Thursday Edition July 11, 2013 - Vol. 6 No. 28
Online readership yesterday 104,935
Price $80 (VAT Inclusive)
Online: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com
Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly
Guyana to ignore US requests for TIP report Nothing comes cheap!
This $1M gate and fence, available at one of the Chinese hardware stores was an exhibit at the International Building Expo, last weekend at the National Stadium, Providence.
Suspected pirates handed over to Suriname, GDF upset R.K Security Services to terminate Gov’t contracts
High Court marshal Mothers could who served writ on get six months Janet Jagan has died maternity leave
Page 02
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 03
Supply/mahaica murder… Suspected pirates handed Police recover warhead over to Suriname, army upset from dead farmer’s skull
T
he army has expressed concern over reports alleging that inaction by the Coast Guard led to four persons held by some fishermen being handed over to Surinamese authorities. The four were reportedly nabbed after a botched hijacking and robberies at sea on Tuesday. “Consequent to a report by an official of the No 66 Fisheries Cooperative at around noon yesterday (Tuesday) about a robbery at sea, the Coast Guard deployed from New Amsterdam to respond to the report,” the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) said in a statement last evening. The army said that a subsequent call was received from a fisheries cooperative official around 15:00 hours Tuesday where he indicated they had located the vessel in the Eversham Village area and there was an exchange of gunfire.
“He was advised that the Coast Guard had already deployed and was heading to the area. At around 15:45 hrs, a call was received from a Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries department official who requested the Coast Guard and Police presence at the No 66 Village Fisheries Cooperative location so that the arrested persons could be taken in to custody.” The army said that another Coast Guard team was deployed, this time to the No 66 Village Fisheries Cooperative location. “While at that location, the Commander was informed that the vessel and crew were already handed over to the Surinamese authorities. The GDF is concerned that alleged perpetrators of acts of piracy in Guyana’s waters were handed over to Surinamese authorities instead of Guyanese authorities for investigation and prosecution.” According to reports,
members of the Berbice antipiracy team captured four pirates, believed to be from Number 43 Village, East Berbice, who were allegedly robbing two fishing boat. The boats were in Suriname waters. Reportedly, the pirates commandeered one of the fishing boats and used it to attack another. There was an exchange of fire but the suspected pirates were captured. Members of the antipiracy group reportedly claimed that they failed to get through to police. After making contact with the Coast Guard, the team decided to contact Surinamese police after a noshow from the Coast Guard. Pirates have over the years been under constant pirate attacks and despite cooperation between Guyana and Suriname, there has still been sporadic incidents. Recently, two fishermen reportedly died after being thrown from their boat.
D
espite a man turning himself in yesterday, police at Mahaica may be no closer to bringing the perpetrators to justice for the killing of 26 year old farmer Omadat Persaud. Investigators are now questioning three persons, but they may not get too far since according to a source no one has positively been identified any of the persons who stormed Persaud’s Supply, Mahaica home, fatally shooting him before robbing his relatives on Monday night. Investigators are faced with the dilemma of persons being unwilling to provide information about the killing. “People seem afraid to give us any information. Nobody identified the men at the scene, so we have to do some painstaking work. But we should be able to crack this one,” a police source on
Omadat Persaud the East Coast of Demerara told Kaieteur News. Around 19:30 hours on Monday, Persaud’s mother Chan Persaud watched as masked gunmen cold bloodedly shot her son in the center of his forehead. The terrified woman ran to the front of her house and screamed for help. She told this newspaper that she did not recognized her son’s killers. Even Persaud’s sister and her husband who were
visiting from overseas with their children could not provide police with a positive identification of the invaders; neither could the neighbours who looked out after hearing the gunshots and screams for help. “People just calling names and when we check them out, the people have alibis,” the source said. Kaieteur News understands that investigators are hoping that they will get some help from ballistics tests that will be carried out on a spent shell recovered at the scene and a warhead that was retrieved from the dead man’s skull. Residents are convinced that the perpetrators are from the Mahaica area, since they seem to be targeting the overseas visitors and they appeared to know the Persaud’s yard well. “How dem know fuh run through de back whey gat nuff bush?” one resident asked.
Barbados fighting for LIAT Three persons detained
T
he Barbados Government appears to be stepping up the fight for cheaper Caribbean flights and in so doing is making it more feasible for the interterritory airline, LIAT, to survive. Coming out of the just concluded Caricom summit, Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has called for a level playing field so that LIATenjoys subsidies similar to that given by the Trinidad and Tobago Government to CaribbeanAirlines. “It has emerged that CAL has been buying its fuel at US$50 per barrel, while LIAT has to buy its fuel at upwards of a US$100 a barrel,” Stuart said. His statement came just over a week after Barbados Foreign Minister Maxine McLean had said Caribbean Governments should reduce taxes charged to the regional airline, LIAT, making it cheaper for people to travel across the Caribbean and
strengthen integration. Airport taxes on LIAT account for more than 30 percent of the travel ticket, and now the Barbados Prime Minister is pointing at the cost of fuel that the islandhopper airline has to pay while facing competition from Trinidad-owned CAL. “In other words, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is subsidising CAL for the purchase of its fuel and is competing with LIAT on regional routes,” Stuart said and added, “that is competitive behaviour and it is against the spirit of the revised Treaty of Chauguaramas, and we have been engaging the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on that issue.” Stuart’s comments come from the background of Barbados being the largest shareholder in LIAT, while the other owners are St Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Dominica. “What other issues LIAT has we can deal with ... but on the
issue of subsidy we have to have a resolution,” he said. In spite of the massive subsidy enjoyed by CAL, its airfare charges to regional travelers are at the same level as LIAT despite the smaller airline’s higher input cost. At times LIAT is cheaper. A Guyanese wishing to vacation with relatives in Barbados from August 9 to August 27 will be confronted with travel charges of US$425.90 by Cal, and US$385.20 if traveling with LIAT. “You only have to ask yourself what would the Caribbean be like without LIAT, to get a sense of how important it is, because there is no other airline that has done and is doing the work in this region that LIAT is doing,” Stuart said.
in Gajadhar robbery Three persons have been arrested in relation to the robbery which occurred early Monday in the vicinity of Cowan and Water Streets, Kingston and left 72-yearold Victor Da Silva dead. During the robbery, the gunmen escaped with over $8M in cash. They also shot businessman Cecil Albert Gajadhar to his right side face. He will be discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation today. Yesterday, Police Public
Relations Officer Ivelaw Whittaker confirmed that three men have been arrested but he could not say whether the men were detained at the Princess International Hotel Monday evening. Whittaker assured the public that investigators are “working on some other
leads”. Meanwhile, a port mortem performed yesterday on the body of Victor Da Silva of Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara by Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh gave the cause of death as multiple gunshot injuries. Victor Da Silva would be laid to rest on Saturday.
Page 04
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
There is no denying the truth Just over a decade ago there was no person in Guyana who would not have proclaimed from the roof tops that this country could boast of its record as a place where human trafficking did not exist. Human trafficking was something that occurred in other countries but not in Guyana. There were reports of a few young girls running away but that was nothing to worry about. Theirs was the case of raging hormones; at least, that was what the authorities concluded. Parents were not worried that their children were being trafficked. The children simply disappeared of their own volition. The United States of America, however, was not so inclined to believe that suggestion. It insisted that Guyana put measures in place to curb the human trafficking that was taking place. Of course the Guyana Government was incensed, and with good reason. It had no record of human trafficking and no one but the United States was making such a claim. Sometimes might is right. If the United States contended that there was human trafficking then Guyana must do something to show that it is not a country that would tolerate such lawlessness. Of course, it was forced to modify its legislation and so moved slightly up the ladder from a position where it was on a Watch List to a Tier Two. Guyana did prepare legislation that made Trafficking in Persons a criminal offence. The Americans were happy but Guyana was angry because there was not an iota of evidence that human trafficking was something that Guyana needed to worry about. At least this was what the authorities believed. They did not pay too much attention to the reports of girls being brought from the North West District to work along the coast; they did not pay too much attention to girls being moved to Suriname. The Americans were certain that Guyana was happy to be like the ostrich, with its head in the sand in the face of human trafficking. Today, it turns out that Guyana is a hotbed of human trafficking. This is fuelled by the poverty that stalks the land. There are young women who are besieged by the various advertisements that proclaim all the things that young women should have. Having them is another matter, especially when every bit of spare income is needed for the pot or for some article of basic living. And it is not that some of the mothers have the moral fortitude that is needed to keep families together. The result is that girls barely into puberty run to use their bodies to get those things that they feel are being denied them. They respond to the promises of untold wealth without realizing that there is really nothing there. To its credit, the government has put measures in place to ensure that underage girls do not enter the hinterland. There are monitors at crossings but again the lure of money can open any door and cause many to turn a blind eye to real situations. We have now found that the very people put at the crossings to keep child sex out of the interior actually prey on the very child being taken into the interior. Two of them are in custody for demanding sex as a bribe. And despite the protestations of the administration a woman has uncovered a sex ring that is so large that it defies imagination. Dozens of young girls are lured to the interior and become sex slaves. Before long they desire to get out but that is easier said than done. We have not heard of anyone dying but then again when someone goes missing for a long time the relatives soon give up. There are no police inquiries. The unfortunate thing is that our administration is not happy with criticisms. President Donald Ramotar has accused all and sundry of meddling in Guyana’s internal affairs. He forgets that he was the one who invited the meddling in the first instance. But that apart, there is human trafficking and the lid is coming off. It is left to the law enforcers to nab the movers of this curse.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Letters... Where your views make the news
The time has come to break my silence on the Boodoo Affair DEAR EDITOR, The time has come to break my silence on the Boodoo Affair. I am breaking my silence for two reasons. First, the Chronicle newspaper facilitated a letter which sought to blame ethnic cleansing for the nonsupport of a new contract for Mr. Boodoo, Former Chief Elections Officer. This is nothing short of using the old racist bogey trap and bigotry that has kept Guyana stagnated and is the main platform for some politicians and political parties, in Guyana. How could the African Guyanese Commissioners be accused of racism or ethnic cleansing, at GECOM, when for their entire tenure, so far, only Indians have been offered jobs in the hierarchy with no objections from the African Guyanese Commissioners who are now referred to as the ethnic cleansers. The posts of the Human Resource and Administrative Managers at GECOM, two top posts, have been repeatedly, and only, filled by Indo-Guyanese within the last five (5) years. And in instances where they have been fired or terminated from those said positions,
they were fired at Mr. Boodoo’s insistence, with protestations from some Commissioners, including the African Guyanese Commissioners, in particular, over the manner in which their contracts were not renewed or terminated. So much for the accusation of ethnic cleansing by the African Guyanese Commissioners and the racist overtones of the Indian Arrival Committee, whose racist pronouncements were facilitated by the Chronicle newspapers. It seems that some have sanctioned rights to such overtones or outright manifestations, while others dare not. Second, I am responding because the truth is not being told. In fact, quite the opposite is being provided as the truth. The latest such attempt was Peeping Tom’s Column of July 8, 2013. Every day, there is someone referring to Boodoo’s action, in his preparation of the results of the 2011 elections, as a MISTAKE. There was no MISTAKE. Mr Boodoo was singularly responsible for converting the vote count into seats. This was not his first exposure to the task. It was his third. There is only
one formula for converting the votes into seats. How could it be a mistake if a factor in the formula is changed? There was no error of calculation. Sixty-five (65) replaced forty (40) in the formula. Let it be known that no calculations were presented to the Commission f o r s c r u t i n y. S i g n e d declarations were presented. There was nothing for the naked eye to discern. It was my academic knowledge of the system and my constant explanation of the system to students that equipped me to discern the fraudulent declaration (result). When challenged, Mr Boodoo responded that he ‘was right and was presenting the correct results’. It required a sustained exchange; reference to the legal provisions that provide for the formula; and my insistence that he had used an incorrect formula that caused Mr Boodoo to resort to the correct and only available formula to recalculate the allocation of seats. It should be noted that he had already used the same formulation to correctly calculate the allocation of seats for the ten constituencies (regions).
This was the straw that broke the camels’ back, since it had been a pattern of Mr Boodhoo to treat the Commissioners with contempt with regard to the truth. Enough was enough and is enough. Let the truth be told and I challenge anyone to refute the story that I now tell. My decency and professional cloak influenced my public silence, which has been exploited to drown out the truth and perpetuate falsehood. Enough is enough. I am now cloaked in Good Governance and guided by Openness and Transparency. Let the TRUTH be told. There was no MISTAKE. There was no ERROR. Did the system work? NO! The system was not intended to be curative. It was intended to be preventative. Boodoo’s ill had to be cured since it was about to inflict DEATH on the results. It had previously inflicted death in the 2006 elections. In 2006, the mistake was brought to Boodoo‘s and the Commissioners’ attention at a time when it could have been corrected, ask the AFC. In fact, correction was promised, but alas the kneel (Continued on page 6)
Reducing one’s labour costs is the objective DEAR EDITOR, The 42 percent increase in the wages of security personnel which was recently foisted upon security companies by the Government of Guyana is now a done deal. Many in the security industry were up in arms for what they called the capricious manner in which the increase was introduced, and recounted that a 40 percent increase was introduced in a similar fashion last year. Others expressed the view that they suspected that the timing of the increase was highly influenced by political motives, and reluctantly prepared themselves for the remaining 18 percent increase in the not too distant future. However one looks at the situation, the events which led to the wage increase exist in a number of developing countries, and in many instances were addressed by means similar to those employed by the government. On one hand, the government laments the fact that security guards are at the bottom of the employment food chain. On the other
hand, security employers say their industry is a highly competitive and labourintensive one that is highly sensitive to price shifts, and express dissatisfaction that the government did not hold prior consultations with the security industry’s trade association, GuyanaAssociation of Private Security Organisations (GAPSO). From a casual observation, one thing becomes crystal clear: GAPSO lacks a unified strategic approach to deal with the government, which results from the different persuasions held by
individual members on the issue. In the past, many members who had the financial wherewithal to do so have taken to honouring the increase even before and without any prior consultation with GAPSO’s membership. Perhaps they felt this was a good way to flex their financial muscles and kill off their competitors over time. But when the experiences of other jurisdictions are brought to bear, one finds that the wages and salaries of security personnel in middle income countries have usually followed the wage
increase trajectory of other classes of workers over time, which has resulted in the security industry becoming less labour-intensive and tended to lead to some degree of job loss. As always, four measures were employed to keep security budgets within manageable proportions, namely: trained managers, skilled supervisors, better trained guards and the introduction of value added technological solutions. The objective is to reduce one’s labour costs by about fifteen to twenty percent. Clairmont Featherstone
I misquoted M. Maxwell DEAR EDITOR, When I wrote that M Maxwell had written that four WPA members had been killed “before the internationally known Walter Rodney” I was wrong, The number M. Maxwell used was three, including the supposed Claude Bovell, before Walter Rodney. I quoted M Maxwell correctly in the next paragraph of my letter and I
apologise to the writer for giving a wrong impression. I did not accuse M. Maxwell of exaggeration and I do not believe that the writer had such a motive. The state-owned press, then, as now, was full of mischief and deception and was also without equal competition in those years. My point is that relying on what appeared in the newspaper in those days is a
risk. Yesterday (Tuesday) I followed up and was able to establish that the name “Bovell” did not come from O h e n e ’s p a r e n t s o r grandparents, and that it was never his name. For some reason the political system in those days twice played with the identity of its political victims. They had pretended not to know who Dr Rodney was. Eusi Kwayana
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 5
Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news
APNU will never be forgiven if it votes with the PPP without securing the Public Procurement Commission DEAR EDITOR, The Minister of Legal Affairs is quoted in the Stabroek News as saying that the “Government is counting on APNU to get money laundering amendments passed”. The Minister must be the only person in the country that believes in that “clap-trap”. What the people of Guyana now know, thanks to the Alliance For Change (AFC), is that since May 2011, the PPP Government was well aware that it needed to get these amendments into law along with setting up a system to trap and capture the Money Launderers. Only when this is done will Guyana be in compliance the rules of the international community. To wait until April 2013 to take action on this Money Laundering law and totally ignore the “trap and capture” system is most devious of the first law officer of the Government of Guyana. Such economy with the truth is a monstrous act of injustice from the PPP against the people of Guyana. What these actions
suggest is that the Ministers of Finance and Legal Affairs are essentially unfit for leadership at the highest levels; they abandoned their desks for the studios of NCN to peddle their fairy tales to the people expecting the people to follow them. But they have no credibility and thus not the people and even the international community trust them anymore. This Government is now rendered into a lame duck administration because of all the dishonesty. These acts of the PPP Ministers are incompatible with democracy. As the Constitution says “sovereignty belong to the people who exercise that power through all of their
elected representatives”, not only Ministers of the PPP. We were fortunate to have read two masterpieces for articles authored by the Leader of the AFC, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan captioned the “Our Archdukes of Unprincipledom” which shattered all these PPP myths. (http:// www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/ 2013/06/30/our-archdukes-ofunprincipledom-ppp-andprocurement/) and (http:// www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/ 2013/07/07/our-archdukes-ofunprincipledom-part-2/) The AFC Leader rightly pointed out it was the PPP, 10 years ago, who piloted this Procurement Law in its current structure that
established the Public Procurement Commission in this form. But when the unprincipled PPP realized they would not get any more grease, they backpedaled. They were not prepared for an independent Commission to de-construct all the Ponzi scheme contracts parceled off to their best friends. The PPP was not prepared to replace a best-friend-only system with one that respects competitive awards based on best practices in the procurement industry. From what we can see from this debate, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan is leading his party, while President Donald Ramotar follows his Ministers. There has been no
discernible change in the PPP from the Jagdeo regime to the Ramotar administration; just more of the same policies but executed in a worse and more divided fashion. The white flag in the PPP is showing as they drop to their knees to beg the APNU/ PNC for support on money laundering. Well, the PNC has to be extremely naïve to not recognize the blatant money laundering deals, and until that is stopped, they will be unprincipled to be supporting any anti-money laundering legislation. The APNU/PNC leadership is fully aware of the political risk in joining the PPP on this vote without securing the Public Procurement
Commission. The facts are, Guyana is losing some G$15 billion a year to corruption, kickbacks and fraud, because we do not have a Public Procurement Commission. That is G$15 billion less to spend on the roads in Linden, Lodge and Lima. The people will never forgive APNU if it votes with the PPP on this one without securing the Public Procurement Commission. Dr. Asqutih Rose and Harish S. Singh
Page 6
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Letters... Where your views make the news
The nation has been hoodwinked by this year’s Grade Six Assessment results DEAR EDITOR, It’s the ambition of every responsible parent/parents to see their child/children receive the best education. Some pay fees to ensure this. In some ways, parents want to give their children what they themselves did not achieve as a child. Children in our education system started from Play, Nursery, Primary, Secondary and then to University. We have the Public and Private Schools. The recent Grade Six Assessment results leave very much to be desired. Approximately seventeen thousand (17,000) students wrote the exams; the education norm is that 10% of the students writing any exams are the top students passing with well over 90%, thereafter the results of the other marks follow. I therefore wish to state the following: 1. The Grade Six Assessment test showed approximately 240 passing for the top schools. 2. The Ministry of Education has stopped giving exams slips showing grade 2, 4 and 6 adding total marks the students gained in the
Assessment Exams. 3. I am stating that the grades 2 and 4 marks were added/not added to some of the students’ grade six marks, therefore less marks and a lower school. 4. When you ask for a review, $5,000 is charged and you have to wait one month to know the child’s fate. No papers are presented for you to see the results of the review. Where is the transparency? 5. The five top schools are Queen’s College, The Bishops’ High, St Stanislaus College, St. Rose’s and St. Joseph High. What has been done to raise the other Secondary Schools to the level of the five (5) top schools? 6. The nation has been hoodwinked by the results. It is insulting to one’s intelligence and the children who have studied so hard and the parents who know the ability of their children and the teachers. I am calling for a forensic audit of the results of the Grade Six Assessment 2013. Concerned Parent
We seem to have lost out again with the Brazilians
DEAR EDITOR, We seem to have lost out again with the Brazilians. Since it’s July and we have not been told anything about the ultimatum given to us by them, to decide if we will partner with them in building a Hydroelectric dam, a deep water harbour and a proper highway to Brazil, by the end of June. Numerous Brazilian delegations from all levels have approached this government in desperation to allow this development of both Guyana and Brazil to move forward, but they have gotten tired of asking this corrupt government to be their partners to do these projects which will benefit both countries, so they had given them an ultimatum, if by
the end of June the PPP didn’t agree to the projects they would go to Suriname. We keep asking ourselves why? Why? Why? How could we not embrace these projects with Brazil since they could benefit this country in such a fundamental way? I know the answer and it is almost too ridiculous to put on paper, that a government would not do what is right for their country, since it would interrupt corruption! We hardly have any big projects with the World Bank or the IDB today, since none of our projects would pass their criteria as being feasible, including the Skeldon Project. We have the Chinese financing everything, airport, Marriott, hydropower, and
The time has come... From page 4 tolled and GECOM piously said “let them seek redress in Court.” A court which dismissed the just case on contrived technical grounds. 2011 was an attempt to once again deprive the AFC of a seat. An attempt to beat up on the small
party in deference to the PPP/ C. Let the truth be told. The facts are irrefutable. I now await all of the bile, venom and the like as I stand by the truth which must prevail. I can no longer be silent nor be silenced, cost it what it may. Vincent Alexander GECOM Commissioner
their objective does not seem to be to lend us money for projects which can be repaid, since we are investing in schemes which are not viable and could never return a profit, we have to ask ourselves why the Chinese are doing this? The answer is simple. They are essentially recolonizing us through economic debt and the current executives of the PPP don’t care, they are filling their pockets and that is all they are interested in. When the time comes the Chinese will leave us here, whilst the PPP fat cats will migrate to the US and other countries and live like kings. It’s a different phenomenon with the Brazilians, they need us to be their partners because of our geological location so that we both can benefit from the development it can bring, but they, the Brazilians, will build it, so the shenanigans the PPP have become notorious for will have to stop for these projects - no more corrupt contractors kicking back money to Freedom House, and for this reason alone, we will be denied development, and continue to live in poverty in perpetuity. Tony Vieira
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 7
Page 8
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Guyana rejects US State Department TIP report The Government of Guyana has made it clear that it will not be responding to the yearly questionnaires on trafficking in persons as requested by the embassy of the United States of America in Georgetown. This follows another unfavourable US State Department report on Guyana’s position on Trafficking in Persons. The Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons (MTFTIP) has expressed deep concern that the 2013 US State Department’s Report on TIP in Guyana has not reviewed Guyana fairly. “The Government of Guyana regrets that the US Embassy, though it requests every year responses of the Government of Guyana to a questionnaire on TIPs, does not accurately reflect these responses in its Annual Report. “Consequently, the Government of Guyana wishes to make it clear that in the future it will not be completing and returning questionnaires on trafficking in persons to the US authorities,” the MTFTIP said in a statement yesterday. The task force, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that the Report contains several inaccuracies and misrepresentations with regard to the scope of trafficking in persons in Guyana and therefore attracts little merit on the part of the Government of Guyana. The 2013 US State Department had painted a gloomy picture on Guyana Government’s role in combating trafficking in persons, citing a lack of will
Guyana’s champion in TIP Simona Broomes receives an award from US Secretary of State John Kerry for her work in rescuing TIP victims. and conviction. But the MTFTIP, which was established by Cabinet on February 6, 2007, noted that the Report ignores the efforts of the Government of Guyana in combating trafficking in persons. In one instance the report referred to the media report that highlighted the case of a child who was murdered while working in the mines… “and reports linked his death to his attempt to collect wages due to him.” But according to the MTFTIP, while the Government of Guyana has established that the child was indeed sadly murdered, it is of the view that the US Report has not provided a shred of evidence to link the child’s death to the offence of trafficking in persons. The US Report further states that: “Indonesian
workers were subjected to forced labor on several Guyanese-flagged fishing boats off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago during the reporting period.” Again the MTFTIP disagreed, stating that the Government of Guyana considers this claim as spurious since it falls
completely outside the jurisdiction of Guyana. “The Government of Guyana has no knowledge of this matter whatsoever and considers it a brazen attempt on the part of the US State Department to resort to an extraterritorial issue in an effort to bring some degree of credence to a Report that is
riddled with fabrications,” the MTFTIP stated. It argued that by including the matter without providing information on it to the Government of Guyana, the US State Department has contravened an agreement between US Embassy Officials and Ministers of the Task Force to share information on trafficking in persons. The US Report went on to state that: “The Government of Guyana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however it is making significant efforts to do so.” According to the task force, Government strictly adheres to and upholds the minimum standards of the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, as well as its own “Combating Trafficking in Persons Act No. 2 of 2005”. The MTFTIP argued though that Guyana, as a sovereign nation, is not a signatory of the United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act and as such it
is not required to follow that act. This is not the first time that local authorities have reacted negatively to US State Department reports on Trafficking In Persons in Guyana. A few years ago the Guyana Government continuously denied that there was widespread Trafficking In Persons. Recently, a number of persons have been rescued from Trafficking In Persons situations in the interior, following diligent work by the Guyana Women Miners’ Association. The head of that association, Simona Broomes, has been rewarded by the US State Department for her work in combating trafficking in persons. The US Report claims that: “The government failed to demonstrate evidence of increasing efforts to hold trafficking offenders accountable with jail time over the previous reporting period” But in its rebuttal the MTFTIP explained that the Government of Guyana has Continued on page 29
Absentee defendant sentenced to jail Georgetown Magistrate, Judy Latchman, sentenced an absentee defendant to more than two years jail, yesterday. The defendant, Steve Mohan was accused of breaking and entering a Prashad Nagar home and maliciously wounding the owner. The allegation is that on March 11 2013, Mohan wounded Clifford Ifill, with
intent to cause him actual bodily harm. On the same day, he broke and entered the man’s Lot 114 Amla Avenue, Prashad Nagar home and reportedly carted off items, including five cellular phones. Mohan initially pleaded not guilty to both counts and was placed on $50,000 bail but he subsequently, went missing during his trial.
As a result, an ex parte trial was carried out in the defendant’s absence and the sentence handed down. Prosecutor Renetta Bentham told the court, on the day in question, around 9:30 hours, the victim upon returning home saw a bicycle in his yard and went to inquire whose it was. As the complainant entered his yard, he found the defendant, carrying a bag on his back, exiting the front door. The man took the suspect by the hand and back into the house to see if anything had been stolen. Mohan opened
the bag, under the pretence of showing its contents to Ifill, and took out a knife, and stabbed him in the abdomen. As a result, Ifill received several cuts to his hands. He began to bleed and to grow weak. Mohan escaped. The matter was reported to a nearby Police station on April 11, last. The suspect was seen by the complainant later at the Central Immigration and Passport Office, when he was on just another attempt to flee the jurisdiction. There, Mohan was apprehended by law enforcement officers.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 9
THE POLL THAT THE PPP WILL NEVER CONDUCT It is amazing how an adjustment to one’s status within a party can change one’s perspective on things. Very few within the leadership of the PPPC would have predicted anything but a comfortable majority in the run-up to the 2011 elections. These were not elections to be lost by the PPPC. They were elections which would vindicate the greatness of the PPP and the Jagdeo administration. Just before the elections, the friends of Jagdeo had a spectacular farewell for him, an event which could have been mistaken for the coronation of a King. Against this background, the possibility of the PPPC losing the 2011 elections was unthinkable. The possibility of the party not gaining a majority was remote. The PPPC did not lose the elections, but it failed to gain a majority of the votes cast, because of the manner in which seats are allocated. It fell behind by one seat to gain a majority.
After the shock of the results had evaporated, then came the analyses for the party’s showing. The first one of note was that the party suffered from the syndrome known as incumbency fatigue. The people, in other words, were tired of the same old government and therefore there was some amount of vote-shifting. Well, as it turned out it was a major shift and a great percentage of that shift took place in Berbice where the PPPC has always been considered impregnable. But there followed other explanations. An in-house analysis by the PPP itself found that APNU had engaged in vote -rigging. It was said that the turnout in stations where the PPPC did not have polling agents was larger than the mean turnout at other stations where there were poling agents of the ruling party. Other related excuses were given including open hostility against the ruling party’s supporters at some stations.
No one within the leadership wanted to come out and concede publicly that the opposition did their homework. The opposition knew from the Maths’ that though they would never attract the popular vote, once the turnout of opposition supporters was substantially higher than those of the PPPC, there could be a possibility of denying the PPPC a majority. The opposition felt therefore, that if they drew the PPPC into a state of complacency, they could spring a surprise and deny the PPP a majority in the National Assembly. And this is exactly what they did. They ran a low keyed campaign, lulled the PPPC into believing that victory was assured and then sprung a surprise by effective mobilization on election’s day. The opposition parties did not have the resources to be effective on the ground within the communities before elections day. Where they stood out was their mobilization on election’s day.
Dem boys seh...
Guyana talking fat and doing faat It had to happen. Guyana fighting back; and it tekking on Uncle Sam. Dem boys know that from de time Donald get vex and he tell de Ambassador Hardt that he meddling, something woulda happen. De Ambassador tell Donald that transparency needed in dealings, Donald get vex; de man tell Donald that he must address corruption in Guyana Donald see green and red and blue at de same time. When Cabinet meet Tuesday Donald cuss. And once he start all dem Minister join in. Even Bharrat come out from retirement and been at de meeting. He tell de whole Cabinet that dem don’t have to worry if nutten ever come from de States, that things gun now come from India and China. But dem boys know why things get to this stage. Is de money laundering thing. Nuff of dem got money and dem can’t get it in a bank because de Americans watching. Well if dem blank America then dem ain’t got to worry bout any money laundering legislation and dem don’t have to worry bout who talk about corruption. China don’t push
its mouth in other people business. Of course, Guyana couldn’t come out and challenge de money laundering legislation which got to pass this month. It decode to talk bout trafficking in person. People ketching human traffickers a dime a dozen; policemen troubling li’l girls who getting trafficked and Clement got de nerve to claim how Guyana don’t care wha dem Americans seh. Well dem boys want Guyana to know that is more visas gun shut down and Clement don’t care, He and Kwame and nuff others don’t have visa. De last time Guyana talk fat, it had to do wid Clement refusing to tek de deportees from de US. All Uncle Sam do was to withhold visa from all Government people. Is then GINA people try to get other people to help dem. This is wheh de Hard Times paper gun come in. This time Uncle Sam gun withhold visas from every Guyanese. Dem boys seh that Uncle Sam would not be fooled. Is all of dem gun get ketch in de visa ban. Talk half and wait fuh de blanket visa ban.
On the other hand, the PPPC still seemed to be riding on the cloud of their farewell ceremony for their retired president and as a consequence did not mobilize on election’s day. They paid the price. It is a positive sign that the PPPC’s leadership has come down from its high horses. They have discarded the unproven theories of incumbency fatigue and voterigging by APNU and have now accepted that they lost touch with their supporters. That type of honesty is commendable. It is a good place to begin to regain lost ground. Accepting that the necessary groundwork was absent does not answer the question as to why, despite not having the same groundwork, the opposition supporters were highly motivated to kick the PPPC out of office. It also does not explain why the PPPC supporters voted by their absence from the polling stations. The PPPC needs to
commission a poll to determine why its once loyal supporters stayed away in their numbers. What were the reasons why the formally loyal supporters of a party which rescued Guyana from destitution to which it had descended under the PNC refuse to come out and vote or voted instead for the AFC? Does the PPP really want the answer to that question or is the party’s leadership afraid of the consequences? Will the party launch a poll by a credible pollster to answer the questions as to why there was complacency and a switch in large numbers to the AFC? Are they willing to also determine why without much resources, APNU enjoyed a higher voter turnout through effective mobilization on election’s day and a highly motivated support bases keen to kick the PPP out of office? This column will hazard a speculation that the PPPC will never undertake a poll to answer these questions because the answers will frighten the leadership. It will demonstrate what
the PPP leadership does not wish to accept: that its supporters were outraged at the lifestyles of some of their leaders. . Appalled by their arrogance and detested the fact that little attention was being paid to the problems faced by ordinary citizens. By not facing those issues, the PPP is avoiding a purge at the existing Congress. But by failing to act it may also be courting defeat come 2016. The problem therefore is not that there are forces trying to sully the leadership with charges of corruption so as to influence the outcome of the Congress. The problem is that there is a leadership which refuses to accept that these concerns are responsible in the first place for the PPPC being a minority in parliament.
Miner wounded, hospitalised Merwyn George, a miner from Region One has been charged for unlawfully wounding fellow miner, Troy Daniels, with the intent to maim, disfigure or cause him grievous bodily harm on July 7, 2013. He pleaded not guilty to the charge when he faced Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Both men were at a shop at Arakaka, consuming alcoholic beverages on the
- Court hears day in question, when they had a verbal disagreement which erupted into a heated argument. The defendant left the shop and returned with a cutlass which he used to chop the victim several times, causing gashes to Daniels’s abdomen and wrist. The man’s injuries were severe, thus Daniels was rushed to a nearby medical
facility and later airlifted out of the area. Daniels is currently hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). His condition has been deemed “serious.” In his defense, George claimed to have sustained injuries during the altercation. He was remanded to prison until August 6 and ordered to return to the Matthew’s Ridge Magistrate court on that date.
Page 10
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
=== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ===
The West is speaking out on corruption in Guyana. Why now? In my last Sunday column (“Every country has ministerial rascals but …”) I asked the question why the ABC diplomats here are now speaking out about corruption. It cannot miss the notice of almost everyone familiar with Guyana that from the time Mr. Jagdeo settled down in office after the 2001 election, his junta became enveloped in horrible stories of corruption that were on par with other depraved States know for massive corruption. That was almost twelve years ago. It wasn’t your everyday skullduggery. The scams
involved billions of dollars that devastated development in Guyana. Corruption since 2001 is killing Guyana. The textbook of corruption says it is the worst enemy of development in the Third World. Clive Thomas, our premier economist and others like Dr. Tarron Khemraj need to tell us about how much Guyana has lost through the siphoning off of money by governmental actors since 2001. It has to be dozens of billions of dollars. Where were the voices of the West after 2001? Was the West asleep or blind? The manifestations were too
graphic to miss their eyes. As soon as a young man became a Minister, a mansion and swimming pool emerged on his land in Region Three. Another fellow chalked up just about four years of service with the regime and built a huge residence with state of the art swimming pool not far from a famous drive-in cinema. A woman in the corridors of power is at the moment asking for a million American dollars for a house near to a police station not too far from where I live in Turkeyen. A small businessman became a tycoon comparable to any in the US after monopolizing state contracts. A real non-entity who was a mere truck driver is now one of Guyana’s richest men. Guyanese were not fooled. They know these tycoons were the fronts for corrupt politicians. The only people who didn’t know what was going on in Guyana were the Western diplomats. Or is that they didn’t want to know? From 2001 to May 2013,
did the Americans know about the extraordinary levels of corruption in Guyana? The answer is yes. The question is why did they stay silent until June 2013? I repeat from my Sunday column what one of Guyana’s most prominent lawyers told me in the National Park. He said that it is foolish to think that the Americans do not know that almost every conceivable influential actor in the PPP is engaged in massive financial theft. For him the silence of Canada, the UK, the US, IDB and World Bank was due to intelligence cooperation that the Guyana Government provided the Americans on the Hugo Chavez Government. He was dead serious. He said there can be no competing explanation. A strange thing began to happen. From June 2013, all three diplomats from the ABC countries began to speak about corruption in Guyana. Some of the language used was not subtle or diplomatic at all. Yesterday I got an email from a Guyanese-American
lawyer with an important occupation in the corporate world in the US (I have since erased the mail but would talk to my trusted friends about his analysis). He wrote to say that he read my Sunday piece and has a theory based on contacts he has. His theory is that the June 2013 volte face of the ABC diplomats is a response to a new dynamic in US foreign policy. He believes that the West is entering a new phase of geopolitical rivalry, this time with China who seems to have become the newest imperialist designer in the world. Statistics of China’s penetration of the Third World is frightening. China is literally buying up Africa. My friend feels that the PPP cabal is encouraging Chinese hegemony in the Caribbean. If you think China is swallowing up Guyana, then study their investment in Suriname and Jamaica. It is larger than in Guyana. The West may be entering into a rethink on its relation with the PPP Government.
Frederick Kissoon This can only be in the best interest of this country. And it is for the opposition (both APNU and AFC) and other stakeholders like Transparency Guyana, ACDA, People’s Parliament etc to pressure the ABC diplomats to up the pressure on the PPP junta to pursue good governance including immediate local government elections. I end on a personal note. Chinese imperialism will not help this country. Unlike Western imperialism which has cultural, historical, philosophical, and language ties to Guyana that led to small forms of understanding, sympathy and generosity, the Chinese have no such historical connections and don’t want such ties. Chinese imperialism is the return of Genghis Khan.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 11
Page 12
Kaieteur News
Stem-cell transplants may purge HIV - Treatment risky Two men with HIV may have been cured after they received stem-cell transplants to treat the blood cancer, lymphoma, their doctors announced yesterday at the International AIDS Society Conference in Kuala Lumpur. One of the men received stem-cell transplants to replace his blood-cellproducing bone marrow about three years ago, and the other five years ago. Their regimens were similar to one used on Timothy Ray Brown, the ‘Berlin patient’ who has been living HIV-free for six years and is the only adult to have been declared cured of HIV. Last July, doctors announced that the two men — the ‘Boston patients’ — appeared to be living without detectable levels of HIV in their blood, but they were still taking antiretroviral medications at that time. Timothy Henrich, an HIV specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, who helped to treat the men, says that they have now stopped their antiretroviral treatments with no ill effects. One has been off medication for 15 weeks and the other for seven. Neither has any trace of HIV DNA or RNA in his blood, Henrich says. If the men stay healthy, they would be the third and fourth patients ever to be
cured of HIV, after Brown and a baby in Mississippi who received antiretroviral therapy soon after birth. But Henrich and Daniel Kuritzkes, a colleague at Brigham who also worked with the men, caution that it is still too early to know whether or not the Boston patients have been cured. For that, doctors will need to follow the men closely for at least a year, because the virus may be hiding out in ‘reservoirs’ — parts of the men’s bodies, such as their brain or gut, that can harbour the virus for decades. “We’re being very careful not to say that these patients are cured,” Kuritzkes says. “But the findings to date are very encouraging.” HIV researcher, Steven Deeks, of the University of California, San Francisco, says that doctors might need to wait at least two years before declaring that a cure has been achieved. “Any evidence that we might be able to cure HIV infection remains a major advance,” Deeks says. But, he adds, “there have been cases of patients who took many weeks off therapy before the virus took off”. Exciting news Still, researchers and doctors are excited about the news, especially because the Boston patients’ treatment differed from the Berlin patient’s regimen in one key
way. Brown was given stem cells that were predisposed to resist HIV infection, because the donor happened to have a mutated version of a key protein — CCR5 — that is needed for HIV to infect cells. So Brown’s transplant was akin to gene therapy with HIVresistant cells. But the Boston patients received stem cells without the protective mutation. The transplanted cells must therefore have been protected from infection by the antiretroviral drugs taken during cancer treatment. Their doctors think that an immune response called graft-versushost disease — a posttransplant reaction in which donated cells kill off a patient’s own cells — may have then wiped out the patients’ HIV reservoirs, potentially curing the men. Transplant specialist Christine Durand of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, says that the case of the Boston patients may show that current antiretroviral drugs are powerful enough, on their own, to protect the transplanted cells. “If cure has been achieved in the Boston patients, then it was the antiretroviral therapy, not gene therapy, that protected the donor cells,” she says. Continued on page 21
Thursday July 11, 2013
Guyana on track for 500,000 tonnes output this year
A new high-yielding rice variety. The first rice crop for 2013 has officially ended with a record yield of 263,528 metric tonnes of rice from a total of 405,428 metric tonnes of paddy, significantly surpassing the target of 206,000 tonnes. If this trend continues, then Guyana is headed for a 500,000- tonne output for this year, Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said at a press conference on Monday. Over the past few years, rice production has been significantly increasing with production recorded at 365,469 metric tonnes in 1999, the highest record then, followed by the 2010 production of 361,527 metric tonnes, 402,000 tonnes in 2011 and 422,000 tonnes for
2012, a government release said. More than 81,628 hectares, which has a yield of about 201,000 tonnes of paddy were sown for the 2013 first crop as compared to 78,000 tonnes for the first crop of last year. The yield per hectare for this crop was five tonnes. Region Five continues to be the leading region. It produced 101,262 tonnes followed by Region Six with 67,508 tonnes, Region Two with 52,391 tonnes, Region Three with 29,137 tonnes and Region Four with 13,231 tonnes. Region Two’s production could have been higher had it not been for the paddy bug infestation. Region Four was the highest yielding region (Cane
Grove- Mahaica) with 6.4 tonnes per hectare, followed by Regions Two and Three with an average of 5.4 tonnes per hectare, Region Five with 4.9 tonnes and Region Six with 4.5 tonnes. Minister Ramsammy reported that the second crop is on the way and thus far 76,119 hectares have been sown. “The target for this crop is 81,000 tonnes so we are at about 93 per cent completion of the planting of the phase. So far Region Four has completed their planting…Region Six is also close to completion with 98 per cent, Region Three is 97 per cent, Region Two, 93 per cent and Region Five which lags a bit behind every crop are about 88% completed.”
Former US embassy security chief in Jamaica jailed for visa bribe The former security chief at the United States Embassy in Kingston, David Rainsberger, who admitted to accepting bribes from a Jamaican entertainer, was Tuesday sentenced to one year in prison. Rainsberger pleaded guilty to charges of receiving unlawful gratuities and making false statements to US authorities, the Jamaican Gleaner has reported. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in a federal court in Virginia. The judge also ordered the former US Embassy security chief to serve one year of supervised release. According to court records, Rainsberger befriended a well-known Jamaican musician whose entry to the US had been barred because of allegations of criminal conduct. The entertainer is identified only as DB. The court records also say Rainsberger’s
David Rainsberger investigation of the Jamaican entertainer resulted in the reinstatement of his visa, which allowed the artiste to travel to the US to take advantage of lucrative performance and recording opportunities. And it also says Rainsberger also repeatedly accessed, without authority, Department of State visa and passport databases for personal purposes. The court documents
show that in exchange for his visa the musician purchased for Rainsberger two luxury watches, clothes and shoes worth approximately US$3,000. The former security officer also received free admission to nightclubs, backstage access to concerts and a birthday party hosted by the musician. This latest incident will follow reports of a US investigation into allegations that Consul Officer at the Georgetown Embassy was involved in a visa racket. In embarrassing allegations, the officer reportedly visited clubs in the city and met with persons of questionable character who worked with him in securing visas for applicants. It will also come on the heels of a US book on Thomas Carroll, a former Consul Officer who was jailed in a major visa racket here in Guyana. The book has implicated several prominent Guyanese, including police officers and businessmen.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 13
R.K Security Services to Sparks fly over contract terminate Government contracts manipulation reports in Region 3 R.K. Security Services has served Government termination letters for private guard services to about 15 state entities with effect from July 15. The company is willing to change its position if Government decides to increase its hourly rates being offered on contracts already activated. However, if the situation remains unchanged the employment status of 80 or
…more than 80 staff to go home -Wants Gov’t to increase hourly rates to accommodate new minimum wage ago. However, the company has a problem with the manner in which Cabinet decided to increase and the quickness to implement the minimum wage. On May 9, last, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger
which the new minimum wage was being implemented was improper. Khan said that his company has written to Government requesting increased rates under his contracts but only received
Vibert Scarce of GEB Security Services; David Moore, Security Administrator R.K. Security Services and Roshan Khan Chief Executive Officer of R.K Security Services more security personnel and possible financial and management staff would be directly affected. This is according to Roshan Khan, Chief Executive Officer of R. K. Security Services during a press conference at the company’s head office at Light and Charlotte Streets, Georgetown. He was supported by Vibert Scarce, representative of GEB Security Services. Government’s silence on the company’s demands to increase the rates to match the financial burden gained from the new minimum wage of $200 per hour and 40-hour work week has led to Khan taking this hard decision or face bankruptcy. According to the private security operator, the company has no objection to the new minimum wage and believes that it should have been implemented a while
Luncheon announced that full-time workers outside the Public Sector would be paid no less than $35,000 monthly, $8,000 weekly, or $200 per hour, from July 1. According to Khan, who declared that he is not antiGovernment, the timeframeMay to July- was inadequate to prepare clients for the new rates. In addition the company was never consulted about the new minimum wage until the decision was made by policy makers and announced. He noted that Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry Limited invited him for a meeting in mid June following strong protest from a particular company that competes internationally. In addition, former Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Ramesh Dookhoo, who was there, agreed that the manner in
acknowledgement of receipts. R.K. Security Services provides security for Ministries, Ministers’ residence and other Government entities. Khan said, “All the Ministries that we work for and the Government to date, have not addressed the matter of giving us an increase; whether they would automatically raise us to the amount they have increased the minimum wage.” “This is a very important, vexing and disturbing issue…We have not had enough time to approach our clients for an increase. And, within the short time that we did, we are losing the Continued on page 32
A report of contract manipulation may have driven a deeper wedge between Government and opposition councilors in Region Three. At least that is the conclusion of Alliance for Change councilor (AFC) Harry Narine Deokinanan, who said that he was called a “jackass” by the Vice Chairman of the region’s work committee when he refused to sign documents for community works that he had not seen. Deokinanan, and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) representative George Gulliver, had reported to Kaieteur News last week, about alleged contract manipulation occurring in the region. The two are the only opposition members on the Region’s five -member works committee. They claimed that numerous contracts were being signed off without their knowledge. Contracts were also being awarded without their knowing. Many of them are given to friends and family of the regional body’s hierarchy, the councilors claimed. They said, too, that contracts were being spilt to fit the criteria which speak to contracts below $600,000 being awarded by the regional council instead of going to the government dominated regional tender board. The opposition councilors claimed that the council was only providing them with bill of quantities, while they are not made aware of contract costs, nor are they made aware of the contractors who would have won the bid. They continued that opposition councilors are not regularly taken to work sites for inspection; since the mentioned matters, is part of the opposition’s function on
AFC’s Harry Narine Deokinanan
APNU’s George Gulliver
the works committee. They had called for an investigation into these activities. Deokinanan said that on June 26, last, he was called to attend a meeting of the works committee on June 27. He said the committee chairwoman was supposed to be there but was absent. At the regional office, Deokinanan said he was greeted by the committee’s Vice Chairman, Linden Fowler, who asked him to sign off two works committee certificates for works in the area. Deokinanan said that he refused because he had not seen the work. This, he claimed, infuriated the Vice Chairman. He said that when the meeting was called to order, he asked for the chairwoman. When he was told the
chairwoman was absent, Deokinanan said that he insisted that the chairwoman needed to be present since she called the meeting and only she could answer some important questions relating to some specific contract issues. APNU’s George Gulliver said that there was no quorum to conduct a meeting with the number of officials present. Deokinanan added at that point that the chairwoman needed to be present. That is when he said, the vice chairman called him out. The meeting never took place. Fowler told Kaieteur News that he indeed called the councilor a “jackass.” He said however that the AFC councilor is unaware what constitutes a quorum and was Continued on page 29
Page 14
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Teenage pregnancy still stigmatised - Health Minister
G
uyana is looking at Barbados to e m u l a t e programmes to achieve successes in improving the life of vulnerable populations, particularly among adolescents. According to Minister of Health, Dr Bheri Ramsaran, it is likely that Guyana will adopt best practices in the area of crafting legislations towards protecting the vulnerable groups. The move comes even as deliberations at a two-day International Conference on the Population and Development continued at the Guyana International Convention Centre (GICC) yesterday. The conference was chaired by Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster,
and saw participation from the Ministries of Health, Education and Culture, Youth and Sports. Several Caribbean countries were in attendance. A similar Conference some 20 years in Cairo was significant whereby its outcome produced a declaration which according to the Health Minister is being analysed to determine where Guyana and the Caribbean are. A plan of action was derived in Cairo which mandated that all the participating countries put in place various measures which focused on a number of areas including children as pre-adolescent, adolescent groups, young people, the elderly and disabled persons. Minister Ramsaran said
- But moves being made to adopt Barbados ‘best practices’
From left: Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud; Health Minister, Dr Bheri Ramsaran; and Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony. that significant activities have happened over the past two days at the Conference Centre and according to him, “the scene is being set to analyse where Guyana is and some of the things we could
learn from fellow Caribbean delegations.” The Minister said, too, that one of the key issues that were discussed was that of providing support for adolescents in reproductive
health, the roles of the schools – the system and administration generally and the provision of things that were envisioned 20 years ago to promote the health and wellbeing of the population. In the areas of adolescent health, with a specific focus on teenage pregnancy, Dr Ramsaran said that Guyana currently does not have a good track record of returning young women to schools. “It is still stigmatised but in our constitution all young people are entitled to an education up to a certain age; there is no part of the law which says that if you become pregnant you lose that right.” The Health Minister said that there is a need to work with the wider society to fight against such taboos. Guyana is prepared to embrace the best practises of Barbados in this regard whereby young women who become pregnant are allowed a place in a special school after delivering their babies. Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dr Frank A n t h o n y, d u r i n g t h e conference shared some of the experiences of Guyana in the sectors of health, education and youth in terms of what is being done to forward the status and wellbeing of young people and some of the challenges that are being faced. Accompanied by the Minister of Health and Chief M e d i c a l O ff i c e r, D r Shamdeo Persaud, at a media briefing during a break of the conference yesterday, Dr Frank Anthony said that from all reports Guyana and the Region have made significant progress in a number of areas. The progress, he said,
has even seen the scrutinising of areas such as migration, sexual reproductive health, vulnerable sub-population including: adolescents and elderly. “We have seen with the demographic trends that persons are living longer in the Region and that poses its own challenges...so what we have been looking at are individual countries, and their approaches.” He noted that recommendations will be combined and used a mechanism of forward movement from 2014 and onwards. Dr Anthony explained that a lot of the agreements that had been derived internationally would in a sense be up for review since new five or 10-year targets are expected to be put in place. “At this conference we are already articulating a number of directions in which we want to go...I was on a panel which dealt with issues of education and youth, employment and youth and what kinds of programmes we would like to have in place.” And according to Dr Anthony in the area of education and how it relates to sexual reproductive health, it has been observed that the age for sexual debut in the region is approximately 14 years. He noted, though, that it has been ascertained that with education, girls are more likely to delay marriage, stay longer in schools and this has therefore been dubbed very positive. “When you look across the world sometimes girls don’t stay very long in schools and that can affect how they develop and go forward in life...” Teen pregnancy has undoubtedly been an issue in Guyana, but according to the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Persaud, the rates have been noticeably decreasing. According to him in 2003 the Under-15 age group for instance accounted for close to four percent of all pregnancies but was reduced in 2011 to just about one per cent. This reduction, according to Dr Persaud, represented less than 100 pregnancies. During the same period too there were about 5.2 per cent of girls between the ages of 15 and 16 who were pregnant but the percentage was reduced to 2.6, Dr Persaud said.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 15
Mothers could get six Arson suspect transferred to GPHC months maternity leave “
T
here is a possibility that mothers in the CARICOM Region would have six months of maternity leave to ensure new born babies are exclusively breastfed. This is part of a drive to tackle childhood obesity. Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, Chief Medical Officer, who recently attended the launching of Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), said that mothers in Guyana are given three months maternity leave, which contradicts the six-month exclusive breastfeeding the Ministry of Health promotes. “This was one of the things that came up at CARPHA… how we could start stimulating Governments to open the discussion about our mothers. We can’t have mothers going back to work in three months and we are insisting on and think there is a value of breastfeeding for
six months so the two things do not coincide,” he said. Dr. Persaud said that the Ministry of Health would have to advocate for this but of course there could be some economic costs since Guyana is still a growing s o c i e t y. Ta k i n g i n t o consideration that many women may not have formal employment contracts Government may have to prepare social security programmes, he added. He said, “Those are some of the things we want to get onto. If we have cross regional policies Governments are more likely to comply. And countries must have standard.” A c c o r d i n g t o D r. Persaud, childhood obesity starts in the womb depending on the kind of nutrition mothers take and to the extend they maintain health. Following the deliveries of babies, breastfeeding is important. Children who are breastfed
are less likely to be hooked on sugar or high calorie foods. “Sugar and salt are acquired tastes and if you don’t expose them to sugar they like what you gave them and they grow up. Breastfeeding transitioning into complementary feeding is a much more acceptable way of controlling children’s weight,” he said. Guyana sits on the technical advisory of CARPHA and Health M i n i s t e r D r. B h e r i Ramsarran is on the board of CARPHA. This is a new public health agency that came into being on January 1, 2013. Prior to CARPHA there were five regional health institutions to address various aspects of health of people in the CARICOM Region. There were Caribbean Epidemiology Centre, Caribbean Environmental Health Agency, Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute and Caribbean Health Research Council.
Chungie”, the man who poured gasoline, then set the six-room Guest House alight at Charity, early Tuesday morning has been transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Chungie sustained severe burns to his hands and face was hospitalized at the Oscar Joseph Hospital under police guard. “Baker”, the other suspect, who was detained along with “Chungie” is to be released after police apprehended and detained another key suspect. This other suspect was described as a known bandit in the Charity Housing Scheme Area. According to one resident, Burtly Burnett, while viewing television at another of her Guest Houses on Monday night, she was approached by the last of the suspects who had in his possession a quantity of phone cards and cell phones. He offered to sell these things to her. Burnett said that she chased the man out of her premises since she knew he usually would have stolen material in his possession. She said that later that night she received information about the fire at her son’s guest house. The man had gone to her son’s place
claiming that he had lost phone cards and cell phones, she said. The businesswoman said her son managed to ward off the man. Early Tuesday morning around 1:30 a.m, she was informed that her son’s guest house was set alight and “Chungie” was seen at the premises with severe burns to his hands and face, while another suspect fled the scene. Burnett said that “Baker”, was however arrested after “Chungie” claimed that “Baker” threw gasoline on him then set him alight. The fire, Burnett said, started in the room No. 12 and spread along the corridors. Three guests were occupants at the time of the fire. A male occupant sustained injuries to his back and hands in an attempt to escape through the back door. The other couple left before the building went up in flames. Damage was most evident in six bedrooms and the corridor of the interior of the building. Burnett said she acquired the building some four years ago for her son Forbsie. Television sets, mattresses and tables were all destroyed in the fire.
Page 16
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 17
Page 18
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Hope/Dochfour Canal likely by next rainy season - Ramsammy - Parliamentary body to visit site tomorrow
T
he multi-billiondollar Hope/ D o c h f o u r Northern Relief Channel is likely to become functional by the next rainy season (December to January). This was according to Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who, said that the project is about 50 percent complete. Only the least difficult works are ongoing, he added. “The most difficult part of the project is completed. The 50 percent remaining is easy work that won’t take very long to complete.” The contract for this project, one of the largest infrastructure initiatives in Guyana’s history, is about $3.204B, with $2.395B disbursed thus far, the Minister said. He added that he does not anticipate spending anything more than the contracted price. The project has four major parts, with the first being the excavation of the 10.3km long earthen channel from the East Demerara Water Conservancy to the
Excavation which was ongoing at Hope Canal during the course of late 2012 coastal spill off at the other end of the Canal which is about 80 percent completed. The actual excavation was
done, and the process of shaping the dam is currently ongoing. The other three parts of the project are the
civil works – a three-gated conservancy head regulator; a bridge across the East Coast Public Road, almost half of which is completed; and an eight-gated high level outfall at the Atlantic end of the Canal which, the Minister said, “is a little behind”. The Ministry of Agriculture, through its
National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), is doing the excavation aspect of the project leaving, the civil works to the three awarded contractors -BK International, DIPCON Engineering, and Courtney Benn Contracting Services. The channel is being constructed to ease the
pressure of water on the Conservancy at times when it reaches its maximum capacity. This venture was undertaken by the former Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud who estimated an 18month completion, when construction commenced in February 2011. During late last year, Dr Ramsammy, who took over the post of being Minister of Agriculture, announced an extended completion date-June 2013. This is now July, and the project is about a year behind the original deadline. Nonetheless, the Minister has said that despite what persons may think, the project is one that will be able to withstand major floods, should they occur. “These components have a solid foundation,” the Minister said, adding that the outfall has a foundation that goes firmly about 100 feet down, while the Sluice alone called for more piles than the country used in the whole of 1990.Meanwhile, a Parliamentary body is expected to visit the construction site sometime tomorrow, Friday. Dr Ramsammy said that there will be a presentation detailing the different aspects of the project, after which there will be a tour.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 19
High Court marshal who served writ on Janet Jagan has died W
alter Herbert Dainty, the court marshal who served a High Court writ on President Janet Jagan, seeking to halt her swearing in as President of Guyana in 1997, has died. Relatives said that Mr. Dainty passed away at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation last Sunday after a brief illness. He was 86. His wife, Geraldine, told Kaieteur News that Mr.
Dainty was a former sanitary inspector at Suddie, Essequibo, before serving as a Court Marshal, also at Suddie. But the outspoken Mr. Dainty became a household figure in 1997 when he entered State House to serve a High Court order on Mrs. Janet Jagan to stop her being sworn in as President. According to his granddaughter, Sharon Dainty, Mr. Dainty would later tell her
Bartica alumni honour NGSA tops
Bartica top students receive their laptops
T
he top three National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) candidates from Bartica, Region Seven, were honoured with laptop computers by the Old Students’ Association’ on July 4, last. Reseda Hack, from St .John Primary School attained 528 marks while Serina Ward and Christon Persaud from the St. Anthony’s Primary attained 522 and 512 marks respectively. The computers were compliments of Vishnu Panday and Associates who generously donated one of the laptops, and facilitated two others a special discount.
Assisting to purchase the two others at its discount price were the El Dorado Mining, Hopkinson Mining, and Five Star Mineral. In 2010, Antony Murray, Nirvana Burnette and Carlos Prowell realized that students scoring more than 500 marks at the aforementioned examination should be awarded for their success. The three then established the Bartica Old Students’ Association and networked with Vishnu Panday and Associates as well as the business community of Bartica to honour the top students. Aaron Usman was awarded in 2010 for attaining over five hundred marks.
that he had sent three of his junior staffers to serve the writ on Mrs. Jagan, but all of them refused. Her grandfather had then decided that he would serve the writ himself. He did serve the writ, only to see a furious Mrs. Jagan toss it aside. “He said that he had to push his way through because they were trying to prevent him from getting in,” his wife, Mrs. Geraldine Dainty said. “He was never
fearful; whatever summons he had to serve he was never fearful.” According to Mrs. Dainty, her spouse served for some 20 years as a court marshal. After retiring, he was recalled to duty and served for a few more years before calling it a day. However, he would willingly give legal advice to members of the public. The Dainty household suffered another tragedy last month, when Mr. Dainty’s
granddaughter, 28-year-old Luan Rodney, died at the GPHC while delivering her baby daughter. The baby also died. “One month and three days after, he’s gone,” Mrs. Dainty said. “Sixty-four years of marriage.” The couple had 12 children, eight of whom are still alive. The late Mr. Walter Herbert Dainty is to be laid to rest next Wednesday at Essequibo.
Walter Herbert Dainty
Page 20
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Emancipation 2013 launched…
ACDA opens doors to $34M “Akwaaba” centre
T
he African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) yesterday launched its 19th annual Emancipation celebrations with the commissioning of its new centre at the headquarters, Thomas Lands, Georgetown. The building which was
given its name from the Ghanaian word “Akwaaba” which means “welcome”, opened its doors for the first time yesterday. The building is also available to host conferences and special events. The state of the art building was built by the Rogers Construction group at a cost of some $34M.
Sponsorship for this year’s event came from the Guyana Telephone and Te l e g r a p h C o m p a n y, Digicel, Banks DIH and Courts Guyana Inc. There were many cultural performances from the Flames of the Heart drumming and dance group. There was also an astonishing performance of
The new Akwaaba centre. the national anthem by recording artiste Lisa Punch. The launching also provided information about the activities. There would be a number of sporting activities and the all important emancipation celebrations on August 1. Under the theme “Honouring our heroes of 1823” the association recognized the indomitable spirit of their ancestors to demand justice and their human rights by any means possible. This year will also celebrate 175 Anniversary of Emancipation in 1838 and the 250 anniversary of the Berbice Rebellion which gave Guyana its national hero. Emancipation will also fall on the 190 anniversary of the Demerara Rebellion which occurred in 1823. As tradition would have it, ACDA honours an African country every Emancipation D a y. T h i s y e a r t h e association will honour the country of Mali, which is located in West Africa. Mali is home to the world famous Timbuktu Libraries and Africa’s most mystical tribe, the Dobans. One of the greatest entrepreneurial acts by the then freed Africans in Guyana was the village movement which started in 1839. This year ACDA will th
th
th
honour the village of Farm, East Bank Essequibo, which was said to be the last village bought by 23 freed men and women of Congo ancestry. An official of ACDA, Eric Phillips, said that Mali is one of the French speaking countries in Africa which is also the home of the Fulani tribe; which was said to be considered the prettiest tribe. Phillips also said that Mali is also the home of the Doban tribe “who taught the world about the stars system”. Phillips added that there will be a candlelight march on July 31, which will assemble in front of the Demico House. The Demico House location was said to be the site where slaves were sold in the city. The march will start at Demico and then move to the square of the revolution for a ceremony. Phillips said that morning of the celebration will see a sunrise service and an opening service at 11:00 am. The official opening will commence at 3:00 which see children participating in the “Hello African Parade” dressed in the national colours of Mali. The event will go up to 7 or 8 pm. Admission $100 children and $300 for adults. However Dr Rudy Guyan reminded those in attendance that although the country of Mali was chosen by ACDA, the recently came under attack where many persons lost their lives. He added that the celebrations came at a timely moment because many persons “are losing their minds”. He noted that the year 1823 was a “process” and urged them to always remember where they came from. He also told people at the event to remember Amsterdam who is considered a hero of 1823. Guyan explained that Amsterdam was forced to walk over his 13 dead comrades (unnamed heroes).
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 21
Da Silva died of Burnham speeches for House Library today multiple gunshot wounds Water Street ambush…
2008 Parliamentary motion bears fruit
S
peaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman is today scheduled to receive the first volume of the published parliamentary speeches of late President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. The event will be marked with a simple handing over ceremony, to be held at Parliament Building. The first volume of speeches will be presented by Professor David Dabydeen, the Director of Caribbean Press that has published the compilation. The decision to compile, edit and publish the speeches of all Presidents came about following the adoption of a Resolution in a parliamentary motion. This resolution was passed by the National Assembly on August 7, 2008, after which the House took measures to have the verbatim records of the late Presidents compiled. At the time the motion was piloted to give due recognition to Guyana’s first Executive President Forbes Burnham, 55 years after he first entered the National Assembly, then as a representative of the People’s Progressive Party in 1953 and 23 years after his death in 1985. That motion had called on Members of the House to request the “National Assembly to designate a state institution to be responsible for historical research and documentation to chronicle and archive all of the works of each of the Presidents of Guyana for the benefit of future generations of Guyanese.”
At the time the motion had also called for the House to have commissioned full size portraits of each of the Presidents and have these displayed in its chambers and to designate a state institution to be responsible for historical research and documentation to chronicle and archive all of the works of each of the Presidents of Guyana for the benefit of future generations. During the debate, different perspectives were shared on Burnham’s contribution to Guyana in the field of trade unionism, as a nationalist, a politician and a diplomat. The motion had received the full support of both sides of the House and the debate chronicled the political involvement of Burnham in Guyana. As a result of the motion, Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs along with the Staff of the Parliament Office, transferred the hard copies of the verbatim records to soft copies and compiled the 1st volume of the Late President’s Speeches. According to Speaker Raphael Trotman, “This is an ongoing project that began in the 9th Parliament and continues.” To date, the Caribbean Press, under the directorship of Professor David Dabydeen, has printed, published and presented the speeches of former President Dr. Cheddi Jagan. “And now we will be receiving the first installment of President Burnham’s outstanding speeches,” according to Speaker Trotman.
As police still investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting to death of a handyman in the vicinity of Water Street, a post mortem performed by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh yesterday, revealed that Victor Da Silva of Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara died of multiple gunshot injuries. The 72-year-old Victor Da Silva sustained about four gunshot wounds about his body. The shooting occurred around 08:15 hours on Tuesday in the vicinity of Water and Cowan Streets, Kingston. Da Silva’s employer, proprietor of Gajadhar Service Station, Cecil Albert Gajadhar, 71, of Foulis, East Coast Demerara, sustained a gunshot wound to his left abdomen and another to his face. He has been hospitalized and is in stable condition at GPHC. According to the injured b u s i n e s s m a n ’s w i f e , Lorymell Gajadhar, after he was shot he managed to drive his vehicle about a mile from the robbery scene, to the Water Street Branch of Republic Bank where he
- Post Mortem pleaded with a security guard to open the gate. The security guard who knows the businessman reportedly responded favourably to the request. Gajadar reportedly tried to flag down a taxi to take him to the hospital but according to reports, many persons were apprehensive after seeing the businessman’s blood soaked clothes. “Thankfully, a Good Samaritan who knows him saw him and assisted in taking him to the hospital,” Gajadhar’s wife told Kaieteur News. She said that on several occasions last week a number of men on motorcycles, had frequented their fuel station at Foulis and threatened the now dead handyman. She also mentioned that within recent times her
Dead: Da Silva husband had become very security conscious, changing his routine when it comes to the movement of his cash, frequently. “He tries to stagger his timings. They (bandits) had to be waiting for him since God make morning,” Mrs. Gajadhar declared.
Page 22
Kaieteur News
WANTED Live In Live Out Babysitter Domestic - Call: 225-6070 Office Clerk: CXC English/ Mathematics- Call:225-0188/ 225-6070
WANTED Female worker needed, 3 CXC subject or sound secondary school education. Call:612-1595 25-35 years live-in domestic, Georgetown area- Call:227-1830
Attractive live in waitressCall:327-0252/674-4665
Live in waitress- Call:6439007/ 697-2978
One experienced female cook to cook for family in Interior- call:697-6747
Wallaba Round Posts Makers- Call:683-2575/2183399
Female Domestic & Office Employees For An Expanding Company In Trinidad, 18-35yrs: Email:rattan.david@ yahoo.com- Call:690-1855/1868-389-8454 West Site Taxi service: Wanted experience dispatcher & contract carscall:613-0419/ 600-0699 One experienced driver, gear & automatic: Apply @ Hack’s Halaal with application, 5 Commerce Street (1) Waitress 18-25 yearscall:653-6017 Skilled Carpenter and Mason, must be able to work with limited supervisionCall:602-9469/625-0930 City Taxi Service: Contract Cars Needed- Call:6601100 Three (3) waitressesCall:650-3699 Machine Operator to work in Garment Factory- Call:2222541 1 Qualified cook (East Bank area)- Call:614-4358 1 Driver/Salesman needed: Clean drivers record & police clearance needed: Reference required- Call: 642-1141 2 Experienced Cashiers needed to work shift in supermarket on the East Coast- Call:220-2128 One live-in maid, must be able to cook, 30-50 yearsCall:671-9715 One experienced Shop Assistant to work in InteriorCall:697-6747 Drillers, major drilling Suriname: 3 yrs experience on hydraulic drills- Call: 001597-426-920. Ask for Melissa 1 Weekends Dispatcher, full time cars: De General Taxi Service, 120 Regent StreetCall:231-8888/ 231-2900 Experienced workers for land dredge- Call: 681-3801/ 672-8566
Handy-boys to work, living accommodation and meals free: $40,000 per monthCall:228-5655/628-1756 Live in domestic & waitress (ages 18-30 years): Salary $50,000 monthly- Tele no.610-3974 One experienced Hair Dresser- Contact Magic Touch Beauty SalonCall:225-6492 Experienced drivers with minibus and hire cars license- Call:645-0025 Minibus driver for contract living in GeorgetownCall:675-3093 EXPERIENCED (FOOD) SALESPERSON WITH VEHICLE: EXPERIENCED SECURITY GUARD, MUST KNOW HOW TO HANDLE WEAPONS- Call:231-8529 Reliable receptionist & room attendants (shift work)Call:223-6284/225-9211 1 Male to work at a Car Wash from Kitty or C/Ville- Call:6108561 Graphic Designers needed: 2 review contract, earning potential $60,000-$160,000 GYD: Additional part time income- Call:225-7560/6808218
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
VEHICLE FOR SALE
VEHICLE FOR SALE
LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY M E R C U R Y (QUICK SILVER) 9 9 . 9 9 9 9 5 % PURITY - $15,000 PER POUND CALL:604-6108
Ford super duty/ power stoke truck, Massey Loader, Many tools, Yanmar Vegetable tractors, Roto Tiller- Call:675-9314
2004 Ford F150, unregistered: Accessoriesrims- Call:682-8817/649-4265
Toyota Starlet Turbo: Working A/C, interior in excellent conditionCall:444-6183 or 686-0910
Pure Bred Rottweiler pupsCall:650-8496 500 Ton Cargo Ship with Contract- call: 687-6174 Spare for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call: 225-9032, 647-2943 5 Month Male RottweilerCall:220-6879 Male Enhancement Viagra: 4 in a Pack For $3000- Call: 642-6664/ 638-1627 Property for sale @ Canal #2, 1 Mazda Demio, 1 Pressure Washer, Still garden pump: Owner leaving countrycall:691-0875 Male & Female English Mastiff dogs: $300,000 for both- Call:678-2814/699-2322 Nail Plates & Anchor Seal: 4×6, 3×6, 4×8- Call: 265-3541/ 695-4785 2 Bedford MJ trucks, price negotiable. Call Kim:658-5193 Terrier Pups for saleCall:649-4247 6" & 8" Flood control pump with engine, tool sets, ploughs, chippers, slasher, massey ferguson loaderCall:675-9314 Pure bred German Shepherd puppy, 2 months oldCall:231-9419/617-7577 Used Massey TractorsMF175, 275, 1100, 1130, Ford 5000, Yanmar Vegetable Tractors square axle & wheel- Call: 675-9314
One live-in or live out maidcall:668-3985/264-3355/6837936 Lorry driver for Albion: Bus driver, Male & Female workers for number 7 BakeryCall:330-2399/623-5920
One (1) 8 months old female German Shepherd dogCall:656-6407
Driver for Toyota Raum, preferably from West Bank/ West Coast Demerara- Please contact:614-3280
1 Hand Sanding Machine, 1 De Walt Saw 7 inch, 1 Extension Pressure Washer Pole & 1 Set Hanging Ceiling Lights- Call:223-5641
Workers for Land DredgeCall:667-5717/623-2728 Needed Urgently Trained A/ C Technician with or without certificate: Jobs availableCall:618-0330 Working female to share house- Call:694-0689
75 HP Marine Outboard engine, 4ft Food Warmer, 6ft Cooler- call:254-0052/6632687/686-8580 1- Bedford Model M, GFF series: 30 Dell desktops: 260" Samsung flat screen LED/LCD- Call:255-0347/ 664-2020/ 625-0931 1 Complete 4 cylinder Kubota engine on bedcall: 666-4000 /257-0193 1 Baby Play Pen & diaper changer; 1 Baby swing; 1 Imac computer; 1 printer; 1 Whirpool dryer; 1 Welding plan. Tele: 662-6045 1- 215 BLC Excavator, 1 German double steel wheel roller, 1 low bed (hauler & trailer)- call:681-2995/6471615
Hot & Weri Weri Pepper: Export quality- Call:225-5153 1 Pontoon, dimension 200×50×12, 1-500 Ton cargo vessel haul both as is where is- Call:623-4045/689-4864 Household furniture, bedroom set, sofa set, dining set, 55" Toshiba TV- Call:6486444
We buy & sell vehicles for cash & we do trading-in of vehicles: 30 Seater Buses. Call: 680-3154 RZ mini-buses BMM & BNN series, AT192, 212, AT170, Tacoma, Canters, NZE & cheap cars- call:680-3154 2008 Honda CBR, 600RRCall:610-0785 2- 07 Toyota AvensisCall:698-0674 Unregistered 2008 Toyota Premio: 2006 BMW 320iCall:615-4114 2 Ford F150: Price $4.5M & $3.5M- Call: 643-5249 / 2654979 1 Toyota Verossa, 1 Mitsubishi Colt: Excellent condition- Call:648-6444 Toyota Altezza, PNN, triptronic- Call: 622-0108
German Shepherd PupsCall:619-6086/699-7077
RABBITS -$2000 each- Call: 650-0814 3 Piece sofa set & fridgeCall: 650-0814 CRV PMM series call:6925460 2007 R1 MotorcycleCall:623-4045/689-4864 House lots and land for sale on the East Coast- Call:2238479: www.spaceseek.gy 1 Hiab Truck- Call:618-1967 or 698-4321
TO LET Fully furnished short term apartments @ Eccles call: 689-6668 Secret Villa apartment, fully furnished apartments Land-of-Canaan E.B.DCall:266-5243/266-5245
1 Ford F150 4×4 (3) doors: Working condition $700,000: Spacio, Raum, Premio: We finance @ low ratesCall:641-6516/264-2232 Glanza EP 91 Starlet Turbo charged, stick shift- Contact No.648-3248 Nissan pick-up in excellent condition, suitable for small business or farmers: Price negotiable- Call: 616-0504/ 223-2068 Leading Auto: Unregistered Runx, Premio, 212, Allion, Spacio, IST- Call:677-7666/ 610-7666 1 Mercedes Benz C200: PNN 6967- Call: 680-4990 / 2773033 One black Titan (2005) 4 wheel drive, fully loaded: $4.2M negotiable- Call:6782814/699-2322 1 Toyota G-Touring wagon PHH series $900,000, 1 Toyota AE 192 PHH series $800,000 (negotiable) owner migrating- Call:673-9138/ 641-6239
Hotel for sale, located in Georgetown- Call:223-8479: www.spaceseek.gy
Promix starting at $ 7 , 5 0 0 , green formula (growing mix)- Call: 6152346/263-5300 3 Fiber Glass Boats And Trailer $1.4M (Negotiable) Can Be Sold Separately, Best Offer Accepted- Call: 699-1711
1 Whole day domesticCall:667-5717 or 650-4761
Thursday July 11, 2013
PROPERTY FOR SALE Property for Contact:699-9926
sale-
Versailles 5 Bedroom House with modern facilities and beautiful landscape- Call: 592-684-9203 / 592-624-8704 House and Land @ D’Edward, W.C.B.- Call: 6892973/698-3703 Prospect $13M, West Bank $18.5M, Diamond $40M, AAEccles $70M- Call Diana:6269382/227-2256
1 Leyland DAF 60 single axle & dump- Call:613-6615/ 216-1315 Just arrived: New RX8 cars & Spacios- Call:684-3374Clean! Clean! Cheapest- Premio, Spacio, Hilux, Stick Gear Buses- Call: 616-7635 1 AE100 Corolla $650,000: 1212 Carina with alarm, A/C, CD deck & mag rims $950,000- Call:611-6632 Toyota Alex (2004): Mags, black interior, CD, rear spoiler, never registeredCall:269-0432/686-0323 Toyota Fielder $2.1M, Premio $2.6M, Axio $2.9M: Vehicles fully loaded & unregistered- call: 617-2891
MASSAGE The Gent’s spa: Come be pampered by beautiful sophisticated masseuses four hands special call:657-5979
Lexus, Pitbull never registered- Call:655-0800/ 263-5300 First Class Auto: Spacio, IST, Verossa, 212- Call:609-8188/ 226-2689
One bedroom house @ Lusignaan, E.C.D- Call:6629043 (7:00am-5:00pm)
1 Toyota Land-cruiser Prado PMM series- call:225-0188/ 225-6070
Diamond $35,000; Kitty $65,000; Ogle $80,000; Nandy Park US$1200- Call Diana:626-9382/227-2256
1- 8340 (4) Wheel drive Ford and 135 MF tractor: In excellent condition: Please call:601-7535
HEALTH Enhance your health with genuine herbal supplementsContact: Hazel’s Herbal Store @ 244 D’Andrade Street, Newtown- Call:226-9136
SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 647-1773 Cosmetology, Nail Technology and Wig making courses @ BeautopiaCall:604-3002/629-3497
HILUX SOLID DIFF: 2L Diesel Engine, Excellent condition: UK Auto 60 Brickdam- Call:227-0424/ 676-6429 (Continued on page 23)
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 23
EDUCATIONAL SUMMER CLASSES: July 15th – August 15th: Phonics, Mathematics, Language, Spanish, Craft, Tours & Fun day: Garnett St. KittyCall:654-8650 Princeton College: CXC classes for day and evening students: Register for summer classes 5-18 yearscall:690-5008 Advance Diploma in Computer Technology for students completed CSEC 2013: Register now @ MicroGraphics Technology, Vreed-En-Hoop- Call:2643057 Get trained as a live-in Caregiver to live and work in Canada, under Canadian curriculum- Call:227-4881/ 416-674-7973 CXC Maths, English, Business and Science, January/ June 2014- Call Imperial College at 227-7627/ 683-5742 Summer Computer Classes: Ages 5-13: Starting at $6,500 and up @ MicroGraphics Technology, Vreed-En-HoopCall:264-3057
SERVICES Computer Repairs, custom build, surveillance cameras and more- Call:664-8660 Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool. Call: 225-9032, 647-2943 House Plans, estimates and construction- Contact T.Boodhoo 625-9883 / 6759296 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer. Call:2310655, 683-8734 Omar Computer repairs in homesCall:675-7292 Tr a n s p o n d e r T V: No Monthly Fees, No Hidden Fees, No Additional Charges: 250 Channels + 50 HD Channels- Call: 6753201
Caribbean First Class Read Guyana through literacy & phonics: July 15th – August 23rd, 2013: Limited seatsCall:684-7403 Learn how to read with hooked on phonics for children and adults private sessions- Call:694-0689
House lot for sale: Friendship EBD & drafting of house plans. Call: 2230733, 223-0730 2- Acres cultivated, 2-1 Acres cultivated, 7 Acres cultivated, citrus, house, fish pond, storage at ParikaCall:226-7968 1,500 acres with four stories concrete building. Rice & Sugar cane cultivation active on land- Call:223-8479: www.spaceseek.gy
Vacancy for 1 general domestic must able to prepare Vegetarian mealCall:225-5800 Operators, general workers (female/male), securityApply to: B.M. Enterprise Inc. GPL Wharf Houston, E.B.D- Call:227-8176/7
HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000CALL:694-9843/227-2766 Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves, TV: Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick)
Fish cleaners @ Lot 80 Eccles Industry- Call:2332546
We Refill HP cartridges for $1800 call: 650-7699
One Upholster & two Joiners- Call:219-1342/6107005
FOR RENT Tw o (2) bedrooms furnished apartment in Georgetown for short term local and overseas guests. Contact: 699-7559
LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & Sons Driving School, First Federation Building Call 225-4858, 6445166, 622-2872, 615-0964
2 Bedrooms bottom flat in Alexander Village- 689-7708 1- 3 Bedrooms newly built house @ Canal #2- call:6910875 Executive houses for rent from $500USD upwardsCall:223-8479: www. spaceseek.gy NEWLY BUILT TWO STOREY BUILDING, MC DOOM PUBLIC ROADCALL:600-1375
LAND FOR SALE
VACANCY One female shop assistant, age 35-45 years, preferably from W.C.D or W.B.DCall:655-8688 for information
Guards, Males, Land of Canaan location. Accommodation Available for Males. Salary $15,000+ per 6 day week. Call:266-4427
SUMMER CLASSES: Phonics, Language, Mathematics, Art & Craft & Fun day: (4-12 years)- July 15th- August 15th: Roxanne Burnham: Call 619-4355/ 2182076 Caribbean First Class Elementary: Strong on literacy, Nursery-Grade 6, Micro-Teaching: Evening Classes, register now! Call:684-7403
(From page 22)
TOURS Suriname Tours: August 1st4th, Shopping Dolphins Butterfly Gardens: Book early- Call:639-2663/6440185/665-5171/227-8290 Suriname Carifesta Summer Tour: August 15th-20th & August 22nd-27th: Casino & Site seeing: Book earlyCall:639-2663/644-0185/6655171/227-8290
Business place located @ 94 Tushen New Scheme main road- Call:655-6945 Furnished (2) Bedrooms house @ Crane H/Scheme $45,000- call:671-6855 One- (2) Bedrooms apartment for rent- Call:617-3001 Apartment to rent in Prashad Nagar. Contact: 227-2993. LAND FOR SALE Parfaite Harmonie $1.2MCall:675-7292
CAR RENTAL Progressive Auto Rental - cars from $4000 per day. Call 643-5122, 225-8711; email www. progressive autorental. com Premio, Vitz call: 689-6668 A i d a n ’s C a r R e n t a l & Pickup- Call: 645-7981/ 698-7807
Page 24
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 25
Death of Guyanese nurse… Further
suspicions arise of Nigerian husband E
ven as scores of q u e s t i o n s continue to be raised about the mysterious death of a Guyanese nurse in India; Guyanese Ambassador, Ronald Jairam Gajraj, reported from the High Commission of Guyana in New Delhi that there has been no official communication from the local police or any other relevant authority to the High Commission in relation t o t h e m a t t e r. The Ambassador, however,
noted that in the event of any development he will advise accordingly. The death of the 37-yearold nurse Lucinda SolomonLee, formerly of 591 East Ruimveldt, had been reported to her family members, via telephone, three days after her passing by her Nigerian husband. The woman reportedly migrated to India in December 2009 where she had been residing with her husband even before their marriage last year. The man, identified as A u s t i n e M o l a r, a f t e r
contacting the family by phone, subsequently sent a well detailed Facebook message to the nurse’s sister, Anngelina Holligan, describing the events that that led up to her death. According to the message, the woman had been hospitalised two months prior to her death to undergo an ovarian surgery. He identified three hospitals in India where she underwent the surgery. “After the operation they could not follow up on her properly on treatment then I took her to the last hospital called NAIR hospital where she passed on 4 ,” the message stated. With the assistance of Tirath Singh, First Secretary of the Indian High Commission Guyana on Tuesday, contact was made with the NAIR hospital which revealed that a woman, listed a Lucinda Aisting Nichols, had been taken to the facility by four Nigerians and died at 12 AM on July 5. According to the staff on duty at the hospital, the body is currently being kept in the facility’s mortuary. Although the name provided by the hospital’s staff does not positively match the nurse’s name, family members have no doubt that it is their loved one that is lying in cold storage. They have since been soliciting the assistance of local media houses to publicize their need of monetary contributions in order to have the body brought home for burial, an operation which is premised to cost in excess of $2 M. In addition to bringing Solomon-Lee’s body home for burial, the family is out to have their questions of what caused the woman’s death answered. Judging from the rare occasions of interaction with her Nigerian husband, it is their firm belief that her death involved something th
Republic Bank sponsors steel pan forum
Mrs. Erica Jeffrey (left), Manager - Branch Support Services of Republic Bank, is seen handing over the cheque to cover the entire cost for the workshop to steel-pan maker and tuner, Aubrey Bryan. Also present is Maria Leung of the Tina Insanally Foundation.
T
he commitment of Republic Bank to support and develop art, culture and music is once again evident with their sponsorship of a Steelpan Workshop in collaboration with the Tina Insanally Foundation. The Workshop will be attended by 14 participants drawn from the Foundation’s locations countrywide – Lovely Lass, West Coast Berbice; St. John Bosco Orphanage, Plaisance’, the Ruimveldt Children Centre, the St. Ann’s Orphanage and its main branch at Guyenterprise, Georgetown. The facilitators are London-based Panologist Aubrey Bryan and Ivan Chapman from the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School. They will host five daily sessions from Monday, July 15 to Friday at Ivan Chapman’s
North Ruimveldt Pan Workshop on MandelaAvenue. The workshop will teach the participants the History of Pan, how to select suitable pans, to sink drums, the smoothing and marking out of drums - the grooving, cutting, heating and tuning of drums.
other than a medical ailment. Also suspicious of the role the nurse’s Nigerian husband played in the matter is her friend of countless years, Andrea Browne. Browne said that when she learnt of the matter via an article published by this newspaper on Monday, although she had not expected that her friend really died, she was not “too surprised” because of the suspicions that she held of the Nigerian. The woman related that during Solomon-Lee’s 15 years of service at Palms Geriatric Home, the two had become very close. “Even matters that she didn’t tell her mother, she told me. She was like a little sister to me,” Browne said.The woman said that she became highly suspicious of the nurse’s Nigerian husband even before she had migrated to India and had long suspected that something was wrong in their marriage. Browne explained that it was after her separation from her first husband that Solomon-Lee met Austine, whom she described as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. She said that the couple met after another Guyanese nurse, mentioned in Monday’s article as the nurse’s friend, had migrated to India and expressed to Solomon-Lee via text messages that “life is better there”. According to Browne, the other nurse had been in a relationship with a Nigerian man while in India and so Solomon-Lee requested that she “get a Nigerian man for her too”. Browne said that following the introduction, the Nigerian would “text her all day using nice words” and after some time urged her to join him in India. “I encouraged her to invite him to Guyana but she said she wanted to go,” Browne said. The woman
recounted that it is due to the events that followed, she became very suspicious of the Nigerian. She said that the man had sent an in-transit ticket for Solomon-Lee to travel to India; but it was revealed only after the nurse had begun her journey that all the relevant payments had not been made and so she was forced to return home. Browne said that the nurse later learnt that Austine could not have made the payments as he was in jail. She said that the man refused to provide the reason for him being in jail. “He keep telling her ‘When u come up u gon know’”. Browne explained that the man was released from jail some “one and a half months” later, after which he sent a “straight ticket” for her to travel to the Asian country. The woman related that after Solomon-Lee had migrated, things appeared normal but soon became strange since on several occasions during phone calls the woman would say, “I can’t talk now…he deh right here”. Browne said that she got the impression that the man had restricted the nurse from using the phone. Immediate family members of the nurse
revealed that they had also experienced similar situations in which the nurse would state that she is unable to speak in her husband’s presence. “This is not like Lucinda; she would have communicated. It had to be some kind of problem she went in, he had to do something to her. I don’t believe she was sick. I knew her as a very healthy person,” Browne said. Added to the fact that the other Guyanese nurse had fled India and that the man she was living with is reportedly in jail, Browne is even more convinced that “Lucinda walked straight into the devil’s hand.” According to Browne, the nurse was a very kind and trustworthy person. “And she loved to laugh… It really touched me that she lost her life this way. When I took her to the airport, I didn’t know it was the last time I was seeing her.” Browne said that it is her desire to see her friend before she is buried. Therefore, together with family members, she is asking the public to render some assistance to bring the body back to Guyana. The family can be contacted on 225-4566, 6943729 and 662-5791.
Page 26
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 27
Crime-spree Florida gang charged with Guyanese murder A quartet of Osceola County residents — two 20year-olds and two minors — were arrested Tuesday morning by Osceola County Sheriff ’s deputies in connection with a string of cases of shots fired into occupied dwellings and a pair of homicides, one of whom was a Guyanese. All four are being held in custody in separate Florida jails after appearing in court yesterday to face charges of murder, robbery and home invasion. A judge ordered Konrad Schafer, 15, and Victoria Rios, 17, held in a secure facility pending further proceedings, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Two 20-year-old suspects, David Damus and Juan Sebastian Muriel, appeared by video link from the Osceola County jail. Schafer, a Kissimmee resident, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old David Guerrero on June 25. He was also present in the early morning hours of July 4 when David Damus, 20, shot and killed 22-year-old Eric Roopnarine of Poinciana. In that case, Victoria Rios, 16, was used to lure the victim to the door to rob him and is charged with first-degree murder, home invasion with a firearm and grand theft. Juan
Sebastian Muriel, 20, the getaway driver in the Poinciana case, received the same charges. Kissimmee Police say Damus was also the getaway driver in Guerrero homicide. Police revealed the gun involved in this and the handful of cases of shots fired into occupied homes was a .45 caliber high-point rifle purchased by Lothar Schafer, Konrad’s father, on June 24, because, as the younger Schafer’s arrest report said, Konrad was “having problems with unidentified subjects in Poinciana.” Damus and Konrad Schafer were also linked to shots fired into a pair of St. Cloud dwellings on June 25. Through a cooperative effort between Kissimmee and St. Cloud Police and the Sheriff’s Office, the four are linked to a total of 14 incidents that began on June 21. The additional charges on Damus and Schafer include two counts each of shooting into an occupied dwelling and shooting into an unoccupied structure, shooting into an unoccupied conveyance, and five counts each of discharging a firearm in public from a vehicle and criminal mischief. Schafer also faces five counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and
one count of possession of a firearm by a minor under 18. KPD Chief Lee Massie said at a press conference Tuesday the arrests were the result of a great, exhaustive cooperative effort that occurred despite the Independence Day holiday last week. “A lot of hard police work went into this. We never stopped working for 15 days,” he said. “To bring the arrests shows the dynamics that went into this. The Guerrero family told us they were extremely appreciative that no one quit.” Massie said the timing of the arrests was essential; the shootings briefly stopped when the group went through two boxes of Winchester full metal jacket ammunition. “These guys ran out of rounds. Getting them off the streets before they could reup was critical,” he said. Massie added that the help of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) was also critical, as it fasttracked ballistic analysis of gold shell casings and projectiles recovered at crime scenes in the Temple Grove subdivision, in two incidents on Smith Street, one on Lesesne Street in Kissimmee, two on California Avenue in St. Cloud and ones in the county on Old Sugar Mill
Farouk Ali
Seven years after a firearm went missing from the Den Amstel Police Station, businessman Farouk Ali says that he is yet to receive any word from the police. According to Ali, who is a licenced firearm holder, he had lodged his weapon at the station several years ago when he was leaving the country. Ali explained that he was preparing to leave Guyana, when he lodged his firearm. Upon his return to Guyana some three weeks later to uplift the firearm, no one could give account for it. The man said from what ranks had told him, is that someone purporting to be him had
uplifted the weapon. The strange and scary thing about that he said was that someone without proper identification was able to uplift his firearm. He told Kaieteur News that an investigation was launched into the missing firearm, but it’s now seven years and still no one has told him anything. Last December Ali said he went back to the police, this time at the Leonora station. At the station, he said he spoke to Assistant Superintendent Paul who took his name and contact number. Ali said that the policeman is yet to contact him some seven months later.
Gun goes missing from Den Amstel Police Station
Stem-cell transplants may... From page 12 The finding is very important for people with HIV who also need blood-cell transplants, but the treatment is unlikely to be used more generally because the risks from transplants are high. Durand says that Johns Hopkins is now revising its transplant procedures to keep people with both cancer and HIV on antiretroviral drugs
during the transplant regimen. Separately, the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Group, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, is trying to replicate the Berlin patient’s cure by giving CCR5-mutated HIV-resistant blood from umbilical cords to children and adults with HIV and cancer.
Everyone with HIV could benefit from this work, researchers say, because it could yield valuable information about how to eliminate the HIV reservoir. “We are still a long way from a viable cure option for most patients,” Durand says. “But every step counts, and these cases can teach us important lessons.”
Lane, Brown Chapel Road and North Lyndell Drive. On June 25, the day after Lothar Schafer bought the carbine firearm, KPD officials said Konrad Schafer shot Guerrero as he waited for an early-morning bus on North Central Avenue to take him to work. The motive, they said, was that Schafer “thought it would be fun to shoot someone. “The victim was an innocent young man on his way to work,” Massie said. “He was not involved in any nefarious activity.” The Florida Metal Detecting Club was called on to assist in searching the crime scene last weekend, and on Saturday it recovered a .45 caliber shell which matched the casings found in the other shooting incidents and tied Schafer and Damus to the crime. The orchestration of the Roopnarine homicide began July 3 when Rios made
contact with the victim regarding a sex act, and Roopnarine provided Rios with directions to his Mendoza Lane home. The four drove to the house with the intent to rob the victim, who according to the report had bragged about having a large sum of money. While Muriel stayed in the vehicle as the getaway driver, the other three entered the home and demanded money from Roopnarine. He gave them $300 but when he could not provide more Damus shot him in the face and Schafer followed by stabbing him in the neck, the arrest report said. The group then stole the victim’s television, game consoles, cell phone and car keys and fled to Damus and Muriel’s Reef Club apartment in Kissimmee to unload the goods. On Monday, homicide investigators spoke with an employee at Mega Gun and
Dead: Eric Roopnarine Armory in Kissimmee, who confirmed the business sold the high-point rifle to Lothar Schafer. The investigators went to his Kissimmee apartment and asked him to locate the rifle, which was not in the suitcase he kept in his closet. The rifle was eventually found behind the washing machine in Lothar’s apartment. Rios was at the apartment during this time, and during questioning she confirmed Konrad had confided to her that he shot at the houses around the county, and that “there were bodies attached to that gun.”
Page 28
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Woman seeks justice after being wounded by Police A woman is calling on the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police to investigate a police rank who hit her with a machine gun on her knee. She said that the case seems to be going nowhere. Diane Chung, of Campbellville said that during the wee hours of June 22, last,
leg. The policemen at the time did not have on uniform and the motorcycle rider felt it was bandits, so he drove home and got into his car and we returned to the police station,” she explained. When they returned to the station to make a report a policeman took the report. She said the police later
The wound that Diane Chung received on the night of the incident. while being a pillion rider on a motorcycle she was gunbutted on her leg when she slowed down in front of the Providence Police Station, East Bank Demerara. “When we slowed down at what appeared to be a roadblock a policeman took a gun and hit me on my right
disclosed that “all awe deh under the same umbrella and I can’t give you the name of the policeman who did that.” She added that they later visited the Brickdam Police Station where they also wanted to make a report. However, the police advised that as long as a report was
made at Providence Station then there was no need to duplicate. “The reason I did that was because I don’t want any report to disappear and then nothing comes out of the matter.” She was given a medical to visit the hospital. Chung said that she received several stitches to her knee which later became infected and medical attention was given through a private hospital, which was a daily added cost since the dressing had to be changed daily. However, she was subsequently advised to visit the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) where she lodged a complaint. Nevertheless, she is fearful that nothing will come out of the story since she discovered that the officer who wounded her is a cadet officer. There are reports that the officer seemed to be involved in many other abusive cases. “When I inquired about the case a senior police officer told me that the file was not finished and the commander did not sign it, and that it has to go to the DPP.”
Guyana rejects US State Department ... From page 8 repeatedly informed the United States that it has no control over the Judiciary and the Magistracy. The government’s position is that the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) Chambers is a Public Office whose independence is preserved in the constitution. “The long established practice has been that the Guyana Police Force investigates and submits the case files to the DPP and the DPP in turn would advise on whether charges are to be laid or not or if the matter should be tried summarily. The decision to convict or not is one exclusively for the Court. …the Government of Guyana does not hold persons accountable with jail time, the court does. The tangible role for Government is to ensure that the relevant legislation is in place and in this regard it has passed a very comprehensive Trafficking in Persons Act. Another concern expressed by the US State Department is that longer term shelter and protection was not available in Guyana, putting TIP victims at risk of traffickers’ reprisals since the government also failed to punish most trafficking offenders with incarceration.” In response the Guyana Government made it known that Guyana has never had an
experience where a person who was allegedly trafficked suffered reprisal. However, the government explained that there is provision for long term shelter and protection for alleged victims of trafficking in persons, if they so request. Long term shelter is provided by Help and Shelter. In its statement the MTFTIP reaffirmed that Trafficking in Persons is discussed publicly in Guyana and no attempt is made to prohibit this. There is a Trafficking in Persons hotline number (592227-4083) that has been publicly advertised and persons are encouraged to call. Moreover, there are debates in the National Assembly, live television and radio call in programmes as well as newspaper reports which feature aspects of
trafficking in persons, the basic objective being to sensitize the populace. The MTFTIP said that as far as the Government is concerned, there is nothing to hide. The Ministerial Task Force on TIP said it is of the firm view that there is no excuse for the US State Department’s Report to ignore the gains made by Guyana in addressing Trafficking in Persons. The Task Force views the Report as lacking credibility and therefore rejects the Report. “The Government of Guyana stands committed to the fight against trafficking in Persons in Guyana and calls upon all stakeholders in particular, and Guyanese as a whole to join in the fight against Trafficking In Persons,” the statement said.
Sparks fly over contract... From page 13 not competent at the regional level. He said Deokinanan also asked about the work certificates although he knew of the projects. His difficult behaviour, Fowler indicated, caused the outburst. Kaieteur News understands that the matter was put to rest when the Regional Chairman stepped in
and asked the Vice Chairman to apologize. This was done last Wednesday. In the meantime the office of the Regional chairman promised a response to the allegations of contract manipulation. This has not yet been fulfilled. The Vice Chairman has however denied that any contract manipulation is occurring in the region.
Page 29
Page 30
Kaieteur News
Barbados’ economy still in a slump (Barbados Nation) Barbados’ economy is in deep trouble and the Central Bank’s latest report is signalling more worry about the falling level of vital foreign reserves. In its review of the country’s economic performance in the first half of 2013, the Central Bank revealed that the economy did not grow but contracted by 0.6 per cent. The bank explained that not only did the sectors relied on heavily to generate foreign exchange – tourism and international business and financial services – fail to thrive, but there was a significant drop in foreign reserves during April, May and June. “The foreign reserve cover fell from 19 weeks of imports as at March to 16 weeks at the end of June,” the bank reported the same day that the country was spared damage from Tropical Storm Chantal which appeared ominously threatening. However, there was no reprieve in the economic score card from the Central Bank as it revealed a litany of obstacles blocking recovery after nearly six years of weak or no growth.
END E-MAIL PROBE Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s attorney, Israel Khan SC, on Tuesday called on police to wrap up the now 49-day-long e-mail investigation before the July 29 by-election. In a telephone interview, Khan said he was frustrated that the police investigations into the email issue has not progressed and remained “hanging over the Prime Minister’s head”. Khan said the Acting Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams, was able to make a pronouncement on the matter, referring to an exclusive interview with the Express on Monday in which Williams said the e-mails were fake. He said though the investigation was being led by
“Following a lackluster performance during the peak winter season, the tourist industry continued to underperform as tourism output declined by an estimated 1.4 per cent for the first half of 2013. “Total long-stay arrivals fell by seven per cent during the first six months, marking the second consecutive January to June visitor decline. Arrivals from the United States dipped by 11 per cent, a reflection of the cancellation of flights originating from the Dallas gateway in August 2012,” the Central Bank told Barbadians. In a statement released in the afternoon, the bank said: “The number of new licences issued to international business and financial services entities increased by eight per cent up to May, but renewals fell by 14 per cent.” Barbados’ exports of rum fell by 37 per cent; sugar production was down 29 per cent, while activity in the construction sector declined by an estimated nine per cent, the Central Bank reported. In financial services, the sector remained very liquid with high levels of deposits
DeLisle Worrell but the Central Bank reported that an increasing number of Barbadians were not servicing loans in a timely manner, though there was no increase in loan levels. “Weak loan demand combined with further deterioration in the tourism and real estate sectors led commercial banks’ nonperforming loans ratio to edge upward to reach 14 per cent at March 2013. However, the majority of non-performing loans continue to be classified in the least critical category,” the Central Bank said.
Israel Khan: Matter hanging over PM’s head Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mervyn Richardson, Williams’s statement was still relevant . “It is the DCP who has to bring him (Williams) up to date on what is going on,” Khan said. Khan questioned whether there was a politics at play within the investigation. “They have had sufficient time, the Prime Minister has said she will write to the service providers and waive her right to privacy for the month of September and to date we have not heard from them. Is it that Richardson already knows the e-mails to be false?” he asked. Khan said the matter,
once resolved, would implicate either the Prime Minister and the Attorney General in criminal conduct and misbehaviour in public office or implicate Opposition Dr Keith Rowley and his source in charges of treason. “Why aren’t they moving to expedite this? Who is the guilty party? Could be politics playing out here,” he said. Khan said with Williams making one comment, while Richardson has not yet concluded investigation, it gave the impression that there was a “split” in the senior police service. He refused to say what was in the letter, but added he expected to reach a point of agreement “soon”.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Canadian firm on blacklist gets TT$2.2m to design hospital in Penal (Trinidad Guardian) Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc was paid TT$2.2 million by the T&T Government to design the Penal hospital, despite receiving a ten-year ban from the World Bank from bidding on contracts which it funded. So said Udecott’s media events and community outreach manager, Roxanne Stapleton-Whyms, on Tuesday. In an e-mail, StapletonWhyms said there were no ongoing negotiations between Udecott and the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) over the contract. The $1 billion hospital is expected to be built at Clarke Road, Penal. A due diligence review is ongoing for the construction phase of the project. Stapleton-Whyms could not provide any details on the review. However, once it was completed, the CCC would decide whether SNC-Lavalin
qualified for the project, it was stated. However, Minister of Housing Dr Roodal Moonilal said Government still reserved the right to reject the contract if the CCC failed to explain on what grounds SNC-Lavalin was chosen. The project is divided into two phases: Design and construction. Udecott’s CEO Kurt Ramlal said the design phase of the project was almost completed. However, he said, payment terms have not been finalised as tenets were still being negotiated. Ramlal added that CCC and Udecott were working on the development of a contract for phase two. A letter sent to Ramlal from Luc Allary, the regional director of the Caribbean and Central America of the Canadian Commercial Corporation, said SNCLavalin Constructors International Inc was retained for the project.
T h e l e t t e r, d a t e d November 1, 2012, read: “As stated in the Framework Arrangement between our respective governments, CCC confirms that it has engaged SNC- Lavalin Constructors International I n c , o n e o f t h e leading engineering and construction groups in the world, as its Canadian supplier to design, engineer, procure, construct and commission the hospital in the town of Penal.” When questioned about the nature of the review, High Commissioner for Canada Gerard Latulippe said the contract for the construction phase would be proposed to the T&T Government for its signature once the CCC had completed a review of SNCLavalin’s financial, managerial, technical, corporate social responsibility capabilities and its commitment to ethical business practices.
PM queries Jack’s election funding...
Bottomless Money pit Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has questioned the source of Jack Warner’s Chaguanas West by-election campaign funding. However, Warner on Tuesday refused to comment on the matter, saying he would not be drawn into any argument with his former leader. Speaking at the UNC’s Monday Night Forum in Warrenville, Cunupia, PersadBissessar told supporters: “Warner appears to have a bottomless pit of money.” She said with his unlimited finances, Warner would “outspend” the UNC in his campaign with television advertisements and full-page ads. She added: “With his amassed wealth—no media is asking where he get the money from? Whether it come from England, America or even Haiti. But everyone who is supportive of the UNC is called a financier.” The Prime Minister also accused Warner of “trying to
Jack Warner buy out our supporters.” “But you are resilient, you are courageous, many have come before to buy you out,” she said. She urged supporters not to “be fooled by money or be bought out.” Persad-Bissessar said Warner had formed his political party, the Independent Liberal Party (ILP), to destroy the UNC and kick the party “out of our homeland in Chaguanas West.” “Jack Warner is out
to destroy and eliminate everyone who has helped to build the UNC to what it is today,” she said as she trained her guns on her former “ally.” She said Warner was teaming up with Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley “to remove my generals and lieutenants so that he can try to remove me. If you remove these people you will never see government again. ”Today he wants to destroy our leaders so that he can come after me and my job,” she declared. She urged supporters to stay focused, “stay united so we could stay in government.” The PM also accused Warner of engaging in “twisted logic” and “not so subtle attempts to hoodwink you (constituents.)” Contacted by telephone Tuesday, Warner refused to comment on the source of his funding, but assured the PM she need not worry about where it came from.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
U.S.-China talks cover cyber issues, currency, Chinese reform
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew (back L) delivers remarks with China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang (back R) at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) at the Treasury Department in Washington. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (Reuters) - U.S. officials appealed to China’s selfinterest yesterday with calls for deeper economic reforms including changes to the exchange rate policy and a halt to cyber theft of trade secrets - actions they said would benefit both nations. Vice President Joe Biden launched the annual U.S.China Strategic and Economic Dialogue by stressing the shared stakes and responsibility to support the global economy. “The next steps that China needs to take for its own economy happen to be in the interests of the United States as well,” he said as the two-day talks opened in Washington. “Your own plans call for the kinds of changes that have to take place, that are difficult, like here, but if they do, they will benefit us both, including free exchange rate, shifting to a consumption-led
economy, enforcing intellectual property rights and renewing innovation,” said Biden. But Biden did not mince words when he raised the hotbutton issue of theft of intellectual property through hacking of computer networks, a conversation complicated by the fugitive spy agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance around the world. “Outright cyberenabling theft that U.S. companies are experiencing now must be viewed as out of bounds a n d needs to stop,” said Biden. U.S. officials say all countries spy on each other, but China is unique in its theft of foreign technology. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew are hosting a Chinese delegation
Infighting threatens Egypt transition plan, army orders arrests (Reuters) - Political infighting threatened to stall Egypt’s transition plans today, as the military cracked down on Muslim Brotherhood leaders it blames for inciting a clash in Cairo in which troops shot and killed 53 protesters. Monday’s violence between supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader toppled by the army last week, and soldiers at a military compound has opened deep fissures in the Arab world’s most populous country. Yesterday, Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and several other senior Islamists, evoking memories of when the movement was repressed
under autocratic former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in 2011.Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood called for protest marches on Friday, when noon prayers are held in mosques, raising the risk of more violence after fighting between rival factions swept Egypt last week and killed 35 people.Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said the leaders had not been arrested and some were still attending a protest vigil at Rabaa Adawiya mosque, where thousands of supporters have camped out for the past two weeks despite punishing heat. He said the charges against them of inciting violence were “nothing more than an attempt by the police state to dismantle the Rabaa protest.”
led by State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang for annual talks that cover both economics and wider geopolitical issues. Burns filled in for Secretary of State John Kerry, who left the meetings yesterday to care for his ailing wife. The talks were launched in 2008 with aim of managing an increasingly complex U.S.China relationship and avoiding competition between the world’s two largest economies from turning into destabilizing conflict.
Page 31
House Republicans divided on immigration reform (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives emerged from an immigration meeting yesterday divided over whether to help the 11 million undocumented people living in the United States, but eager to bolster border security. Several lawmakers said there appeared to be no consensus over calls for granting legal status to the 11 million, many of whom have lived in the United States for years, after a 2 1/2-hour closed-door session. “We have a disagreement inside here,” said Republican Representative Steve King, who guessed that his colleagues were split “50/50” on whether any of the undocumented residents should get legal status. There will likely have to be an agreement between the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate, which last month approved a comprehensive immigration bill backed by the White House that includes a pathway to citizenship. Backers of the Senate bill insist some sort of path to citizenship must be part of any final bill that they help send to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The Republican lawmakers said there was consensus that the U.S.
border should be secured further against illegal crossings and suggested that House Speaker John Boehner could seek passage of such a bill as a first step toward a larger agreement. Republican leaders issued a statement again rejecting a Senate-passed bill that puts the 11 million on a 13-year path to citizenship. “It’s hard not to be discouraged right now,” said Senator Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who helped write the Senate bill and served 12 years in the House.The Senate bill removes the threat of deportation for most illegal residents, but features several hurdles to citizenship, including learning English, paying back taxes and passing criminal background checks. It authorizes $46 billion for border security and to revamp the visa system to help high-tech firms, farmers and other businesses hire foreign workers. Obama and his fellow Democrats have been calling for prompt action by the House. Earlier on Wednesday, the president told a group of Hispanic lawmakers that he was willing to do whatever it takes to help enact a bill. Even former President George W. Bush, who rarely wades into policy debates,
gave a boost to efforts in Congress. While the twoterm Republican president did not embrace any particular bill, he said he hoped there would be a “positive resolution.” Speaking in Dallas at a naturalization ceremony, Bush said, “We have a problem. The laws governing the immigration system aren’t working. ... The system is broken.” But House Republicans, who hold a 234-201 majority over Democrats, gave no indication of fast action on a major bill. “It is going to be a process of months, not days or weeks,” Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma told Reuters in a telephone interview after yesterday’s meeting. “I don’t see anything until late this year or early next year. It is going to take that long; it is going to be that big of a debate,” Cole added, referring to tough bargaining with the Senate. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is working on a plan to grant citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who are in the United States through no fault of their own, according to Republican lawmakers. In the past, Republicans have blocked such legislation.
Page 32
Kaieteur News
New Education Officer for Essequibo
Baramdai Seepersaud With effect from Monday, a new Education Officer will be operating at the Department Of Education, in the Pomeroon/Supenaam District. The new officer is Mrs. Baramadai Seepersaud. She replaces Mrs. Leslyn Edwards-Charles who previously held the post of
Regional Education Officer (REDO). Seepersaud chalked up 28 years in the teaching profession. She explained that she began her teaching career as a teenager and initially taught at the Cummings Lodge Secondary School. Seepersaud later attended the Cyril Potter College of Education, and then moved on to the University of Guyana where she gained her degree. In 2007, Seepersaud was appointed Education Officer and served four years in Region Four. She was to serve a further three years in Georgetown. Originally from the Essequibo Coast, Seepersaud began her schooling at the Fisher Nursery School.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Victim wants investigation of Freedom House JP in bogus car sale Babita Ramnarine and husband, Sewchand Dhunmmum want an investigation launched into the activities of a Justice of the Peace (JP) whom they say caused them to lose their recently purchased motorcar. The couple says that the JP, based at Freedom House on Robb Street, endorsed false documentation which purported that the couple had sold their hire car, HC 1339. As a result, the couple says they have been plunged into debt. The vehicle was confiscated by the car dealership. Ramnarine and her husband are now facing financial difficulty at home. The couple lives at Lot 876 Belle West Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara. The two explained
Babita Ramnarine and Sewchand Dhunmmum leave Freedom House after one of their numerous visits last month that since Dhunmmum was injured in an armed robbery years ago, he is unable to perform tedious tasks. The family had finally gathered enough money last August and bought a vehicle which he worked as a taxi to support the family. Sometime after the car was purchased, Ramnarine said that it was hijacked while she and daughter were inside. The assailant took to them to East Bank Demerara, but then released them unharmed. After earnest searches, the vehicle was recovered within days in the yard of a gentleman living at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara. Reports were made to the police, the man was detained and the car was returned. Days following this, the couple said they were summoned to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) at Eve Leary only to learn that the man was claiming that the couple had sold him the vehicle. To prove that they were the original vehicle owners, Ramnarine said they presented to the police the registration on request. The officer took the document to another room, returned it and told them to come back to OPR the following day. When they returned, Ramnarine said to their surprise the alleged car thief
had documents purporting that they had indeed sold their car. The JP’s signature and signatures purporting to be that of the couple were on the document. The matter was eventually taken to court since the police said they could not ascertain to whom the car really belonged. The court ruled that the Belle West couple be given the car, but that was the start of their problems Ramnarine said. They are several months behind on car payments since the police kept the car during the court matter. The car dealership will not return the vehicle unless they clear their arrears. Ramnarine said that when confronted, the JP promised to pay off the car arrears, but fooled them by telling them to go back to OPR where he would bring the money. Instead, Ramnarine alleges, she and her husband were ordered at OPR, to sign a document saying that the JP owed them no money and that they would not go to the media with the matter. She said the document was never signed but they embarked on a quest for justice. Despite reports of the hijacking and false documents, Ramnarine said the police never launched an investigation. For more than a month
now, the couple has been trying to get the President’s attention but to no avail. Kaieteur News was told by the President’s secretary that he was engaged, but that he knew about that matter, and planned to look into it. Ramnarine said that even the ORP has offered no assistance into the m a t t e r. W h e n K a i e t e u r News spoke to the head of t h e a g e n c y, M o h a m e d Jameer, last month he said he was aware of the matter and that the police had sent the matter to the court because they did not know who owned the car. When asked about investigations into fraud and kidnapping, he said the police had no such report. So far, the couple has sought the advice of Attorney-at-law Khemraj Ramjattan who told Kaieteur News that the police are at fault for not following up the criminal matter of fraud and hijacking. If the car was found at the man’s home, they had to find out how he got it, Ramjattan said. The authenticity and credibility of the JP should also be checked, Ramjattan continued. Ramnarine said that they are hoping that someone will hear their plight and offer some assistance in getting back their vehicle.
From page 13 contracts from those clients because the economy is not as robust as we would like it to be, the economy is not doing well, and the business people are taken by shock,” he added. He said that some clients are trying to work out a system to meet the additional $62 per hour with the new minimum wage, but, their proposals of part payments would result in the company
suffering a loss, even to the point of bankruptcy. According to Khan, it is unbelievable that Government would increase the minimum wage without doing the arithmetic of the effects. He explained that if his company tenders for $240 per hour and the minimum wage is $200, how would the company be able to offset expense and make a small profit? He said that the desired amount to provide services
without making a profit would be $300. He said that his company is not involved in any illegal activities such as stealing contributions from the National Insurance Scheme or Value Added Tax from Guyana Revenue Authority and therefore needs to access funds legally. Attempts to contact Labour Minister, Nanda Gopaul, yesterday, were unsuccessful.
R.K Security Services to terminate...
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 33
LORGAT AMONG CONTENDERS FOR CSA CEO JOB ESPNcricinfo - Former ICC boss Haroon Lorgat is one of three candidates who will be interviewed by CSA for the position of CEO next week. The body has been without a permanent replacement for Gerald Majola since he was sacked last October although its leadership position has been fluid for the last 16 months, since Majola was suspended in March 2012.
CSA has been through one acting boss, Jacques Faul, who is now in charge of the Titans franchise and are currently on their second. Naasei Appiah, the organisation’s CFO has been heading it since March this year as the timeline for appointing a CEO continues to shift. Initial talk out of CSA’s offices was that it would
appoint its new CEO by April this year. In May, it announced that the process was still “running on schedule,” and the seat would be filled by the beginning of July. This has now been moved a third time. E S P N c r i c i n f o understands one of the reasons for the delay was caused by difficulties in drawing up a shortlist.
WARNER SENT TO SOUTH... From page 37 the Australia A games in Zimbabwe and South Africa will provide him with the best possible opportunity. “David remains a member of the Ashes Squad and will return to the England at an appropriate time once we’re happy he has had adequate preparation in match conditions.”
The inclusion of Steve Smith and Ashton Agar in the team for Trent Bridge has also caused other changes to the Australia A squad. Aaron Finch has been promoted to captain the team, and Alex Doolan will be his deputy. Doolan, who has been playing in England, underwent fitness training at Trent Bridge on match eve by way of South Africa preparation.
Thursday July 11, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): Establishing boundaries with your friends might elicit an unexpected response if they interpret your expressed desire for formality too seriously. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20): It seems as if something’s happening on the home front that you don’t quite understand, and you can’t be certain enough to do anything specific about it. GEMINI (May 21–June 20): You often like gathering lots of information even when it isn’t helpful to your cause. However, today’s sensible Virgo Moon gives you the analytical tools you need to sort through all the data and keep only what you can use. CANCER (June 21–July 22): It’s no fun if you’re reminded of an emotional wound today, but you can’t afford to dwell on it. Naturally, the most crucial issues are the ones that occur in the present moment. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22): It’s nearly impossible to separate your current feelings from your fantasies today, especially when you try to express what’s on your mind. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): The evocative Moon’s return to your sign today gives you the energetic boost you need. However, your emotions may be tricky to manage now, leaving you exhausted from sharing too much with a friend or lover.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): It’s so tempting to get lost in your own dreams and schemes now that the Moon is floating through your 12th House of Escapism. Ironically, one of your fantasies might actually turn into a practical idea. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): You are buzzing with an overflow of energy now, yet you don’t want to waste it on unimportant social interactions. Even if you have an enjoyable event on your calendar, it still might seem more like an unpleasant chore than a party. SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): You might not know what your next move at work should be because you may be aimed in one direction while really wanting to go another. CAPRICORN(Dec.22–Jan.19): Your hands-on approach to success could bring you rewards today, but you must stay focused on your original intentions. If you have an important decision to make, do it as early in the day as possible, because as the evening approaches, you may grow increasingly cautious. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): Your complex schemes seem to fall apart today for no apparent reason. You might even believe that you can’t maintain a clear perspective on what’s happening now. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): You may be feeling somewhat let down today, just as you might on a morning after an exciting event.
Despite receiving over 200 applications, CSA’s board was not satisfied with the overall calibre of the people who expressed interest in the job and extended the process to see if they could attract other candidates. Some of the contenders who are up against Lorgat are believed to be Bheki Shongwe, MD of Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa’s current football champions, university professor Denver Hendricks and head of Kagiso media Murphy Morobe. Previously Lorgat was understood to be competing with CSA’s cricket operations manager Mike Gajjar, Border Cricket CEO Thema Lupuwana and CSA’s transformation manager Max Jordaan and the concern was that the majority of candidates lacked significant business experience. Now, Lorgat remains the favourite but for a different reason: he could be the only one with extensive cricketing knowledge. Lorgat has been involved with South African cricket in the past, as convenor of selectors, ran the ICC for four years and has been involved at consultancy levels with Sri Lanka and Pakistan in recent months. The biggest obstacle to his challenge for the job appears to be from another cricketing country - India. The BCCI has made clear its preference that CSA does not appoint Lorgat because of the Indian board’s acrimonious history with him. Lorgat is believed to have irked the BCCI in his time at the ICC. As a result, India threatened to pull out of the upcoming tour to South Africa if Lorgat was given the job, according to CSA’s lead independent director Norman Arendse, who revealed the BCCI’s stance in March. CSA has since made public the fixtures for India’s tour to South Africa between November and January, which includes seven ODIs,
two T20s and three Tests. India have objected to the itinerary, saying CSA released the schedule without the BCCI’s consent and that they would prefer fewer ODIs to give their players time off before they head to New Zealand. While the BCCI claim to
have notified CSA of its grievances, CSA say it has not received any formal complaint. The already tense relationship between the two boards, who were previously on excellent terms, may only escalate as Lorgat moves closer to the top job.
NACCIE organised cricket match rescheduled The cricket match organised by the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NACCIE) which was scheduled to be played on Sunday July 14 between host Albion and Demerara Cricket Club has been brought forward to Saturday July 13. Some of the players expected to be on show are Narsingh Deonarine, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Jonathan Foo,
Trevon Griffith, Christopher Barnwell and Derwin Christian. The game is being organized by the Union to raise funds for the restructuring of the NACCIE Resource Centre at the Albion Front on the Corentyne to support culture and education in the Berbice area. The union is apologizing to all who have brought tickets for Sunday July 14; the tickets are still valid for Saturday July 13.
Page 34
Kaieteur News
India v Sri Lanka, tri-series final, Port-of-Spain
SILVERWARE WITHIN YOUNG CAPTAINS’ GRASP
ESPNcricinfo - Much of the cricketing world’s attention might be drawn towards the blue-riband Test series which kicked off in England yesterday, but a soon-to-be-forgotten triseries in the Caribbean isn’t done with yet. India and Sri Lanka have played each other so often in recent years that even jokes about how often they play each other have become stale. Still, when the two sides face off for the 42nd ODI in five years today, there’s a series trophy on the line. Also, firing up the two teams will be the chance for two young captains to get their hands on some silverware. If it wasn’t enough that India’s one-day side was shorn of many of its most experienced players in recent months, they also lost the services of MS Dhoni midway through the tournament. That meant that two years on from their World Cup triumph, India’s ODI side had only two players that featured in that famous Mumbai final. Fast on the heels of that Dhoni injury, India were humiliated by Sri Lanka by 161 runs, and were staring at an early exit. Instead, stand-in captain Virat Kohli added to his everexpanding tally of ODI centuries to resuscitate the
campaign, before Bhuvneshwar Kumar added to his burgeoning reputation as a new-ball expert by ripping through Sri Lanka’s batting. The two victories meant India ended up top of the table, and will go into the final with more of the swagger that carried them to the Champions Trophy title. Sri Lanka have more experience in their line-up, particularly in the batting, but have lost some high-profile crunch ODIs to India in recent years. Their bowling attack isn’t as seasoned though, and plenty will depend on how Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath fare. Sri Lanka will play their fourth day of cricket in five when they play the final, and thankfully the weather forecast is better than it has been over the past week. There is still a chance of some light showers but it is likely that Thursday will prove the last of India-Sri Lanka cricket for the year. IN THE SPOTLIGHT On Thursday, Mahela Jayawardene will become only the third cricketer to play 400 ODIs, behind legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. He has a penchant for turning up on the big occasion, as India well know, and will be desperate
to mark the landmark game with a performance that will lift Sri Lanka to only their third ODI series win in previous 12 campaigns. After a long and not always convincing streak in the middle order, Rohit Sharma has reinvented himself as an ODI opener. Usually a flamboyant, attacking player, he has had to shelve his more expansive strokes in the challenging conditions of the Caribbean. His strike-rate is a pedestrian 60.45 this series, but he has already played three important innings in four matches. TEAM NEWS Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal started the long journey from Sri Lanka to the Caribbean Tuesday after Nuwan Kulasekara was ruled out of the tournament with a hand injury, but whether that will only end up in boosting only his frequent flier miles or the Sri Lankan pace attack as well is still to be seen. While he has to deal with the jet lag, he at least has the experience of playing in the Caribbean as recently as a couple of weeks ago, when he turned out for Sri Lanka A, taking eight wickets in three matches. Unless MS Dhoni is deemed fit for the final, India aren’t likely to tinker with their combination much.
Le-Roy, Maitland cop bronze medals at WUG Jamaica Observer - Anastasia Le-Roy and Nicholas Maitland provided Jamaica with two bronze medals in the 400 metres at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia. Le-Roy clocked 51.72 seconds for third place behind the Russian pair of Kesenia Ustalovia, who won in a season’s best 50.60 seconds, and Alena Tamkeva, who registered a personal best 51.17 seconds. Maitland ran a personal best of 45.63 seconds behind winner Vladimir Krasnov, of Russia, who timed a season’s best 45.49 seconds, and Brazilian Anderson Henriques (45.50 seconds). Meanwhile, triple jumper Shaneika Thomas leapt 15.58 metres to move to today’s final. Also, defending champion Rasheed Dwyer won his two rounds in the men’s 200 metres, in 21.00 and 21.07 seconds, respectively. The semi-final and final was set for yesterday. Danille Williams was down for heat three of the 100m hurdles, and Travis Smikle in round one of the men’s discus yesterday. Maurice Wilson, Le-Roy’s coach at G C Foster, expressed delight when he spoke to the Jamaica Observer. “She has performed well coming off a major championship where persons had to perform at the highest level and then to get back ready within a week to perform at another major championship, I just have to give credit to those there for performing for their various colleges and universities,” he said. “I expect her to do better as it is obvious
Anastasia Le-Roy
that she has recovered well from her earlier setback and I expect her to do extremely well as she gets some more rest.” Russia lead the athletics medals table with 24, followed by Ukraine with six, South Africa with four, and Jamaica in 14th with two.
Thursday July 11, 2013
PEPSI SONICS TO HOST VOCATIONAL PROGRAMME Merle Casey
The Pepsi Sonics Basketball Club in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport will be hosting a Vocational Basketball Programme, July 29-August 11, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, at the
club’s practice venue, The National Gymnasium. The programme will be targeting both boys and girls from primary and secondary schools, from ages nine to 17 years. The programme will include instructions on the fundamentals of basketball and other mechanics aimed at improving the base of the sport. “This programme is aimed at improving the fundamentals of players coming up in the game and ensuring that kids have something to do while they are out of school. I know that the children are looking forward for it,” Sonics President, Merle Casey indicated. Personnel from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and other Youth Organisations will be invited to have discussions with the participants, who will all be recipients of ‘Certificates of Participation’ at the end of the programme.
Lazio, Genoa & Lecce face points deduction over match-fixing BBC Sport - Italian clubs Lazio, Genoa and Lecce could be deducted points for matchfixing in a scandal where players allegedly offered £500,000 in bribes. The trio of clubs and eight players, including Lazio midfielder Stefano Mauri, are accused of “sporting fraud” by the Italian football federation. The matches under investigation are Lazio’s final two games of the 2010-11 season when they beat Genoa 4-2 at home and Lecce by the same score away. A hearing will take place on 24 July. The other players charged were Omar Milanetto, who was at Genoa, and Lecce’s Massimiliano
Stefano Mauri (Getty Images) Benassi, Stefano Ferrario and Antonio Rosati. Mario Cassano and Carlo Gervasoni, who were playing for Piacenza at the time and
Alessandro Zamperini, who was with lower league Fidene, were also reported, although their involvement remains unclear. Mauri and Milanetto were both detained for one week last year by prosecutors investigating the case. Cassano and Zamperini are already serving five-year bans imposed last year over different cases. Last week, Serie B club Bari plea-bargained for a one-point penalty for match-fixing. Serie A table 2010-11 1 Milan 82 pts 2 Inter 76 pts 3 Napoli 70 pts 4 Udinese 66 pts 5 Lazio 66 pts 6 Roma 63 pts
DIGICEL SENIOR NATIONAL SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013 NIGHT The Guyana Squash Association in collaboration with its number one corporate sponsor Digicel ran off night one of the Digicel Senior National Squash Championships at the Georgetown Club Courts last evening. Matches were played in both the men’s and women’s divisions. In action on the opening night was Women’s World number 26 Nicolette Fernandes who was all business as she took care of promising junior player Taylor Fernandes in straight sets 11-1,11-3,11-4. Former Caribbean Under-19 Champion Kathy Ten-Pow was in a destructive mood as she defeated Larissa Wiltshire
11-4,7-11,11-7,11-8. There were also five matches in the men’s division. Ian Mekdeci defeated Jonathan Antczak 12-10,118,11-7. Dennis Dias was too good for Haopei Yang 11-5,11-3,114. Jo Jo Mekdeci was made to work very hard but eventually took care of Alec Melville 12-10,7-11,12-10,11-7. Matthew Phang gave a good account of himself but still went down to Adam Alves 6-11,6-11,7-11. Brian Yong was also victorious when he defeated Lee Fung A Fat 11-6,11-8,11-1. Matches continue today from 6:00 pm when the round of sixteen matches in the men’s division will be played and the quarterfinals of the women’s division.
Match of the night should be between two former national junior players Deje Dias and Raphael DeGroot. Also in action in the men’s division will be defending men’s champion Alex Arjoon, Nicolette Fernandes, Jason- Ray Khalil and former National champion Regan Pollard in action. In the women’s division the quarterfinal match-ups are as follows: Ashley DeGroot against Victoria Arjoon, Mary Fung A Fat against Akeila Wiltshire and Ashley Khalil against Kathy Ten-Pow. Nicolette Fernandes has already progressed to the semi-finals in this division with her win over Taylor Fernandes last night.
Thursday July 11, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 35
IOC must explain Games TEAM BELIEVES MARK CAVENDISH benefits to Brazilians, says Rogge DOUSED IN URINE AT TOUR BERNE (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) must make an effort to explains the benefits of hosting the 2016 Olympics to skeptical Brazilians, the organization’s president Jacques Rogge said on Wednesday. Brazil was rocked by a wave of protests when it staged last month’s Confederations Cup soccer tournament, considered a dry run for next year’s World Cup. Among the protesters’ many grievances was the amount of public money being spent on new stadiums when local public services such as health and transport are in a dismal state. Rio de Janeiro will stage the 2016 Olympic Games and has already suffered one major embarrassment with the athletics stadium, which was completed only in 2007, having to shut for 18 months for repairs to the roof. “We have to explain very clearly to the public that the investments made in the Olympic Games are for a sustainable legacy for
generations to come,” Rogge told reporters in a conference call. “We must make it clear that, yes, the games are a force for the good, that they improve the society and this has to be explained, because people don’t know what the investments are.” He said it was up to the host country to decide how to fund Olympic Games building. “This is a sovereign decision of any government that organizes the Olympic Games,” said the Belgian, who leaves office in September. “As you know, the investments are not for the short term, it is not for the two weeks of the Olympic Games or World Cup, they are for generations to come, whether it be bus lines, or improvements to the airport.” Rogge shrugged off concerns about the slow pace of preparations for the Games. “There is a lot of good work being done, there are a lot of things to be achieved before 2016, we have urged them to
accelerate but I remain optimistic and there is no concern whatsoever on the quality of the Games.” Rogge praised the recent reforms made in wrestling as the sport bids to keep its place at the Games. The IOC surprisingly dropped wrestling from the list of core sports for the 2020 Games in February, forcing it to join seven other candidate sports battling for the one vacant spot. Wrestling is now on a shortlist of three sports, along with squash and baseball/softball, and the winning sport will be chosen at the IOC Congress in Buenos Aires in September. “I think that wrestling’s leadership responded well to the challenge,” said Rogge. “They improved the federation by giving athletes voting rights, rules have been changed. “Whether this will be enough to give them selection for 2020 remains to be seen and I will be neutral among the three sports but they did a good job.”
Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie to run for Gebrselassie parliament Haile has dominated the BBC Sport - Ethiopian athletics star Haile Gebrselassie says he is entering politics with the aim of winning a parliamentary seat in the 2015 election. The 40-year-old’s announcement follows longstanding rumours that his athletics career is drawing to a close. Mr Haile, a two-time Olympic 10,000m champion, is regarded as a national icon by most Ethiopians. He has not said under which party’s banner he will contest the election. Ethiopia’s parliament is dominated by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). It has only one opposition MP. ‘Help my country’ “A lot of messages in the news about me going into politics,” Mr Haile said on
track for two decades (AFP)
Twitter. “Yes, I want to be in the parliament in 2015 to help my country to move forward.” Mr Haile is a four-time world 10,000m champion and won gold at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. He officially announced his retirement in 2010 but then went on to compete in races after recovering from a knee injury. In April, he won his third
consecutive Vienna half marathon and also took part in the Boston marathon, which was hit by a double bomb attack that killed three people. The EPRDF is accused by rights groups of leading a highly repressive regime, using anti-terrorism law as a pretext to imprison opposition activists and journalists.
DELOITTE: QATAR TO SPEND $200 BILLION FOR WORLD CUP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A report from Deloitte says the oil-and-gas rich nation of Qatar plans to spend $200 billion over the next decade as it prepares to host the 2022 World Cup. The report, released on Tuesday, said $140 billion of that will be for transportation infrastructure including a new airport, roads and a metro system to deal with the 400,000 fans expected for the month-long tournament.
Another $20 billion will go to tourism infrastructure as the Persian Gulf nation expects the number of tourists to reach 3.7 million annually by 2022. Qatar was awarded the World Cup in December 2010, beating out the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea. It was a surprise choice considering the summer heat exceeds 40 degrees (104 F) in the desert country.
Britain’s Mark Cavendish crosses the finish line to win the fifth stage of the Tour de France. (Photo: Laurent Rebours AP)
MONT-SAINT-MICHEL, France (AP) — Mark Cavendish’s team said it believes someone threw urine at the British rider during Wednesday’s time trial at the Tour de France. “Yes, that’s true I think. I was behind him. I didn’t see it, but I think it’s true,” Omega Pharma-Quick Step team press officer Alessandro Tegner said. Tegner said the liquid smelled like urine and it was “all over him,” and said Cavendish talked about the
incident after completing the time trial. “He said: ‘I really don’t know what’s going on,’” Tegner said. Tegner said the team does not know exactly where it happened on the 33-kilometer (20-mile) time-trial course to Mont-Saint-Michel on the Brittany coast. The Guardian, on its website, quoted team manager Patrick Lefevere as saying: “Mark is sad, he’s not upset, just sad. I cannot blame anyone, there are 100,000 or 200,000 people on
the road, and one person decided to do this.” At the Tour, which is a free, non-ticketed event, the millions of roadside fans get closer to the athletes than at many other sports competitions. Most famously, a spectator once punched five-time champion Eddy Merckx in the kidneys. Lance Armstrong tweeted: “why all the sudden shock and outrage. this has been happening for 100 years in some form or another.”
Canje Knights hurt New Amsterdam Warriors, dump them out of contention The newly formed Canje Knights Basketball club of East Canje continue to make waves on the Basketball courts in Berbice when they outplayed and outmaneuvered the seasoned New Amsterdam Warriors 50-44 to advance to the final of the going Berbice Basketball Association (BBA) first division Top Six Mackeson Basketball competition being played at the Vryman’s Erven Basketball Court in New Amsterdam. Playing in their first senior tournament, having won the first junior tournament they participated in earlier in the year, Canje Knights showed good maturity to advance with only one loss during the preliminary
stage. The tournament, which is being sponsored by Beverage giants Ansa McAl Guyana Limited, saw the Knights going to war with the Warriors and wresting a place in the final against the unbeaten Smythfield Rockers on a date to be announced at the Vryman’s Erven Court. The competition will continue on with New Amsterdam Warriors next meeting Rose Hall Town Jammers in the final preliminary round game. At stake in the competition is $80,000 for the winner and $20,000 for the second placed team among other incentives. (Samuel Whyte)
Stag Beer WDFA Div. 1 League
Adams’ SIX highlights latest round; Slingerz, Den Amstel & Young Achievers win There were three wins and a draw recorded in the latest round of matches of the Stag Beer/West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) division one league last weekend. Apart from Slingerz FC maintaining their stranglehold at the top of the points table, Young Achievers’ Desroy Adams stole the spotlight when he banged six goals past the Wales goalkeeper in his side’s 10-0 rout. Wales have virtually been the whipping boys of the
tournament to date and that billing did not change when they took on Young Achievers, a Pouderoyen based club. Adams rocked the nets in the 9th, 41st, 45th, 50th, 55th and 58th minute and was supported by Lloyd Prince who contributed a brace in the 51st and 65th minute. There was one each for Sherwin Liverpool (18) and Winston Johnson (63). The other game on Saturday produced another comfortable win for the home
team, Den Amstel who got past Bagotville/Nismes FC, 20, Jeffrey Pereira converting both goals either side of play; 17th and 62nd minute. Slingerz continued to impose their will on the other teams in the league when they whipped De Kinderen 7-0. Tichard Joseph hit the target on four occasions (11, 34, 48, and 57) with Devon Millington hitting a double in the 57th and 79th minute. The other goal came off the boot of Quason McCaullay in the 30th minute.
Page 36
Kaieteur News
Thursday July 11, 2013
Wondolowski, U.S. roll INJURED RUDISHA’S WORLD TITLE DEFENCE IN DOUBT over Belize in Gold Cup
USA forward Chris Wondolowski reacts following a goal that was scored against Belize (Photo: Scott Olmos, USA TODAY Sports) PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Maybe next time they’ll spell Chris Wondolowski’s name right. The striker scored a first-half hat trick in a 6-1 victory for the U.S. men’s national team over Belize in the opening round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday night. Landon Donovan added a goal and two assists, becoming the first player with at least 50 career goals and 50 assists for the national team. Wondolowski, who plays for Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes, sported an extra “W’’ on the back of his red and white jersey for the first international meeting between the two teams. Costa Rica defeated Cuba 3-0 in an earlier match Tuesday at Jeld-Wen Field. The 12-team Gold Cup, which includes national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean, is played every two years. Wondolowski is the third American to score three goals in a Gold Cup match, joining Donovan and Brian McBride. The United States has won four Gold Cups since the tournament’s inception in 1991. Mexico has won the past two. The U.S. men were coming off a 6-0 rout of Guatemala in San Diego on Friday, an
international friendly to warm up for the Gold Cup. Donovan scored twice, extending his American record to 51 international goals. That was Donovan’s first match after a fivemonth break from the national team. He was not included on rosters for the U.S. team’s June World Cup qualifying matches. Wondolowski scored his first international goal against Guatemala. Belize was making its first Gold Cup appearance. The Jaguars, as they are known, qualified for the competition with a fourthplace finish in the UNCAF Copa Centroamericana. The U.S. struck early when Wondolowski knocked in a rebound off Belize goalkeeper Shane Orio in the 12th minute. The United States relentlessly peppered Orio with shots and he made a dramatic save when Joe Corona fired at him in the 27th minute. But Wondolowski was able to get another one past him in the 36th minute to make it 2-0. Belize scored on a penalty kick two minutes later when Elroy Smith fed Ian Gaynair for the header to beat U.S. goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Wondolowski, whose jersey read “Wondowlowski” added a third goal in the 40th minute. The United States took a 4-1 lead in the 58th minute when Stuart Holden scored with an assist from Donovan, giving him 50 for his career. Donovan got another when he fed Michael Orozco for a header in the 72nd minute to make it 5-0. He got a goal — the 52nd of his career — with a penalty kick in the 76th minute. The Group C teams next meet on Saturday in Salt Lake City, with the U.S. facing Cuba followed by Belize against Costa Rica at Rio Tinto Stadium. The winners and runners up from each group, and the two top third-place finishers, advance to the knockout round. The tournament concludes July 28th at Soldier Field in Chicago. It was the first visit to Portland for the U.S. men’s team since 1998. Attendance was announced at 18,724.
NBA fines Rockets $150K for speaking about Dwight Howard The NBA fined the Houston Rockets $150,000 for talking about center Dwight Howard during the freeagency moratorium period, two people with knowledge of the fine told USA TODAY Sports. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the fine, which was announced in an e-mail to team executives. After Dwight Howard decided last week he would sign with Houston Rockets, which was first reported by USA TODAY Sports, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey went on Twitter and TV in Houston and discussed Howard’s decision. That is against league rules during the moratorium, which lasts from July 1-10 this year. While Howard’s decision is common knowledge, teams cannot complete deals or talk about agreements reached
Dwight Howard (Photo: Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports) during the moratorium. Morey made at least five Tweets after Howard’s decision was revealed and went on Comcast SportsNet Houston to discuss Howard’s decision. The memo sent to league executives addressed Howard specifically, and the contents of the memo were shared with USA TODAY Sports: “Under league rules, such comments are not permitted during the moratorium period. Please be
reminded that during the moratorium period, teams are not permitted to announce publicly that they have agreed to terms of player contracts or offer sheets to free agents.” The Rockets also were fined in June for tampering after a story on Houston’s official team website discussed players who were still under contract with other teams but were expected to be free agents in July.
David Rudisha of Kenya (in front) wins the men’s 800 meters final at the Diamond League Adidas Grand Prix in New York, May 25, 2013. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn NAIROBI (Reuters) - David Rudisha’s defence of his world 800 metres title in Moscow next month is in doubt because of a knee injury, the Kenyan’s coach said on Wednesday. “He is progressing on well, but I doubt if he will heal early enough to resume training for the world championships,” Rudisha’s coach Colm O’Connell told Reuters by telephone from Iten, some 400 km north west of Kenyan capital Nairobi. “We will give a comprehensive report on his condition after a week then we will communicate to the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) and Athletics Kenya. “His wild card (for the championships) is an advantage, but we are praying that he responds well to treatment,”
Irishman O’Connell added. Rudisha, who set a world record of 1:40.91 winning the Olympic title last year in London, picked up the knee injury running in Central Park in New York City. The 24-year-old is being treated in Germany and is expected to miss the east African nation’s trials on Saturday. Rudisha’s manager James Templeton has not responded to enquiries regarding the athlete.Kenya will name the final team for the August 10-18 world championships after the trials. Anthony Chemut, Job Kinyor and Olympic bronze medalist Anthony Kitum are the likely candidates for the two-lap race in the event Rudisha’s injury rules him out of the worlds.
Guyana Horse Racing Authority continues its drive to regularize the sport The Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA) in its continued effort to streamline the sport in Guyana is continuing to put in place a number of new initiatives to bring it in line. One such initiative it’s the registration of all two year old horses in Guyana and the classification of horses in Guyana for the second half of the horseracing season. As such a team from the GHRA will be visiting several race tracks across the country over
the coming weekend to register all two (2) year old horses in Guyana at the moment. The schedule is as follows:- On Saturday 13th July 2013 the team will be at the Port Mourant race track from 13:00hrs and the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club at from 15:00hrs. On Sunday 14th July 2013 the team will visit the Norman Singh’s Memorial Turf Club from 09:00hrs, while they will move over to the Rising Sun
NA Multi breeze through to next round with 12-0 beating of School of Nations New Amsterdam Multilateral Secondary (NAMS) sounded a warning when they demolished an underprepared School of the Nations (SON) 12-0 to advance to the third round of the East Berbice leg of the Digicel Inter School football competition in the game played on Tuesday at the All Saints Scott Church Ground. NAMS hardly had to broke a sweat and were 9-0 up by the halfway mark as the SON team offered little resistance. Shakeel Grant
scored in the 11th, 68th and 86th minutes, Jamal Butts hit home a double in the 20th and 33rd minutes, while Shaquan Spencer in the 17th minute, Akeem Bollers 35th minute, Godfrey Coward 37th minute, Leon Loo in the 48th minute were the men on target. Despite their constant raids on the opponent’s goal, NAMS benefitted greatly from the generosity of the SON team who scored three own goals in the 37th, 43rd and 44th to further dent their cause. (Samuel Whyte)
Turf Club from 11:00 hrs. The GHRA in a release stated that it looks forward to the cooperation of horse owners and trainers in ensuring that their horses are present at the various locations on the dates and times mentioned above. Should any horse owner or trainer fail to have his horse registered, that horse will not be allowed to participate in any race meet organised and run under the auspices of the GHRA. According to President of the GHRA, retired Chancellor Cecil Kennard, the GHRA is hoping for the full cooperation of all in trying to move the sport forward. Meanwhile, the GHRA has established a Secretarial Unit at the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club, Bush Lot, Corentyne. An Assistant Secretary is available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 08:00hrs to 12:00hrs to assist anyone who wishes to obtain any information concerning classification and registration of horses and any other related matter. Contact can also be made on telephone number 331 – 0693 for further information. (Samuel Whyte)