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Friday July 05, 2013
Kaieteur News
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Ramotar sounds urgent call for greater integration - as CARICOM observes 40th anniversary
President Donald Ramotar re-enacts the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas by President Forbes Burnham on behalf of Guyana 40 years ago. By Neil Marks in Port-of-Spain Leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) yesterday returned to historic Chaguaramas to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the regional trade and integration bloc. Their message was clear – despite the pessimism, CARICOM remains relevant, with President Donald Ramotar saying the need for integration is even greater today than on July 4, 1973. On that date, the leaders of Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas, establishing CARICOM. “Today even though much has changed and we have made some progress, the need for integration is probably greater now than when the Treaty was signed years ago. “The financial and economic crises that began in Europe and North America have impacted heavily on our region and clearly the need for us to have greater integration has become more urgent,” Ramotar said. In a re-enactment of the signing ceremony 40 years ago, President Ramotar did what Forbes Burnham did back in 1973 for Guyana, but while he saluted the courage and foresight of the original founding fathers, he stayed away from mentioning Burnham’s name, something that the other Prime Ministers did not shy away from doing. In fact, at the opening c e r e m o n y We d n e s d a y evening, the Prime Minister of Barbados Freundel Stuart quoted Burnham on the need for the integration of the countries of CARICOM.
While President Ramotar did not call B u r n h a m ’s n a m e , h e referred to Burnham’s political rival, Dr Cheddi Jagan, the founder of the ruling PPP, and what Jagan saw as important to CARICOM. Ramotar said that while the 40th anniversary was a cause for celebration, it was also one for reflection, for leaders to consider if they have been effective enough, whether the peoples of the region have benefitted fully from the process. “We must never forget that our people must see and feel the benefit of integration,” Ramotar stated. The National School of Dance, Nrityageet dancers, and the Korokwa Folk singing group showcased a slice of Guyanese culture in song and dance, as President Ramotar reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to CARICOM. With the introduction of the CARICOM Single Market in 2006, intraregional trade has grown from approximately US$600 million in 1990 to more than US$3 billion in 2012 moving from 10 per cent of total trade to 15 per cent. Research has shown that this trade can be doubled if certain constraints are addressed, such as harmonising procedures and providing greater certainty to the trade regime. Ramotar said there was need to move the process forward with more vigour and more purpose. He mentioned several studies and decisions that need implementation. He pointed to decisions on the regional financial architecture, the Jagdeo Initiative for Agriculture; and the free movement of
people and hassle-free travel. ”We know that these measures will redound to the interest of the region and positively impact on the lives of our people. The implementation deficit needs to be resolved lest we find ourselves guilty of a commitment deficit,” Ramotar stated. The President said he hoped that the reform process currently engaging the Region’s attention will result in a mechanism that is more proactive. “It is only with more dynamism that the Community would best be able to respond to the fastchanging global environment,” Ramotar said. Tr i n i d a d ’s P r i m e Minister Kamla PersadBissessar pointed to rhetoric that CARICOM, as it was originally envisaged, has reached its political, socioeconomic and ideological limits. But she said the reform process which is currently taking place in the Community and which is endorsed by all Heads, is a direct attempt to bring about the institutional and structural reforms which are needed to make CARICOM more relevant in an everchanging global environment. In this regard, she urged her colleague Heads of Government to consider expanding membership to welcome the Dominican Republic and the Dutch and French Caribbean islands.
President Donald Ramotar is greeted by CCJ judge, Hon. Madam Justice Desiree Bernard “The Caribbean Sea unites us; it must never divide us,” she stated. “I don’t think as a region we have anything to be ashamed of,” said Prime Minister of Barbados Freundel Stuart. He said that the four founding leaders of the CARICOM had a simple mission, and that was to bring the Region and its people more closely together. “I need no persuasion that 40 years later the people of this Region are more closely united than any other time in the history of the Caribbean,” he said. “We have shown the world that we can come together and realise the dreams and aspirations of the people of the region.” As chair of the Conference of Heads, Prime
Minister Persad-Bissessar urged continued dialogue and collaboration on regional security, calling for fresh initiatives and perspectives in fighting crime and the drug trade. She said security threats in the region include, but are not limited to the penetration of porous borders by organized criminals, the proliferation of small arms, and the increase in drug and human trafficking, money laundering and corruption at ports of entry. “We must develop the regional mechanisms to
combat the multiple threats to security in this hemisphere. Our people must be safe and feel safe,” Persad-Bissessar stated. The Caribbean Human Development Report 2012 suggested that only 46% of regional participants felt secure in their respective states. “We have an obligation as leaders to ensure that our people are secure, by demonstrating that we engage in a focused and effective war on crime and criminals,” Persad-Bissessar asserted.
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Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
Middle Class Ferment From Brazil in South America to Egypt in North Africa and Turkey in West Asia, there has been an explosion of frustration and dissatisfaction against the governments of the day, expressed in massive street protests. All of these governments, as in Guyana, were elected in “free and fair elections” and all the protests were led by individuals from the newly emergent middle class, dominated by educated youths. Francis Fukuyama, the famous analyst of macro social change, and the author of the seminal “End of History”, recently offered one explanation in the Wall Street Journal of the dynamics behind the protests. It should be of some interest in Guyana, where the growing middle class shows signs of their alienation from the present political order. The following, written just before Egypt’s protests, and hopefully accepted as impartial and not “axe-grinding” by this newspaper, is excerpted from Prof Fukuyama’s article. “The theme that connects recent events in Turkey and Brazil to each other, as well as to the 2011 Arab Spring is the rise of a new global middle class. In the case of Turkey, they object to Prime Minister Erdoðan’s development-atall-cost policies and authoritarian manner. In Brazil, they object to an entrenched and highly corrupt political elite that has showcased glamour projects like the World Cup and Rio Olympics while failing to provide basic services like health and education to the general public. For them, it is not enough that Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, was herself a left-wing activist jailed by the military regime during the 1970s and leader of the progressive Brazilian Workers Party. In their eyes, that party itself has been sucked into the maw of the corrupt “system”. “Economists and business analysts tend to define middle-class status simply in monetary terms. But middleclass status is better defined by education, occupation and the ownership of assets, which are far more consequential in predicting political behaviour. Any number of crossnational studies, show that higher education levels correlate with people’s assigning a higher value to democracy, individual freedom and tolerance for alternative lifestyles. Middle-class people want not just security for their families but choices and opportunities for themselves. “Families who have durable assets like a house have a much greater stake in politics, since these are things that the government could take away from them. Since the middle classes tend to be the ones who pay taxes, they have a direct interest in making government accountable. Most importantly, newly arrived members of the middle class are more likely to be spurred to action by what the late political scientist Samuel Huntington called “the gap”: that is, the failure of society to meet their rapidly rising expectations for economic and social advancement. While the poor struggle to survive from day to day, disappointed middleclass people are much more likely to engage in political activism to get their way. “While protests, uprisings and occasionally revolutions are typically led by newly arrived members of the middle class, the latter rarely succeed on their own in bringing about long-term political change. This is because the middle class seldom represents more than a minority of the society in developing countries and is itself internally divided. Unless they can form a coalition with other parts of society, their movements seldom produce enduring political change. “The middle classes have been on the front lines of opposition to abuses of power, whether by authoritarian or democratic regimes. The challenge for them is to turn their protest movements into durable political change, expressed in the form of new institutions and policies.” In Guyana, the middle class, and all other classes for that matter, have always been divided along ethnic lines. It is left to be seen whether they have advanced enough as a class to rise above race or ethnicity and act in unison to secure the support of the masses of the poor for the good of the country. The important point is that change must be generated peacefully within the democratic system.
Friday July 05, 2013
Letters... Where your views make the news
The drive to protect the Guysuco Board “…let us use this moment of celebration to reflect on those things that we did wrong and those things that we know we could have done better”- Raj Singh’s statement at the Honour Roll Function in June 2013 at Blairmont. Reading that uninspiring statement, all I could have thought about was Wayne Trotman’s quote - “Burying your head in the sand does not make you invisible it only leads to suffocation.” DEAR EDITOR: How can a Deputy CEO/now Chairman make such a reckless statement when his lack of leadership remains one of the core reasons for the failure at Guysuco? His Board did not conduct itself with the due professionalism by effectively carrying out a proper due diligence on the “Turnaround Plan” or the “Jagdeo white elephant” at Skeldon. From my observation, the entire Agriculture machinery from the then Minister down, was clueless and on remote control - Jagdeo want this; Jagdeo gets this! Not one man, including President Ramotar, acted responsibly and sought to interrogate those plans carefully. Anyone who knows sugar will tell you that the Indians, the Australians, the Americans, the English, the South Africans and the Brazilians know about sugar but China certainly does not have the expertise to build any state of the art sugar factory. So Guyana got shafted in the end, thanks to the incompetence and cowardice of this Guysuco Board. Guyana now has to live with this Jagdeo “backoo” for a long time; since this Guysuco Board remains clueless on the solutions and only offers one broken promise after another such as: 1. Failure to establish and implement the regulatory framework to restructure the industry to make it more productive (plenty verbal hogwash
from the Board but very few operational and field successes); 2. Failure to increase production to 300,000 tons by 2003 as promised. They also promised to increase production to 400,000 tons by 2010. None of it happened; actually production in 2013 will be approximately 130,000 tons, one of its worst productions comparable to the PNC days; 3. This Board of Directors promised all and sundry that they will expand cultivation in low cost areas – mainly Berbice, and combine the administrative office and merge factory operations in the high cost areas of Demerara to reduce unit cost. All of this was supposed to be signed, sealed and delivered by 2010. Even if we bolt-on two more years as compensation for the 2005 floods, Guysuco still could not meet its promise. More Jagdeoism – much talk; little progressive action! For years now, the West Demerara estates are grinding at a loss compared to Berbice but this Board did very little in terms of new policy measures to deal with the real issues. Kicking the can down the road is its their kind of public policy. In any business, such gross incompetence would have been rewarded with the summary dismissal of the entire Board. However, under the PPP, such incompetence is deserving of a promotion. More Jagdeoism – promote the puppets; charge the people for the incompetence! I appeal to the majority opposition to fore-warn the Government of Guyana, that until a competent Board is in place, then the Parliament should not be called upon to approve any transfer of funds to Guysuco, especially in the 2014 Budget. If the PPP wants to operate like a dense bunch then its members must be given the “thick treatment”. If they want to keep this Raj Singh Board in place, then let them draw the
billions from NICIL to fund any future losses. No one is against supporting the sugar industry but let us use the public funds in the LOTTO FUNDS and at NICIL to carry the burden; not subject the taxpayers to fewer benefits. Any patriot will support the use of the largesse in NICIL’s bank account to fund the workers in the sugar belt rather than some foreign worker at that Kingston Hotel now being constructed. It is just anti-national and anti-patriotic to fund people with taxpayers’ money, people who have no Guyanese residency, pay no Guyanese taxes, and have no social responsibility with this country. If NICIL can fund a Hotel, it can fund Guysuco! The Minister of Finance stated that Mr. Raj Singh is “eminently qualified, has worked in sugar for a number of years at a senior level, [and] has expertise in areas relevant to the management to a large organisation like the sugar company”. According to the Guysuco Newsletter from October 2007 – Mr. Singh “joined the Sugar Industry in 1975 as an Industrial Relations Officer and left the industry as a Regional Industrial Relations Manager”. He never functioned at any senior level in the sugar industry. He was never part of the factory team or the field team; he was a desk manager who had limited experience on the estates; the core of the industry. So clearly the Minister is misadvised. He then migrated to the USA and after some studies, worked at the City University of New York (CUNY), an integrated system of 23 community colleges for some 20-odd years. Mr. Raj Singh works at one of these 23 colleges – Baruch College, in the Human Resources Department ending up finally as a Head of a Division within the Human Resources Department (Continued on page 5)
Friday July 05, 2013
Kaieteur News
Letters... Where your views make the news
Gocool Boodoo had some advantages DEAR EDITOR, Something is certainly amiss and amusing where the renewal of Mr Gocool Boodoo’s contract is concerned. How come his contract was renewed over the years? Was there any Performance Appraisal done prior to his past contract renewals? If not, it is clearly a breach of managerial principles and ethics. As far as we know, Performance Appraisals are done for all his subordinates before their contracts are renewed. GECOM should let the public know why this was not done, observing that Dr Bud Mangal pointed out this omission. Further, the Chairman of GECOM owes the public an explanation on why he failed to observe good management practices in doing the CEO’s appraisal. Does the Chairman have a hidden agenda? Is he hoping to get the PRO in line for the CEO’s job by just delaying? Would it be better if the Chairman reverts to his animal medicine profession?
On the other hand, why is there no succession planning, training, implementation and audit. If the CEO has reached retirement age, why is it that the DCEO Mr Calvin Benn cannot succeed him? Messers Benn and Lowenfield have more hands-on accumulated experience on election matters than most staff. Other than that, why is it that lower level staff have to retire at fifty-five while the Senior Staff can work until they die? In the colonial days, when managerial staff are retained after retirement they do not occupy substantive positions. Why is GECOM using contracts to retain retired people in substantive positions, considering that they may be obsolete human stock? We depend on the Opposition Political Parties and international funding agencies to have some reform of the entire election machinery before local government elections are held. Hence, let us have an audit of the use of management tools by GECOM. We have had enough of caterwauling in the past. Edgar Singh
Abuse of privileges and misconduct in a Government office DEAR SIR, We as parents will be happy to see you handle this complaint of abuse and mismanagement in a government office to help bring justice to the deprived poor daughters, sisters and hard working single parent moms of this country who cannot access Government help through these offices without a cost or bribe being paid to these long standing parliamentarians that always embarrass our president and the government. FOR YOUR ACTION (A) Why is a certain adviser to the government and a Member of Parliament instructing or misleading the Permanent Secretary and the Minister or Health to release his Secretary’s cousin Anasha Ramtohal Passport so that she could do a business wedding to permanently migrate to Canada without completing her five years’ service to the government and not paying even a dollar of the bridge of contract fee of $1.5 million? (B) Why is this same person demanding Mr. Rekha (ministry of finance) to sign off on the said trainee nurse’s documents for a reimbursement of a deposit of $1M that was deposited for the release of her passport to travel to Trinidad and Tobago for an interview with the Canadian embassy when reimbursement has a stipulated minimum waiting time of three to four weeks? (C) I must let you know that the niece of the cleaner of this Member of Parliament had paid her $1.5 million as a trainee nurse legally for her release and document after this man refused to even listen to this poor employee’s case. in my conclusion, this is institutional corruption -
When an office secretary can influence the trusted office bearer to do such an inhuman to our poor sister, daughter, and girls for the benefits of their own relative while depriving our country from developing through their skills acquired from my tax dollars. This is a case of a rich girl whose family has all the contact in the government offices as against a poor girl having to pay all the fees for her release from the government contract. This privileged person in
question has already resigned from the nursing profession and is booked to leave the country by this weekend. Do you remember the Dr. Romesh Jaikarran Berbice Scenario??? How the Minister had blacklisted him from leaving this country all because he is speaking out against corruption and mismanagement of this government. S. Persaud Former employee of National sports Commission
The drive to protect... From page 4 called Human Resources Planning & Technology at which he is still employed as I was reliably advised by a senior CUNY official. The Minister of Finance clearly was gaffing with the
media on Mr. Raj Singh since I did not realize that CUNY is a sugar estate in the Caribbean with 15,000 cane cutters that have major operational problems in the fields and factories. Sasenarine Singh
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Letters... Where your views make the news
Uitvlugt Estate in crisis DEAR EDITOR, Please permit me as a concerned worker of the Uitvlugt Estate, GuySuCo to let our voices be heard. Firstly, the President, Mr. Donald Ramotar clearly stated that anyone having suggestions on how to save the ailing sugar industry should come forward. Well sir, we at the Uitvlugt Estate feel that the removal of the incompetent managers is the first thing to be done. Sir, we at this Estate are facing bias and dictatorial style leadership. Thus individual was booted out of Jamaica and then out of Blairmont and another estate. But that does
not change him a bit. He seems to find the workers of Uitvlugt Estate to be quiet and easygoing, so he is taking undue advantage. Sir, we think that the Ministry of Agriculture should send a team to investigate this estate. Money is squandering under this man’s leadership, i.e. aircraft spraying has been done on the same area twice. Plants canes are yielding 35-40 tons cane per area. A plants cane fields have been planted twice, because the canes top that was drawn to plant the fields, were too hard and did not germinate. How competent. We have the worst
The things around us DEAR SIR A few observations. 1. Some minibus operators are installing small devices around the top of their buses as a substitute for the removal of boom boxes in their vehicles. It is very irritating to ones ears when turned up loudly. 2. A visit to the store colors in Robb Street to purchase a pair of shoes left me in shock when I heard obscenity in one of the songs playing in the store. The music was playing softly. 3. The investigation into Rodney’s death is most welcome in order to have closure. Let’s hope that the disappearance/death of hundreds of young men, the Lindo Creek murders and other mysterious deaths will be investigated so that there can be closure too. I hope the international body that is responsible for Rodney’s investigation see this just as important and necessary for all those grieving mothers. 4. The recent spate of
noise complaints /the burning of the woman in Kitty the man who lost his life as a result of noise should be seen as a more stern and rigorous campaign by the Home Affairs Minister and the police department to rid the country of this disease. almost everywhere noise still exists. 5. Too many accidents, fire, murders and corruption. Observer
navigation system in the industry. Now sir, I am asking this question to all the estate managers- is the weather predicts heavy rainfall would you go heat and spray with aircraft? We at the Uitvlugt Estate have reasons why we do, so then blame it on the rain. Uitvlugt Estate is full of what we call “square pegs in a round hole”. Another thing sir, is that on a daily basis, the E.M is threatening workers with dismissal. How can workers operate in this fear? And according to an inside source, he was quoted as saying that come this second crop, he would dismiss staffers, both junior and senior to show who is the man for the job. How competent. When he first came, the factory had three watchmen. He removed two, leaving the factory with only one, while his home has three. Only recently, millions of dollars in components have gone missing. Thanks to the lone watchman. Thank you sir, for allowing our voices to be heard Disgruntled sugar workers
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Kato Primary log-fetching incident…
Ministry acknowledges shortfall, announces measures to prevent recurrence The Ministry of Education has acknowledged that there are some inadequacies with the Kato Primary School’s school feeding programme, and announced that measures have been put in place to avoid the recurrence of the infamous log-fetching incident deemed “child labour” in various quarters. In April, children from Kato Primary were photographed in uniform, during school hours, fetching logs for the school’s kitchen. This newspaper published the photos and an article in early June. The Ministry of Education initially stated that the children were made to pose for the pictures and that the incident occurred almost one month prior to its publishing. It was also disputed that the children were made to trek for the distance indicated. Subsequently, the Ministry sent personnel into Kato Village to investigate the circumstances surrounding the ‘child labour’ for a hot meal. According to Minister Priya Manickchand, the Head Cook, who held that position for the past two years, indicated that that instance marked “only” the second time children were asked to “assist” with the fetching of wood for the school kitchen. Manickchand said that the supply of firewood is the responsibility of the community. It was detailed that wood is cut by a villager who has a chainsaw and then transported to the kitchen by the community tractor. This supply of wood provided by
the community is expected to last for an entire school term. According to Manickchand, when the incident occurred, the community tractor was not fully functional, thus resulting in the village not meeting up to its obligation. The wood was already cut but required transportation to the school kitchen site. Manickchand said that the school’s kitchen has a gas stove, but the gas cylinders were “lost” and so the stove is currently not in use. The kitchen also has a freezer which is not being used, as the solar panel system to provide electricity is not functional. She said that the children were made to fetch the wood due to miscommunication among the District Education Officer, a cook and a teacher. “The children, accompanied by a male teacher, as a result went for the firewood which was about a twenty-minute walk away from the school. Provision of firewood by the children as a prerequisite for receiving a meal is completely out of the question.” Manickchand said yesterday that several steps have been put in place in order to make certain that the incident does not recur. She said that all four hinterland Regional Education Officers have been advised to communicate with schools in their respective regions that are on the Community-based school feeding programme to let them ensure that children are not engaged in any workrelated activity associated
with the provision of daily meals by the school kitchen. The Kato Primary School has been advised to procure two gas cylinders, with gas, to make use of the stove in the institution’s kitchen. If necessary, a second gas stove with cylinders could be procured as the school reportedly has ‘savings’ of approximately $600,000. All schools on the feeding programme will be required to complete and sign an adjusted proposal/ contract form which will give current particulars of the programme at each school and will include commitments of the school and community, including prohibiting children from being involved in any feeding programme-related activities that may be interpreted as child abuse. Further, the Minister disclosed that, during the August vacation, all schools will be engaged in a two-day refresher training workshop which will deal with all issues and activities associated with the feeding programme. Where possible, before the school year concludes in July, telephone contact will be made with schools to sensitize them about the noninvolvement of children in the provision of meals by the school kitchen or any related activity such as the provision of firewood etc. “To have children engaged in that type of activity during or after school hours is unacceptable and is to be discouraged. The Ministry will certainly use this experience to ensure that not only Kato Primary School, but all primary schools in the hinterland run the community-based feeding programme in strict accordance with the guidelines governing this programme,” the Minister said.
Friday July 05, 2013
APNU files motion to keep Granger in budget cut case By Zena Henry A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) strongly believes that any matter involving the budget cuts of 2012 demands the presence of the leader of the Opposition, David Granger. As such, an action has been filed before the High Court’s Chief Justice (CJ) Ian Chang to keep Granger in the budget cuts case, brought on by the government. The Administration is arguing that the 2012 budget cuts made by the joint party opposition were unlawful and void, among other things. The issue was brought to the court’s attention to be determined whether or not the Opposition was allowed to cut the budget. In the meantime, the government filed that pending the determination of the matter, the Opposition’s cuts could not stand. However, as members of the National Assembly cannot be sued; enjoying immunity within parliament walls, Chief Justice Chang decided that Granger and Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh should be excluded from the case. The court document filed by several lawyers for the Opposition leader, states that the Chief Justice refused to give the defendant a hearing as to whether he should be struck out as a defendant, before making the order. It was stated that Granger played an integral role in the
budget cuts issue as the Opposition leader. Last August, an answer was given in reply as to whether the Finance Minister was authorized to withdraw moneys from the Consolidated and Contingencies Funds. It was mentioned in the dates that the matter was brought before the CJ, and the date a ruling was made in this temporary regard. In May 2013, a statement of defence was filed and the trial started on June 11. As the document states further, it is felt that if the matter is presided upon without Granger, he would have suffered great prejudice. His lawyers, among them Basil Williams, argued that refusal to hear the Opposition leader is contrary to the rules of natural justice and Article 144(8) of the Constitution. At
A female Canter truck driver who was questioned about the May 3 hit-and-run death of a 66-year-old man in High Street appears to be no longer a suspect. A police official said that the woman
has not been linked to the fatal accident and that police are seeking legal advice on the case. Jairam Beepat, of Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, was reportedly struck by a Canter
Opposition Leader David Granger
the time of the order, it is said that Granger would have waived his immunity under Article 172(2). Added to that, it is felt that the decision of the CJ was arbitrary and unreasonable. As Opposition leader, Granger- as he voted for the budget cuts- had a legitimate expectation that he would be heard in the action made by Attorney General Anil Nandlall on behalf of the government. He has a constitutional right to be heard, while the serious trial issues raised in his defence ought to have permitted him the opportunity to defend the proceedings. APNU in its motion opined that the CJ erred in law and misdirected himself when he failed to consider that at the stage in the trial when Granger was struck out, he had waived his immunity under a stipulated Article. The court document further states that under Article 172(2) of the Constitution, the CJ struck out the Opposition leader because he had immunity from suit. This was however without giving the defendant a chance to speak. Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman is also a defendant in the case. The government says the Speaker had no authority to permit the cuts that occurred in the National Assembly.
Female truck driver not linked to High St. hit-and-run
truck while attempting to cross High Street, in the vicinity of Princes Street. The driver fled the scene. However, police reportedly detained a woman a few days later after learning that she had taken a damaged Canter truck to an East Coast Demerara body-shop for repairs. The woman was reportedly taken to the Ruimveldt Police Station but was released after informing police that she was pregnant.
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PARENTS ARE NEGLECTING THEIR KIDS There were about four or five kids walking aimlessly on the street. As I passed one of them, he suddenly contorted his face, trying to appear frightening and let out a “Booooooo!” Just what he was attempting to do, I could not understand. I am sure that even he could not understand what he was trying to do. He and his friends were simply making clowns of themselves not realizing how silly they appeared. You see this sort of idling everyday in Guyana. It is not an isolated phenomenon. It is
becoming a widespread problem in Guyana, whereby, kids are to be seen straying all over the place, mostly in the presence of others. Kids are purposelessly walking or as they like to say, “liming”, not attempting to spend their free time doing something productive. Kids with nothing to do, turning to mischief, including raiding other persons’ farms. I did not have to wonder too much what these kids would turn out to be and the burden they will represent to their families and to society. It is easy to predict what will
become of these kids. And it is also easy to foretell what others will make of these kids if they do not succeed in life. The excuse will be made that these kids have failed because of society. We have a tendency in Guyana to blame our own failures on the government. The blame will be heaped upon the government as having not helped these kids. But one has to ask whose primary responsibility it is to see that these children turn out to be model citizens. Not the government but the parents. So where are the
parents of these kids? And why is it that ever so often we see parents neglecting their responsibility for these children? How can parents simply allow their children to roam aimlessly around the streets when they should be engaged in something more useful? Luckily, there are not many girls who are allowed to roam, and this suggests that it is boys who are often given the freedom to run without restraint and do whatever they please, including making fools of themselves. But the girls are kept secure at home.
Miners meet Govt. on falling gold prices The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and its regulatory agencies in the mining sector, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Gold Board, yesterday met with the newly elected executives of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) to discuss initiatives and interventions in light of the falling gold prices. According to the Ministry, during the discussion, several proposals were submitted and discussed for consideration to cushion the falling gold prices. “These will be further examined by the Ministry and its relevant agencies. As such, Minister Robert Persaud expressed his commitment to make representation to the government to examine the proposals to support the sector,” the Ministry said in a release. Several ongoing initiatives that are being undertaken by the GGMC to
support miners within the sector to cushion the impact of the falling gold prices were also discussed. Meanwhile, executives of the GGDMA called for more effective monitoring and enforcement of mining regulations towards the sustainability of the sector, while at the same time ensuring technological advancement and a sustained infrastructural programme are in place. Present at the meeting were Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Joslyn McKenzie, President of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation, Simona Broomes, Assistant Commissioner of the GGMC, Newell Dennison, General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board, Anantram Balram, and other technical officers within the sector. Gold prices from a high of over US$1,900 per ounce fell to the lowest in recent years at just over US$1,230. It has started to climb again, but somewhat slowly, yesterday
hovering around US$1,250 per ounce. Mining, for the last couple years, has become the biggest foreign export earner for the economy, with workers and miners investing in all aspects of the industry for possible profits.
The banks have been lending, too, with excavators and other mining equipment selling like hot cakes, despite the hefty price tags. The drop in price, fueled by the European economic crisis, has more than worried the miners.
If the parents can ensure that the girls are not allowed to stray around their communities, the same can be done for the boys. While there have been no research efforts in Guyana, as yet, as to how misuse of spare time results in social deviancy, I am in no doubt that if our children were more gainfully occupied in their free time, if even their recreation activities were supervised , then we would have less social problems in the country. It amounts to neglect, for parents to simply allow their children to do as they please and more so to be straying instead of trying to enjoy their free time. Some attempt has to be made by social organizations, including religious bodies, to address this problem of idling. These groups may of course want the government to prompt them into action. But they too need to not become a substitute for the neglectful parents. They need not see themselves as
babysitters to whom parents can simply dump their children. These organizations need to work with the parents to help them to assume responsibility. Poverty is no excuse for not supervising your kids. Having a large family is no excuse. There are countless examples of parents who lack material wealth and who have had large families and all the pressures that go with these situations, and yet have been able to ensure that their children turned out right. It boils down to parenting, which is being woefully neglected in Guyana, by both the poor and the rich.
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Friday July 05, 2013
=== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ===
Top female powerhouse involved in Duran’s alleged visa scam I am literally afraid to go to Nigel Hughes and Khemraj Ramjattan and say to them that I got another libel from one of the dwellers of the House of Stalin. I refuse to press these two gentlemen further, given all they have done for me. So I am going to be extraordinarily careful with this column on the alleged sale of visas by Edy Duran who is under investigation. I will not elaborate on the title of this article. Readers will have to read between the lines. The investigation into the accusations against Edy Duran is going to take more than a year. It means very powerful people in politics and business will be allowed
to continue with their status. But time is closing in on some of the occupants in the House of Stalin My review of David Casavis’s book on the Thomas Carroll visa scandal will begin in the coming days. What I do hope is that Casavis would have made use of Carroll’s extended cooperation statement to the district attorney in which he named the people who were involved with him. I will juxtapose Carroll’s confession document with Casavis’s book to see if some of the names in Carroll’s admission statement are published by Casavis. It is obvious that Casavis would
have used the confession for his book. My curiosity is if he mentioned the people that helped and profited from Carroll. My copy of the book is due any minute now. Carroll cited two popular business places in Georgetown that deal with car accessories and he of course implicated Laurie Lewis, former Commissioner of Police. Lewis has gone to his grave, but the unsolved murder of Monica Reece has destroyed his credibility. No serious media operative familiar with the Reece murder would exonerate Laurie Lewis. This was a botched investigation from the start. And the mistakes were so crude that
no journalist could have been that stupid to believe police mischief was not at work. For example, in which country, do the police take possession of the SUV of a suspect one week after the murder? I ignored the asininities of Joey Jagan the past umpteen years when he threatened me over my ongoing critiques of the political career of his father, Cheddi Jagan. I am a trained historian whose role is to investigate history. I couldn’t be bothered with fools who take offence to what the historian finds. Joey Jagan is one such distraction. Cheddi Jagan was President of Guyana when Monica Reece was brutally
murdered over a cocaine deal and he remained aloof from the nastiness of the police investigation. No president should behave like that in a high profile murder case. There are times when I am truly fed up with the relentless demonization of President Burnham while researchers remain reticent of the many abominations of Cheddi Jagan, of which the police behaviour in the Reece homicide is one such depravity. Let’s get back to the accusations against Edy Duran. The names of certain powerhouses are being called that had “runnings” with Duran. A female dictator is cited. Her wealth was acquired in a short span of time. It coincided with the rampage of a certain visa officer at the US Embassy. And when you want to see wealth then check what this woman has. The selling of visas to Guyanese willing to get out is an amazing and inexplicable phenomenon in this country since the PPP came to power in 1992. Casavis puts Carroll’s illgotten money at US$12 million. Imagine a very poor country found that stupendous amount to pay for visitor’s visas. This sum does not involve legitimate expenditure on immigrant visas. Now Carroll’s accumulation may
Frederick Kissoon be exceed by another consular official. When you take the number of people who left through Carroll’s nefarious sales then add the new accusation plus the large amount of legal visitor’s visas from a former homosexual consular officer, then this country should have been empty by now So where is the new Guyana that the PPP Government sells to the world? But there is a macabre dimension to this massive exodus out of Guyana. Even the ruling politicians want their children and families to leave. It has not been published and perhaps never will, but do you know how many children, parents and siblings of the ruling clique and their business friends have permanently left these shores. These facts are not published but Guyanese know. And they tell themselves that if the mighty and powerful want to go why shouldn’t they too? So they bought a visa for Region Eleven.
Dem boys seh...
De airport toilet story is fuh King Liar Brazzy buss cry de other day because dem boys tell he that he toilet don’t have a door. When dem boys mention that fact he jump. He want to know who been in he house and why. He only relax when dem boys tell he that dem read he answer in de papers because de Waterfalls paper question de price fuh de toilet that he plan to put in at de Cheddi Jagan International Airport. Cheddi was a man who never like confusion but de set he got now causing confusion. He come in Donald dream de other night and ask he why de airport got so much confusion. Donald couldn’t answer because he had nothing to do wid de airport project in de first place. Cheddi ask about de toilet and Donald sweat. He jump out he sleep. Bharrat wasn’t in Guyana, as usual, and dem boys know why, He running from Cheddi. He got too much to answer. Brazzy don’t sleep. He is de man who come up wid de excuse fuh de toilet price. He tell dem boys when he was building he house he estimate had wall and de contractor had to know that de wall got to get how much window and how much glass and how much door and hinges and lock and security grill. He seh is de same system he use fuh de airport suh when he talk bout toilet set de contractor know that he talking bout fittings and pipes and connections, but no door, because he got another estimate fuh all dem door. Dem boys seh that he got to come better than that. Is things like that mek de nation pay so much fuh government project. De estimate got hidden costs and hidden quantities. In this case, if De Ram didn’t see it, that extra money did gone in somebody pocket. That is what was happening all de time wid dem government project. Guyana at de mercy of de crooks. Talk half and tell Brazzy fuh come better than that.
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NICIL’s defence of Marriott land lease…
Ocean front property not comparable to industrial sites - AFC Government’s defence of the low cost for the leasing of six acres of land for the construction of the Marriottbranded hotel in Kingston has come in for criticism. Yesterday, Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, said that for comparisons to be made between prime, ocean front property to land in industrial estates, is like comparing
cheese and chalk. “I am flabbergasted that government can even be telling citizens such nonsense. It is exactly decisions like these why we remain such an impoverished country that we are.” Ramjattan was referring to a statement Wednesday in which the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL)/Privatization
Unit (PU), said that it leased the Kingston property at the same price of $1.00 per square foot (plus VAT) charged to tenants of the Eccles and Coldingen Industrial Estates, all being properties owned and managed by NICIL. Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI), a creation of NICIL, is making an investment of US$60M for the development of the Marriott-branded hotel on
that Kingston plot. A few days ago, Desmond Trotman, a Parliamentarian for A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), moved to the court to block the transfer of the land. Ramjattan disclosed that his party, as part of the Opposition in the National Assembly, has raised concerns about the project time and again. “Yes, we have even met with them and they made a presentation. As it is becoming even clearer now, this land is prime property. We have Government on record saying that they will not, through NICIL, hold on to the hotel after it is completed. Rather, they will sell it. It has become clearer now that the intention all along was to move this property, a prime one at that, into the hands of friends of the ruling party.” Ramjattan, a lawyer, also made it clear that NICIL’s arguments are even more worrisome in light of the fact that businesses which for over half of a century been operating in the industrial sites like Ruimveldt, are now being asked to pay millions of dollars, at market value, if they want to own the land there, by the same NICIL/PU. “Yes, we will continue to raise this issue in the National Assembly. We are not happy with the entire issue.” NICIL is a government entity mandated to handle privatisation proceeds and investments. However, Government and the Opposition have been battling each other over the seeming independence of NICIL/PU to handle billions of dollars of public funds without the National Assembly having any say. The decision for the Marriott-branded hotel was one
AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan
Winston Brassington
taken by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration without consent of the stakeholders like the Opposition, AFC and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) have said. AFC and APNU have a one-seat voting majority in the National Assembly, the country’s highest law-making forum, and have been attacking the project over time. The Opposition has been also criticising the “secrecy” of the administration in not disclosing the names of the private investors involved in the project. This is despite the fact that the hotel’s construction is well underway in Kingston and is set to be completed by midnext year. NICIL/PU on Wednesday said that there is no secrecy or sinister motive behind the lease agreement for the 6.886 acres of land upon which the Marriott is being built. “In June 2012, NICIL submitted to the National Assembly, the Marriott Contract, AHI’s Tax Agreement and the Agreement to Lease, dated 28th January 2010, between NICIL and AHI, in response to questions raised in Parliament about the project. These
agreements have all been in the public domain for over a year.” NICIL/PU explained that the administration has on many occasions issued concessionary lease rates where there is substantial capital investment on the said property and significant positive developmental benefits - the objective being to encourage investment, employment, and income generation. “The terms and rate of the lease are the same as those issued to a private developer over 10 years ago for the said property. The developer withdrew in 2009, following the US financial crisis of 2008.” The 197-room hotel will boast a ballroom, conference centre, a casino, entertainment complex, restaurant, concrete walkway, swimming pool and sport facilities. However, the casino, entertainment complex and restaurant are to be operated separately. AHI’s principal is Winston Brassington, whose leadership at NICIL/PU has been fraught with controversy.
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Khemraj Rai sues Kaieteur News
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ormer coordinator of the Citizens’ S e c u r i t y Programme Khemraj Rai is suing Kaieteur News over articles published by the newspaper which highlighted an investigation by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) into alleged financial improprieties. Rai is seeking damages in excess of $100M after obtaining an ex-parte injunction against the defendants from printing or publishing words contained in articles of the Kaieteur News dated June 14, 15, 18
Khemraj Rai and 19, 2013. The articles in question are: (1) “US$19M Citizen’s Security Programme…IDB investigates fraudCoordinator Khemraj Rai under probe”; (2) “Citizen’s S e c u r i t y P r o g . Investigation…Rohee: ‘Let the IDB deal with that’-says Khemraj Rai resigned before investigation started”; (3) “ C i t i z e n ’s S e c u r i t y Programme…Police probing Khamraj Rai over forged contracts’ and (4) “Citizen’s Security Programme probe….IDB serious about
fraud and corruption”. Apart from the Editor and Publisher of the Kaieteur News, Rai is also suing the alleged whistleblower Viddiadat Jaisari. In his affidavit in support of his motion, Rai stated that the allegations made against him by Jaisari have no basis in fact. He claimed that the intention of the articles is to create the impression that he was forging contracts, committing fraud, and his dealings were dishonest. He noted that he did have a misunderstanding with Jaisari, after which they had an amicable meeting at which Jaisari agreed that the allegations contained in a previous letter were false and malicious. Rai’s affidavit stated that in a subsequent letter, Jaisari apologised for the said allegations and he further retracted “every malicious and false statement” he had made previously. The matter was filed on July 2nd before Madam Justice Sandra Kurtzious, and the defendants have up to July 23rd to respond.
Friday July 05, 2013
CARICOM Heads of Govt. Meeting… By Neil Marks in Port-of-Spain The Prime Minister of Grenada, Keith Mitchell, has led the charge for governments of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to do more to make travelling across the Caribbean more affordable. “Without a bold solution to this continuing challenge, we’ll turn the dream of closer economic union…into a nightmare of unfulfilled purposes,” Dr Mitchell said at the opening of the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in Portof-Spain Wednesday evening. Among his proposals is bringing down taxes on airline tickets and for governments to provide subsidies to those in the Region who want to invest in the airline business. Mitchell said that the time has come for governments to stop arguing about the transportation problem in the Caribbean - for them to stop calling names – and instead work on a bold solution. He said the biggest impediment to the integration process is hindrance to the free movement of people. Dr Mitchell said that travelling across the region by air is too expensive and Caribbean governments can do more by reviewing the taxes on travel tickets. “The challenge remains for all of us to determine on how to get our people and their goods across the region in a cheaper more timely and more efficient manner,” he stated. The Prime Minister said that the fear among some governments is that by reducing taxes, there will be reduced incomes to cash-
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Grenada PM calls for more affordable intra-regional travel strapped treasuries and airport authorities. However, he said if more people start travelling, the volume of traffic would compensate for any revenues lost by bringing down taxes. “We have heard the complaints of our people…that it is easier and cheaper to go to Miami, New York, Toronto, and London than to get from Port of Spain to Roseau, or from Castries to Kingston. “It takes three times as long and double the price from St Georges to Belize City than from the same St Georges to Miami,” he stated. Mitchell said that if CARICOM cannot develop policies for the free movement of people, the goal of regional integration and convergence would be lost. The Prime Minister of Trinidad Kamla PersadBissessar has suggested a ministerial meeting to discuss issues with respect to Liat and Caribbean Airlines, as part of the rationalisation of regional transportation. “Such a meeting can also deal with the establishment of ferry services connecting the islands, which would have a positive direct impact on trade and tourism,” she said. Dr Mitchell said the task force should be represented
at the highest level by a caucus of heads of government, leaders in business, especially the hotel industry, transportation sector, airline and shipping lines, and trade unions. He said the lack of a network of sea services mean that the products manufactured in the region cannot get to ports in the Caribbean in a timely manner and still be at a competitive rate. Dr Mitchell said previous attempts to debate the matter of transportation have sometimes degenerated into name-calling and the blame game. “But as we sit here today, we will come to appreciate that this tactic has not served us well. We’re still further away from a solution,” he stated. Dr Mitchell said that a Task Force on transportation should be established and be asked to deliver results within six months. Guyana has been heavily critical of Caribbean Airlines, accusing it of gouging the local market, given the pullout of Delta Airlines and the collapse of low-cost airlines such as Redjet and EZjet. Transport Minister Robeson Benn is attending the Summit to represent Guyana in those negotiations on transportation.
Intra-regional transportation is facing serious challenges to the extent that, in the wake of a series of calls from both the public and private sectors to address these challenges, special focus was placed on transportation issues at a Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) held in May, last, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Ministers are expected to recommend the reintroduction of the Single Domestic Space (SDS) that was established for Cricket World Cup in 2007, as one of the measures to provide some relief to those traversing the Community. Among the features of the SDS were freedom of movement for all domestic travelers and a Special Visa stamped at the first port of entry for travellers from outside the Region to allow
hassle-free movement among the participating SDS states. Measures to support the initiative included an Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) which provided specific information to the destination point prior to the boarding of passengers. The Ministers are also expected to recommend to the Heads of Government that they support the proposed LIAT application to the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for the required financing to meet the costs of its re-fleeting exercise. The upgrading of LIAT’s aircraft fleet is necessary to sustain its operation and improve its services. Development of the C o m m u n i t y ’s t r a n s p o r t sector has its underpinnings in Chapter Six of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which establishes the goal of the
Prime Minister of Grenada, Keith Mitchell Community Transport Policy as the provision of adequate, safe and internationally competitive transport services for the development of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.
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Boy, 4, mauled by dog A
midst several occurrences of vicious attacks from dogs resulting in actual bodily harm to people and animals alike, comes the most recent dog attack on four-year-old Shane Inasi. Negligence on the part of the owners of the savage common breed dog is believed to have been what led to the incident. It was reported that on Tuesday at around 17:30 hours, while playing with his nine-year-old brother in the yard, Shane was viciously attacked by the dog, which reportedly belongs to the owners of the Good Hope, We s t B a n k D e m e r a r a apartment which the boy’s mother, Vanisa Inasi, rented.
According to the child’s mother, the dog would normally be tied at the back of the house where his pen is situated. However, recently, the dog has been roaming the yard unleashed or tied in the vicinity where the children would normally play. She said that although the dog had never behaved viciously towards her family members, she was still concerned and requested the owners to have the animal tied at the back of the house but her efforts proved futile. The woman reported that at the time of the attack, she was at work and the children were left in the care of their grandmother, who was reportedly in the bathroom. The child received lacerations on his right cheek
and above his left eyebrow which required stitches as a result of bites; as well as scrapes and bruises around his head, face, back and left arm. Although unable to say much because of his discomfort, with a swollen mouth, the child briefly related his horrific ordeal. “The dog jump on me and bite me”, the child related with tearful eyes when asked what had caused the bruises on his face. According to reports, while the children were playing, the dog rushed to the four-year-old from behind causing him to fall, after which the animal bit him repeatedly. Neighbours who heard t h e c h i l d ’s s c r e a m s
The boy received three stitches on his left cheek reportedly jumped the fence to gain access to the yard and subsequently took the injured child to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he received immediate medical attention. According to reports, the owners of the property, who occupy the upper flat of the building which the family
rented, were not at home at the time of the attack. However, the child’s mother reported that her landlord called her shortly after the attack, asking her if she knew what happened to her son. She said that he had promised to meet her at the hospital but he never showed up. She said that later on the night of the attack, after she
Shane Inasi two days after the vicious attack had arrived home with her son, she had a conversation with the man, who offered her monetary compensation and medical assistance for the child. However, she refused his offers since she intends to allow the police to deal with the matter. A statement is currently lodged at La Grange Police Station. Kaieteur News understands that after several unsuccessful attempts by police to apprehend the man, he turned himself in and is currently on station bail. The matter was scheduled to be called in the Wales Magistrate’s Court yesterday but as a result of the complainant’s late arrival it will be called on July 12.
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Alleged ‘hit-man’ to stand trial for murder of businessman’s wife
A
f t e r t w o Preliminary Inquiries, alleged hit-man Troy Green will have to stand trial for the murder of hairdresser Bibi Rafeena Saymar three years ago. Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs, who was conducting the second preliminary hearing in the Vreed-enHoop Magistrate’s Court, ruled late last month that there was enough evidence against the accused. Green was represented in an earlier Preliminary Inquiry by Attorney-at-Law Mishka Puran, but was unrepresented this time around. The victim, a 23-yearold hairdresser, was found
lying on the floor of her twobedroom flat at Hague, West Coast Demerara, on Saturday, May 29, 2010. She had been stabbed eleven times and died before she could receive medical attention. Police subsequently arrested Green, of Howes Street, Charlestown, as well as the slain woman’s 55year-old husband, Canadabased Guyanese Dennis Persaud. Police alleged that Persaud had paid Green, who was 22 at the time, to kill his wife. They were subsequently charged with murder and committed to stand trial. Persaud was represented by Attorney-at-Law
Vicramadictya ‘Vic’ Puran, who died in October 2012, while Mishka Puran represented Green. ‘ V i c ’ P u r a n subsequently filed a High Court motion to have the case quashed and Persaud was freed last year after Chief Justice Ian Chang ruled that the court lacked sufficient evidence to charge him. The Canada-based man reportedly left Guyana shortly after. Chief Justice Chang also ordered that the other accused, Troy Green, be subjected to a new preliminary inquiry. During the first hearing, Green’s attorney had alleged that Green was beaten into confessing to the murder.
Freed: Dennis Persaud
Murdered: Bibi Rafeena Saymar
Accused: Troy Green
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Revised Automatic Promotion Policy for new school year - Education Minister
By Sharmain Grainger Following several informative stakeholders’ fora, the Ministry of Education has made a decision to revise its Automatic Promotion Policy, which takes into consideration not only subjects students are good at, but also subjects that are required for their matriculation. In fact, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand at a workshop held yesterday at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) disclosed that “the parents, teachers and even the students themselves believe that promotion from one grade to another should not be automatic but earned.” Moreover, a revised version of the policy was crafted and will be brought into effect from the new school year which will commence in September. According to Minister Manickchand, the policy
will now require that students who score below the overall pass mark set by the school, in more than 50 per cent of the subjects being undertaken, repeat the grade. Also, if students achieve less than the overall pass mark set by the school, with the scores for the subject areas of Mathematics and English being unacceptable, they will be asked to repeat the grade. But, according to the Education Minister, if a student fails to attain the overall pass mark as a result of any other subject, that student will not be asked to repeat the grade, but may, however, be required to drop the subject he or she failed. A c c o r d i n g t o Manickchand, the aim of the new policy is to help students succeed at both English and Mathematics since all students need at least five Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects, at one sitting, including English A and Mathematics at Grades One to Three, to
matriculate. She explained further that statistics show that although many schools attain 100 per cent passes in a variety of CSEC subjects, the matriculation rate is not satisfactory because of the poor pass rates in English and Mathematics. “A student who masters English and Mathematics can thereof choose any other three subjects, based on his/her career path preference,” the Minister asserted. The Education System, she explained, currently uses a spiral curriculum which means that to a large extent the topics across grades are the same. However, she noted that the scope increases from one grade to another, therefore making it imperative for students to master the curriculum content and skills of the previous grade in order to prepare for a higher level. As such, Minister Manickchand said that all students would be instructed in a manner that would make
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand is flanked by Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam (left) and Permanent Secretary Ms Delma Nedd. it more likely for them to achieve pass marks. Added to this, she disclosed that focus will be given specifically to the listing of a school, the delivery of the curriculum, and the setting of and compliance with timetables, among other factors. In the past, students who failed to achieve the overall pass mark set by the school were made to repeat the grade and by extension, all the subjects, including those at which the student may have done exceptionally well. This, as a result, led to repeaters dropping-out of school either through boredom of having to redo
subject matter they would have already mastered or through embarrassment of having to be in the same class with much younger students. It was for this reason that the Automatic Promotion Policy was initially introduced under the tenure of former Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, to correct the negative effects of Grade Repetition. However, the policy, which applies only to secondary schools, was designed to not only automatically promote, but to ensure that students were furnished with intense remediation. But according
to Minister Manickchand “for a whole host of reasons this was not happening…so we could deduce from that the students who would have been automatically promoted may not have been as successful as if they were forced to master a subject.” No formal analysis was undertaken by the Education Ministry to ascertain the performance of automatically-promoted students at CSEC, Minister Manickchand admitted yesterday. She said with that policy in place, students were promoted to the next grade, regardless of their (Continued on page 32)
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Raised eyebrows over Fly Guyana representative The idea of seeking to remedy the current shortfall in airlift to Guyana is a welcomed one, but eyebrows are now rising over information emanating out of the United States about representative of newlyintroduced airline entrant Fly Guyana. Hopes are that the presumably promising charter is not a repeat of the recently failed EZjet, owned by Sonny Ramdeo. The government informed via press statement over the weekend that Harry Chowbey, representing Fly Guyana, registered his desire to start operating the Guyana /New York route by October this year. The Ministry of Tourism and Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) described it as, “One of the most exciting pieces of news.” But how exciting are allegations of Fraud ( i n t e n t i o n a l misrepresentation); conversion, breach of written contract, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, negligent interference with prospective economic advantage and breach of fiduciary duty? At least that was what
Chowbey was accused of doing back in 2005, when he was made president of the then California-located company, Victorville Aerospace. The information about the court case (http:// www.fearnotlaw.com/articles/ article10091.html) says that a lawsuit was filed against Chowbey when he was alleged to have “embezzled a substantial sum of money from company’s bank account.” An excerpt from the lawsuit explains that, “In 2004, Victorville Aerospace (VAL) began looking for investors. Leading Edge, a company that paints commercial aircraft, expressed an interest in acquiring VAL and its assets. When an agreement could not be reached, Chowbey, a senior officer of Leading Edge, expressed an interest in investing. In June 2005, Chowbey and his partner, Joshua Singh, presented a written commitment, representing their intent to provide VAL $1.5 million in operating capital. VAL appointed Chowbey as its president, and he took control of VAL’s financial activities.
By November 2005, VAL maintains it realized Chowbey would not be able to make the capital contribution he promised, and VAL began seeking alternative investors. It negotiated a sale of 50.2 percent of the business to William Graven for $2.5 million. Graven prepared a letter outlining the terms of the agreement, which the parties all signed, including Chowbey. When it came time to close the transaction, VAL maintains Chowbey convinced Graven to terminate the agreement. VAL immediately terminated its relationship with Chowbey, and asked him to vacate the premises. VAL alleges it soon discovered Chowbey had embezzled a substantial sum of money from VAL’s bank account before leaving.” The company then made six claims against Chowbey, charging that he did harm to it. A call to the Californiabased company –VALproved that the company is now Pacific Aerospace; having been bought over some five years ago. At the time, bankruptcy approval
Manickchand optimistic about local production of textbooks Although the existing state of affairs may see the Ministry of Education procuring books directly from foreign publishers over the next two years, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand is optimistic that three years from now, locally produced textbooks will be a reality. She anticipates that even while books are being procured, local writers will be tasked with producing textbooks. “We have the ability, we have the wherewithal, we have the knowledge and, the technical expertise...We may need some more training on how to write, but we will have to redirect the way we spend to make sure we can initially produce the books then replicate them over the next few years,” the Minister said. She revealed that discussions are ongoing and the Ministry is currently “mapping out our resources and who we might want to do that. If you know how I operate, I want it done yesterday”. She has however accepted the fact that the process is likely to take a few more years before it fully materialises. Her ambitious disclosure was made yesterday when she hosted a press conference at the National Centre for Educational
Resource Development. But locally produced textbooks are nothing new, since at the moment textbooks that were produced locally some time ago, are recommended for reading in preparation for the Caribbean Examinations Council’s examinations. Also the core textbooks, that is, Mathematics, English, Science and Social Studies, for the primary level, were crafted by local writers. The primary level textbooks, according to Manickchand, were done through the Basic Education Access, Management and Support (BEAMS) project. “We don’t have those resources anymore and I can candidly say that we don’t have the money that we had under BEAMS, but it was our Guyanese people who wrote those,” the Minister told media operatives yesterday. She insisted yesterday too that “we believe the time is fair now where we should make a bigger and better effort to write our own books.” Moreover, she disclosed that the Ministry will be aggressively embarking on such a venture in order to furnish more children with the resources they need to do better at examinations. This move, according to the Minister, will better prepare
students to take over the leadership of Guyana in various regards in the future. Minister Manickchand said that currently the procurement of textbooks is an expensive enterprise, although the Ministry has been in receipt of “fair” discounts from publishers. Not so long ago the Education Ministry and by extension, Government, were chided both locally and internationally for reproducing copyrighted textbooks. This had prompted the decision to forge business relations with foreign publishers. And according to Manickchand yesterday, “we are pleased with the discount that we have been offered and we note that those were not previously offered to us. This was one of the reasons we were forced to procure the books the way we were procuring them” . But even with this, she disclosed that the Ministry is only able to buy a very limited number of textbooks. “For example we are going to be buying for the secondary sector this year only five textbooks that are published by overseas publishers...This is simply because they amount to $50 million in the quantities we are purchasing.”
was pending from Houston’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court, since VAL had initially indicated financial woes, while being behind US$1.4M in rent; (Aviation pros.com). Minister of Tourism and Guyana Tourism Authority, Irfaan Ali told Kaieteur News yesterday that plans for Fly Guyana have not been finalized. The minister said that he is not a part of the approval and processing team, but he would assume that Fly Guyana would be at the processing stage. Minister of Public Works and Transport, Robeson Benn, was unavailable for a comment since his secretary said he is out of the country. Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Zulficar Mohamed said yesterday that Fly Guyana has not presented any documents so far. GCAA is the agency responsible for the groundwork in the permission-granting process for charters wishing to work here. He said that so far, parties have only discussed the intentions for Guyana. In relation to the 2005 court matter, it was stated that Chowbey filed a crosscomplaint against VAL and three of its members. Kaieteur News was unable to ascertain
the outcome of the matter, but it would be hoped – as the government has repeated that all steps would be taken to prevent any other occurrences such as the Sonny Ramdeo saga. On the other hand, Chowbey, according to his professional online LinkedIn profile is: Managing Director - Supplier Operations & Cabin Maintenance at Delta Air Lines - October 2006 – Present (6 years 10 months) Greater Atlanta Area. He was that President and COO at Leading Edge Aviation Services - June 2004 – June 2005 (1 year 1 month); manager Aircraft Maintenance at Continental Airlines - September 1986 – June 2004 (17 years 10 months) Houston, Texas
Area. Harry Chowbey aka Hari Chowbey is/was involved in several organizations over the years: Guyana’s Children Inc. Sparrow Glen Corp. was formed on 2001-01-02 in California by Hari Chowbey located at 6145 Orangegate Dr, Yorba Linda CA 92886. Sparrow Glen Corp (founded 2004 with Hari Chowbey as Principal) alternate address: 103 Century Park Pl, Peachtree City, GA, 302695634 - (770) 703-1280. Guyana’s Children Inc. was registered on 09/05/2001 at 6145 Orange Gate Dr Yorba Linda, CA 92886 Hari Krishna Chowbey of Peachtree City, Georgia, USA is listed as an aircraft mechanic and the holder of an Airframe and Powerplant Rating certificate.
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Pakistan, IMF agree to $5.3 billion bailout
Syria’s Assad boasts opponents failed to oust him
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan took a major step toward averting an economic crisis yesterday, reaching an initial deal with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout of at least $5.3 billion to help shore up the country’s rapidly diminishing foreign reserves. The announcement should help calm fears of financial instability in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people that is also grappling with rampant violence by Islamic militants. But the deal mandates economic reforms that may be unpopular with Pakistanis. Pakistan is a vital ally of the United States, the most powerful member of the IMF, which relies on Islamabad’s help to fight Taliban and alQaeda militants and negotiate peace in neighboring Afghanistan. Analysts predicted U.S. pressure would be key to sealing a deal. The agreement comes less than six years after Pakistan’s last IMF bailout, and the driving need for the
money this time was to repay the institution nearly $5 billion that Islamabad still owes. Pakistan’s previous government failed to implement many of the requirements of the last loan, including reducing the deficit and improving tax collection, and ended the program early. That left the new government, which took over at the beginning of June, with the difficult task of convincing the IMF that this time would be different. The IMF mission director in Pakistan, Jeffrey Franks, acknowledged Islamabad’s checkered history, but said the institution would not punish the country for the failure of its predecessors. “It is true that some previous programs have not been completely successful,” said Franks at a joint news conference with Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar in Islamabad. “But the IMF is in the job of helping countries when they have difficult situations and need help, and we’re not going to turn a country down because
previous governments did not do what they had promised to do.” The $5.3 billion loan will be disbursed over a three-year period and will have an interest rate of roughly three percent, said Franks. It will be repaid over 10 years after an initial grace period of four years, he said. The deal has been approved by the Pakistani government and IMF staffers in the country, but it still needs to be approved by IMF officials in Washington and the institution’s executive board. Pakistan would like the loan to be increased to $7.3 billion, but that is still under discussion, as is the precise timing of the disbursements. The deal will be put before the IMF board in early September, assuming Pakistan first commits to key reforms designed to increase growth and improve financial stability, said Franks. Those include reforms needed to bring down the deficit, reduce pervasive electricity shortages and increase the country’s woeful tax collection.
Bashar Assad DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published yesterday that his government had fended off everything his enemies had thrown at him and that the only remaining threat to his rule was a far-off — and improbable — foreign intervention. In comments to the staterun Al-Thawra newspaper, Assad rejected the idea that what has transpired in Syria for more than two years is a revolution. Instead, he reiterated his past claims that it is a conspiracy by Western and some Arab states to destabilize his country. He also praised this
week’s massive protests by Egyptians against their Islamist leader and said the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi meant the end of “political Islam.” In Syria, more than 93,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011. The crisis began with peaceful protests against Assad’s rule, then morphed into civil war after some opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent. Millions of Syrians have been forced to flee their homes. Throughout the crisis, Assad has insisted that his government is not facing a popular rebellion, but rather a Western-backed conspiracy against Syria, accusing the rebels fighting to topple his regime of being terrorists, Islamic extremists and mercenaries of the oil-rich Arab Gulf states that are allies of the United States. “The countries that conspire against Syria have used up all their tools — moral, material and psychological — and they have nothing left except direct (military) intervention and this is too big for them to attain,” Assad said in the interview. He did not elaborate, but the Obama administration is reluctant to mire the U.S. military
in another unpredictable conflict and its allies are unwilling to engage military in Syria alone. The Assad regime says Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, in addition to the U.S. and its European allies, are on the list of countries conspiring against Syria. These states have been chief supporters of the opposition fighting to overthrow Assad. The Syrian president’s comments coincided with a crushing military offensive on the central city of Homs and a meeting of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul. It was the second attempt in as many months by Assad’s opponents to unify their ranks. The Western-backed opposition bloc is primarily composed of exiled politicians with little support from Syrians trying to survive the third summer of conflict in a country that has been devastated by the fighting. Homs, Syria’s thirdlargest city, has been hard hit by fighting over the past two years. The government controls much of the city, while several neighborhoods in the center of town remain opposition strongholds. A military offensive in the area that is part of the country’s heartland is now in its fifth day.
Mandela on life support JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela is being kept alive by a breathing machine and faces “impending death,” court documents show, as his family gravesite was restored today. Mandela’s health is “perilous” and he is being kept alive by life support, according to documents filed in the court case that resulted in the remains of the former president’s three deceased children being reburied Thursday in their original graves. “The anticipation of his impending death is based on real and substantial grounds,” the court filing said. “He’s basically gone,” said Charlene Smith, an authorized biographer of the
Nelson Mandela former anti-apartheid leader. “He’s not there. He’s not there.” A younger person put on mechanical ventilation — life support — can be weaned off the machine and recover, but that it can be difficult or
impossible for an older person. The longer a person is on ventilation the less the chance of recovery, said the chief executive of the Faculty of Consulting Physicians of South Africa. “It indicates a very poor prognosis for recovery because it means that he’s either too weak or too sick to breathe on his own,” said Dr. Adri Kok, who has no connection to Mandela’s care. “Usually if a person does need that, any person, not keeping in mind his age at all, for any person it would be indicative of a grave illness.” “When they say ‘perilous’ I think that would be a fair description,” she said.
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Brotherhood leader arrested, Egypt’s Islamists call protests (Reuters) - The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood was arrested by Egyptian security forces yesterday in a crackdown against the Islamist movement after the army ousted the country’s first democratically elected president. The dramatic exit of President Mohamed Mursi was greeted with delight by millions of people on the streets of Cairo and other cities overnight, but there was simmering resentment among Egyptians who opposed military intervention. An Islamist coalition led by the Brotherhood called on people across the nation to protest in a “Friday of Rejection” following weekly prayers, an early test of Mursi’s ongoing support and how the military will deal with it. Perhaps aware of the risk of a polarised society, the new interim leader, judge Adli Mansour, used his inauguration to hold out an olive branch to the Brotherhood, Mursi’s power base. “The Muslim Brotherhood are part of this people and are invited to participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if they respond
to the invitation, they will be welcomed,” he said. Just before he spoke, the air force staged a series of fly pasts in the smoggy skies over Cairo, a stark reminder of the military’s role in the latest upheaval. The stunt, involving dozens of aircraft, was repeated at dusk. But a senior Brotherhood official said it would not work with “the usurper authorities”. Another of its politicians said Mursi’s overthrow would push other groups, though not his own, to violent resistance. Mursi’s removal after a year in office marked another twist in the turmoil that has gripped the Arab world’s most populous country in the two years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. The United Nations, the United States and some other world powers did not condemn Mursi’s removal as a military coup. To do so might trigger sanctions. Army intervention was backed by millions of Egyptians, including liberal leaders and religious figures who expect new elections under a revised set of rules. Egypt’s armed forces have been at the heart of power since officers staged the 1952 overthrow of King
HARARE (Reuters) Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court rejected a series of government appeals yesterday to delay a July 31 general election in order to allow more time for reform of the security forces and state media. Zimbabwe adopted a new constitution this year in a trouble-free referendum backed by both long-serving President Robert Mugabe and his main rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. However, the haste with which an election date was set has increased fears of a repeat of the violence and bloodshed that marred a 2008 vote and forced Mugabe and Tsvangirai to form a unity
government. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku did not immediately give reasons for the court’s unanimous rejection of the requests, lodged after the regional South African Development Community (SADC) said a delay was needed to lay the ground for a credible vote. “For the avoidance of doubt, elections should proceed on the 31st of July in terms of the proclamation by the President of Zimbabwe in compliance with the order of this court,” Chidyausiku said. Tsvangirai would abide by the decision even though his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party had been pushing hard
Mohamed Mursi Farouk. The protests that spurred the military to step in this time were rooted in a liberal opposition that lost elections to Islamists. Their ranks were swelled by anger over broken promises on the economy and shrinking real incomes. The downfall of Egypt’s first elected leader, who emerged from the “Arab Spring” revolutions that swept the region in 2011, raised questions about the future of political Islam which only lately seemed triumphant. Deeply divided, Egypt’s 84 million people are again a focus of concern in a region traumatised by the civil war in Syria.
Top Zimbabwe court refuses to delay July 31 election
for a delay of at least two weeks, his spokesman said. “Since the court has ruled, it means we have to go by that date,” Tsvangirai spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said. Tsvangirai, who claims that Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party has cheated him in two other polls since 2000, has been pressing for access to state media for all political parties and cast-iron guarantees that security forces will not meddle in politics.
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Rowley silent as “emailgate” scandal hits a snag PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – CMC Investigations into the “emailgate’ scandal have hit a snag as members of Privileges Committee of the House of Representatives say the are unable to deepen the probe without the cooperation of Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley who is the key witness . The police have been asked to determine whether there was any merit in what was said by Rowley inside the House and whether there was wrong-doing by anyone. Although the House brought Rowley before its quasijudicial body, the Committee of Privileges, for deliberately misleading the House that
investigation has also not borne fruit. According to the Committee, with Parliament due to prorogue next Wednesday, the question of sanctions against Rowley is now a dead issue. In its report which was tabled in the House of Representatives on Wednesday the committee stated: “Your Committee wishes to report that it finds itself in an unusual place in terms of its proceedings. In his letter to the Committee dated June 25, 2013, the Leader of the Opposition informed the Committee that he was not prepared to answer any further questions from Members of the Committee on statements made by him in the House. The Committee is of the view
that the Member has thereby indicated his unwillingness to further present himself to the Committee of Privileges to assist the Com--mittee in its deliberations.” “On the sole occasion that the Lead-er of the Opposition presented himself to the Committee for exami-nation, only three Members were able to question him. No other Member, although prepared to ask questions, was able to do so, time being limited…. Having regard to the June 25th letter…it was clear to the Committee that the Leader of the Opposi-tion had already taken the position that he will not subject himself to the Committee to assist the Committee.
Peru police fire tear gas on protesting students, civil servants (Reuters) - Peruvian police fired tear gas at hundreds of students and civil servants in Lima yesterday as they marched towards Congress to protest reforms that would impose tougher standards on universities and bureaucrats. Protesters lashed out at President Ollanta Humala for proposing the laws, which he says would improve the quality of sluggish government services and a lagging higher-education system. Critics say they would force thousands from their jobs and compromise the
autonomy of Peru’s universities. Though the protests lacked the large size of recent demonstrations in Chile and Brazil that have defied political leaders, they could expose Humala to renewed criticism after several months of relative calm. Humala, a former military officer, was elected in 2011 as a moderate leftist but critics say he has since drifted to the right. Civil servants clashed with riot police as they tried to protest in front of the presidential palace - normally
off-limits to rallies - a day after Humala signed a law that requires public employees to undergo annual performance evaluations. A separate bill to reform universities and tighten standards for professors is pending in Congress. Local television showed police firing tear gas and water cannons against protesters, some of whom wielded sticks and were throwing rocks. Several injuries were reported in Lima and at similar protests in several provincial capitals.
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PM wants think tank South American leftists rally to on regional security Bolivia’s side in Snowden saga Trinidad Express - Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar Wednesday suggested a “regional think tank” be established to examine multiple security threats facing the region. She was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 34th CARICOM heads of Government conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s. Fourteen heads of government of the region are attending the conference. Such an approach, she said, would also identify ways of improving cooperation between governments and law enforcement agencies in countering illicit activity in the hemisphere. “We must also attack crime at the root, which means we must develop approaches to combat poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and the rising cost of living,” she said. For four days leaders of 14 countries will engage in discussions at strengthening the region. Persad-Bissessar said as conference chairperson, she was hopeful that continued discussions and collaboration on regional security would bring fresh
initiatives and perspectives in fighting crime and the drug trade. She said security threats in this region include, but are not limited to: u the infiltration of porous borders by organised criminals u the proliferation of small arms u the increase in drug and human trafficking, money laundering and corruption at ports of entry The Prime Minister said regional mechanisms must be developed to combat the multiple threats to security in this hemisphere. She noted that the Caribbean Human Development Report 2012 suggested that only 46 per cent of regional participants felt secure in their respective states. “We have an obligation as leaders to ensure that our people are secure by demonstrating that we engage in a focused and effective war on crime and criminals,” she said. She noted that the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Trinidad and Tobago and the US provides significant insurance against
some of the threats to the state. In addition, she said in April, CARICOM States endorsed the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, which aims to regulate the global trade in small arms and ammunition, which is estimated at US$70 billion. “But we need more. We need indigenous regional capacity for intelligence gathering to enhance our capability to combat threats to security,” she said as she suggested the regional think tank initiative. The Prime Minister said further that there was also need to examine regional transportation and develop a policy to facilitate the free movement of people and thus enhance regional integration and convergence. “I wish to suggest a ministerial meeting to discuss issues with respect to LIAT and Caribbean Airlines as part of the rationalisation of regional transportation. Such a meeting can also deal with the establishment of ferry services connecting the islands, which would have a positive direct impact on trade and tourism,” she said.
PORT OF SPAIN - The Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) has received police clearance for its protest march scheduled for today. The leaders are expected to begin the march from Woodford Square at 1 p.m, north along Abercromby Street to Gordon and then to Chancery Lane. They intend to proceed along the Queen’s Park Savannah to the Prime Minister’s St Clair office, down Alexandra Street, St Clair and then to Carlos Street, ending at Adam Smith Square where leaders will address the gathering. Slated speakers include Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah, People’s National Movement (PNM) leader, Dr Keith Rowley and Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) leader Ancel Roget. The march, which Roget announced during Labour Day celebrations, is expected to address the Government’s failure to treat with the workers agenda which includes removal of the limitations imposed on striking workers, measures to prevent decertification of trade unions and independence and security of tenure for judges appointed
to the Industrial Court. The Workers Agenda also calls for amendments or reformation of labour legislation including an increased minimum wage, the immediate disbanding of the Public Sector Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and an amendment to the Maternity Protection Act, to provide for 14 weeks maternity leave and Day Care Centres to be built
by Government and companies. This protest action comes even as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar called for workers to blank the planned action. Speaking at the United National Congress’ Monday night forum meeting in Caroni, Persad-Bissessar described the march as “tainted” and designed to embarrass the Government.
Greenlight for union march in T&T
(Reuters) - South America’s most outspoken leftist leaders will meet in Bolivia yesterday to rally behind Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose plane was diverted in Europe this week on suspicions that fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was aboard. The presidential gathering in Cochabamba, Bolivia - where Morales began his political career as the leader of coca leaf farmers - is aimed at expressing outrage over his “virtual kidnapping” and the U.S. pressure they believe spurred it. “Latin America has to react,” Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said before departing for Bolivia. “Imagine for one second if this had happened with a European president or the U.S. president - it probably would’ve been grounds for war. And here they think they can infringe and crush international law.” Despite the rhetoric, no Latin American country has offered asylum yet to Snowden, who is wanted by Washington for disclosure of intelligence secrets. Two radical leftist governments Venezuela and Cuba - are in a cautious rapprochement with
Edward Snowden the United States that would be jeopardized if they gave him sanctuary. Russia is growing impatient over Snowden’s stay in a Moscow airport and officials have urged him to leave. Bolivia said Morales was returning from Moscow on Tuesday when France and Portugal abruptly banned his plane from entering their airspace and it was forced to land in Vienna. Austrian officials said they inspected his plane there, but Bolivia’s defence minister denied this. This unusual treatment of a presidential plane upset leaders in Latin America, which has a history of U.S.backed coups. The presidents of Ecuador, Venezuela,
Argentina, Uruguay and Suriname will attend Thursday’s meeting. More moderate governments in the region will send lowerranking officials, indicating the 12-nation South American bloc Unasur is split. Noticeably absent would be presidents from regional heavyweight Brazil and three countries that are close U.S. allies: Peru, Chile and Colombia. Bolivia and Venezuela said they had received extradition requests for Snowden from the United States, which they repudiated. Bolivia called it “illegal and unfounded” since Morales never even met with Snowden, much less took him aboard. “While we were flying (home), the U.S. government gave our foreign ministry a scrap of paper asking for the extradition of this young man, Snowden,” said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who returned from Russia on Thursday after attending an energy conference with Morales. “They don’t have the moral standing to demand the extradition of a young man who was alerting to the illegality with which the Pentagon, the CIA and the U.S. act,” he said.
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M&CC workers accuse union of faulty representation
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rustrated workers attached to the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are complaining of not being properly represented by the Guyana Labour Union. Several workers claimed yesterday that even though they are being “disrespected and robbed” by their employer - City Hall, the Union has not been doing anything “solid” to assist them in getting what they deserve. According to these workers, one of the issues affecting them is being unfairly forced to work overtime, with threats of
unreasonable dismissal from their jobs. Security guards attached to the council recently explained that if an employee decides not to work on a weekend or holiday, he or she would receive a suspension notice warning that should they be in receipt of three such notices, he or she would be dismissed. Many are skeptical about working the overtime shifts, as they have not been paid monies (overtime) owed to them from since the latter part of 2011 to March of this year. It was alleged that these payments would amount to
at least $100,000 per person. In addition to this, Kaieteur News understands that City Hall employees are made to choose between their entitlements - their pension and the gratuity - for their years of service to the council. “ We a r e b e i n g disrespected and robbed. Pension is taken out of our wages as a saving for us when we retire, and the gratuity is paid to us for our years of service. Now they are only giving us one of the two, and that is wrong. By right, the pension scheme is our hard earned money that they taxing from us all the
time. It isn’t fair for them to make us choose between our o w n m o n e y, a n d o u r entitlement,” a security guard recently told this newspaper. Another worker added yesterday “even though they doing all this to us, the Union ain’t seem to care. We paying them a fee and dem ain’t look like they give a damn about what happening to us at the bottom of the ladder.” Several phone calls made to the union’s General Secretary, Carvil Duncan, and the Minister of Labour Nanda Gopaul, went unanswered.
However, when contacted, Mayor Hamilton Green said that delayed payments of backlog money are due to some delinquency, and that he will look into the situation. He also noted that both the Town Clerk (ag) Carol Sooba and the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) have been made aware. Just recently, via this publication, Local Government Minister Ganga
Persaud explained that workers would have to take private action against the council, since the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development cannot issue any sanctions. These workers have all maintained that “rich people are not employed with the M&CC and poor people should not be made to suffer and beg for money that they have worked hard for”.
Guyanese among 27 on Canada’s most wanted list MISSISSAUGA — A suspected war criminal believed to be living illegally in Mississauga, is wanted by the Canadian government. Clive Moore, 36, originally from Guyana, is the latest person to be added to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)’s most wanted list that includes 27 individuals suspected of war crimes. Moore’s last known address is in Mississauga. The CBSA says his known aliases are Karim Barton, Anthony Moore, Clive Anthony Moore, ‘Footie’ Moore, and ‘Love’ Moore. He has scars on his right arm and left leg. “This individual is the subject of an active Canadawide warrant for removal because he is inadmissible to Canada,” the CBSA said. “This individual has been convicted of offences outside of Canada that, if committed
FUGITIVE: Clive Moore is wanted by the Canadian govt. in Canada, would constitute Canadian offences.” To date, as a result of the “Wanted by the CBSA” program, Canadians have helped find 43 individuals in Canada. The CBSA has removed 32 of these individuals from t h e c o u n t r y. Additionally, eight individuals were located abroad.(www. mississauga. com)
Revised Automatic... From page 25 performance following the annual assessments. But after the completion of a promised review of the policy, complete with reports from some 30 consultation sessions across Guyana, it was revealed that the policy was not popular with any of the critical stakeholders. But although the policy was found to be flawed, Chief Education Officer
Olato Sam insisted that the programme in its original form had positive results, including the fact that students’ drop-out rate had noticeably declined. He pointed to the fact that with the automatic promotion, students were given the opportunity to focus on the subject areas they were good at, without being penalised for the subject areas which they failed.
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Exhibitors were working round the clock to be ready for today’s opening of the fourth annual International Building Expo.
‘SILICA CITY’ AMONG BUILDING EXPO HIGHLIGHTS
A
mong the b i g g e s t highlights of the fourth International Building Exposition, will be government’s unveiling of ‘Silica City’, a housing development project t a r g e t i n g t h e Soesdyke/Linden Highway. With lands no longer available on the East Coast of Demerara, and the space on the East Bank of Demerara running out, the focus is on further south along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. Yesterday, construction was in full swing at the National Stadium, Providence, with trucks weaving their way among harried workers and tents. Three model homes, including an eye-catching $19M model home that the Housing Ministry will soon be offering as part of its ‘turn-key’ homes, will also be on display. In addition to the commercial banks and the New Building Society, companies from Venezuela, Suriname, Trinidad, the US and China will be participating. So will block makers, hardware suppliers and private developers. Slings of cements will be given away nightly with the Housing Ministry standing by to talk to visitors on their applications and options. And there’s something else we shouldn’t forget. For years, it had been a popular building material. Harder than the concrete blocks and fire resistant, the red colour clay bricks for some had no competitors. But then the company that
manufactured it, a clay brick factory located in Canal Number Two, West Bank Demerara, closed its doors. Today, more than 90% of the homes being built are from concrete blocks. But one company is determined to reintroduce the use of the red bricks. Ansa McAl, a Trinidadowned company, is one of the 100-plus sponsors and exhibitors that will be showcasing its Abel Clay Blocks. While they are not made in Guyana, the company is hoping the blocks take off in a big way. With the construction industry and housing boom, the expo has become an opportunity for homeowners and would-be ones to see some of the many new building materials on the market and even strike a deal. From tips on how to mix cement to types of gutters to the model homes available from private developers, the exhibition has been growing. Last year, construction giant, B.K. International, introduced a tile made of wood waste and other materials. Deckings and even locally-made concrete bricks were fielded at the show. According to Andre Ally, an official of the Housing Ministry team that has been organizing the event, this year, exhibitors are keeping a number of surprises close to their chest. “We know that there will be giveaways and a host of other things for persons visiting. Obviously one has to be there from tomorrow (today) to experience these.”
A n o t h e r c o m p a n y, Sunshine Villas, will be introducing street lights that are powered by solar energy. According to Ally, one of the highlights of the expo will also be a demonstration by a local company, Fix It Hardware, which will be demonstrating its line of tools for homeowners who want to embark on the do-ityourself projects.
“We have seen a surge in registration for exhibitors within the last week and more booth space had to be earmarked.” For the first quarter this year, over 3,400 borrowers accessed mortgages in excess of $9.3B from the banks and NBS. At the end of the first quarter, commercial banks lent in excess of $163.5B, about $2B more
than last year. Last year, almost 8,000 house lots were distributed a 22 per cent increase over the targeted 6,500. Some 4,177 titles were also distributed with over $3.3B plugged in developing new infrastructures along the East Bank of Demerara. The three-day event ends on Sunday. (Leonard Gildarie)
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BRICKDAM ‘BITES THE DUST’ AS NSBF HEATS UP -UG also booted in first round As if the complaints of poor offense thundered through the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Thursday night, Bishop’s High School annihilated Brickdam Secondary in the National Schools Basketball Festival (NSBF) with pure offensive efficiency. Bishop’s High thrashed Brickdam Secondary 82-42 in an Under-17 game, after rebounding from an opening loss to the ultra-effective Kwakwani Secondary School. Daniel Haynes scored 24 points while Marvin Durant had 18 and Michael Broomes 15 points for Bishop’s High to hand Brickdam their second straight loss,
effectively ensuring their egress from the competition and maintaining Bishop’s last round berth. Joshua Lee scored 13 points for Brickdam. Meanwhile, Kwakwani survived a comeback scare in another Under-17 fixture against St. Roses High School. Kwakwani, eventually, held on for a 41-34 win to remain unbeaten in the group. In an up-tempo game, St. Roses came from seven points down to take a onepoint lead with three minutes left in the game, but their offense immediately collapsed as Kwakwani took command of crunch-time with an 8-0 run to win the game.
Kevin Gordon had 11 points while Dellon Wallace had nine points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, Shemar Huntley had 15 points and Anfernee Jervis 12 points and 13 rebounds for St. Roses in an evenly contested second half battle until their slump. Marian Academy ensured their place in the next round of the Under-17 competition with yet another win, this time a 38-25 triumph against President’s College. Judah Stepheny scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds along with eight steals to lead Marian to the win. New Amsterdam Multilateral kept their hopes
Friday July 05, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): You thrive on the fast pace of life today, yet it’s wise to stop long enough to reassess what is happening. If you avoid spending time in unhurried contemplation, you might be able to convince yourself that someone you recently met would make a perfect partner. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20): Heightened expectations at work may set you up for a major disappointment today. However, you can make the most of your vivid imagination by using your unfulfilled dreams to spur you on to greater accomplishments. GEMINI (May 21–June 20): You’re in the zone, enabling you to quickly focus your mind and shift your perspective now that the Moon is back in your sign. CANCER (June 21–July 22): Although you’re motivated to express yourself today, you’re not eager to blow your own horn. You prefer to let others discover your extraordinary talent on their own. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22): It’s tempting to get so carried away embellishing a story today that you believe it yourself. Unfortunately, your naive thinking sets the stage for you to be easily deceived now. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): You might accidentally fall into a role of playing the victim today, yet you can also consciously choose to alter your fate.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): Beautiful Venus forms an otherworldly aspect with illusory Neptune, making it trickier to find your creative groove. Perhaps you are overeager to express your inner child and wish you could take the day off. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): If you trip down Memory Lane today, it’s not healthy to focus on the difficulties you have experienced. Instead, think about the most pleasant times when all you could do was smile. SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): Your calendar seems quite elastic now and if you fall behind on your busy schedule today, it may be more bothersome to everyone around you than to you. CAPRICORN(Dec.22–Jan.19): Delay making any major changes in your schedule today since Venus and Mercury are confused by cloudy Neptune’s presence in your 3rd House of Immediate Environment. Keep in mind that you might not have all the facts at your disposal yet. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18): Even if you explain your intentions again and again, your most supportive friends still might not fully understand your behavior today. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): You could grow disoriented today if you have to concentrate all your thinking on mundane issues.
SANDWICHED! UG’s guard, Quincy Easton is sandwiched in the paint against PC Thursday night when the NSBF continued at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
alive in the U-17 category with a 44-25 win when they played Plaisance Secondary. Shurland Gills, Joel Glasgow and Ramone Fogeray scored six points each for NA ‘Multi’ in the crucial encounter. Meanwhile, the University of Guyana (UG) was booted from the
competition after they lost their second straight game to President’s College 28-42; UG squandered a nine-point advantage early in the first half to become another casualty in the senior contest. At the end of the first half UG led 22-20; it was the closest they got to a win,
adding merely just six points in the second half of the contest as PC launched an offensive assault. Nyambekerie Bacchus had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for PC while Fonsie James scored 10 points for the University. In the final senior game of the night, Guyana School of Agriculture won 30-25 when they played Berbice’s J.C Chandisingh. Emmanuel Archibald scored 16 points for the Agriculture school and Raybourne Murry was the only player from Chandisingh in double figures with 11 points in the game. (Edison Jefford)
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Kaieteur News
WANTED Live In Live Out Babysitter Domestic - Call: 225-6070 Office Clerk: CXC English/ Mathematics- Call:225-0188/ 225-6070 Attractive live in waitressCall:327-0252/674-4665 Experience taxi- minibus drivers and dispatchers at Princess Hotel Contact:6165419, 265-7076 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
WANTED One experienced female cook to cook for family in Interior- call:697-6747 25-35 years live-in domestic, Georgetown area- Call:2271830 One domestic between the ages of 35-45 years. Call:663-4866 One live-in maid, must be able to cook, 30-50 yearsCall:671-9715 Driver for Toyota Raum, preferably from West Bank/ West Coast Demerara- Please contact:614-3280 1 Weekends Dispatcher, full time cars: De General Taxi Service, 120 Regent StreetCall:231-8888/ 231-2900 1 Male to work at a Car Wash from Kitty or C/Ville- Call:6108561 Three (3) waitressesCall:650-3699
(1) Waitress 18-25 yearscall:653-6017 Mangers to work in the Interior on Land Dredges: Mining Firm has own excavators & bulldozers. Call: 226-9768/ 629-0037 Diesel Mechanics: To work in the Interior: Knowledge of excavators and Perkins engines an asset. Call:2269768 Machine Operator to work in Garment Factory- Call:2222541 Urgently wanted land to buy in Parfait HarmonieCall:675-7292 Experienced Roti/ Puri cook, pastry makers, kitchen assistant, cleaners & handy boys: Apply @ Hack’s Halaal 5 Commerce St. Three wash bay attendants 18-25 years, for immediate employment- Call: 227-5169 Wanted urgently: Driver and Porter to work on canter- Call:649-9876/6163802/222-3927 One experienced Shop Assistant to work in InteriorCall:697-6747 AutoCAD draftsperson versed in computer operations, Land surveying drafting, job training provided: Email: nylsemployment@gmail.com Live in waitress- Call:6439007/ 697-2978 Experienced Taxi Drivers. Call: 667-9013/ 627-9424
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 SUMMER CLASSES: Phonics, Language, Mathematics, Art & Craft & Fun day: (4-12 years)- July 15th- August 15th: Roxanne Burnham: Call 619-4355/ 2182076 Get trained as a live-in Caregiver to live and work in Canada, under Canadian curriculum- Call:227-4881/ 416-674-7973
FOR SALE
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
Pure Bred Rottweiler pupsCall:650-8496 500 Ton Cargo Ship with Contract- call: 687-6174 Games for PS 2, $900,PSP $900, Xbox360 $2600, PS 3 $2600, call:672-2566 Spare for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call: 225-9032, 647-2943 Dell laptops & desktops complete computers from $55,000 Futuretech. Call: 2312206 Original games for sale. Call: 265-3232 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 1- 10 RB Dragline, 1- F150 Ford Truck- Call: 687-6174 Fluffy pups call: (Home) 2225671, cell: 641-6162 Nail Plates & Anchor Seal: 4×6, 3×6, 4×8- Call: 265-3541/ 695-4785
One (1) Dell Desktop Computer complete with one (1) HP Printer- Call:681-5441 Daschund mixed with Pekingese pups six weeks old $15,000- Call:677-2476
32 Disc roam plough: Bargain price $1.6M negotiable- call:678-0224 1- Bedford Model M, GFF series: 30 Dell desktops: 260" Samsung flat screen LED/LCD- Call:255-0347/ 664-2020/ 625-0931 Pressure Washer, 10 inch Craftsman table saw, Heavyduty right angle Milwakee drill, Pair wood clampscall:223-5641 House lot 100’×80’ @ Paradise. Call:223-1051/ 650-0716
6" & 8" Flood control pump with engine, tool sets, ploughs, chippers, slasher, massey ferguson loaderCall:675-9314 Pure Bred Rottweiler puppies Call: 227-8028, 604-7105 155 Leyland DAF excellent working condition: Price $3.5M (negotiable)Call:656-8346 Used Massey TractorsMF175, 275, 1100, 1130, Ford 5000, Yanmar Vegetable Tractors square axle & wheel- Call: 675-9314
Advance Diploma in Computer Technology for students completed CSEC 2013: Register now @ MicroGraphics Technology, Vreed-En-Hoop- Call:2643057
Promix starting at $ 7 , 5 0 0 , green formula (growing mix)- Call: 6152346/263-5300 Gowns, Shalwars, Khimar, Scarves, Khimar accessories and much more. Dates for Ramadaan available. Halaal Heaven. Call: 226-0311, 667-8141 Fluffy Dashund PuppiesCall:666-5199/ 669-8421
Courses for: Bridal accessories, Cake decoration, Floral arrangements, Cake & Pastry. Contact Sharon:672-8768/ 223-3303
VEHICLE FOR SALE We buy & sell vehicles for cash & we do trading-in of vehicles: 30 Seater Busescall:680-3154 Toyota Starlet Turbo: Working A/C, interior in excellent condition- Call:4446183 or 686-0910 1 Mitsubishi Lancer, excellent condition. Call: 677-9527 / 616-3802 / 222-4650 1 Toyota Tacoma 4x2 – 1997; $1.6 million; not registered Phone:265-2103, 611-0674
LEARN TO DRIVE B & C Driving School: Lot 5 Hadfield Lodge- call:2250150,229-7258,680-6826 Soman & Sons Driving School , First Federation Building Call 225-4858, 6445166, 622-2872, 615-0964 TOURS Santa Mission & C a p o e y Lake (09/07/ 2013)- Call Joy @ 2181285/ 649-9059/ 692-3114
RZ mini-buses BMM & BNN series, AT192, 212, AT170, Tacoma, Canters, NZE & cheap cars- call:680-3154 1 Mercedes Benz C200: PNN 6967- Call: 680-4990 / 2773033 1 To y o t a R a u m , Vi t z , AT212, AT192, AT170, Ceres, Hilux Pickup Solid DEF, EP82 & 71 StarletCall: 644-5096 / 697-1453
1 Complete 4 cylinder Kubota engine on bedcall:666-4000/257-0193
Unregistered Solid DEF Hilux2005 Raum $2.150,000; Dump Truck $2.3m- Call: 227-1737/6411800: Annadale Public road
1 Baby Play Pen & diaper changer; 1 Baby swing; 1 Imac computer; 1 iphone; 1 Whirpool dryer; 1 Welding plan- Tele: 662-6045
Nissan Sentra, manufactured year 1999: Imported brand new: PGG series $1,000,000 (1M) NegCall:665-6151/ 233-5287
MASSAGE American Style massage services- Call:678-7499.
VEHICLE FOR SALE New canter truck and Verossa in immaculate condition- Call:692-5363 1 Leyland DAF 60 single axle & dump- Call:613-6615/2161315
CRV PMM series call:6925460 Pure Bred Rottweiler puppies; Romel:653-6281
CAKES & PASTRIES Courses in cake decoration, pastry making & cookery, Call: 670-0798. Also Wedding dresses for sale
1- Perkin 4108 on bedCall:626-3817
2 Bedford MJ trucks, price negotiable. Call Kim:658-5193
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-EnHoop- Call:264-3057
Friday July 05, 2013
New 2013 Isuzu: D-Max single & double cabsCall:691-0234 PROPERTY FOR SALE 1 Two Storey Business Property (Transported): Brickery Public Road, East Bank Demerara. Call: 660-8128 (1) One House & Land: Samantha Point Grove: $27 million- Call:679-6952/ 6437125 Versailles 5 Bedroom House with modern facilities and beautiful landscape- Call: 592-684-9203 / 592-624-8704 Parcel 877 of Block XXXIII, Bachelors Adventure public rd, E.C.D opposite Guywa:0.585 acre- call Pearl Realty:689-9991 House and Land @ D’Edward, W. C.B. Call: 6892973/698-3703 Going concern building: Prime area Sheriff street by owner- Call:682-7733 West Bank $18M, Bel-Air Park $45M, Campbellville $30M, AA Eccles $65M- Call Diana @ 227-2256/ 626-9382
New ATVs: Introductory price $1,450,000 (Duty Free)Call:691-0234 Glanza EP 91 Starlet Turbo charged, stick shift- Contact No.648-3248 Unregistered Toyota Sienta: 7 seats: 1500cc- Call:617-5536 Toyota Corona 170: Good working condition: HB series: $375,000- Call:665-8995 2008 Honda CBR, 600RRCall:610-0785 Toyota Alex (2004): Mags, black interior, CD, rear spoiler, never registered- Call:2690432/686-0323 Leading Auto: Unregistered Runx, Premio, 212, Allion, Spacio, IST- Call:677-7666/ 610-7666 One Toyota Ipsum, automatic, fully loaded, double sun roof. Call:612-2258 One Toyota L-Touring wagon, automatic, A/C, mags, PLL series. Call:612-2258
Toyota IST PLL 7683- Call: 639-9553 2 Ford F150: Price $4.5M & $3.5M- Call: 643-5249 / 2654979 2006 320i BMW- body kit, sports tuned, immaculate condition, low mileage: Price $4.8M negotiable- Call:6240371/629-6264 First Class Auto: Spacio, IST, Verossa, 212- Call:6098188/ 226-2689 Toyota Hilux 4×4, A/C, auto, leather seats, 3RZ engine: Asking $2.7M- Call:2250398/ 623-1299/ 658-5097 Toyota Fielder $2.1M, Premio $2.6M, Axio $2.9M: Vehicles fully loaded & unregistered- call: 617-2891 Lexus, Pitbull never registered- Call:655-0800/ 263-5300 2- 07 Toyota AvensisCall:698-0674 1 Toyota Land-cruiser Prado PMM series- call:225-0188/ 225-6070 One Mitsubishi Canter, 16 feet tray: GNN series: Price $3M- Call:612-0320 HILUX SOLID DIFF: 2L Diesel Engine, Excellent condition: UK Auto 60 Brickdam- Call:227-0424/ 676-6429 (Continued on page 38)
Friday July 05, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 37
ANDRE GREIPEL WINS STAGE SIX Cricket fever hits T&T
Germany’s Andre Greipel won a sprint finish as Mark Cavendish came home fourth following an earlier crash on stage six of the Tour de France. Greipel beat points leader Peter Sagan of Slovakia and fellow German Marcel Kittel in the dash for the line. Briton Cavendish, who won stage five, worked hard to catch the pack after crashing with 34km left of the race from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier. Daryl Impey becomes the first African rider to wear the yellow jersey. The South African’s 14th place finish on the stage was enough for him to grab the overall lead from Orica GreenEdge team-mate Simon Gerrans. Cavendish won a sprint in Montpellier the last
time the southern French city hosted a stage finish in 2011. However, the Isle of Man rider was involved in a crash towards the end of the 176.5km stage and without a team-mate to help pace him back to the peloton, he was forced to weave in and out of the support cars and bunnyhop over a roundabout. The exertion “knocked the top end” off Cavendish’s final sprint, according to former British cyclist Rob Hayles, who was commentating for BBC Radio 5 live sports extra. Sagan also had to chase back to the peloton after stopping to change both his wheels with 46km remaining. The Cannondale rider was pulled along by Greipel’s slipstream as he finished a bike length behind in second place. Greipel, who also won his fourth intermediate sprint, collected a maximum 65 points in the battle for the green points jersey - 45 for the stage win and 20 for the
- OVAL SOLD OUT!
Andre Greipel
intermediate sprint. Sagan continues to lead the points classification on 159, with Greipel second on 130, while Cavendish is third on 119. A nervous peloton had left Aix-en-Provence with local weather forecasts predicting that the Mistral wind, common in the south of France, would blow and the riders would have to cope with gusts of 60-70km/h. An early solo breakaway attempt by Spaniard Luis Mate was brought back after 44km and the peloton rode together throughout the rest
Windies face India today
of the stage. Pre-race favourite Chris Froome finished safely in the bunch, five seconds behind the stage winner, but alongside two-time winner Alberto Contador of Spain and Australia’s 2011 champion Cadel Evans. Team Sky leader Froome remains seventh overall, eight seconds off the lead but six clear of Contador and 23 ahead of Evans. Froome’s team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen finished 12th on the stage to move up to second in the overall standings.
SABINE LISICKI TO FACE MARION BARTOLI IN FINAL Marion Bartoli
Germany’s Sabine Lisicki came through a dramatic Wimbledon semi-final and will play Marion Bartoli of France for the title on Saturday. Lisicki, who beat top seed Serena Williams in round four, came back from 3-0 down in the final set to see off Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 2-6 9-7. The 23-year-old becomes the first German to reach the Wimbledon final since seventime champion Steffi Graf in 1999. Bartoli, the 15th seed, earlier swept past Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-1 6-2 to reach her second Wimbledon final, six years after losing out to Venus Williams. If that match was a onesided affair, the second semifinal on Centre Court was a dramatic match of wildly fluctuating fortunes. Lisicki, the 23rd seed, did not face a single break point in the first set against Radwanska and broke at the start of the second, but the errors then began to flow. Radwanska remained as solid as ever, vulnerable on her second serve but able to dictate once into the rallies, and Lisicki’s serve became less and less reliable as the match wore on. Two double faults in a desperately
P O RT- O F - S PA I N , Trinidad – Large crowds are expected at Queen’s Park Oval as the second leg of the CEKLON Mobile Cup moves to Trinidad from today. All tickets for the upcoming matches between West Indies and India on Friday (today) and West Indies and Sri Lanka on Sunday have been sold. Tickets sales are also going well for the preliminary round match between India vs Sri Lanka (Tuesday, July 9) and the Grand Final (Thursday, July 11). WICB’s Event Manager Cindy McLean confirmed the details on tickets and said excitement is building for the second leg of the CELKON Mobile Series. She also indicated online sales at www.windiescricket.com have increased significantly for this event. “We can confirm that all the tickets, made available to the public, for Friday’s match and Sunday’s match in the CELKON Mobile Cup have been purchased well in advance. This is great news as the fans continue to show their support for the game. Everyone saw the high quality of play and the excitement in Jamaica and now we expect a similar level of enthusiasm here in Trinidad,” McLean said. “We expect the ground to be full on Friday and Sunday as fans come out to support their favourite team. The West Indies team has been doing
very well so far, as they lead the points table, and the home fans have has stepped up their support.” McLean added: “Queen’s Park Oval is one of the iconic cricket grounds and we expect a festive and party atmosphere. We have put all systems in place to make sure everyone who comes to the Oval will have a wonderful experience from start to finish.” All matches start at 9:30 am. Gates open at 7:30 am. Squads - WEST INDIES: Dwayne Bravo (Captain), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (WK), Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith. INDIA: Virat Kohli (Captain), R. Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, (WK), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Shami Ahmed, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Umesh Yadav. SRI LANKA: Angelo Mathews (Captain), Dinesh Chandimal (WK), Shaminda Eranga, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara (WK), Sachithra Senanayake, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne.
NATI humiliate Port Mourant...
Sabine Lisicki nervous eighth game handed over the set and the error count of 17 to 3 showed just how Lisicki’s game had crumbled. Radwanska moved 3-0 clear with her sixth game in succession, but there was another power surge from Lisicki and the German earned her chance to serve for the match at 5-4. Outgunned in terms of power but seemingly steadier of nerve, Radwanska held on by saving two break points at 6-6 and another at 7-7, but she finally prodded a volley over the baseline. Given a second chance to serve for the win, Lisicki made no mistake, firing a forehand winner down the line on her
second match point and falling back in celebration. Bartoli, 28, had looked similarly thrilled a couple of hours earlier when she completed a far more comprehensive win over Flipkens. The Belgian 20th seed struggled to find any rhythm and dropped serve immediately, finally getting on the board with a hold after 16 minutes to trail 3-1. Bartoli was well and truly in command though, and she broke once again with a terrific game that included a winning lob, a pass down the line and a thumping drive volley. An ace out wide wrapped up the set in just 27
minutes and the Frenchwoman’s dream start continued with a stunning lob to break at the start of the second. When the rampant Bartoli broke once again for 3-0, Flipkens called for the trainer and took a medical timeout for a knee problem. There was a flicker of hope for the Belgian on the resumption as she got one of the breaks back, but a spectacular return winner and a seventh successful lob put Bartoli 4-1 in front. With a second Wimbledon final in sight, she held her nerve impressively to put away a smash on match point after just 62 minutes.
From page 41 their opponents any breathing space. The rampant NATI unit was up and running as early as the first minute when Marvin Apolo found the back of the nets for the first of his two goals. Shamar Richards soon took over, blasting home seven goals. Jarrel Walters and Diswan Williams were also in prolific form finding the back of the nets four times apiece while Jamal Walters hammered in three. Ronnison Mitchel and Michael Vauhgn with one
each also joined in the goal party. NATI is expected to receive stiffer opposition in their next match when they come up against the much tougher Guysuco Training Centre on Sunday at the same venue. However the competition continues today when last year Regional champion Tutorial Academy Secondary School (TASS) who drew the bye comes up against the rampant Orealla Secondary in a second round fixture at the Skeldon ground.
Page 38
Kaieteur News
Friday July 05, 2013
FOR RENT 1- 3 Bedrooms newly built house @ Canal #2- call:6910875 HEALTH Enhance your health with genuine herbal supplements- Contact: Hazel’s Herbal Store @ 244 D’Andrade Street, Newtown- Call:226-9136
(From page 36) SERVICES CITY TAXI SERVICE (SINCE 1968)- CALL:2256222/ 226-7150/ 2261088/ 225-8600/ 227-1101
VACANCY
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 Harmony Inn: Fully furnished,air conditioned apartments; Parfaite Harmonie, 5,000 Per night call:668-0306, 694-7817,602-8769 Diamond $35,000; Eccles $55,000; Queenstown $140,000; Nandy Park US$1200- Call Diana @ 2272256/ 626-9382 One bedroom house @ Mon Repos, E.C.D- Call:698-6764
7TH CARIBBEAN & 14TH IPF/NAPF/FESUPO PAN AMERICAN POWERLIFTING C/SHIPS
Vacancy exists for security guard: Apply at Alabama Trading Ferry Stelling Stabroek, G/Town One Club/ Entertainment manager to work at a Hotel in Charity, Essequibo CoastCall:226-9768/ 642-7963 1 General domestic must know to prepare vegetarian meals: Apply @ Alabama Trading Ferry Stelling Stabroek, G/Town Salesboys, salesgirls and security guards: Apply @ Avinash Water streetCall:226-3361/ 227-7828 One female shop assistant, age 35-45 years, preferably from W.C.D or W.B.DCall:655-8688 for information Skilled carpenters: Apply in person at Alabama Trading, Ferry Stelling Georgetown Electrician, Welders & Fabricators (3 years experienced), Machinist: Apply @ Technical Services Inc. 18-23 Eccles Industrial Site, E.B.D 1- Road Foreman- Full timeCall:603-4524
Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, m i c r o w a v e s , washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool. Call: 225-9032, 647-2943 Need a Cashier/ Cook? Computer knowledge, cooking experience for creole dishes, well spoken, communication skillsCall:662-5562/223-2847 House Plans, estimates and construction- Contact T.Boodhoo 625-9883 / 6759296 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer. Call:2310655, 683-8734 Omar Georgetown Computer repairs & virus cleaning in homes- Call:675-7292 TransponderTV: No Monthly Fees, No Hidden Fees, No Additional Charges: 250 Channels + 50 HD Channels- Call: 675-3201 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call: 225-6496, 662-6045, 223-8115 We Refill HP cartridges for $1800 call: 650-7699
CAR RENTAL
HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000CALL:694-9843/227-2766
Progressive Auto Rental cars from $4000 per day. Call 643-5122, 225-8711; email www. progressive autorental. com
LEARN BALLROOM DANCING: 10 WKS, STARTING JULY 8, 2013 @ 5:30PM- CALL:6429053/ 617-0170
Premio, Vitz call: 689-6668 Untouchable Car Rental: Low Rate , Low Deposit call:231-8653,621-6827 A i d a n ’s C a r R e n t a l & Pickup- Call: 645-7981/ 698-7807
FOR RENT Short Term Apartments/ Rooms Available- Call: 687-3017 Located at Enterprise road and railway embankmentCall: 677-9527/ 616-3802/ 222-4650 Fully furnished apartment for rent- Call:682-7733
LAND FOR SALE 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 2 House Lots (39×150 & 38×150) $16M each: Blankenburg public road, W.C.D- Call: 658-0132
Ideal business spot at 14 Peters Hall public road, E.B.D- Call:233-5110/ 6680309
Austin’s Repairs & Services: We repair fridges, freezers, washers, A/C, dryers & House wiring etc.Call:685-2588/ 629-8136 Need a Babysitter/ Caregiver? Call:694-0689/ 691-8699 Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves, TV: Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick) TV repairs, DVD, Microwaves, Amplifiers, Stereos, Washing machines etc. Call:693-2683
3,000 Sq.Ft. building prime location W.B.D public roadCall:610-2227 NEWLY BUILT TWO STOREY BUILDING, MC DOOM PUBLIC ROADCALL:600-1375 Business place located @ 94 Tushen New Scheme main road- Call:655-6945 Furnished (2) Bedrooms house @ Crane H/Scheme $45,000- call:671-6855
SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 647-1773
Mars-Lonke win Pan Am gold & C/bean bronze; Stoby & Rahim also in gold medal form Kimberley Mars-Lonke became Guyana’s second female powerlifter to capture a gold medal at the international level winning the 84kg category at the 7th Caribbean Powerlifting Championships currently taking place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Miami Florida on Wednesday. Yesterday, Winston ‘Little Master’ Stoby and Vijay Rahim continued the gold medal tradition when they too out lifted their opponents in the Caribbean segment of the competition while Gumendra Shewdas lifted unbeaten in the Sub-Junior category. Mars-Lonke, Guyana’s lone female competitor at these championships, went in as the number one seeded Caribbean athlete in her category and lived up to that billing by taking the top podium spot with United St a t e s Vi rg i n I s l a n d s Truvia Plaskett settling for silver. In the 14th IPF/NAPF/ FESUPO Pan American segment of the championships, Mars-Lonke took the bronze medal having entered as the number two seeded lifter. Her performance in the Pan Am competition saw the Guyanese athlete improving
her best total of 360kg with a new mark of 410kg. She achieved a best squat of 160kg bench press 80kg squat 170kg. Maria Hamm of the United States won the Pan American gold medal with a total of 497.5kg with C. Elizondo of Costa Rica’s taking the silver with a total of 412kg. Reigning Overall Caribbean Champion Randolph Morgan and Anis Thomas will be in action today while John Edwards, Karel Mars and Colin Chesney will compete tomorrow. In the Caribbean Open 66kg category, Vijai Rahim stormed to the gold medal totaling 627.5kg (squat 250kg bench press 127.5kg dead lift 250kg) beating T&T’s Brandon Mathura in the process. Winston ‘little Master’ Stoby was a gold medal performer in the 74kg class defeating Carlos Melendez of Puerto Rico and fellow Guyanese Paul Adams in the order. In the Pan American segment of the championship, Rahim competing again in the 66kg Junior’s category had to settle for the silver medal to Ecuador’s Alex Ochoa with another Guyanese, Fabian Ketwaroo taking the bronze
medal. In the 66kg Open division, Rahim took the bronze medal with Alex Ochoa again taking gold. Kostadin Bahchevanov of the USA and Mexico’s Oscar Mejia placed 4th and 5th. In the 74kg Masters 11 category, Stoby took the silver medal; USA’s Jose Perez captured gold. The ‘Little Master’ Stoby had to settle for 5th place in the 74kg Open competition which was won by Miguel Curipoma of Ecuador, Perez took the silver with Alvaro Mejia of Costa Rica settling for the bronze. Based on reports out of Miami, Gumendra Shewdas lifted unbeaten in Sub Junior segment of 53kg class. Shewdas’ division it was stated is not awarding medals in his weight class but via Wilkes Points system and that result will be known tomorrow, Saturday. Shewdas has posted a World leading total for the year in his category and is poised to become World champion should he be afforded the opportunity to compete next month in Killeen Texas. He totaled 497.5kg (squat 192.5kg bench press 97.5kg dead lift 207.5kg)
Digicel continue to educate students on the danger of drug, alcohol use Schools participating in the 2013 Digicel Nationwide Football Championship continue to benefit from the new insertion made to the event by the sponsor which is to expose students to the dangers of marijuana, alcohol and tobacco use. The Company has retained the services of an organisation called ‘Social Life Issues’ a non-governmental entity to lecture on the three topics with the aim of educating the students about the negative consequences of their use. Yesterday, Resource Personnel Michael Hollis Roberts journeyed to Lethem in Region Nine to meet with the students who’re participating in the championship where he conducted a one-hour session on the three topics giving details about the consequences of using them. Hollis Roberts, who openly confessed that he was talking after having first-hand
experience of using all three substances, initially spoke on the effects of using marijuana. He told the students from Aishalton, Annai and St. Ignatius that the journey of marijuana use is similar to making the first step on a long ride, informing that that first step could be the beginning of a life of drug use that could also end up destroying one’s life in many ways. Among the effects of using marijuana he said are imprisonment, impotency, addiction and sickness. On the subject of alcohol, Hollis Roberts again highlighted the harm from using the substance which he said could be a broken family, memory impairment, blurred vision, liver disease and could also lead to addiction. In terms of tobacco use, Hollis Roberts revealed some of the harmful chemicals that could be found in the plant which include tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide, all
damaging agents to the body. According to him, tobacco use is detrimental to the heart, lung, mouth and the body in general so he strongly advised against its use. Digicel Customer Relatiions Manager Sherwyn Osborne in his remarks thanked the students for coming out to participate in the informative session and urged that they listen keenly and desist from using the mentioned substances. The students also interacted by asking questions about the effects of their use and what could be done to eradicate their use or simply reduce their intake. Also in attendance at the occasion was Region Nine Co-ordinator Megan Thomas, who introduced the teams to Osborne and Hollis Roberts. Meanwhile, play in the tournament opens today with Annai taking on Aishalton at the St. Ignatius Community Sports Club, starting at 15:00hrs.