies from Assad Fudadin (51), Sarwan (62) and Chris Barnwell (51), while Leon Johnson (41) contributed to help Guyana to 235-7. Johnson Charles top scored with 35 as fast bowler Ronsford Beaton (3-43), Veerasammy Permaul (3-24) and Devendra Bishoo (2-42) conspired to dismiss the Windwards for 213 from 46.4 overs and today Guyana will depend on Shiv Chanderpaul, who has returned from South Africa with the Regional Test side to hold the innings together as the senior

statesman in the side. Openers Rajendra Chandrika and Trevon Griffith will hope to provide a solid foundation for, Royston Crandon, Barnwell, Reifer and Anthony Bramble to build on while all eyes will be on Jonathon Foo who returns to the fray for the first time in four years and looks a much more matured batsman. Vishaul Singh could have to wait a little longer to make his debut, while Steven Jacobs and seamer Paul Wintz could be the others on the bench today. Ronsford Beaton, Barnwell, Reifer, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul and Crandon needs to perform with the ball to give the Jaguars a winning start. This will be Guyana’s 150th List ‘A’ game and their 24th against the Windwards. The South American based unit have won 17, lost five with one ending in a no-result when the sides met for the first

Thursday January 15, 2015 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) This should be a stimulating day, Aries. The possibility of a journey might arise unexpectedly. This could be exciting as some close friends or a romantic partner might accompany you. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Unexpected economic developments might make a sudden and positive difference in your situation, Taurus.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Some great news could come today that turns your life upside down momentarily. Libra, you will find it very exciting. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) News might bring exciting opportunities for increasing your income, Scorpio. Perhaps you will learn of ways to start your own business.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Your social life might suddenly be busier than you expected, Gemini, perhaps because of the appearance of some interesting new people.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Discussions could bring some exciting information your way that alters your thinking slightly. You tend to be oriented toward social, political, or humanitarian issues, Sagittarius.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Books and conversations with friends could take up most of your day, Cancer. The intellectual stimulation could have positive and negative effects on your health.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Your intellectual abilities are particularly sharp, Capricorn, so you may want to combine them with your tendency toward mysticism.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) If you're currently romantically involved, expect your relationship to reach a new understanding and sense of unity, Leo. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) An old friend you haven't seen in a long time could turn up. This should be a pleasant surprise, Virgo, as you will have a lot of catching up to do.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) New friends, new goals, and new attitudes could all appear on the scene. Unexpected developments within a group are likely to require reevaluating a course of action. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) If you've been aiming for a specific career goal, Pisces, it might suddenly manifest with the current planetary energy.

time in 1976 at Victoria Park in St Lucia. Guyana’s first win against the Windwards was in April 1980 when Guyana won by 61 runs at Bourda with Timur Mohamed leading the way with 63 as Guyana claimed the title that year in Antigua when Roy Fredricks, playing in his last match this level, hammered a century to spur Guyana to victory in the Final against the Leeward Islands. Guyana’s highest score against the Windwards was 254-7 when Royston Crandon scored a debut century in 2007 in Grenada. However, the Windward’s scored 256-4 to win that game and register their highest total against Guyana. The Windward’s first title came in the 1989 Final in Grenada when they defeated Guyana, while the last of their three titles was achieved in 2013 and today without out their Skipper Darren Sammy and West Indies opener Andre Fletcher who are in South Africa, the Islanders will be banking on Captain Liam Sebastian, West Indies opener Devon Smith, Sunil Ambris, Craig Emmanuel, Miles Bascombe, Keddy Lesporis and Charles. Lesporis and Ambris will be keen to take over the batting reins from the more established batsmen in the side. Tarryck Gabriel has been added to the side to replace Fletcher. The Islanders bowling attack will hinge around pacers Delorn Johnson, Mervin Matthew, Kenroy Peters, who like Smith, recently returned from South

Del Potro and Kvitova claim three... From page 27 rounds to make the main draw. She will now face Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who survived a twohour epic duel with Australian wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Elsewhere, no play was possible at the Hobart Invitational, where heavy rain washed out both day and night sessions at the women’s event.

Africa with the West Indies Test team while the spin bowling department comprises of leftarm spinner Alston Bobb, Shane Shillingford and the Skipper who bowls off-spin. Coach Ian Allen explained that at the start of the training camp in Dominica there were some challenges with the weather, but his team was trying to make sure that the players reach the level of confidence to be competitive from today’ game. “We a chance to get together and do a lot of team bonding as well as for everyone to understand their roles,” said Allen, who played two Tests back in 1991 for the West Indies. A pulsating game is anticipated this evening as the Jaguars, without their four top batsmen and have huge hole in their middle order, will have to bat well, especially if they are chasing a target under lights. Barbados Pride face CCC in the other game today at the

National Cricket Centre in Couva in a day game. Guyana Jaguars squad: Christopher Barnwell (captain), Veerasammy Permaul (v-captain), Rajendra Chandrika, Trevon Griffith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Vishaul Singh, Raymon Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Royston Crandon, Jonathan Foo, Esuan Crandon (Coach), Rayon Griffith (Assistant Coach) Windward Islands Volcanoes squad: Liam Sebastien (Captain), Sunil Ambris, Miles Bascombe, Alston Bobb, Johnson Charles, Craig Emmanuel, Andre Fletcher, Tarryck Gabriel, Delorn Johnson, Keddy Lesporis, Mervin Matthew, Kenroy Peters, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith, Ian Allen (Head Coach), Lockhart Sebastien (Manager), Denis Byan (Physiotherapist/Trainer)

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All Star win Ramnarine Dominoes title - Wakenaam All Star chalked up 80 games to win the Amit Ramnarine dominoes competition on Sunday last at Ramnarine residence in Good Success, Wakenaam. BBM placed second with 78 games, while Sledge Hammer finished third on 76. Mohamed Kalam led All

Star with 16 games; he was ably supported by Khemraj Surujpaul, Satnarine Singh and Vijay Persaud, each making 15. David Lavine made the maximum 18 games for the runner up team and Alex Chung 16. Teniram Ramnarine andAmit Ramnarine marked 17

games apiece for Sledge Hammer. Lavine was given the most valuable player prize, while Suraj (only name) of BBM was the lone love bird. All Star received a trophy for their efforts.Ramnarine congratulated the winners and said his aim is to reignite the sport on the island.

WI Fullbore Long and Short...

National fullbore Individual champion Lennox Braithwaite (left) being congratulated by National Captain Mahendra Persaud after sealing the title. (From page 30) competed in the Individual and Junior Team shoots. The Guyanese won one gold and two silver medals. Braithwaite continued his rich vein of form by making it into the prestigious Queens Final where the top 100 shooters out of over 1,000 from around the world, are selected. A three-man team attended the Commonwealth Games in Scotland just after the Imperial Meet where the GNRA has reported that it was the best performance of a Guyanese contingent at the Games where the Guyanese placed 6th in the Pairs Match. Even though Guyana did not receive a medal, the locals gained the respect from the more developed countries and international shooters at the games. Upon return from the Commonwealth Games, National Captain Mahendra Persaud attended the Canadian National Shooting Championships and had a dream performance by placing 6th in a field that attracted hundreds of shooters. Persaud amassed a total that was tied with the bronze medalist but was outscored on V-bulls. The performance of Persaud has been classified as the best performance by a West Indian in Canada and this has been agreed to by other WI shooters. On the local scene, the Fullbore National Championship which was competed at

the Short Range turned out to be very competitive with Lennox Braithwaite emerging the winner in the X-Class, while Mr. Peter Persaud was the winner of the O-Class. The Smallbore shooters were not to be outdone and held monthly competitions and training at the Tactical Services Unit Ranges. The GNRA reported that they have developed a very good young brigade of shooters who are expected to do well in 2015. This will gave the senior shooters more competition which augers well for the sport. The Smallbore shooters also attended shoots in Suriname with favourable returns. The learning experience will be used to better their skills, a number of the competitors have already improved their pistol collection with a view of doing better this year. Mr. Ryan McKinnon and Smallbore Captain Mr. Dale Hing were the outstanding individual performers in 2014. The GNRA was successful in retaining its affiliation with the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) in November 2014. Our new Regional Director is Mr. Harold Hopkinson and he will be working closely with the Smallbore Captain in planning the 2015 calendar. An international IPSC shoot is being planned for 2015. Two of the GNRA Executive Committee Members,

Messrs Mahendra Persaud and Dale Hing attended the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Congress in Munich Germany in early December 2014 where elections were held. Incumbent ISSF President, Mr. Olegario Vazquez Rana of Mexico was returned. Persaud noted that many new contacts were established and this augers well for the GNRA whose President, Brigadier Mark Phillips wishes to thank all those corporate entities and individuals who assisted the association during the year under review. Special thanks are being extended to GNRA Patron, His Excellency President Donald Ramotar, the Ministry of Sports, Guyana Revenue Authority, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force and GOA President K. A Juman Yassin among others. The GNRA has noted that even though its goal of acquiring land in a suitable and secure location to construct an Indoor Range keeps eluding them, they remain focused that it will be accomplished which will undeniably help with the development of its new crop of Olympic shooters for the future. This year will see the fullbore shooters training for the World Long Range championship set to be held in the USA, while the Smallbore competitors will be aiming to dominate at the Caribbean level. (Franklin Wilson)

Thursday January 15, 2015

Ramnaresh Sarwan lashes out at WICB WICRICNEWS Ramnaresh Sarwan lashed out at the WICB through his twitter account where he said, “I honestly don’t understand when these people [WICB] keep talking about rebuilding. It’s almost 15 years now we talking about rebuilding when it comes to West Indies cricket, 15 years later we are still rebuilding. I am starting to wonder what really we are building in the Caribbean. No one wants to accept the real problems facing WI cricket.” “They should ask themselves why we are so good at Under-15 and Under-19, but at the top level we are not as good. We can keep chopping and changing as much as we want but if we don’t have a proper system is place we would not be able to produce players to perform consistently at international level,” he added. He also blamed the directors for not taking care of the

development of the board and the players. Instead he blamed them for just being concerned about their own profile. “I wonder who they are going to blame for no facilities in the Caribbean. These people who are fighting for positions on the Board just care about profile. We are not getting better but yet for the past 15 years the same directors are looking after WI cricket,” he said. “Now they say they are going to chop and change until they find the right players, it’s not a quick fix people, it has to be a process. We need facilities in the Caribbean for our players. Cricket is not about just talent anymore. We are so backward, we decided to drop two of our better players because of EGO and because we want to show we are untouchable. Guess the fans mean nothing to these people,” he added.

Sarwan also said that the board needs to step up and put things in the right direction rather than blaming other factors for their down fall. “When John Dyson was the coach, WI cricket looked like it was making baby step forward, steps we haven’t seen before. Then they fire John because he stood up for his senior players, they had a campaign to get rid of the senior players, John did not agree with them. So what they decided to do was get rid of him and bring someone who they can control and agree to screwing up WI cricket,” he said. “Now they are saying T20 is the reason why our cricket is the way it is. REALLY? We need to accept cricket has evolved and we need to stay with the world. We must appreciate what those guys have done around the world. They keep West Indies cricket alive,” he concluded.

Wilfried Bony: Man City complete £28m signing of Swansea striker BBC Sport - Manchester City have completed the signing of Swansea City striker Wilfried Bony in a deal that could be worth up to £28m. Bony has agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal at Etihad Stadium through to 2019 and will wear the number 14 shirt. “It’s a great feeling for me, it’s a big honour to be here and it’s a great challenge,” the 26-year-old said. He joined Swansea for £12m from Vitesse Arnhem in 2013 and was Premier League top scorer in 2014 with 20 goals. The two clubs agreed the terms of the transfer at the weekend, with £25m cash up front and a further £3m in performance-related add-ons. The deal makes Bony one of the most expensive African footballers in history. Bony is on international

duty with Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations and could potentially have to wait until mid-February before he can make his City debut. “As a player it’s always

good to be part of one of the biggest clubs in the world and it’s a good opportunity for me to be in that situation now I’m really proud,” Bony told Manchester City’s website.

From page 27 President’. Certainly such a report is a figment of someone’s imagination especially in an attempt to deviate the embarrassment caused by the two GCB Officials. I was never in the possession of a cutlass; instead I was only equipped with a diary and a pen to record notes of the meeting. My only confrontation with Mr. Bahudur was after his physical assault against Mr. Khan where some heated words were exchanged

by both parties. I am challenging those present to prove otherwise including the Secretary of the ECB who also is a Pastor. The NECC has since expressed its grave disappointment in the manner in which its executive member has been humiliated. It was indeed a sorry day for cricket and if the future administration of the game has to rest in the hands of these individuals, it will be a catastrophe! I will be writing to the constitutionally elected

Cricket Ombudsman regarding the conduct of the ECB elections since I believe that the right representatives of the various area committees were robbed of exercising their right to vote as a result of not having elections. The Ombudsman will also be asked to investigate the malicious conduct of the President and Secretary of the GCB at the meeting. Yours Faithfully, Prince Holder President NECC

Wilfried Bony

Holder responds to newspaper article

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

>>> Letter to the Sport Editor <<<

Negative Attributes Still Affecting Local Football DEAR SIR, “A Happy and a Prosperous New Year” to all and sundry, moreover, those who are seriously committed towards the continued development of football. Meanwhile, with the FIFA appointed Normalization Committee, granting approval to the Associations of Berbice, East Bank and East Coast; collectively, along with Georgetown, Upper and West Demerara to coordinate their individual end of the year, football tournaments, which amounted to four overall, it’s my sincere desire for the Normalization Committee requests of the respective coordinators, the submission of written tournament reports in addition to Audited Financial Statements, both of which are relevant for record keeping, along with establishing a paper trail, in the event of failing to honour contractual obligations. As a consequence readily coming to mind was an article appearing in the print media referring to: “West DemeraraAqua Mist/Vita Malta K.O. Winners –Slingerz unease with prize money”. Whereas the agreed advertised winning sum of $1,000,000 was subsequently reduced to $800,000. Editor, it was based on this premise, I had previously commented publicly about “Contractual Obligations” prior to approval being granted! Suffice it to say, if stringent policies were attached contractually, then the West Demerara Football Association executive would have been obligated to honour the payment(s) in full! Since prior to the first ball

being kicked, all prize monies are normally lodged, or, a letter of commitment from a reputable sponsor, honouring payments! So, in actuality, other sources of income, usually cover other expenses which are taken care of within a budgetary framework of income and expenditure! Meanwhile, is the Upper Demerara Football Association executive legitimate? This I question since the banning of executive members unconstitutionally, last year left much to be desired. Then thereafter the appointment of an IMC! Editor it is common knowledge that the term IMC is selfexplanatory, simply meaning “care taker”! So, how within this context can a Chairman, subsequently assume the role of President? Was he elected and were there Elections of Office Bearers? Mind you, prior to the re-convening of the Ordinary Congress, a significant amount of clubs had written the former GFF President, re: “Representation by UDFA Delegates”. With nothing meaningful emerging, then the next best option is the involvement of the Normalisation Committee, towards having an amicable solution in resolving the issue. Editor, over the years I’m always guided by the notion that “administrators, who have not mastered their specific area of contribution for the sport’s development, should desist from venturing into uncharted waters”! It’s within this context I’m forced to comment upon an unjustified public criticism on Bro: Jamal Shabbaz, former and now returning Golden Jaguars, Senior Head Coach, by

the Secretary of Fruta Conquerors FC. Whereby the individual, who is definitely oblivious as to what: “Coaching a senior national team entails”. Since if this was so the name Denzil Thompson would not have surfaced! Let Thompson’s previous record speak for itself. In last year’s Caribbean Cup, Guyana under Thompson played 3 matches; won none, drew 1 and lost 2, along with being scoreless! Does this dismal performance still entitle Thompson to be considered? As it relates to Dover, the absence of attending advanced coaching courses deprives Guyana continuously of the modern methods that coaching demands. So, in actuality Alpha’s continued success locally, cannot be equated with our regional counterparts due to the significant advantage the club enjoys as a semi- professional outfit, but yet still is devoid of a structured development programme, which outlines equitable replacements are forthcoming, from an efficient youth system. Rather than attracting players from other clubs, with pledges of financial remunerations! In the final analysis attracting a foreign coach would come at an enormous cost that may at this juncture be beyond the affordability of the GFF, while it also must be taken into consideration that the absence of proper training facilities would serve as a deterrent to attracting a nonCaribbean national. Respectfully yours, Lester Sealey

Holder responds to newspaper article DEAR EDITOR, I read with gross astonishment sections of another paper on 2015-01-13 edition under the caption ‘ECB ELECTIONS HELD WITHIN CONSTITUTION - BACCHUS’. This is the most opportune time therefore to set the record straight by highlighting a few points relevant to the ECB Biennial General Meeting held on 2015-01-11 at the Board’s Hostel: 1- The North Essequibo Cricket Committee (NECC) is on public record supporting the holding of Area Committees’ AGM before the ECB elections. Only North Essequibo, East Bank and South Essequibo complied. It is worthy to note that the clubs of the Pomeroon Cricket

Committee wrote to Mr. Fizul Bacchus to convene elections but he refused, fearing that he would have been rejected and embarrassed. Prior to any elections the ECB constitution under article 8 (L) states ‘Each Area Committee shall be required to register with the Board yearly by giving not only the name, address and telephone number of the Secretary, but also the Office Bearers of the Committee and a list of the clubs affiliated to that Committee.’ This article of the constitution has been breached and flagrantly violated by two-thirds of the Committees. 2- Treasurer of the North Essequibo Cricket Committee Mr. Hakim Khan was verbally assaulted. Why? Even worse

was the behavior of the President of the GCB Mr. Dru Bahadur. A complaint has since been lodged at the Anna Regina Police Station by Mr. Khan in relation to the assault. The two GCB officials were not happy with what Mr. Khan wrote in one of the daily newspapers in which he appealed to the ECB to ensure that area committee elections were held while exposing the poor state of cricket within the county. 3- The newspaper reported ‘However, according to information received, Holder reportedly came to the meeting with a cutlass and attempted to disrupt the meeting and threatened to physically assault the GCB (Continued on page 26)

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‘I made the right choice’ Atkinson admits fleeting thought of swimming for US Jamaica Observer - “Swimming taught me how to let go, to live, to move on, to control, to enjoy and to give back. But most importantly, swimming taught me how to be a better me.” These are the words of the vivacious Alia Atkinson, who chose to rise above her predicaments and represent her native country with pride and joy. Atkinson migrated to the United States of America at age nine and joined the Fort Lauderdale swim club at age 10. She then moved to the Comet Swim Club Pembroke Pines, Florida, at age 13. Having lived in the land of opportunity for over 17 years, the sensational swimmer, who hails from humble beginnings in Jamaica, admitted that she had a fleeting thought of switching allegiance to the red, white and blue stripes of the United States. “Yes. I considered swimming for the US, not so much tempted, but it has been a thought that I had,” she revealed. “I thought about it, especially after college... (because) I didn’t have enough money to go on any one of those big pro teams or to do anything I wanted. “So I had to go back home and live with my parents and train at the age group club with 14- and 15-year-olds. That’s where my allowance led me,” she told this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange. However, the three-time Olympian, twotime world silver medallist and now joint world record holder in the Short Course World Championships 100-metre breaststroke, said she has no regrets. “It was the right choice (swimming for Jamaica). I defeated US swimmers who were on the national roster for the US team, and they were already getting money just for being on the team and getting paid for all their meets. “I had to find my money to pay for it. They get suits free because it’s funded by Speedo and here I am paying US$400 and $500 for a suit. So, yeah, it becomes a lot, but I am not upset about that,” she explained. Last year, Atkinson became the first black woman to win a world swimming title when she swam a scintillating 1:02.36 minutes in the 100-metre breaststroke, equalling the record set by Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte in 2013. Hailed as a reluctant celebrity and a gracious role model by her Jamaican supporters, the 26-year-old is now expressing utmost pleasure in wearing the national colours. “If I had switched and was swimming for

Alia Atkinson addresses editors and reporters during the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange this week. (PHOTO: NAPHTALI JUNIOR) the US...when I put on that cap and jump in the pool and I win something and it’s the US flag... it wouldn’t be right... something was wrong in that picture. So it’s the fact that I have a lot more family and support from Jamaica,” she said. “It’s a privilege swimming for Jamaica. If I had swum for the US it would be solely money-based, but for Jamaica it’s more of an honour and privilege, so I made the better choice,” added the Commonwealth Games silver medallist. Atkinson believed she was not asked to join the American team because she was not as fast at the start of her career, but as time went by she gradually progressed. In her senior year at University of Texas A & M, she won the 200-metre breaststroke, giving the university its first NCAA title and in the process became the second black woman to capture an NCAA swim title. “I was slower at first, so they didn’t really look at me. But as I got older and I started to show up on their radar I was already competing internationally for Jamaica,” she explained.

Del Potro and Kvitova claim three set wins in Sydney SYDNEY (Reuters) Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro stepped up his comeback from another wrist surgery by toppling top seed Fabio Fognini at the Sydney International yesterday. The 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory was only the second match the towering Argentine had played in 11 months since surgery to fix an issue with his left wrist and he felt the burn. The defending champion, competing on a wildcard after his ranking slumped to 338, was given a code violation after taking too long at a change of ends. “This is my second match on tour after one year. I need to breathe

more than the other players,” he told reporters. Del Potro hit 11 aces against one double fault in a solid serving display but admitted his backhand, still shaky following the surgery, needed work. “My game is to serve strong and try and make winners with my forehand,” he said. “If my backhand is okay, I will be aggressive with it in the future. “But now I think I just need to hit the ball as well as I can and don’t try to make winners with my backhand. “I just need to play a lot of backhands during the point, and if I do that I will get confidence very soon to play aggressive as well.”

He will face qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarter-finals after the Kazak overcame sixth seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 7-5, 7-5. The ATP 250 event is one of the final tournaments before the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the year, gets underway on Monday. In the women’s tournament, Tsvetana Pironkova continued her winning run in Sydney to 14 matches after she reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. The Bulgarian world number 67 was a shock winner in Sydney last year after coming through three qualifying (Continued on page 25)

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 15, 2015

Brazilian clubs seeking Van Wyk century leads slice of American pie SA to consolation win South Africa v West Indies, 3rd T20, Durban

SAO PAULO (Reuters) European teams have been making inroads into the U.S. with transfer deals, franchise partnerships and pre-season tours and now Brazilian clubs are seeking a slice of the action on and off the field. Brazilians are investing in U.S. clubs and two Brazilian teams are in Florida this week for pre-season training and challenge matches against German sides. Edu Gaspar, the former Arsenal player who is now Corinthians Director of Football, said: “For a long time now the club has been looking for an opportunity to promote itself in the U.S.” “We have managed to find an important competition with clubs that are equally important and under conditions that suit us.” Corinthians will this week play in the Florida Cup, a fourteam tournament that includes Bayer Leverkusen, 1. Cologne and Rio de Janeiro’s Fluminense. Corinthians play Cologne and Fluminense face

Leverkusen in Orlando on Jan 15. Two days later Corinthians take on Leverkusen and Fluminense meet Cologne in Jacksonville. The Brazilian clubs will use the games as warm-ups for the state championships which begin at the end of the month but more important than facing top European sides are the commercial possibilities. GROWING STATURE The U.S. game is growing in stature, with New York City FC signing a franchise deal with part-owners Manchester City and top players like Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard signing for LA Galaxy, who he will join after the Premier league season. Brazilian soccer, meanwhile, is in the doldrums on and off the pitch thanks to decades of mismanagement. Almost all the top clubs are heavily in debt, with many owing players and managers months of back pay. Even with 12 new stadiums built for the World Cup,

the average first division crowd last year was 16,562, less than in Japan, Mexico, China –- and the United States. Brazilian clubs can see U.S. socceris growing — some Major League Soccer matches are now broadcast live in Brazil -– and they want to form closer ties with the country. “This is one more opportunity for the club to establish a presence in the North American market, showing off its brand and its players,” Marcelo Teixeira, Fluminense’s executive director of soccer, said of the Florida tour. U.S. clubs are waking up to the interest, with Orlando creating a Portuguese-language website and tourism packages for Brazilians. “After Canadians, Brazil represents the biggest group of foreign visitors to Orlando,” Orlando City’s Brazilian president Flavio Augusta da Silva told Reuters in an email.

ESPNcricinfo - He is neither South Africa’s first-choice limited-overs wicketkeeper batsmen nor their second so it was only fitting that Morne van Wyk, third in the queue behind Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers and overlooked for the World Cup despite topping the ongoing one-day cup run charts, became their third T20 centurion. Minutes after an emotional celebration in which he ended up wiping tears from his eyes, van Wyk put team above self and clobbered South Africa to a total above 190 to ensure they did not squander their strong start. “If we lose the game, my runs will not have been enough,” van Wyk said at the innings break. Luckily for him, they were. Yesterday South Africa stopped West Indies from completing a third successful chase and a series whitewash with an aggressive batting and assured bowling performance. Their task was made considerably less difficult by the unavailability of Chris Gayle, who was left nursing the back injury that kept him out of the Test series, but the hosts had niggles of their own which could have worked against them. David Miller left the middle order appearing even softer than usual, despite the earlier-than-planned return of JP Duminy, as he sat out with a back spasm but van Wyk ensured they did not have too much to do. He single-handedly set South Africa up for victory by starring in their third century opening stand in the format, taking advantage of a careless display early on in the field from West Indies and showing patience while being pegged back to propel them to a match-winning total at the end. It did not always

look like it would be so wellscripted for South Africa. Sheldon Cottrell’s first two overs were strangling as he maintained a full length outside off and conceded just five runs but he lacked support. Carlos Brathwaite, who made his first appearance in the series, could not find his line and started down the leg side before over-compensating by offering too much width outside off. His confidence would not have been helped when Dwayne Smith put down a tough change at point after van Wyk got a leading edge. The opening batsmen was on 1 at the time. Brathwaite had a second chance dropped when Reeza Hendricks offered Smith a much easier catch from the other end. Hendricks enjoyed more good fortune when he top-edged Brathwaite for six two balls later but then asserted himself over Ashley Nurse. The offspinner persisted with short balls even as he saw them dispatched by both Hendricks and van Wyk, who brought up 62 in the Powerplay and 86 by the end of the eighth over. Taking pace off the ball was the right strategy though, as Bravo showed with slower balls and cutters. Between him and Marlon Samuels, only 22 runs came off the next four overs and Kieron Pollard cashed in on that squeeze. Hendricks holed out and South Africa promoted David Wiese to No. 3 to get big runs in a big way. But van Wyk did that with more confidence, perhaps because he had assessed the pitch properly and waited for width or the wrong length to find the boundary. Wiese was yorked by Bravo at the end of the 18th over, with South Africa still well short of the 200 they seemed likely to get

and it was up to van Wyk to get them there. He took 13 runs off Cottrell’s last over to get himself to 99. Bravo hit him on the hip with a beamer as the final over began but van Wyk scrambled the single he needed to reach his milestone off the next ball, the 67th he faced. The emotions did not overwhelm Duminy, who returned after two months on the sidelines with a straight six before van Wyk plundered two more. The 23 runs South Africa scored at the end gave them a defendable score, although Lendl Simmons did his best to change that. Batting in place of Gayle, Simmons did his best to imitate the Jamaican. He taught Marchant de Lange not to bowl even a fraction too short and handed Wayne Parnell the same lesson. Twentythree runs came off Parnell’s opening over and West Indies were on track until spin was introduced. Smith may have been looking to target Aaron Phangiso but was bowled by a straight one and West Indies’ challenge all but ended there. They had fizzled out by the time Wiese got going with the ball. He understood the surface required a different skill set and had the ability to pull it off. He foxed Samuels with a cutter, had Simmons caught on the boundary, Bravo caught behind off a top-edge, Darren Sammy at backward point and Brathwaite in the deep. That made him the second South African to claim a five-for in the format after Ryan McLaren and ensured van Wyk ended up with a century that was more than enough. Scores: South Africa 195 for 3 (van Wyk 114*, Pollard 1-13) beat West Indies 126 (Simmons 49, Cottrell 5-23) by 69 runs.

African team MTN-Qhubeka get Tour de France spot (Reuters) - The Tour de France will include an African team for the first time this year after race organizers offered MTNQhubeka a wildcard entry yesterday. The South African outfit were one of five teams handed wildcards for the race to complement the 17 Union Cycliste International (UCI) teams automatically selected. MTN-Qhubeka, whose black and white striped kit resembles that of Italian soccer club Juventus, are the largest professional multi-discipline team on the African continent and made their Grand Tour debut in last year’s Vuelta. “It would be another step in history for African cycling,” team director Jens Zemke said on their website before hearing of the decision. “Not just that. It would also

be a historic moment for the Grand Boucle itself, as the organizers would add a new continent to their exposure.” Their rider list includes Eritrea’s 24-yearold Natnael Berhane, twice African champion, while several South Africans are also on the roster. The team, backed by South Korean electronics giant Samsung, helps to promote the work of the Qhubeka project which has distributed bicycles to children in rural African communities since 2004. The UCI has also included the team in the starting list for the Criterium du Dauphine. German team Bora-Argon 18 and French outfits Bretagne-Seche Environnement, Cofidis and Team Europcar have also received wildcards for the Tour.

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

NBA roundup: Despite returning James’ 33, Cavs lose sixth straight Associated Press PHOENIX — LeBron James scored 33 points in his return from a two-week layoff but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Cleveland Cavaliers from going down to their sixth straight loss, 107-100 to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. Markieff Morris scored a career-high 35 points on 15-of-21 shooting for the Suns, who outscored the Cavs 11-3 over the last 3:31. The Cavaliers rallied from a 19-point, thirdquarter deficit to go ahead in the fourth, the first of eight lead changes down the stretch. J.R. Smith, who joined the Cavaliers during James’ absence, scored 29, going 8 of 14 on 3-pointers. James, who took time off to rest his sore left foot and lower back, made 11 of 18

20 points and Gorgui Dieng had 10 for the Timberwolves (6-31), who won for the first time since beating Portland 90-82 on Dec. 10. C.J. Miles had 22 points and C.J. Watson added 17 for the Pacers (15-25), who have lost three of four. Williams surpassed the 46 points scored this season by both Carmelo Anthony and Pau Gasol, which had been tops in the NBA. WIZARDS 101, SPURS 93 In Washington, John Wall broke yet another p e r s o n a l 0 - f o r- f o r e v e r streak, this one against an entire team, scoring 25 points with eight assists in the Wizards’ win that gave him his first taste of success against the reigning NBA champs. Wall had been 0-7

Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (23) drives against Phoenix Suns’ Alex Len during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, in Phoenix. (AP PHOTO/MATT YORK) shots, 6 of 8 in the second half. TIMBERWOLVES 110, PACERS 101 In Indianapolis, Mo Williams scored a careerhigh 52 points, most in the NBA this season, and Minnesota snapped a 15game losing streak with a victory over Indiana. Williams made six 3pointers, including one that gave Minnesota a 102-96 lead. Andrew Wiggins added

against the Spurs since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2010, and the Wizards as a whole had not beaten San Antonio since Nov. 12, 2005 — a streak of 17 games. Tim Duncan had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Tony Parker scored 14 points for the Spurs. HAWKS 105, 76ERS 87 In Philadelphia, Al Horford had his first c a r e e r t r i p l e-double, scoring 21 points with 10

rebounds and 10 assists to lead Atlanta to its ninth straight win. The Hawks easily thumped the Sixers even while resting 60 percent of their starting lineup. Leading scorer Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll all sat out with the team in a stretch of four games in five nights. The Hawks have won 23 of 25 and also won their ninth straight road game. They are in first place this late in the season for the first time since they won the East in 1993-94. Michael Carter-Williams scored 20 points for the Sixers. HEAT 78, LAKERS 75 In Los Angeles, Mario Chalmers scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, Hassan Whiteside added 15 points and Miami completed a Staples Center sweep with a victory over the Lakers. Chris Bosh scored eight points on 4-of-17 shooting for the Heat, who followed up their surprise victory over the Clippers two days ago by winning an ugly game against the Lakers despite losing Dwyane Wade to a strained left hamstring late in the first half. Kobe Bryant scored 12 points on 3-of-19 shooting in his return to the Lakers’ lineup after missing three of the last four games to rest. WARRIORS 116, JAZZ 105 I n S a l t L a k e C i t y, Stephen Curry scored 27 points and ignited a decisive third-quarter run to lead Golden State to a victory over the Jazz. Draymond Green scored 15 points while Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson added 12 apiece to lift the Warriors (30-5) to their franchise-best seventh consecutive victory by double figures. Derrick Favors had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who could not overcome blistering thirdquarter shooting by Golden State. Utah allowed 44 points on 16-of-26 shooting in that period. Gordon Hayward scored 17 points while Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert each added a double-double for Utah. Kanter finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Gobert had 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots off the bench.

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S u n s h i n e G i r l s w h i p E n g l a n d

Sunshine Girls celebrate at the end of the match. (PHOTOS: GARFIELD ROBINSON) Jamaica Observer - AN outstanding fourth-quarter show propelled Jamaica to a 57-47 hammering of England Tuesday night at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston and a 2-1 win in the Supreme Ventures Sunshine series. Goal-shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid came off the bench to lead Jamaica with 28 goals from 34 attempts. Romelda Aiken, who started in the shooting position, was 15 from 19. The England Roses top goal-shooter Jo Harten was 35 from 38, while goal-attack Pamela Cookey was 10 from 15. The teams were tied 37-37 at the end of the

third quarter, but the Sunshine Girls, riding on the energy of the vociferous home support, dug deep and put in a scintillating effort to stun third-ranked England. The fourth-ranked hosts held a narrow 1412 goal-lead at the end of the first quarter, but the scores were locked 24-24 at the half-time break. The series was tied 1-1 after the teams shared the opening two games played on Saturday and Sunday. Both countries are preparing for the Netball World Cup to be held in Australia in August.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 15, 2015

NA Warriors demolish Smythfield Rockers to take Banks DIH Basketball Tournament Defending champions New Amsterdam Warriors made sure that their win in the inaugural Banks DIH Classic Basketball Competition was no fluke when the defeated old foe Smythfield Rockers in the final to win the 2014 edition of the competition. The two teams from New Amsterdam entered the competition as favourites and lived up to expectation as they clashed in the finals. In the end it was the Wa r r i o r s w e r e m o r e prepared for battle as they never allowed the Rockers to settle, destroying them 4132. The Warriors took the lead from the start and only relinquished it briefly during the match. They led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Warriors increased the pressure which saw them creating a further advantage 22-15. The Rockers were able to show some amount of fight in the third segment as the held the Warriors to a 2921 lead. The anticipated battle in final segment never materialized. It was the Warriors unit that were ready

as they pulled away for the eventual 41-32 victory. Outstanding for the New Amsterdam were Leroy Edwards with 12 points, Randy Caesar with 10 points and Carlos Crandon with 8. Michael Bowen led the fight for the Smythfield Rockers with 9 points, while Neil Wills netted five. Randy Caesar was voted M o s t Va l u a b l e P l a y e r (MVP) of the tournament. The winning team was presented with the beautiful Banks DIH Trophy by Banks’ Berbice Branch Sales Manager Joshua Torrezao. Second placed Smythfield Rockers also collected a trophy compliment of the sponsors. Torrezao congratulated the two teams for a very good match. He also congratulated all the teams that participated the competition. He stated that sponsoring the basketball tournament was just one part in the company’s motto of being a good cooperate citizen and giving back to the community. Torrezao noted that the company has good things in store for basketball in

Banks DIH Berbice Branch, Sales Manager Joshua Torrezao (centre) chats with the teams prior to the start of the action. Berbice and promised to sponsor the competition in a bigger and better way in the

future. The tournament was organized and coordinated by sports enthusiast Vibert

Garrett. Garrett thanked Banks DIH and wished them further success. He called on

other companies to come forward and play their part. (Samuel Whyte)

WI Fullbore Long and Short Range champs, GNRA, shoots to another rewarding year Braithwaite remains Caribbean’s best shot

L

ocal, small and fullbore shooters have enjoyed yet another thriving year at the ranges indoor and outdoor, local and overseas. The Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA) has proven once again that they are undoubtedly the best at fullbore shooting in the Caribbean at the team and individual levels. They have made every Guyanese proud with their performances in the Caribbean, Scotland, Canada and Suriname. The year 2014 began with the arrival of world renowned shooting Coach from Scotland, Mr. Ian Shaw compliments of the Guyana Olympic Association, Crown Mining Supplies and Industrial Safety Supplies Inc. Mr. Shaw’s work with the local shooters focused on technical refinement, team strategy and improving time

Rewarded! The GNRA top fullbore and smallbore shooters take a photo following the 2014 presentation and awards ceremony. efficiency which is vital to team shooting. The knowledge imparted contributed tremendously to the Guyana fullbore team’s performance at the West

Indies Fullbore Championships, the Imperial Meet in England, the Commonwealth Games in Scotland as well as the National Championships in

Canada and Suriname. Guyana NRA shooters were successful at retaining the Short and Long Range titles a t t h e We s t I n d i e s championships in the land of

Wood and Water, Jamaica. Taking a look further back, in the last eight years, Guyana lost the Long Range trophy once and the Short Range twice.

Guyana took back the Short Range trophy from Jamaica on home soil to make it three successive tours that the Guyanese marksmen have won both ranges in Jamaica, certainly a scenario that is not very much appreciated by the Jamaican shooters who have always been tough opponents for the Guyanese. National Individual champion, Lennox Braithwaite was again unstoppable at the Caribbean level when he won the West Indies Individual trophy for the third successive year. National Captain Mahendra Persaud, Ransford Goodluck, Dylan Fields and Leo Ramalho were also in the top ten list in the Caribbean underscoring the quality of our shooters. Guyana sent a five-member team to the Imperial Meet in England where they (Continued on page 26)

Thursday January 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

GBA and French counterparts in collaboration

GBA President Steve Ninvalle (centre) with the visiting boxing team from French Guiana at his office. The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) has collaborated with its French Guiana counterparts to aid the development of boxing in the Guianas. GBA president Steve Ninvalle and a team from French Guiana, which included the country’s Technical Director along with two fighters, met and had discussions on key areas of collaboration. The team arrived in Guyana Tuesday for a one week stay and also had discussions with GBA Technical and Tournament Director Terrence Poole at

the Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis Gym. Ninvalle informed that French Guiana wants its fighters to train here, and broker all round cooperation with Guyana to see to sport skyrocket. Last month, GBA had talks with president of the Suriname Boxing Association Remie Burke who had also visited Guyana. Burke expressed the desire for the introduction of the Inter Guiana competition. “I think that we are now much closer to realizing that dream. It is now to hold a

meeting of the three presidents so that concrete arrangements can be laid out,” Ninvalle disclosed. In the initial stage, French Guiana has requested that two fighters have a short training stint here. “They brought two boxers here and have asked that they train with our fighters for the duration of the stay in Guyana,” Ninvalle added. “We are happy to oblige and asked our Technical Director to render assistance.” The foreign fighters are preparing for the French national championships to

be held in France this month end. Tuesday’s discussions also included the creation of an Inter Guiana Boxing competition during this year. According to the GBA boss, there is now a distinct possibility of French Guiana participating in the DDL Under-16 competition later this year. The French officials have extended a verbally invitation to Guyana to participate in its next competition, to be held in Cayenne in March. The French team returns home Tuesday.

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ECCC, LCC organizing Cheddi Jagan Memorial 20-Over cricket The East Coast Cricket Committee and the Lusignan Cricket Club with support from the Ministry of Sports, the Guyana Cricket Board, and the Demerara Cricket Board, are organizing the Cheddi Jagan Memorial Over-40 20-Overs Round Robin Competition which is slated to commence on January 31, 2015. This competition would be held in observance of the 18th death anniversary of Guyana’s former President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan. It is expected to be completed on the 7th March 2015, one day after the late President’s date of death. There would be eight teams in Demerara in this contest; two from each Association. The registered teams are East Coast Bulls, East Coast Tigers, Georgetown Buffaloes, Georgetown Bears, East Bank Colts, East Bank Lions, West Demerara Mavericks, and West Coast Seals. Trophies would be awarded to the winner, the runner-up, and the man-ofthe-match of each game. Interested persons can contact the following

Dr. Cheddi Jagan persons in the respective teams: 1. Nazimul Drepaul on 615-8683 for Georgetown Bears and Garvin Nedd on 617-9381 for Georgetown Buffaloes. 2. Johnny Azeez on 6490243 for East Bank Lions and Rohan Sarjoo on 6681565 for East Bank Colts. 3. Sudesh Persaud on 658-7943 for West Demerara Mavericks and Dhanpaul on 668-8865 for West Coast Seals. 4. Anil Persaud on 6246098 for East Coast Tigers and Seeraj Bhimsain on 6472480 for the East Coast Bulls.

P&P Insurance recognized for Obama calls Ohio State’s Meyer contribution to Lawn Tennis to salute football championship

Ms. McCalman presenting a plaque to Mr. Panday. Looking on approvingly are Mr. John Goede, ITF Development Officer for the Caribbean and Ms. Elizabeth Persaud, Treasurer of the Guyana lawn Tennis Association. P&P Insurance Brokers was recently recognized by the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association for its long and consistent support to tennis. In a brief statement, President of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association, Ms. Grace McCalman lauded P&P for its unstinting support to Lawn Tennis in Guyana. She said

P&P has been consistently sponsoring one of the major tennis camps for over 10 years. In response CEO of P&P Mr. Bish Panday said his Company was happy to partner with the GLTA and commended the Executives of the Association for its professional approach to managing the affairs of the sport.

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer is drenched in gatorade as they celebrate the victory 42-20 over the Oregon Ducks in the 2015 CFP National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium. (Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called Urban Meyer to congratulate the Ohio State head coach on his team’s 42-20 upset victory over Oregon the first College FootballPlayoff championship. During Tuesday night’s call with Meyer, Obama discussed “the underclassmen who stepped up in the game despite injury and adversity,” the White House said in a

statement. Obama was looking forward to having the team to the White House to celebrate the championship, the statement said. Ohio State’s victory on Monday night on ESPN drew the highest ratings and viewership in the history of U.S. cable television. The 50-year-old Meyer has won three national titles, having previously won two as the head football coach at Florida.

t r o Sp

NAGICO Super50 bowls off today in T&T JAGUARS FACE VOLCANOES IN OPENING MATCH

Anthony Bramble drives.

Head Coach Esuan Crandon (middle) will hope the Test spinners Devendra Bishoo (right) and Veerasammy Permaul bowl well today.

Foo cuts during his unbeaten 42 in the final.

SOUTH AFRICA V WEST INDIES, 3RD T20, DURBAN Lendl Simmons (Getty Images)

Morne van Wyk drives through the covers during his century. (Gallo Images)

Van Wyk century leads SA to consolation win

Ramnaresh Sarwan lashes out at WICB

Ramnaresh Sarwan Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210