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July 15, 2012

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Top Cop shakes up Narco Dept.

P. 3

- ranks collect $12M to side track cocaine probe

Former cop gets $3,803 monthly P. for losing arm 10

King of the cemetery!

- and that's an increase!

P. 17

Yvonne A life of service before self, Ramesh Maraj is a 'Special Person'

Suriname investing Skeldon Sugar Estate undergoes US$70M to modernize …another runway, air overhaul - Ramotar airport bridges to be added ...says weather influenced factory location P. 10

P. 12

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Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

‘I was not involved in boat purchase’ - former Top Cop Former Police Commissioner Henry Greene has said that he was in no way involved in the procurement of the yacht that the Guyana Police Force bought. He said that indeed he was presiding over the force but the issue of procurement of the vessel was left to others in the institution.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in a statement, contended that three senior officials –the Force Finance Officer, the Officer in Charge of the Crime Lab and a woman who worked with the Force Finance Officer were the people responsible for procuring the boat.

Greene said that he was aware of the purchase since he presided over the force but that he only knew of the boat after it was sourced and paid for. He said that the quotations were forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs who in turn submitted them to the Central

Procurement and Tender Administration.

The Permanent Secretary in the Home Affairs Ministry is in charge of all capital and current expenditures for the force.

There was a middle man in Guyana who was acting on behalf of Cartronics IV which quoted the lowest price— $16,974,000. The boat failed to work, one of the parties panicked and rushed to Greene with a report that some bribe to the tune of US$25,000 had been involved.

In the end, Office of the President became involved, conducted an investigation and ordered that the US$25,000 be returned to the consolidated fund. This money was paid by the local middle man and the matter was put under wraps.

Word is that Office of the President had wanted the scandal kept out of the media.

The story of a woodcutter Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”

Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees.

The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought.

He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

Reflection: Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy that ever.

Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work.

But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to get close to our Creator, giving more time for our family, taking time to read etc.

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

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Top Cop shakes up Narco Dept.

In the latest move that shows his boast about rooting out corruption in the Force was not an idle one.

Commissioner of Police (Ag) Leroy Brumell has shaken up the top echelons of the police Narcotics Department.

On Friday the hammer fell on a high-ranking officer and three other ranks of the department who were all reverted and transferred following allegations of corrupt practices.

Kaieteur News understands that the men are fingered in the collection of a $12M bribe to influence the outcome of a probe involving a cocaine bust that occurred in Canada a few months ago.

According to reports, the drug was found in pallets shipped to the North

- ranks collect $12M to side track cocaine probe American destination from Guyana.

Although no concrete evidence has been obtained to support criminal charges against the cops fingered, a source said that there is enough though to arouse the suspicion of the Force’s administration that all was not right with the local segment of the investigation.

Reliable sources have indicated that at least one of the ranks fingered in the recent scandal was involved in another questionable act regarding the movement of cocaine evidence.

One source disclosed that the rank was implicated in the disappearance of a kilogram of cocaine from a quantity of the

drug that was seized by the law enforcement agency near Bartica a year ago.

Although, there was an investigation into that disappearance, no one was held responsible and the matter was covered up by the Force’s administration at the time.

Recently, Acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell had warned that he was adopting a non compromising approach to corruption in the Force.

This was in the wake of criticism that the Guyana Police Force was the most corrupt organization in the country.

He warned that his directive to corrupt ranks of

the Guyana Police Force to turn in their badges is no publicity stunt and said that there are procedures in place to address the matter and warned, “they will be jailed.”

He says that when there is an allegation, it is made against the Police Force and not a delinquent rank.

The Commissioner of Police was adamant that Guyana Police Force “is here to stay” and as such it has to be cleaned up.

“The Police Force isn’t going anywhere,” he reminded.

“I am annoyed about it…some of them just doing a set of stupidness and thieving, bringing a bad name to the Guyana Police Force.”

Guyana pledges commitment to child survival “Guyana has in recent years made strides in safe motherhood and child protection,” Minister of Health Bheri Ramsaran noted Thursday during a ceremony at Parliament Building where the government pledged its commitment to child survival.

The pledge was signed by Minister of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran in the presence of UNICEF representative for Guyana and Suriname, Dr Suleiman Braimoh.

Minister Ramsaran said that there has been a steady decline in maternal mortality rate. He said that the statistics from 2010 to this year prove this.

He said that there were 24 maternal deaths in 2010; 14 last year and nine so far this year.

The Minister said that even though the decrease is notable his Ministry is committed to take that number down to zero.

He added that child protection is key and critical to the development of wider society and to the child. Dr Ramsaran said that more emphasis has been placed on female children and those with disabilities.

As part of the effort to address early child

development, the Health Ministry has implemented a number of programmes to deal with various issues faced by children.

One such effort, according to the Minister, is that a collaborative effort was made between the Education and Health Ministries to address children affected by autism.

The Minister said that it was recognized that children affected by autism have special needs thus the Health Ministry has provided a small school for 20 autistic students.

Designating the pledge agreement “A call to action” the Minister said that more can be done to enforce child protection legislation.

Last November, the four major political groups

contesting in the general elections signed a commitment towards the progressive realization of children’s rights.

The forum was organised

by UNICEF in partnership with the Rights of the Child Commission and in coordination with the Guyana Elections Commission.

The event was prepared with a view to making children’s issues visible in the agenda of the country’s political parties since it was largely absent; and setting the stage for stronger political will to address children’s issues after the national and regional elections.

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Kaieteur News

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KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana.

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210

Editorial

Inclusive Growth

In a country such as ours that started our developmental thrust from such a low base, there are few who would doubt that much of our worrying rising level of polarised rhetoric in the public realm emanates from perceptions that our economic growth has not been equitably distributed.

There are, of course, always politicians who are willing to exploit such perceptions for political gain. Claims and counter claims about poverty therefore, is the norm in our country and accusations that there has been a growing inequality between the two major ethnic groups abound. Complicating matters have been charges that this rising inequality also exacerbates the gap between the top and bottom sections of our society, inclusive of all groups.

In the absence of conclusive surveys, such as the national census that is about to commence, the discourse has not surprisingly generated more heat than light. The last Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) of 1999 demonstrated that as far as ethnicity was concerned, Africans and Indian Guyanese were quite comparable in their poverty rates, while Amerindian groups had much higher rates. Rural and hinterland poverty rates far exceeded urban rates. The overall poverty rate for the entire country, however, had declined appreciably since 1992 – from 43 per cent down to 36 per cent.

Since that time the country has experienced a sustained period of economic growth, especially during the last five years. It would be very difficult to justify the claim that the poverty rate, measured as the percentage of the population that does not have an income/expenditure of, say, US$2 per day, has increased since 1999.

Going by objective factors such as the number of new houses, cars, telephones (land lines and cell phones) in all regions, it would appear that the growth in the economy has percolated to all sections of the society. On the rural coastland, the sugar industry is being strangled due to a precipitous fall in its labour force: attendance is rarely 50 per cent.

It would appear that the traditional workers can find alternative employment and the wages in the sugar industry, which many had criticised as too high, are not lucrative enough to attract non-traditional workers. Coastal rural unemployment has to be quite low.

In the interior regions, gold mining has skyrocketed and combined with the government programmes, poverty had to have decreased in absolute numbers. While the bauxite industry suffered a tremendous downsizing following its collapse in the 1980’s, many of the laid off workers have found employment in the gold and forestry sectors. With the free distribution of solar panels, cell phones and refrigerators have made significant changes of lifestyles in the interior. It would seem then, from the anecdotal evidence that the overall growth in the economy has led to inclusive growth overall.

But we have to also point out that poverty and inequality are not only about income, and a focus on income diverts our attention from the non-income factors that determine our wellbeing, perhaps better understood as ‘the quality of life’.

Towering over all non-income factors are public goods.

Economists see public goods as non-rival in consumption, which renders them egalitarian in their impact on a population.

They are important to us as they add to our sense of wellbeing. Think of roads, pavements, bridges, ferries, parks, water supply and every kind of infrastructure including airports and airstrips; these have all increased significantly in the last decade.

Public goods enter into the economic imagination in the following way. Such goods are defined by the characteristic that access to them cannot be restricted. With unrestricted access they are rendered unattractive to potential private providers guided by the profit motive. Once we comprehend fully the role of public goods we can see why it is necessary to broaden the ambit of the discourse on inclusive growth beyond the customary inter-personal income comparisons.

We can visualise a society with a relatively equal income distribution that is yet short of public goods.

In Guyana, we call upon all stakeholders to conduct discussions and debates about poverty in a less polemical fashion.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com

Freddie is wrong! Indians are not anti-African DEAR EDITOR, In his July 13 column, Freddie Kissoon penned that Indians don’t want to be ruled

by African Guyanese. But he did not offer an explanation for such a feeling if indeed it is factual.

Freddie delves into Freudian psychology apparently to explain Indians political behavior without any elaboration.

He offered no explanation of Freud and how it can be applied to Indians. He gave an example of Indians in his community not voting for the PNC or AFC but does not tell us how it illustrates Freudian

theory.

Which one of Freud’s theories was he illustrating?

Freddie is repeatedly advised not to refer to or apply complex social theories to Guyanese situations without understanding the theories and concepts or explaining them to readers.

I don’t think Freddie would recognize Freudian theories and concepts if they hit him in the butt. I advise him to read Freud carefully and slowly.

Indians dislike the PNC, not Africans. And although the PNC is equated to being an African party, analogous

to how the PPP is equated to being an Indian party, it will not be correct to say Indians are anti-African just because they vote for the PNC (APNU). The political behavior of the Indians is largely defined to how they were ill-treated during the PNC dictatorship.

The Indians were persecuted for 28 years by the PNC and they also blame the PNC (wrongly or rightly) for much of what transpired in the nation between 1955 and December 1964 when the PPP was toppled by the CIA working in cahoots with the PNC and UF.

The PNC never made an effort to apologize for the wrongs committed against Indians and Indians are fearful of a return to office of the PNC. The Indians are fearful of a return to an era of banned cultural foods and religious paraphernalia and rigged elections. Nevertheless, in 2011, Indians did vote for the AFC and half of the AFC parliamentary seats were doled out to Africans. So it can’t be supported that the Indians don’t vote PNC because they are antiAfrican.

Vishnu Bisram

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur M@ilbox Kaieteur M@ilbox Bourne and Cox were poor performers at UG DEAR EDITOR, I write in relation to the farce at UG in which it has been reported by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Marlene Cox that the Academic Board rejected the resignation of former Chancellor, Compton Bourne. This is not true. No such thing happened. And once more UG is made to look foolish in the eyes of all Guyanese. Before I proceed to describe the fiction in that statement of Cox, a note about the competence of Cox and Bourne.

Marlene Cox was appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC) under Dr. James Rose. It was the worst performance of any DVC in the history of the University.

In the chemistry department her research profile was nil so

Cox jumped at the opportunity the benefactor, Rose offered. After her three year stint was over, she was put in charge of the Office of Resource Mobilization (ORM). It was a repeat of her non-achievement. So bad was her tenure that Council, in order to remove her, initiated moves to scrap ORM. I sat through all those meetings. And yes I did vote for the abolition of ORM because to date, it has been a huge white elephant. It is no exaggeration to say that politics and not academic performance has kept Marlene Cox at UG When Vice Chancellor Carrington broke with tradition and appointed Cox DVC again, it was perhaps improper. There is no law that

states after a long break you cannot serve as DVC but the convention is one stint only.

The union in the Council disagreed with Cox’s appointment. I argued that we need to share the exposure. Our nomination was Philip Da Silva of the Berbice campus. In a one to one conversation with Carrington, he told me he looked hard to find another choice but the field was extremely limited. He said he chose Cox because with the scarcity of qualified people, he needed someone with experience. It was a terrible mistake by Carrington As for Bourne. It must be noted that Bourne’s application for contract renewal as Head of the Caribbean Development

This illegal scrap metal business is a health and traffic hazard DEAR EDITOR, I write this letter to bring to your attention a situation which has developed into a huge environmental, health, security and traffic safety problem.

The situation to which I refer is a scrap metal establishment carried on by squatters. This scrap metal establishment is located on Government /Council’s reserve at the entrance to the residential area of Lamaha Park.

This business entails the stockpiling of scrap metal which towers almost twenty five high. Dealers can be seen dropping off large quantities of discarded articles such as truck bodies, car bodies , washing machines , refrigerators , bed frames, wheel chairs, hospital examination beds and many more items too numerous to mention.

Since this business began residents have complained about disappearance of metal articles from their premises.

Large sand trucks often three at a time are used to transport the material away from the site.

The parking of these trucks, many times contribute to a traffic hazard, security risk and a danger to passersby which can be caused by falling debris.

The Ministry of Labour and Human Services also needs to look into this situation because boys of school age are seen engaged in packing these trucks and moving among the material with no protective gear for this type of activity.

At the end of the packing exercise all unwanted material can be seen at the road side

where futile and rare attempts are made to burn such material which in some cases ends up in the nearby trench or along the parapet. These huge infernos in most cases are lit at nights and give off toxic fumes.

These fumes result in burning eyes, nose, throat and also cause headaches and respiratory distress.

Some of the materials which

are left on the road also contribute to damaging tyres.

I am pleading for your prompt intervention, so as to bring relief to the residents from all the hazards mentioned above. This establishment is a major eye sore and an insult to the law abiding/ tax paying residents of the Lamaha Park Community.

Concerned resident

Bank was rejected by its Board. During the industrial dispute at UG in February, a confidential report on Bourne’s tenure was leaked to me with the specific request that I not quote from it. But the sender warned me to look out for the fall out in months’ time from Bourne’s poor results at the Bank.

As it turned out he was right. The CDB accreditation lending rating has been downgraded by its international assessor, Standard and Moody (see

Caribbean Business News, June 12, 2012. It was clear from Standard and Moody that the problem began under Bourne’s watch. In an angry reaction to Bourne’s failure, the current Head, Dr. Warren Smith told the media that the CDB is too important to the region and the bank with word hard to undo what Bourne did.

For the three years, he spent at UG, Bourne’s profile was low, his achievements were non existent. The only profile he achieved was his plot in Pradoville 2 in which he is

about to start construction Now for the Academic Board’s so-called rejection of Bourne’s resignation. Under James Rose, the Academic Board became a farce. I refused to attend session under his chairmanship because he was contemptuous of the union’s inputs. One member would get up and say a road wasn’t properly fixed. No one would bother to voice an opinion.

Then the press would be sent a statement the next day Continued on page 6

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The unions’ primary agenda is to ensure that UG creates and equips students with quality education DEAR EDITOR, The Kaieteur News Editorial of Sunday July 8th, 2012, titled “Higher Education at UG?” unfortunately has completely missed the thrust of the Unions’ position in the recent industrial action at the University of Guyana.

It is an absurdity to suggest that the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association, the University of Guyana Workers Union and the University of Guyana Students’ Society are fighting to ‘get a roof repaired and painting some buildings’.

The editorial, along with the recent falsities attributed to the Director of Berbice Campus in several daily newspapers has prompted this admittedly long, but we believe necessary, response.

While the immediate cause of the industrial action was the dismissal of three lecturers on what appeared to be purely political premises by a Council dominated by political appointees, the action merely served to illustrate the governance aspect of the grave, multifaceted crisis that faces the UG. The Unions’ primary agenda is to ensure that the UG creates, generates and

equips students with quality, relevant education that would equip Guyana with the thinking and the tools to transform our society. For us, this cannot be achieved without a university that can produce high quality research, but this itself requires a number of critical elements including a highly trained faculty, a modern and governance structure, adequate finance and proper facilities such as classrooms and labs.

Our agitation consequently is intended to move the university from its present state and improve its functioning as a national university that is compatible with national goals and comparable with other tertiary institutions in the region.

To do so we have sought to stimulate a national conversation on the very idea of national University and to secure a national consensus that notwithstanding its ‘warts and all’, the University of Guyana is a national resource that deserves to be urgently rescued.

We ourselves recognize the salience of research, sought the input of university stakeholders and compiled a dossier that explicitly articulates where we are, where we want to go and how

we need to get there (see attached). Briefly, we have argued that the following steps must be taken: There must be improvements in the overall Governance and Administration of the University through: 1. A review and update of UG’s Acts and Statutes to ensure autonomy; 2. An overhaul the University Council; 3. A review UG’s organisational structure; In order to consistently generate relevant research and produce high quality students, the University must attract and retain highly trained faculty. This can be achieved through: 1. A review of salaries and emoluments and adjustment of same to make them competitive with comparable qualifications in public and private sector locally and with comparable regional institutions abroad; 2. Urgently fund staff development for junior academics to upgrade their qualifications as currently the number of 1st degree lecturers is just in excess of 1/3 of total staff; 3. The provision of adequate support for scholarly research.

The must be

improvements to the University’s infrastructure and proper maintenance as the current facilities were designed to cater for a total student intake of 1000 and the current annual student population is more than four times that amount.

Consequently we demand: 1. Sufficient and properly equipped laboratory and library facilities; 2. Improved classroom space including ones that can cater for large class sizes; 3. Improved sanitary facilities.

The University needs to move towards the recognition and accreditation of all its programmes: 1. The University must improve its quality and the perception of its quality by the adoption of ANQAS (A New Quality Assurance System)

and the appointment of a full time quality assurance officer.

Increased Funding is critical and prudent Financial Management are critical for growth and development and in this vein we are recommending: 1. An increase in the annual public subvention and its timely disbursement to the University; 2. The University Council fulfill its mandate to source and provide adequate funding as required by the UG Act and Statues and refrain from political interference in academic matters over which they have little competence; 3. The removal of restrictions to the university’s ability to access independent funding ; 4. The implementation of realistic fee structures for students and provision of

scholarships and bursaries to ensure all students can access university education; 5. To craft strategies to secure endowment funding; 6. UG be allowed to control its capital budget; 7. A review of the processes for financial management so as to improve efficiency and achieve fairness and equity in finance allocation.

The University must enter and equip students for the Information Age. The campuses must therefore: 1. Provide equipment and other resources to enhance the innovativeness and creativity of teaching; 2. Increase access to information; 3. Improve storage of information and communication; Continued on page 7

Bourne and Cox were poor...

From page 5 saying that the Academic Board is concerned that the road wasn’t fixed Endless statements would be made on behalf of the Academic Board and on the issues involved there was no voting. It was a sickening masquerade to see how this process operated. A member would mutter a word or two about something. The Vice Chancellor would agree and bingo, it becomes an Academic Board’s decision.

This is what happened with the Bourne resignation. Cox

learnt her methods when she served under Rose.

In the case of Bourne’s resignation, it was raised by one member. Dr. Patsy Francis replied and offered the reason why Operation Rescue UG could no longer show confidence in Bourne. That was the end of the matter.

There was no prolonged discussion.

There was no motion put to the floor. There was no voting. When it came to “Any Other Business” on the agenda, a majority of members had left. One lecturer raised the Bourne resignation again. And again there was no vote.

Cox issued a statement on

behalf of the University saying that Deans and Heads rejected Bourne’s resignation.

That is not true. But given the poorly qualified lecturers serving at UG, these people will be too scared to denounce what Cox did. All of this means of course that people are going to continue to laugh and scorn UG. The ball is now in the court of the joint opposition.

They have to amend the University of Guyana Act to do away with politicians on the Council, democratize the Council and empower the academics. Once this is done, even with a meager pay, qualified staff will stay Frederick Kisssoon

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

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I stand firmly by my comments about Brentnol Evans

The unions’ primary agenda is...

DEAR EDITOR, In a letter published in the Kaieteur newspaper on 7/13/ 2012, Tangerine Clarke posited a desperate, pedestrian attempt to defend her personal friend, Guyana’s Consul General to New York, Brentnol Evans. I have called for Mr. Evans who has been CG for 19 years, to be recalled.

At best, his representation of Guyana is mediocre, unabashedly partisan and constitutes an embarrassment to Guyanese at home and in New York. I stand firmly by my comments.

Tangerine Clarke knows nothing of which she speaks.

I’m amused by her claim that my denunciation of the stunningly poor performance of the CG is to “seek attention.”

I would not dignify her gutter attack. Suffice it to say as an apologist for Mr. Evans, she offered no explanation for his absenteeism or why very few Guyanese know or have seen him in our community.

But Ms. Clarke does have comedic skills. She believes I’m seeking attention for myself exposing the incompetence of someone who no one knows?

Hilarious!

Instead of launching an odious personal attack at me for criticizing her personal friend, Tangerine Clarke talk ordinary Guyanese and ask them who is their Consul General and if they has ever seen at their church, organization or anywhere in our community.

I’m an active member of the Guyanese community.

The CG himself will attest that the last time I saw him was three years ago.

Ms. Clark can only speak intelligently to what she knows - ingratiating herself with corrupt PPP officials in a weird, elusive pursuit of selfimportance and aggrandizement. She fancies herself as some sort of

reporter of note who has covered this Consul General.

I empathize with her.

Everyone knows her to be a close, personal friend of Brentnol Evans. She is not an objective contributor. She is smarting from my criticism of her good friend. She excitingly disclosed that “as a reporter” she travels around with or encounters Mr. Evans during his travels. Good for her.

Her encounters notwithstanding, how does that make the CG competent?

Moreover, ingratiating encounters don’t empower this woman with a totality of knowledge about the CG’s competence or lack thereof.

The truth is that this woman is a nonentity, who is a friend of Mr. Evans, who has been advancing silly defenses on Mr. Evans’ behalf.

But she shall not diminish my resolve to ensure Guyana is respected in the diplomatic community intelligently, effectively and with due efficacy.

I have never seen the writer report on the ethnocratic policies of the PPP regime and the racism it has institutionalized in Guyana. Instead, I have seen her diving heels over head to ingratiate herself with the likes of Bharrat Jagdeo and other PPP officials, and seeming very proud to support this former president whose tenure threatened the survival of blacks in Guyana and introduced a new hallmark in national graft and corruption.

I have been fighting PPP corruption, extrajudicial killings and to protect the human and constitutional rights of Guyanese. I have worked for the development of Guyana ever since my teenage years.

And I have worked at the highest levels of government in Guyana and the US and participated in numerous civil

society organizations in furtherance of the goal of equal rights and justice.

Tangerine Clarke certainly does not have the standing to question my motives in demanding a competent Guyana representative in New York.

Furthermore, any attention that I may seek is focus on the plight of those for whom I fight every day.

I can forgive this junior reporter on the social beat for not understanding the dynamics of governance through effective diplomacy.

These are complicated political matters that are beyond her ability to grasp.

That’s why she should confine herself to simple things like snapping pictures and reporting on social matters.

She may be comfortable with our absentee Consul General neglecting our community to rush off to the airport to clear the luggage of this or that PPP official. Or, maybe to officiate at the kind of functions where she “encounters” him and his PPP colleagues.

After all, it is on such occasions this social reporter gets to taking pictures with and attempting to curry favor with PPP officials – the same ones who run a most oppressive regime that has a repressive noose around the necks of African-Guyanese.

While Clarke runs around snapping pictures with her CG pal at selected functions, I will continue to fight the PPP regime to assure equal rights and social justice for all, and for Guyana to be adequately represented in New York.

Mr. Evans has been in his post as CG for 19 years. He is at best mediocre and inept.

He must go! Guyana can do better. We need new representation.

I hereby so state unapologetically.

Rickford Burke

From page 6 4. Improve mechanisms for students to access technology 5. Provide additional computer resources and spaces for students; 6. Improve library resources – online and other Student Services and Student Life must be enhanced. These can be achieved through: 1.

Provision of counseling, tutoring and enhanced medical facilities; 2. The provision of improved accommodation for out of Georgetown students; 3. The promotion of social, cultural, recreational and extra-curricular activities; 4. The establishment of a career and employment centre; 5. Improved security on campus.

There needs to be improve quality of research and community engagement by the: 1. Establishment of a Leadership and Intellectual Development programme; 2. The establishment of Think Tanks on Natural Resources Management, Social Problems; 3. The construction of Art and Cultural Spaces and; 4. The promotion of Outreach/Extension and Service Learning Activities.

The latter set of needs/ recommendations speaks directly to what we interpret as the thrust of the Kaieteur News editorial, specifically, what are and how relevant are the research outputs of the faculty of the University. It is entirely false to state that the research output of staff ‘will not take up a single type written page’ and I would urge that the editor perform his duties with the same degree of diligence as he urges the Unions to do.

The research output of academic staff is readily available as it is collected annually by the Personnel Division. Any deficiency in research output must also be placed within a context of virtually no support offered to staff to facilitate their research, the comparatively large number of lecture hours per week of UG staff versus academics in other universities and the high percentage of lecturers with only a first degree which means they have not been adequately trained to conduct research independently.

Additionally, although some relevant innovative research in the technological and science streams has been conducted, there is however no conduit between the innovations and the potential client beneficiaries nor are there intellectual property arrangements in place to protect the rights of inventors, so much of this languishes at UG. It is also instructive to note that UG staff also conduct much relevant nationally useful research, particularly in the social sciences. However, they are contracted by international funding agencies that pay the usually very high costs associated with conducting said research.

The insufficiency of research output is not unique to UG however. Although the facilities offered to academic staff at UWI dwarf those offered to UG faculty, an analysis of the research output of staff was raised as a source of concern in an October 2003 report, ‘Strategies Challenges Facing UWI Mona.’ The report noted that “Publications per-capita at UWI, Mona are less in 2001-2002 than they were in 1970/1971. Further, whereas in

1981, UWI, Mona produced 0.025% of global publications captured in citation-linked databases, by 2002 that proportion had declined to 0.02%.” This situation was flagged as one that needed to be urgently remedied by UWI and from all reports has not changed appreciably to date, although additional resources were allocated to research. The UWI example illustrates that research is underfunded and output is consequently negatively affected in the region however the simple injection of funds, if not at the appropriate levels or with the necessary capacity building) will not produce the required change.

Continuing to underfund research will not enhance the publication record of UG staff, but in fact will have the opposite impact. This is not a chicken and egg situation.UG faculty are already producing miracles with no resources available, and I’m confident they would quickly produce an enviable research and publication record if the necessary infrastructural and monetary support are provided.

Finally, the Unions had long decided to investigate the possibility of publicising the research of faculty on campus. We hope that our national newspapers, including the Kaiteur News would be gracious enough to facilitate us in this regard. We believe that there is a genuine interest nationwide in improving the University and we invite all stakeholders to join us and bring about the requisite changes.

Patsy Francis, UGSSA President Bruce Haynes, UGWU President Mellissa Ifill, UGSSA Vice-President

Page 8

HAVANA — Cuba’s Health Ministry yesterday reported 158 cases of cholera, nearly three times as many as previously disclosed, but said there were no new deaths and the outbreak appears to have been contained and on the wane.

The ministry said Intensive efforts to quarantine those infected, hand out chlorine tablets and educate the population has meant a drop in cases transmitted by water, and there is no evidence of the disease spreading through the food supply.

Virtually all of the cases

Kaieteur News

have come from the city of Manzanillo, in eastern Granma province some 430 miles (700 kilometers) east of the capital, or from people who recently traveled from the area.

“We have diagnosed isolated cases in other regions of people that were infected in Manzanillo, all of whom were treated and studied quickly,” the ministry said.

“There has been no spread of the outbreak.”

Cuba announced July 3 that three elderly people had died from the tropical disease and 53 people sickened in the first incidence of cholera on

the island in decades. Until Saturday’s report, authorities had said little more, prompting rumors of more deaths and a wider problem.

Still, even in the infected area, hotel workers and residents said there was no panic.

A rise in cases of diarrhea and tropical diseases are normal in Cuba in the summer, due to the intense heat and heavy rains. In its communiqué yesterday, the Health Ministry urged people to wash their hands, boil water and pay better attention to their personal hygiene.

Windward Islands govt. warned about future of banana industry CASTRIES, St Lucia CMC - Windward Islands governments have been told there is need to deal urgently with the problems confronting the banana industry or risk the possibility of losing market share in Europe.

A statement issued following a meeting involving the governments of St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada and the marking company, WINFRESH, also gave support to efforts aimed at diversifying the agricultural sector in the four islands, and

as far as practicable, in other Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

“They agreed that WINFRESH’s focus would be broadened away from commodity trading, to one that was more proactive in farm level production support as well as agro-products and markets development and expansion,” the statement said.

“WINFRESH emphasised that there was still a strong market for Windward Islands bananas but that the bananas had to meet the quality and

volume requirements consistently. “ It said that WINFRESH is also concerned that unless the problems that continue to affect the industry are urgently addressed “the industry ran the risk of permanent displacement from the market”.

The statement listed the problems as low productivity, poor and inconsistent quality, and erratic volumes, as well as the impact of diseases such as Black Sigatoka.

The statement said that the meeting agreed WINFRESH, would, in the next six weeks, submit to t h e Wi n d w a r d I s l a n d s governments a detailed business plan for its future development and operations.

Tr i n i d a d E x p re s s Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan last week announced that for a $1.5 million membership fee, the country would now be able to access the expertise of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for local cancer treatment centres.

Speaking at the postCabinet media conference at the Coco Reef Resort in Tobago Thursday, Khan said while the annual fee was $1 million, $500,000 would be deposited into a fund for developing countries to access more resources specific to the level of technical development.

In January, Khan had engineered a visit from the group to evaluate claims of

Sunday July 15, 2012

over-radiation of 223 patients at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre over an 18-month period from 2009. “ We h a v e b a s i c a l l y come a very long way,” Khan said.

“Now that we have membership with the IAEA, I think radiation protection action in this country will take a different direction,” he said.

The final report of the IAEA January 2012 Assistance Mission to Tr i n i d a d a n d To b a g o f o u n d some of the 223 patients who were adversely affected by overradiation at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre had “clinical evidence of such severe radiation injury that an experienced

clinician cannot help but think that even an approximate 15 per cent overdose may have been a contributing factor in caus i n g a n i n c r e a s e d severity of the injuries in some of these patients”.

Khan said yesterday that membership would ensure appropriate use of ionising radiation and strengthen regulatory infrastructure for the control of radiation sources.

“It will strengthen and update the technical capabilities for the protection and safety of workers,” he said.

He said it will also govern how the country disposes of radioactive waste in the region.

Report of CARICOM delegation considered “confidential” THE VALLEY, Anguilla – CMC - Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque has confirmed that the contents of a report by a CARICOM delegation that visited Anguilla at the request of the Hubert Hughes administration last year might not be made public, at least for now.

La Rocque in a June 5 letter addressed to Opposition Leader Evans McNiel Roger, said the report has been classified as “confidential.”

A copy of La Rocque’s

letter was only made available to the media last week.

“I must inform you that the report of the visit of the CARICOM delegation to Anguilla was requested by the conference (CARICOM leaders) for its information and guidance. In the circumstances, the document retains its classification as “confidential,” La Rocque wrote in his brief response to the request from Rogers.

The CARICOM delegation was headed by Barbados former foreign affairs minister Dame Billie

Miller, and La Rocque said that “ the Heads of Government are still desirous of paying a visit to Anguilla and will endeavour, when they so do, to include an audience with you on their programme”.

In March, Evans wrote La Rocque calling on the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat to release the report of its 2010 fact-finding mission to the British Overseas Territory. He said the report should be released ahead of any plans by CARICOM to send another delegation.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Battling Cancer...

Dem boys seh

Natasha Algu’s story of pain, hope and survival

By Romila Boodram For many it is the worst possible news - knowing that you could die within the next six months. But little Natasha was no quitter.

At age 11, when many would have been starting a new chapter in their life, Natasha’s life fell apart. She was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma stage IV - a cancer in the upper part of the throat.

In 2004, Natasha Algu was a normal child. She would do chores at home to help her single-parent mother who was working to put food on the table. Natasha attended school and had many friends whom she would talk and joke with.

When she was at home with her mother, she was mischievous and troublesome. In her spare time, she listened to music and watched television. But in 2005, her life took an unexpected turn.

She was in class, when she started to experience pain in her eyes, and then her head. She was taken to the hospital but the doctors told her mother, Sunita Algu, that everything was normal.

Little Natasha went back to school but experienced the same problem. Her mother continuously rushed her to the West Demerara Regional Hospital but the doctors never found anything until her throat started to swell.

This was one year after she first started to experience the pain, The doctors did a biopsy and after receiving the report, her mother was informed that she was diagnosed with

nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and the worst news was that Natasha’s sickness was “at the last stage.”

She was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital for an emergency surgery and was then admitted for several weeks, after which she was transferred to the Cancer Institute of Guyana (CIG) for radiation and chemotherapy.

For a single parent, a total of $400,000 was not an easy sum to arrange for the therapy, but family members, friends and discounts by the institute made the treatment possible.

Seven years later, a brave Natasha sat on a chair at her Bella Dam, West Bank Demerara home and spoke about her experiences.

She said she knew nothing about cancer at the time of her sickness but from what she was told by her friends and other persons, cancer is a deadly sickness.

Natasha recalled being in pain for years and couldn’t eat. She started to lose weight during her therapy; she even lost her ability to listen to the world around her.

At that time, she said her life fell apart because she could not talk as she liked, couldn’t watch television because she couldn’t hear, nor could she do chores because her body was weak.

All she recalled doing was crying out for pain, drinking tablets, doing therapy and sleeping.

Natasha said that when she was first informed that she needed to do radiation she was scared and refused to do it because she was told “when you go in that room

Natasha, the survivor you don’t come out back.”

“I was frightened. I didn’t want to go in but eventually Mommy said to go and when I went in there it wasn’t so bad. There, I realized that people only want you to feel scared,” Natasha said.

She said she ignored all the bad things people said to her and used the words “you can do it” as a motivation but fell apart every time she remembered her friends and her school days.

Natasha said she was

Page 9

eager to see her friends, who were like sisters to her. So as soon as she finished her first session of therapy, she immediately went back to school, only to find that her own friends looked at her and laughed.

Instead of welcoming her, they teased and provoked her because of her sickness and because she was too “skinny.”

A tearful Natasha went home and cried for days and refused to go back to school.

“Before I was sick I had a lot of friends and I used to miss them but when I went back, my friends, who were like sisters to me, passed me straight.” They still do that today.

Natasha is now 18-yearsold and is back to normal. She helps her mother with the chores and assists her in their small retail shop.

At leisure, she does shopping with her friend Sherry-Ann. Natasha would sometimes design her own nails, read, watch television and, with the help of a hearing aid, listen to music.

Natasha said she would like to tell other cancer patients that they must never give up hope.

When asked about her ambitions, she replied, “I never wanted to work with anyone because my mom used to work with people and I used to see how they use to treat her. I don’t want anyone to treat me like that. We have a shop now and things are ok.”

She expressed heartfelt thanks to Dr. Narendra Bhalla, Karen and Fiona at the Cancer Institute of Guyana for assisting her in every step, and for giving her hope.

Ohh Pee shock a diplomat Ohh Pee in a bad way. It need a complete overhaul. A foreign diplomat visit de place and he seh that he get a shock fuh know that that is de headquarters of the President.

De welcome mat stink from de looks alone. When he watch de walls he want to know why de Donald didn’t do something before he move in. De paint look like if li’l pickney put dem hand in all kind of nastiness and then wipe dem hand pun it.

De place smell like a rat hole and de man want to know how much rat been living inside. De president room was no different. De man seh that he been in de White House and he frighten fuh touch anything because de place spic and span.

He seh that he did frighten fuh touch anything in Ohh Pee but fuh a different reason. He frighten he get some disease that medicine couldn’t cure.

He talk bout de police force too. He seh that de whole world know that de force rotten from de top long before this commissioner just like how de government rotten from de top under de Bar Rat. Dem boys seh that when Bruh Mill call pun all de corrupt police fuh tun in dem badge by last week Monday he didn’t get any. Some senior officer went and tell he that dem gun tun over a new leaf instead of tun over dem badge.

De set wha tek de $360,000 and release de man wid de sub machine gun and drugs tell dem boys that dem mek a mistake wid de date fuh hand in dem badge.

Dem think was tomorrow Monday suh dem was hoping fuh do a last haul (clean up). But dem get ketch and dem might end up tunning over pun dem belly in prison. That is wha dem boys seh.

Dem boys also seh that Jagdeo was mekking a cleanup wid de $20 million airport wha he seh cost $150 million and de hotel before he lef de office suh dem police was following in he footsteps wid dem last haul.

Talk half and clean up de other half.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Former cop gets $3,803 monthly for losing arm A career Policeman who lost his arm and suffered other injuries while raiding a ganja farm is now receiving a disability pension of $3,803 per month.

And if that paltry sum is not shocking enough, get this: that amount represents an increase in the pension he has been collecting since 1994. So you don’t want to even imagine what the original sum was.

Keith Evans himself doesn’t remember what the original sum was. If it wasn’t for the other benefits he is receiving, such as his Police pension and now, having reached 60, his National Insurance Scheme Pension, Evans shudders to think how he would have managed.

Evans joined the Police Force in June 1969 and went on to serve for over 40 years.

In 1990, he was part of the Narcotics Squad attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

Evans and other officers

- and that’s an increase! were sent to raid a ganja farm in the Demerara River. During the operation, something exploded and took off Evans’ left arm from the elbow down.

He wrote the NIS for benefits, and went back to work. As he was no longer able to carry on the same job, he was assigned to the Criminal Records Office.

After two years of running around, the NIS decided that they would grant Evans a disability pension. That’s what now adds up to $3,803 per month. At the time, Evans had two children at home and a wife to take care of.

The Police Force decided to send him off with a pension in February 1994. He found other work to make a living and continues to collect his Disability Pension cheques.

Under the NIS, Disablement Benefit is

payable to an Insured Person who has suffered loss of Faculty due to an Industrial Accident.

There are no Contributions Conditions to be satisfied.

The rate of benefit depends on an assessment of the “Degree of Disablement” made and stated in the form of a percentage.

Recipients of Disablement Pension are issued with “Pension Order” Books, which usually contain six (6) Benefit Payment Vouchers to be encashed on a monthly basis. New books are prepared and issued upon submission of “Life Certificates” which attest to the Pensioner being alive.

A Claim for Disablement Benefit must be made by the completion of Form IB22 Claim for Disablement Benefit, and a Medical Certificate, to the nearest National Insurance Office.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Suriname investing US$70M to modernize airport The Suriname Government has signaled intentions to invest an extra US$70 million in expanding and modernizing the J.A. Pengel airport.

The plan for this has already been prepared and potential financiers have been approached through the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS).

“This is just the beginning. We have great plans to turn Suriname into a hub,” says Minister Falisi Pinas of Transport, Communication and Tourism (TCT), who spoke Thursday at the official handover of the airport’s arrival lounge and parking lot.

According to Suriname’s daily De Ware Ti j d n e w s p a p e r, s o f a r US$28.5 million has been invested in the airport’s modernization.

For the time being, the arrival lounge, commercial centre and parking lot have been handed over, while

…another runway, air bridges to be added the runway has been repaved, the platform for planes has been renovated, the runway lights on the arrival side have been replaced and a backup system for electricity has been installed as well.

Pinas says the project, which was prepared during the previous administration, is insufficient to actually turn the airport into an international hub. “It is still too small for our purposes,” says Timothy Mendonça, policy adviser of the Airport Management Authority.

“The plans cost much, but will yield much as well.”

He explained that the airport must be expanded to get more airlines with passengers from the Caribbean, South America and even Africa to Suriname.

The US$70 million will be used to construct a second runway on which planes can taxi. Then the airport need not depend on just one runway, but will be able to handle more flights a day. This is also in line with international safety regulations. The departure and arrival lounges are currently apart from each other, but plans are to connect them by 2014 with air bridges, so passengers need not walk in the rain or sun anymore, Mendonça says.

Lights will be placed on the departure side of the runway, and the apron will be expanded to accommodate more planes. The fire department barracks will be moved to a more central location.

Plans are to have the air bridges installed in 2014, when Suriname will host the next UNASUR headsof-state meeting…the other works must be finished by 2015.

Guyana has signed a controversial contract with a Chinese firm to expand and modernize the Timehri airport to the tune of US$150M. It will see the current runway being extended about 3,000 feet and the construction of an entire new terminal building.

It will also include eight air bridges and more check-in and arrival booths.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 11

One-sixth of school-going adolescents physically abused at home - study

By Rabindra Rooplall Violence breeds violence.

Children learn and perpetuate violent behaviours in environments that tolerate and accept such violence, according to various studies.

Children are not excluded from violence since a study has revealed that one-sixth of school-going adolescents had been physically abused, mainly by an adult at home.

Annually, nearly 275 million children worldwide are witnesses to domestic violence.

In the Caribbean studies

have shown that the first sexual experience of young girls is frequently forced; one indicated 42.8% of girls younger than 12 had experienced a forced sexual encounter.

Reports reveal that six million children in Latin America and the Caribbean suffer severe abuse, including abandonment, and that 80,000 children under 18 years die each year of parental abuse.

In many Caribbean countries, corporal punishment is still a common disciplinary practice in homes and schools.

The Caribbean is ranked

as one of the most violent regions in the world; it has one of the highest murder rates in the world (at 30 per 100,000 persons annually).

One study explained that violence against children takes many forms and seriously affects the wellbeing and development of children and adolescents.

Such violence occurs in different spheres of children’s lives: in the home, in schools, in the community, in institutions, during migration and others.

It was disclosed that

Father beats boy, 11, with rolling pin, electrical wires

The distraught young man who is constantly beaten by his father.

A West Coast Demerara boy who “wet” his bed was beaten by his father with a rolling pin and electrical wires this past week.

It was the latest in a series of beatings the boy has been receiving at the hands of his father. The boy’s mother left the home after she was fed up with the violence being meted out to her in the home. But when she left home, the man started to beat their son.

“I don’t know why he does beat me sometimes,” the distraught boy told Kaieteur News. ‘Sometimes, people does just tell he things and he does just start beating me; he don’t ask no questions.”

This week, the mother heard that her boy was beaten with a rolling pin and wires and wanted the violence to stop.

The matter is engaging the attention of the Police, while the boy is being treated for injuries at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. The boy was first taken to the Leonora Police Station by a Welfare Officer, then to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

The boy said that last Tuesday night, he was taken to a cricket match with his father and step-mother. They got home late, and as he was thirsty, the boy said he had a drink of water and went to bed.

The next morning, it was discovered that he urinated the bed. That’s when the father unleashed his anger, pounding the boy’s finger with the rolling pin and beating him with electrical wires. The boy, who last placed second in his exams and is gearing up to write the Grade Six Assessment, said that he is beaten almost every week, and for things he does not understand.

“Sometimes he does lift me up and dash me down, and I don’t know why. Most times people would tell him things that I behave bad and so, but he don’t ask me nothing.”

The boy said he no longer wishes to live with his father. “I like my father, but he does beat me too bad,” the boy said.

His mother is looking to intervene with the help of Welfare Officers and the Police.

- first sexual experience of young girls frequently forced violence against children is usually committed by people they know. Most perpetrators of violent acts against boys and girls are members of their families, caregivers, classmates, teachers and employers.

In the Caribbean, studies have shown that 50 per cent of the perpetrators live with the victim; 75 per cent of them have a direct relationship with the victim.

Studies further note that violence occurs across all social, cultural, religious and ethnic groups. Some factors make certain children more vulnerable than others. Girls often are at greater risk of sexual violence than boys; boys are often more vulnerable to physical violence than girls.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states that the family has the greatest potential to protect children and to provide for their physical and emotional safety.

Human rights treaties recognize the right to a private and family life and home.

The children’s organisation further stated that acts of violence include physical, sexual, psychological as well as deliberate neglect. Frequently, children experience physical,

cruel or humiliating punishment in the context of discipline.

Insults, name-calling, isolation, rejection, threats, emotional indifference and belittling are all forms of violence that can damage a child’s well-being.

According to research, violence has a severe impact on children, psychologically, emotionally and physically. It compromises their development, health and well-being. Children who experience violence tend to remain victims in life and/or often become perpetrators themselves.

Violence against children

can be prevented. As emphasized by the UN Study, no violence is justifiable and all violence can be prevented.

Violence is not inevitable and the best way to deal with it is to prevent it from happening and to address its underlying causes.

Children can play a considerable role in helping to understand the violence they face and the damage it causes them, and in suggesting effective strategies to address and respond to this phenomenon.

Community violence often affects marginalized groups of children, such as street children.

One in custody following robbery in Guyhoc One man is in police custody assisting with investigations following an armed robbery which occurred on Friday evening in Guyhoc Park. According to reports Neville Dundas, 58, of 830 Samaan Street, Guyhoc Park, was relieved of his gold chain around 21:30 hours on Friday.

The man was standing in his yard chatting with a friend when two men scaled his back fence and attacked him with guns, before snatching his gold chain valued $500,000. The men made good their escape at the back fence and jumped into a waiting car, a Toyota Allion.

One man has been arrested after investigators traced the car to him. The man has since told investigators that he rented the car and a friend borrowed the car. Investigations are ongoing.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

Govt. Housing Authority records profit along with $$$M in subventions The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), which is the arm of the Ministry of Housing and Water that manages and issues house-lots, has reported total income for last year in the vicinity of $7.5B. The department is headed by its Chief Executive Officer, Myrna Pitt, who would ultimately report to subject Minister, Irfaan Ali. The Minister in tabling the Audited 2011 Report boasted of the administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

The report however has revealed that in 2011 a significant portion of this income for CHPA, specifically, $4.8B is listed as from “Infrastructure ProjectsGoG.” The second largest bloc of income for the Ministry’s Housing Department, relates to “sale of land” totaling $2B. CHPA has listed under its ‘Statement of Comprehensive Income for the Year Ending 31 December, 2011" a total income for the previous year, $1.9B. This means that the reported income for CHPA, increased by close to 400 per cent last year as against 2010.

Sale of land in 2010 for CHPA netted only $889M while there was a $150M

…earns millions in interest from money for “Low Income Revolving Fund” “subsidy” transfer, from the Ministry of Finance.

This trend continued as the CHPA continued receiving a $150M subvention from the government. This is despite CHPA’s positive accounts reflecting a surplus for the year.

In 2011, the Ministry listed $50M as earnings from the sale of “low income house lots,” while for the previous year there is no money reflected as income.

The Audited Financial Statements for that division of the Housing Ministry was tabled in the National Assembly yesterday, and it revealed that CHPA spent some $1.5B purchasing land in 2011.

Another $1.5B is reported to have been spent on “Urban/Miscellaneous Roads Project,” and CHPA also reportedly spent another $1.1B on “Eccles/Providence Development.”

No similar expenditure is reported for 2010 by CHPA, in a year when its largest amount spent was $680M on “GoG Projects.”

CHPA also boasts an almost $3B investment portfolio.

In the Audited Report

Irfaan Ali - Substantive Minister with responsibility for the Housing Sector

Myrna Pitt – CEO, Central Housing and Planning Authority

which has now been made public, “Investments represent surplus funds invested in a mix of fixed deposit accounts and savings accounts at commercial banks….”

This means that the Ministry has an accrued $3B locked in private bank accounts where an interest is earned.

The amounts held by CHPA in bank accounts rose by more than $500M in 2011 with the largest amount lodged at Demerara Bank.

The Housing Ministry’s CHPA department has listed as an investment “$1.1B” at Demerara Bank, another

$392M at Republic Bank, $723M at Citizens Bank and another $500M at GBTI. The money at Citizens Bank is listed as “Citizens Bank Fixed Deposit Account”.

The account held at Republic Bank saw a decrease from $450M in 2010 to the $392M end of year figure for last year.

As it relates to the $2B Subvention which the Government had transferred for the establishment of a “low income revolving fund loan facility,” the account opened the year with $2.034B and closed $50M richer.

Over the course of the two years for which the fund would have been in effect, it has reportedly earned $84M.

Skeldon Sugar Estate undergoes overhaul - Ramotar President Donald Ramotar has said that he is optimistic that the problems at the Skeldon Sugar Factory will be corrected very shortly.

He was speaking to graduates of the Port Mourant GuySuCo Training school and senior officials within the sugar industry, recently.

Mr. Ramotar said that he was speaking with Dr. Raj Singh and that the government is working along with the Bosch Company, a South African firm, to “correct all the faults hopefully, within a year’s time. We can correct all the faults and the factory can produce as we had anticipated at the very beginning and realise its full potential.”

...says weather influenced factory location The South African firm is looking to design the modifications of three main aspects of the factory, the GuySuCo CEO told Kaieteur News. He said these are the bagasse plow (the feeder system, that leads to the boiler), the conveyor system and the condensate tank.

The Guyanese leader also said that the government chose the location to build the New Skeldon Modernisation Factory at Skeldon, Berbice because of the weather patterns.

He noted his uncertainty if the statistics would show the same information today.

“We chose Skeldon, because

when we looked at the statistics— I don’t know if the statistics will show the same thing now— and if we were taking the decision now (to build a new factory in Skeldon), whether we would have chosen Skeldon.

“But back then when we looked at the statistics, we saw that Skeldon was the driest estate in the whole country and as far as rainfall was concerned, it had the least rainfall and therefore, had the best possibilities of growing sugar and to put a new factory there”.

Ramotar said that today he understands that “rain tearing skin at Skeldon these days.”

Mr. Ramotar admitted that the factory “hasn’t turned out exactly how we thought, but we think we will get there very soon; I hope, very very soon we will get there”.

The estate was commissioned at a cost of US$181 million in August 2009, and was hailed as the boon to the survival of the sugar industry.

However, the factory has been plagued by numerous problems and has not been able to function as was intended.

Dr. Ramsammy said that the plan to fix most of the design flaws of the factory started this out of crop period and is expected to be completed by the first crop in 2013.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 13

Guyana bows to UN pressure, moves to abolish Death Penalty …Homosexuality Laws also on Bill of measures for repeal Having made the commitment to the United Nations, the Guyana Government will shortly be moving to parliament with a view to abolishing the nation’s death penalty laws.

This was confirmed by Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster, yesterday when asked about the reports.

According to the Human Services Minister the relevant amendments to the legislation that will deal with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transvestite (LGBT) Community will also be dealt with.

Those laws deal primarily with sodomy and cross dressing.

According to the current laws of Guyana, “buggery’ is a criminal offence. It is an offence for a woman to wear male clothing or for a male to wear female clothing.

The Minister assures that given the contentious nature of the issues to be dealt with, the matter will be sent directly to a Special Select Committee.

The Minister assured that at this Parliamentary level the government will be seeking the widest consultations possible and reminded of the contentious nature of the matter at hand.

She said that the

Government will, at the level of the Special Select Committee, be soliciting the input from a wide cross section of Guyanese before the amendments are voted on in the House.

In 2010 when Guyana presented its report to the United Nations Human Rights Council the body had inquired about progress made.

Another request on the progress made had again been requested when Webster made a recent presentation to a United Nations Body and the commitment was made to have the matters reach the house before the August recess.

At its appearance before the UN Council in May 2010, Guyana received 112 recommendations and accepted 57, agreeing to

consider the remaining 55 in due course. “Guyana continues to work towards effectively strengthening the implementation of the 57 recommendations it supported and those others to which it has made further commitments in accordance with its capabilities.

“Recommendations which could not be accepted, relate to issues that have been subject to intense debate in the past and more recently among all stakeholders. The debate on these is ongoing and will be decided democratically,” it said.

Among the recommendations that were still to be taken on board were the abolition of the death penalty as well as discriminatory laws against gays and lesbians.

Corporal Punishment was also another hot topic and according to Webster, this

issue will be dealt with at the Parliamentary level.

In the past the Guyana Government had argued that the 2003 attempt to include “sexual orientation” under constitutional protections failed to receive the support of the National Assembly.

“Despite this, there is no discrimination by the state against persons based on their sexual orientation.

Guyana does not deny that there may be interpersonal prejudices based on cultural

attitudes and religious views,” the government said.

“No case of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation has been brought to the courts, nor is there any known report before any of the human rights commissions or the [PCA], nor any reported violence targeting persons based on their sexual orientation.”

At that time it was said that Guyana is voluntarily committing to hold consultations on this issue

Human Services and Social Security Minister Jennifer Webster over the next two years and based on the outcome of this democratic process, these will be reflected in Guyana’s laws.

Page 14

Kaieteur News

Captain Feriel Ally joins elite group of women pilots Captain Feriel Ally of Air Services Limited (ASL) made history on July 12 by joining a small elite group of women in Guyana to pilot the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft.

Ally, daughter of Guyana’s aviation pioneer Yacoob Mazaharally, began her aviation career in 1989 when she obtained her private pilot’s licence. She obtained her commercial pilot’s licence in 1998 in the United States.

Ally is now qualified to pilot the Cessna Grand Caravan—a 13-seat turboprop aircraft, which is in demand due to its greater speed, silence and seating capacity. It is also a favourite in the industry because of its reliability, better fuel efficiency and greater passenger and cargo capacity.

In Guyana, Ms. Ally built her hours flying the Cessna 172 and 206 ferrying supplies into the remote and challenging airstrips of the timber concessions owned

by A. Mazaharally and Sons Limited, the parent company of Air Services Limited.

Carrying on the ASL tradition of commitment to community development and matched by unbroken service to the residents of Region Eight, Captain Ally has become a well-known shuttle captain in what was a male-dominated niche of aviation.

Sunday July 15, 2012

ImmigrationTALK

Short Trips to U.S. & Long Trips Abroad Terminate Permanent Resident Status

By Attorney Gail S. Seeram

Captain Feriel Ally ASL has invested heavily in its Mahdia hangar from which over 300,000 lbs per month of cargo and passengers are shuttled from Mahdia to the challenging interior airstrips.

Captain Ally is also fully qualified in aviation management and worked as Deputy Manager of Airport Operations at Cheddi Jagan International Airport followed by many years in the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the industry’s regulatory body, as an aviation inspector.

ASL’s Operations Manager, Annette Arjoon-

Martins said; “ASL is extremely proud of Captain Feriel’s achievements and celebrates the fact that it has the first female Caravan pilot in its crew. This milestone will be captured when celebrating 100 years of Aviation in Guyana in 2013.”

Arjoon-Martins, who is also a pilot said, Ally qualified on the Britten Norman Islander twin-engine aircraft – the aircraft of choice for the tourism and corporate sectors– “and became a fast favourite with the corporate executives who would request that she be their pilot.”

The United States Court of Appeal for the Sixth Circuit by its ruling on June 26, 2012 sent a strong message to lawful permanent residents who take short trips to the U.S. and spend the majority of their time abroad. The message or ruling in the Lateef v. Holder decision states that if a lawful permanent resident is deemed to have abandoned his/her residency due to long trips abroad, then the Immigration Courts can terminate status with an order of removal.

Usually, when a lawful permanent resident is seeking entry into the U.S., the Immigration officer will examine the amount of time the permanent resident has spent abroad. If Immigration officer deems that the permanent resident has abandoned his/her status then he can take away the green card and refer the case to Immigration Court.

In these types of cases, the government has the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the permanent resident abandoned his or her status.

Typically, the government will seek to show the permanent resident lacks family,

financial, employment and property ties in the U.S. Additionally, the government will document the lengthy trips abroad and repeated trips abroad which have resulted in short stays in the U.S. Lastly, the government will provide other evidence in the record to document the permanent resident’s intent in maintaining his/her permanent status in the U.S. Lawful permanent resident status may be lost through abandonment, whether intentional or unintentional.

What are some common mistakes that are red flag indicators that a lawful permanent resident is not living in the U.S. and has abandoned his/her status?

Here is my list based on past and current client’s mistakes: 1. Lawful permanent resident that buys a one-way ticket from the U.S. to destination country abroad (it shows no intent to return to the U.S. within a short period) – there should always be a roundtrip ticket with final destination in the U.S.; 2. Lawful permanent residents who spend six months abroad, one month in the U.S., - this is a definite red flag to an officer.

3. Lawful permanent

Gail S. Seeram residents with no job in U.S. and no lease property or home ownership in the U.S.; 4. Lawful permanent residents who have not filed tax returns in the U.S., but have filed tax returns abroad for income earned abroad; and 5. Lawful permanent residents who take short trips to the U.S. for purposes such as giving birth to child in the U.S., filing tax returns, doctor visits, attend weddings or funerals and then return to longer time spent abroad.

Remember, as a lawful permanent resident, you MUST be permanently residing in the U.S. and not visiting the U.S. after long trips abroad. The U.S. government and immigration authorities have taken a tougher enforcement position on this issue.

East La Penitence man wins car …as Trinchloro luxury promotion concludes

As the Trinchloro “Touch of Luxury promotion” concluded recently, Kevin Chin of 276 Lamaha Park, East La Penitence won himself the grand prize of a brand new Mazda Axela motor car.

Two other participants, Navindra Singh of 23 LBI, Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara, and Latoya Sukram, of 49 Charity Amazon, Essequibo Coast won themselves a 32-inch flat screen television and 400gallon water tank, respectively.

The final drawing took place at the Bounty

Supermarket. Before the drawing several persons received free samples of Trinchloro bleach.

According to the company’s brand manager, Anjeta Hinds, this is the first time Ansa Mc Al has done a promotion under the Trinchloro brand. Hinds said that this promotion follows the one that was done for the Ariel soap powder brand.

She said that the promotion has had five drawings; three in Georgetown and the other two took place in Berbice and Essequibo.

The luxury promotion has been a nationwide activity which afforded persons from various parts of the country the opportunity to win fabulous prizes. Several persons over the past weeks won themselves 32-inch flat screen televisions and 400gallon household water tanks.

During the event, persons were required to put their names, addresses and telephone numbers along with a Trinchloro label of any size into entry boxes at the all participating stores nationwide.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Region Eight Councilors pass Guyanese launches vote against REO database designing book no-confidence - cites non-cooperation, distrust Fidel Captain initials a copy of his book at the launching at 2012 World XII Conference

Equipped with over 15 years of experience in designing, implementing and maintaining data bases a young Guyanese has launched a book aimed at providing hands-on information on how to structure and simplify the database design process.

Fidel Captain, who lectures at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for the past 10 years, recently published his book entitled “Six-Step Relational Database Design,” His book was launched on May 29 at the Islands of the World XII Conference held at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College BVI. It teaches people to design any kind of relational database, for any kind of application. Relational databases are the most common type of databases out there. They are tried and proven, and used in almost every type of application from banking to point of sales s y s t e m s .

The 31-year-old Captain who hails from Parika, East Bank Essequibo, worked as a Systems/ Analyst Engineer with the Ministry of Finance before migrating to BVI in 2002 where he began lecturing at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College.

He had earlier pursued studies at Queen's College.

According to Captain, there are many books on the market in the area of database creation, but few give a “simple, step-by-step, easyto-follow and precise technique”.

He said the book starts with a statement of the problem and goes through six steps necessary to create a

reliable and accurate data model for a client's requirements.

As a free-lance consultant, Captain has developed several database applications, including systems for online bill payment, logistics and cargo tracking, student tracking and evaluation, and freight and duty calculation.

He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Manchester's Institute of Science and Technology, and a Master's in Information Technology from Capella University, Minneapolis.

“I treat every challenge as an opportunity to succeed, knowing that well done is better than well said - great men are first remembered for what they did, then for what they said.

So, I will do first and speak after, knowing that my actions through what I have done will speak for me, both before and after me” said Captain.

He said that his vision in life is to retire at fifty, or at

least be able to retire at fifty, then travel the world experiencing the richness and diversity of this beautiful planet we call home - Earth.

After this he said he would spend the rest of my life sharing his experiences with the younger ones telling them of the joy and splendor of life, warning them of its pitfalls, and imparting knowledge of the sciences, religion, and cultures.

He said that one of the most important lessons that he has learnt from life is that you must work for whatever you want. Through hard work and dedication you can achieve whatever it is you want to achieve in life.

Captain said what he has also learnt is that life is not fair, so one should not expect it to be fair. “You just have to use what you are given to achieve what you want to achieve, and with hard work and dedication you will make it there”.

Captain got married last year July to Ronda Wright, in Guyana and is the proud father of Ariel Christina who is four years old.

The Region Eight Democratic Council (RDC) has passed a vote of noconfidence against its Regional Executive Officer (REO), Ronald Harsawack, for non-cooperation and other critical issues.

According to officials of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), the motion was tabled and passed on Tuesday during a routine bi-monthly meeting of the RDC. The two parties are set to host a press conference this week and a notice is being prepared to be sent to Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud, informing him of the no-confidence vote.

It will mean that the Ministry will have to find a replacement, APNU's Shadow Minister of Local Government, Ronald Bulkan, said yesterday.

AFC had wrested control of the region from the ruling People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), following the November 28

General and Regional Elections.

This is a critical mining area and is the region where government is planning to build a multi-million dollar hydroelectric facility at Amaila Falls.

The motion was tabled

by APNU's Councillor, Oswald Junor, after “several instances” of Harsawack allegedly delayed the mobilization of excavators to conduct critical works.

“This was almost like sabotage. Mr. Harsawack is actually the Chief Executive Officer of the Region and by not releasing resources on time, people suffer. This is not an issue about AFC or APNU. People will want to lay blame. Well, the blame is on the doorstep on the REO. Further, there is a lack of trust,” an AFC councilor said yesterday.

Residents of Mahdia, which is the heart of Region Eight, had blocked roads and protested road conditions and the garbage situation in recent months.

Roads leading to the local airfield were also not

No-confidence: REO Ronald Harsawack done in time. “ We h a v e s e v e r a l instances where the REO was asked to assist with a number of projects and he failed to carry them out.”

In one case, there were discrepancies over the price quoted for the rental of a bulldozer with the REO reportedly saying it was $120,000.

“We could not believe when the operator insisted (continued on page 51)

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Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

Guyana Watch returns to Guyana Missing th farmer for its 20 medical mission For the 20th consecutive year the Guyana Watch team will be continuing its humanitarian mission in Guyana as they gear up for this year's medical outreach programme.

The medical clinics are scheduled to start on Saturday, July 21, at the

Patentia Secondary School, West Bank Demerara. The following day the team of medical personnel and the support staff will head to the Timehri Primary School to offer its services to the residents of Timehri and the surrounding communities including Santa Mission and

Kuru Kuru.

On Monday July 23, residents of St. Cuthbert's Mission and other communities in the Mahaica River can visit the St. Cuthberts Mission Primary school and meet the team.

The team will then visit the Tain Primary School on

Wednesday, followed by the Bath Settlement Primary School on Thursday. These two clinics will seek to serve Albion, Rose Hall and most of the Corentyne Coast, Berbice.

On Friday the team will wrap up its visit with the final clinic at the Leonora Primary School to serve that and other surrounding communities on the West Coast of Demerara.

During this year's visit the team will include three dentists, nine medical doctors, a pharmacist and support staff.

During its mission here last year the team saw in excess of 2,500 patients with various complaints. The team also dispensed drugs for ailments that included fungal infections, common colds, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Follow up treatment was also given to ten persons who were identified for overseas treatment.

Guyana Watch Inc. is a non-profit Organisation and all of the members of the medical team volunteer their services.

found

Residents of Siriki, Lower Pomeroon River were successful in recovering one of their neighbours, who apparently fell overboard, some time during Monday night.

According to reports, the man, Eustace Stephens, who was described as a farmer was returning to his Siriki home, after he went to a shop in the area to purchase groceries.

Maylene Morrison, the niece of 54-year-old Stephens, said that her uncle left to go to a nearby shop in the Pomeroon, accompanied by his brother-in-law, Dick Murray and his wife.

Morrison added that her uncle returned from the shop alone in his canoe and was later discovered missing by his brother-in-law, Murray and his wife. The two were venturing to their home en route the said trail when they saw Stephens's paddle and a flashlight in his boat.

Morrison said that after his brother-law didn't see him (Stephens) a search was immediately launched.

Stephens's body surfaced three days later and is currently at Oscar Joseph mortuary awaiting post mortem.

Morrison said the father of three is originally from North Rupununi.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Yvonne Yvonne hails from the community of Waramadong situated in Region 7 (Upper Mazaruni / Cuyuni) and attends the Waramadong Secondary School. Yvonne is an ardent sports fan who enjoys watching football which is very popular in her community. Her hobbies are cooking and watching sports.

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WATCH THEM, UNCLE DONALD! It was not Cheddi Jagan who was the architect of the neglect of Guyana’s foreign relations that eventually led to the embarrassment of the past week.

Cheddi Jagan came to power with the treasury operating, relative to the demands on resources, on a show-string Budget. It was only natural given the situation in the country that he would have to cut wasteful expenditure and redirect others to more needy areas.

As such, it was inevitable that the Budget of the foreign ministry would have been seriously cut, since the country at the time could not have afforded such disproportionate spending on the Foreign Service when there were far more pressing needs internally.

Cheddi’s cut of that budget by close to five hundred million dollars may have affected certain functions of the country’s Foreign Service, but it did not amount to a neglect of Guyana’s foreign relations.

Guyana continued to use its limited resources to great advantage. It had the distinction of bringing together the donor community in a major initiative to raise funds for the reconstruction of the economy.

A number of measures were also implemented to deal with the shortfall in resources allotted to the foreign ministry. Far smaller

delegations went on official trips and the government terminated the contracts much to the displeasure of the elitist elements within the opposition - of many foreign diplomats who had served under the former regime.

These measures allowed for substantial savings without severely affecting the country’s ability to pursue foreign relations.

The neglect of the Foreign Service did not begin with the policies of Cheddi Jagan. The neglect occurred much later, when meritocracy was sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.

The decay got worse when the foreign objectives of the country were distorted in attempts to create a personality cult, and in a desperate need later to secure bilateral investments from parts of the world that any intern in the Foreign Service could have advised had no interest in this part of the world.

Today, overseas missions are being lectured in the language of clichés. This is because a substantive, wellthought out and coherent foreign policy cannot be articulated. As such the external missions are being reminded that the country’s foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy.

Foreign policy is indeed an extension of domestic policy; but not every domestic policy should become part of a country’s

foreign policy.

During the just concluded Heads of Government Conference of the Caribbean Community, Guyana found out how not true this was. It also discovered how dangerous it is to allow aspects of its domestic policy to become part of its foreign policy.

Domestically, there is a conflict between the local cricketing authorities and the government. The government has unfortunately extended this conflict into its foreign policy by being critical of aspects of the work of the West Indies Cricket Board.

Even before the Heads of Government Conference got underway, at least two ministers of the government had condemned the decision of the West Indies Cricket Board in agreeing to host two matches in the present series between the West Indies and New Zealand, in Florida.

These criticisms formed part of the ongoing conflict involving local cricketing officials and the government.

These criticisms were illinformed, because if those making the criticisms had done their homework they would have understood the strategic position that was being adopted in courting American participation in cricket. If they had been following developments in cricket they would have also known that this very strategy was endorsed by the Patterson Report which was

commissioned to make recommendations on the future of cricket.

It was therefore unfortunate that the President of Guyana was placed in such an embarrassing situation, in which on the one hand he was calling for the recommendations of the Patterson Report to be implemented in full, while on the other hand he was condemning the hosting of cricket matches outside of the Caribbean, citing the huge investments that had been made in building stadiums.

If the President’s advisers

had done their homework they would have known that the Patterson Report itself had called for an outreach to North America, and therefore, the hosting of matches in Florida were consistent with the Patterson Report.

Our President was made to look ill-advised and this is something that would never have happened had his administration not continued with that misguided decision to interfere in the internal affairs of cricket.

It is precisely because the Donald Ramotar administration failed to de-link itself from this ill-advised

course of action that the President ended up in such an embarrassing situation.

Let us hope that he learns his lesson and begins the process of reconstructing the Foreign Service and ensuring that his government is circumspect about the policies it inherited from his predecessor.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

Killers among us

By Michael Jordan On the surface, they look just like you and me; five ordinary people who would not merit a second glance.But police believe that these five ‘ordinary’ people are responsible for nine sadistic killings within a 12-month span. And they have been seeking your help to locate them.

These killings began on July 19, 2006, at around 01:30 hrs, when a mysterious fire broke out at a two-storey house – Lot 33 Nursery School Road, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara.

A neighbour tried to kick the front door open, but it was double-bolted from the inside.

Accompanied by a brother, the neighbour entered the back door, which was ajar and attempted to douse the flames with buckets of water. But within minutes, the entire building was gutted.

When the smoke finally cleared, two charred and shrunken corpses were found in the lower flat. The bodies had apparently fallen through the burnt-out floor in the upper flat. The victims were 22-year-old computer technician Fayon Williams and her lover, 30year-old John Hernandez, a driver from Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara. An autopsy revealed that they had died from smoke inhalation.

What puzzled detectives was the fact that the occupants had apparently made no attempt to flee the burning building and that no one had heard them scream.

Almost immediately, suspicion fell on a young taxi driver and airport employee who had lived in the house a few months prior to the tragedy. The man, Michael Dey, was Fayon Williams’ ex-husband, but the two had separated after several altercations. It is alleged that after Dey moved out, Fayon changed the locks on her doors because she feared for her safety.

Fayon’s mother claimed that her daughter had repeatedly expressed concern about her husband’s ‘strange’ behaviour. She said that during a telephone conversation, Fayon had attempted to reveal something about her husband, but never got the chance to do so.

Detectives immediately tried to track down Michael Dey, but he had not turned up at work at the airport; neither was he at home.

He has not been seen since. One of Dey’s sisters expressed the view that he is innocent.

She suggested that he went into hiding because he knew that he would be the prime suspect.

GROVE HOUSE OF HORROR One month later-—on August 19, to be

- five sadistic suspects remain at large year-old ex-policeman, near the Lucky Spot Ranch at Wismar.

Bailey has again gone into hiding, though police believe that he is hiding out in the Wisroc backlands.

And on July 17, 2007, the partly nude body of Iesha Byron, 25, was found in a clump of bushes at D’Urban Backlands. She had been shot three times.

The young hairdresser is believed to have been slain by a man with whom she had lived, and who had taken her to the area on a bicycle.

He, too, has disappeared.

Is it possible you may have unknowingly passed one of these sadistic killers?

An old photo of Anita Lala, wanted for four murders

An old photo of Michael Dey, wanted for two murders

exact-—residents of Grove, East Bank Demerara, became concerned about a foul smell that emanated from a nearby two-flat house. Suspecting the worst and having not seen the occupants for some time, the neighbours contacted the relatives of the people occupying the premises.

In the house, the relatives found the decomposing bodies of two adults and two children.

The victims were 43-year-old Danmatri Kayman, called ‘Mother’; 69-year-old caretaker Looknauth, called ‘Fred’, and Kayman’s children; two-year-old Melville Kayman and 10-year-old Alicia Kirkpatrick.

Autopsies would reveal that Looknauth and the two children had been clubbed to death. ‘Mother’, had sustained injuries to her neck which suggested that she had been strangled.

At first, suspicion fell on Ms. Kayman’s husband, since there were reports that he had threatened his spouse. However, he was eventually released, and police began to look for other suspects. They eventually turned their attention to a young sex worker and her male friend.

The sex worker and Looknauth had started a relationship, but the caretaker had eventually left her for an older woman. The detectives were told that the younger woman was seen at the house on the same day that the victims were believed to have been slain. It was now

suspected that jealousy was the motive and that a male friend had assisted the sex worker to carry out the brutal crime.

According to this information, Danmatri Kayman’s mother had gone to see her daughter that same day, but had received no answer from the occupants. The mother was about to leave when she heard two-year-old Melville crying. She then observed another female, identified as sex worker Anita Lala, entering the yard. According to this report the mother asked “’Mother’ (Kayman) nah deh?” The suspect reportedly replied, “No, ‘Mother’ and she daughter out.”

The sex worker also reportedly said that Kayman had left her to take care of two-yearold Melville. Kayman’s mother returned the following day. This time the gate was locked and no one answered her calls.

To date, police have not located the two suspects.

On April 5, 2007, at Linden, a cutlasswielding man hacked 18-month-old Shaquan Nero to death while trying to kill the child’s mother, Bernadette Nero. The killer was identified as Calvin Bailey, called ‘Lava’, of Wisroc Housing Scheme; Agricola, East Bank Demerara and Campbellville, Georgetown.

He fled the scene and remained in hiding for several months.

Police believe that Bailey emerged from hiding on July 28, 2007 and, along with an accomplice, murdered Aubrey Laurie, a 33-

If you have any information about this or any other unusual case, please contact Kaieteur News by letter or telephone at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown offices.

Our numbers are 22-58458, 22-58465, 2258473 and 22-58491. You need not disclose your identity.

You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address mjdragon@hotmail.com.

SEEKING HELP TO LOCATE RELATIVES OF EIGHT CHILDREN KILLED BETWEEN 1969-1970 Michael Jordan is trying to contact relatives of eight children who were murdered between March 20, 1969 and June 1970, by Harrynauth Beharry, also known as Harry Rambarran, Charles Bissoon, Charles Pereira, Anant Persaud and Maka Anan.

Some of the victims are Basmattie, an eight-year-old schoolgirl from Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara. David Bacchus, 15, of Tucville, 11-year-old Mohamed Fazil Nasir, of Number 78 Village, Corentyne, Mohamed Faizal, of Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, Jagdeo Jagroop, Mohamed Nizam Ali; Paulton of Hogg Island, Essequibo; Orlando Guthrie, of Grove Village, East Bank Demerara.

Please contact him via his email address mjdragon@hotmail.com., or on telephone numbers 22-58458, 22-58465, or 22-58491. HeI can also be contacted on 645-2447.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

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== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==

The King’s Speech: Ramotar did it. Will do it again One of the major, if not colossal faults of the PPP Government (and this is not a flaw of Bharrat Jagdeo only) that Guyanese in and out of the country find nauseating and horrible, is its insane refusal to discipline or sanction its erring officials whose mistakes are not just egregious, but disastrous.

If the PPP had adopted this commonsensical policy that one finds all over the world, the PPP leadership would have had much greater support across political and race lines.

A government never loses but always, I repeat, always wins when its leaders openly apologize or when a bad egg in office is reprimanded or dismissed or even prosecuted. A society wants powerful bureaucrats and ruling politicians to behave, because they are simply fearful of powerful people who can do no wrong. It is a natural expression of human nature to feel scared about a Minister, Police Commissioner, Army Chief, Prime Minister, President, who just does what he/she wants.

Mr. Jagdeo stands alone in contemporary world politics as a leader in

government who just could not have been bothered with his subordinates’ venalities and incompetence and laziness in office. This writer can cite hundreds of examples of depraved behaviour by low and high party officials, and Mr. Jagdeo and PPP leaders were simply unmoved.

This columnist believes that not even in military dictatorship and cruel authoritarian systems, would the government have tolerated a Kellawan Lall, Kwame McCoy, Nirmal Rekha or Odinga Lumumba among others.

If any military dictator had received word that one of his Ministers was often involved in brawls in rum shops, his career was over. If ever an autocrat heard that one of his Permanent Secretaries had signed over fifty duty-free bogus letters, there would have been sanctions. The most graphic pathological signs of sick governance in any country are when its immoral members become untouchables.

Once you are a PPP supporter, you can “throw back” and use your office for fun, never raise a finger in doing a decent day’s work and there will be no

sanctions. To get your own way with the PPP Government, just don a Tshirt with the face of Jagan or Jagdeo or Ramotar, help with the barbecue lime, buy some tickets, and join the party.

When you steal or you harass your secretary, no punishment will come because you are a party man.

There will be no discipline for the swimming pool thief because he is a party boy.

There will be no discipline for the guy who recently embarrassed President Ramotar in front of the people of the CARICOM region and around the world, because he is a PPP member.

I don’t think President Ramotar did the research himself when he made a terrible mistake in front of CARICOM Heads. His

speech was written for him.

Let’s deal with the embarrassment first. Ramotar told the Heads that it was nonsense and unacceptable for West Indies Cricket Board to hold international matches with visiting teams outside of the Caribbean. He had in mind, the current New Zealand series being played in Florida.

To justify his frustration and anger, Ramotar cited the Patterson Report. He told the Heads that it is time the Caricom Governments implement the contents of that document. But it was the Patterson Report that strongly recommended that the WI Board take West Indies cricket to the globe by holding competitions in parts of the world that never had West Indies series before, thus the reason for the Florida

matches at the moment (see letter of Imran Khan, Board official in KN and SN, correcting and chastising Ramotar for this lapse).

In Europe and the US and Canada, Ramotar would have been roasted by the opposition, the talk show hosts and the media. The stand-up comedians, along with David Letterman and Jay Leno, would have mauled an American President if he had made a similar error The word “ignorance” would have been overused. But is Ramotar to be blamed? No doubt that speech was written for him?

That was the work of the speech-writer. Whoever he/ she is (no, shut your mouth, you fool; couldn’t have been Parvati!), instead of demotion or a stern lecture, that speechwriter will in fact get a

Frederick Kissoon promotion as the months wear on. All he/she has to do is sell plenty tickets for the party barbecue and perhaps write a letter in the Chronicle calling me a book-thief.

Mark my word, after a few months, ‘Fuzzy’ Sattaur and Parvati will be back in some other form. Put on a PPP Tshirt and you can steal how much you like and buy a swimming pool.

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SUNDAY SPECIAL CORRUPT COPS GIVENULTIMATUM Commissioner of Police (ag) Leroy Brumell gave his ranks up to last Monday to turn in their badges if they could not control the urge to continue their corrupt practices.

Speaking at the conclusion of the force’s 173rd anniversary route march through the city two Saturdays ago, the acting top cop said that he was irked by a recent item in the press which called for the fight against corruption to start with the Guyana Police Force, which was described as the most corrupt organization in the country.

In declaring what he described as an amnesty, Brumell, who was presiding at his first anniversary celebration as the nation’s top lawman, acknowledged that there is need for much work to be done to repair the damaged image of the force in terms of its integrity.

“By Monday (July 10), if

Kaieteur News

midnight Sunday, bludgeoning a 45-year-old crew member and slashing the man’s throat before dumping the body into the Demerara River.

Khemraj Dass, of Bella Dam, Klein Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, was reportedly slain by the boat captain’s son during a brief confrontation between the two while the 30-foot vessel was moored at the Didco wharf at Friendship, East Bank Demerara.

Police have detained the alleged killer who sources said readily admitted to killing Dass, although the motive for the heinous crime is still unclear. The suspect is the son of the boat’s captain and resides at a community off the Soesdyke/Linden highway.

built US$47M Wadadli Power Plant.

The opposition in Antigua had raised a series of questions about whether value for money has been obtained for this project.

The controversial Antigua power plant is another in a series of projects by Chinese companies in the Caribbean that have encountered stormy waters.

And the recent move by the Antigua opposition could trigger a domino effect throughout the region, where it is expected that several Chinese-funded projects could be questioned.

Already several major projects here in Guyana and in Jamaica have attracted suspicion of corrupt practices over the violation of procurement procedures.

ANTIGUA OPPOSITION CALLS FOR PROBE INTO $47M US CHINESE BUILT POWER PLANT

BOUND, STABBED BODY OF CITRUS FARMER FOUND

Controversy continues to surround Chinese contractors operating around the region this time it’s in Antigua where one of the island’s Members

The body of a 61-year-old citrus farmer, with hands bound and stab wounds to the chest, was found last Sunday in his yard at Garden The vessel on which Dass was slain

you cannot stop besmirching the image of this force, bring in your resignation. We want this stigma removed,” Brumell told a gathering of close to 1000 ranks and civilians at the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) Drill Square.

The preceding parade was one of the largest seen in years, with 28 units and three bands, made up of 33 Officers, 32 Inspectors and 883 other ranks.

Police Scout groups from Linden, Agricola and Mahaicony, in addition to members of the Community and Neighbourhood Policing groups, were all part of the parade.

MONDAY EDITION MAN SLITS COLLEAGUE’S THROAT, DUMPS HIM OVERBOARD A 19-year-old seaman went berserk shortly after

of Parliament, Gaston Browne, has called for a probe into a Chinese built US$47M power plant.

Browne has sent a letter to Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer calling for an investigation into the Wadadli Power plant.

According to reports, the opposition has said that the plant has been the focus of intense debate with suggestions that it was constructed with used equipment.

This claim has been refuted by the Antigua and Barbuda Public Utilities Authority.

According to reports, after threats to stage mass protests over the facility, the Antiguan Government announced that it had set up a ministerial sub-committee to consider a request by the opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) for a probe into the controversial Chinese

Sunday July 15, 2012

of Eden, East Bank Demerara.

The victim, Bhim Narine Ramanand, was found lying at the southern side of his yard.

The farmer’s killers had used the victim’s shirt to tie his hands above his head.

Ramanand lived alone at his Lot 1 Garden of Eden home. Police said that the victim’s licenced shotgun and a grass-cutting machine were missing.

Though the police have not arrested anyone, persons close to the deceased spoke of an individual that might have wanted to harm Ramanand. The individual supposedly owes Ramanand a substantial sum of money.

A maintenance man made the gruesome discovery at around 08:30 hrs.

TUESDAY EDITION CHINESE OFFER NO GUARANTEE FOR US$47MANTIGUA POWER PLANT

A major political quarrel in Antigua over its troubled Chinese built US$47M power plant has seen Guyana being mentioned.

The problems at the US$200M Skeldon sugar plant was raised.

As the debates continue to rage in Antigua and Barbuda over its troubled Chinese-built US$47M Wadadli Power Plant, there have been questions about the agreement made by that government and the contractor, Beijing Construction (BCEG).

Comparisons are also being drawn about similar situations that exist over the under-fire US$200M Skeldon in Guyana and other infrastructure including Chinese constructed projects in Jamaica.

According to a report in the recent Caribarena Antigua News website, it is clear that critical documents that would clear the air over the power plant deal with the Chinese are not being released by the Antigua Government.

The scandal over the Chinese-built power plant had almost caused a noconfidence vote against the Prime Minister, Baldwin Spencer, weeks ago but the parliamentary motion fizzled.

The Antiguan Government did release some documents but the media are reporting problems with them.

One such document is the Operation and Maintenance Agreement, signed by Clarvis Joseph, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA); Ambassador David Shoul; representative for Beijing Construction (BCEG) Zhao Mai; and a Chinese Embassy official.

This document describes the operation and maintenance services that the Chinese contractor provides to the Antiguan Government.

It describes how the Chinese

contractor handles all the maintenance services, trains the staff, and operates the power plant.

Strangely enough, the report said, Antigua went ahead and signed the agreement which virtually offered no guarantee on the power plant.

BABY DIES AT DAY-CARE CENTRE Police are probing the death of a baby boy at a Kitty day care centre Monday.

Kaieteur News understands that the twomonth-old was discovered dead around 16:30 hrs.

The baby’s father told Kaieteur News that the baby and another son, aged 22 months, have been attending the day care centre for some time.

Around 08:30 hrs Monday, the man and his fiancée dropped the two children off at the establishment. According to the bereaved father, they returned around 16:30 hrs to take the boys home.

“I picked up the first child (the elder brother) and was waiting for my fiancée to pick up the other, when the lady (at the day care centre) tell me that we have to take the child to the hospital.”

He said that on checking the child, he observed that the baby was motionless, his lips were ‘blue’ and his skin was discoloured.

The couple rushed the baby to a private hospital, “but by then it was already gone”, he said.

According to the father, a staffer at the day care centre said that she had fed the child around 11:00 hrs yesterday and that he had slept from

then to 16:00 hrs.

He insisted that his baby son was in good health. “The child was not sickly; he weighed about 18 pounds. He was a heavy, healthy child.”

WEDNESDAY EDITION MASSIVE RACKET UNCOVEREDAT POLICE VEHICLESAUCTION The Guyana Police Force has completed an investigation into alleged corrupt practices in relation to the auction sale of unserviceable police vehicles.

The alleged corruption could cost the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.

The investigation centred on the misrepresentation of amounts paid for the vehicles, with some of them being sold for far less than the minimum bidding price.

Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, who are the facilitators of the auction, are being fingered in the alleged scam.

Kaieteur News understands that the scam involves the Ministry of Home Affairs staff, the auctioneer, a Police staffer and an Auditor from the Audit office. It is believed that the racket has been going on for a long time.

There are reports that one official who is fingered in the racket has four cars which were allegedly bought from the proceeds of the shady sales practices.

Investigators have unearthed at least two glaring cases from the last auction sale of police vehicles which occurred on March 23rd last.

Kaieteur News understands that Minister of Continued on page 37

Sunday July 15, 2012

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My column

Politicians have contributed to fraud in the country It has been some time since there has been so much news about irregularities in Government circles. It has also been some time since a President has been under so much pressure. President Donald Ramotar is expected to be aware of all that is happening and to right every wrong in the society.

Everything has a reason, and I would attribute the reason for the spate of corruption to an absence of supervision, or at least proper supervision. In cases where there is money, a supervisor should be able to review the activities of the day. This would entail reviewing all the transactions.

This should be a relatively easy task since there is computerization. Every transaction should be documented. But what actually happens is that supervisors leave the staff to their own devices, largely because supervisors cannot be bothered with working.

People have now developed an attitude that says the least done the better.

There is also a reason for this. The people at the top are also not keen to see people work because they too have the same attitude. I know this because I see it. A few days ago there were reports of an illegal transaction within the police force. This is not the first time that things have not been alright with the police.

The police Finance Department has had its share.

There have been reports of monies being deducted from ranks and not being paid; money destined to pay people being pocketed because the payee had long since left the force; and of course, the normal pilfering that comes from overpricing.

This time the business involved the purchase of a yacht. I am at a loss to understand how this could have been effected. There is

a tender board that should have been involved in the purchase. Someone could have done research into the vendor.

That being done, the sale should have been plain sailing. Instead, police officers were allowed to negotiate the sale with the result that money was siphoned off. The scheme was exposed, but the nation was never made aware of what transpired, because although people were found to be guilty there were no prosecutions.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee brought the issue to the fore, and he has caused a lot of talk. From what he says, people were made to repay money. I have since learnt that there were efforts to protect those who were found guilty of wrongdoing.

This is unusual.

We have had reports coming out of the contracts awarded to people. The most astonishing involved the purchase of pharmaceuticals.

There was the report that goods that were procured at source for a small amount were sold to the government for as much as ten times the purchase price.

The exposure came, but there was never a review. It turned out that the government was prepared to pay the higher price because it got concessionary rates on other drugs. For his part, the vendor quite practically said that he calls his price and it is up to the buyer to pay.

Freddie Kissoon made the point that in days gone by there would have been investigation and possible prosecution. He made the point that many prominent people were prosecuted and some were jailed, one of them a Deputy Chief Education Officer for an exercise book scam.

These days high office offers immunity. This decision has permeated the society with the result that

there is now a case of monkey see, monkey do. The junior ranks decide that they could also take liberties.

This is not confined to the offices and to government departments. I am aware that even the Guyana Revenue Authority has run into problems because of this new attitude. Some seem to be exempt from taxes. I am aware that the people who bring foreign entertainers have

enjoyed such breaks to the extent that some owe in excess of $50 million.

How is this possible?

Someone in authority allows for a temporary waiver. The next time the group brings in an entertainer it makes a promise to pay the old debt.

A junior officer may withhold the permit, but a phone call to someone higher up clears the way and the debt mounts.

Clearly a lot has gone

wrong in the society. Political intervention is the key.

Politicians have taken control over every aspect of the society, with the result that people now realize that these politicians would cover for any wrongdoing.

No country has ever developed with such a system and none ever will.

Surely the political hierarchy must be taking notes, but then again, it is one thing to take

Adam Harris note and another to take corrective action. Some things have become endemic—deeply entrenched that it would take a radical change of personnel to bring about any change.

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By Gerhard Ramsaroop Historically, the bauxite industry in Linden had to produce excess electricity in order to facilitate the periodic peak operation of the famous walking draglines.

The excess was then fed into the community and for many years too, also into the national grid supporting the rest of the country.

When the bauxite industry was allowed to decline by both the PNC and PPP, the power plant went with it. Since 1992, the PPP Government invested more than G$48 billion in GPL that was targeted at most of Guyana except for Linden, where instead they opted for privatisation.

As a result, the power plant was run down further, including a turbine exploding.

The Government eventually obtained a settlement, but none of this money ever made it back into the plant.

In 2006, the plant was given to the Chinese company, BOSAI, as a writeoff. Since then, the people of

Kaieteur News

Linden have been at their mercy, because the PPP gave BOSAI the power to do whatever it wants.

First, they allowed BOSAI to set electricity prices outside of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) which is totally wrong, because the PUC is the national electricity regulator.

This cannot be allowed to continue, and electricity pricing in Linden must be placed within the remit of the PUC forthwith.

Second, BOSAI took advantage of the freedom from regulation and charged an exorbitant rate for surplus electricity.

To correct this situation, the Government agreed to a subsidy, but given their record on corruption, it is not inconceivable there is some impropriety here.

This practice by BOSAI must stop. They must say what they charge and the basis on which they have arrived at that charge. Since the electricity is produced principally for BOSAI’s own use, the applicable pricing

Gerhard Ramsaroop policy should be marginal pricing, meaning only for the cost of producing additional power, and not total cost pricing.

In order to prevent a heavy rate increase in electricity, the Government must renegotiate with BOSAI along these lines. BOSAI must also be held to its commitment to install heavy fuel generators which will further lower costs.

BOSAI also buys fuel duty-free, and given GPL’s massive losses of 32%, their cost of production has to be

lower. GPL produces at a cost of G$30 per kWH, while BOSAI charges Linden almost double that! Linden is not connected to the national grid either. So it makes no sense to compare Linden’s rate with GPL. In all of this, the fact must not escape that under the PPP, Linden has become an even more depressed town, with unemployment estimated at over 70%.

Moreover, despite a loss in jobs in the bauxite industry, from several thousand to only a few hundred today, with very little alternative job opportunities being created, Linden still suffers from severe dust pollution from the industry.

Nowhere else in Guyana is there pollution of that magnitude, and it is international norm that there be some amelioration by the offending industry. This must also be included in the renegotiations with BOSAI.It is obvious that the PPP is more interested in BOSAI that the people of Linden.

Development in Linden by the PPP, particularly under the Jagdeo administration, has been severely wanting.

Major contracts are issued to contractors friendly to the PPP, who are not from Linden, and who hire very little of the local labour force and procure very little in the town.

As such, the residents from Linden receive little benefits from the huge profits made by these outside contractors, whose work is often of the poorest quality.

Had Lindeners been meaningfully involved in

Sunday July 15, 2012

these works over the last two decades, Linden today would have had major contractors hiring more Lindeners, leading to economic growth and development in the town.

Further, Government initiatives such as the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) only produced minor results. For example, LEAP was intended as an incubator for small businesses such as computer assembly, but that never took off, because the Government chose to import computers from its favoured “barber shop dealers” for schools and Government agencies in the region.

So when the PPP boasts of how much they have spent in Linden, while true, it has resulted in little actual development. Moreover, the PPP has denied Linden access to more than one TV station.

The PPP suddenly increasing the rate of electricity clearly resulted from their massive defeat in Region 10 (Linden) in the last elections.

It was political retribution against Lindeners. We must be clear in saying that nothing about rate increases in electricity for Lindeners was mentioned by the PPP prior to the election.

The PPP ought to know that it was the same bauxite workers who had joined with the sugar workers and stood up against Forbes Burnham.

Predictably, the PPP put a racial spin on the issue, saying the opposition wants to remove the subsidy from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) which employs mostly IndoGuyanese, while demanding the subsidy remain for Linden, a primarily AfricanGuyanese community.

This of course, is a heinous lie as the AFC only called for the corrupt and inept management of GuySuCo to be changed.

The AFC voted for and

fully supports the G$4 billion subsidy offered to GuySuCo to preserve the jobs of the working class in the sugar belt.

The reference to the higher rate of electricity outside of Linden has racial overtones as well. The PPP has been blatantly spreading lies and hatred by telling IndoGuyanese that their resources are being used to subsidise electricity for AfricanGuyanese who live in Linden.

However, the fact is that the rest of Guyana, including African-Guyanese enclaves such as Hopetown, Buxton and Dem Amstel, is subsidising Linden, just like all of Guyana, including Linden, is subsidising GuySuCo and its failed US$200 million white elephant Skeldon Sugar Factory.

Conveniently too, they leave out the fact that the high rate is because of GPL’s extraordinary losses and line transmitting inefficiencies which are costing the taxpayers in excess of $5 billion annually.

So the fact is not that Lindeners are paying too little, but that the rest of the country is paying too much for electricity, because business friends and relatives of the PPP cabal are exempted from paying electricity.

The AFC will not support the increased rates in electricity at Linden until the PPP regime provides jobs for its people and the region becomes developed. In our Action Plan, the AFC had plans to make Linden into one of the new Economic Frontier towns, and we urge the PPP to put these ideas into action by aggressively pursuing the following: · Foreign investment from a reputable company to develop an alumina plant; · Develop the 200,000 hectares of the intermediate savannahs for citrus, legumes, vegetables, cattle, etc. As the country’s second frontier for agricultural developments; · Intensify block-making capability using lateritic bauxite soil to support the housing industry; · Promote furniture manufacturing and value added wood products; · Establish a University of Guyana campus in Linden, offering courses relevant to the developmental needs of Regions 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Finally, we urge the PPP immediately desist from engaging in divisive politics, including playing the race card, and get down to the business of governing our country, for all of our people, under this new dispensation.

Sunday July 15, 2012

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Ravi Dev Column

As the leader of the TUC, I hope that Mr Lincoln Lewis does not use the same tactic negotiating with management as he uses in responding to my writings.

Woe be unto the workers under his stewardship.

Rather than addressing the issues raised, Mr Lewis continues to hone in to some word or other; create a straw man and then proceed to flail away at it in his inimitable pugnacious style.

Take his latest ‘response’ to my continued assertion that his calls for a more confrontational approach to his identified as AfricanGuyanese problems, are counterproductive.

Noting en passant that a psychologist friend had mentioned in his writings Mr Lewis came across as a man with ‘anger issues’, I wrote: “Now I don’t have a problem with Mr Lewis being angry.

Anger is a natural human emotion that arises out of frustrated or thwarted desires/ goals. The problem is when we allow it to become excessive and allow it to subvert our reason. Mr Lewis after all is head of the TUC: his anger issues can have wide repercussions.

All I’ve suggested is that

Nonsense seems to be the order of the day and all is concentrated on the roads. There has been the madman who drove his car into a drain because he was angry.

There will be the case of two motorists attempting to overtake a slow moving car at the same time.

The vehicle approaching from the other end is going to go into a corner of the road that was never intended for driving.

There will be no injuries but the mad drivers are going to be seen laughing

Mr Lewis’ approach to addressing the African Guyanese condition in Guyana is perhaps self defeating” Not content with ignoring the substantive contents of my column (that basically all groups in Guyana must work towards satisfying their common interests) Mr Lewis latched on to the word “anger” and went off on to flagellate the constructed straw man.

He asserted, “anger is not necessarily bad and can be functional” and then spent almost a thousand words giving examples of what he defined as ‘constructive anger”.

Now I never said that anger cannot be used ‘constructively’: in fact, the psychologist that commented on Mr Lewis’ writing mission to Guyana was organising a workshop on ‘anger management’. This deals with not bottling up one’s anger, but utilizing it in a constructive manner.

I hope that Mr Lewis saw my interview with the gentleman (along with Swami Aksharananda) on TV. It might be of some help to him.

What I’d written in my article was that “Anger is a

natural human emotion that arises out of frustrated or thwarted desires/goals.

The problem is when we allow it to become excessive and allow it to subvert our reason.” It was very obvious that Mr Lewis’ untreated anger issues caused his reason to be subverted once again as he went off on his rant.But inevitably, in a Freudian slip, Mr Lewis confirmed my concerns about his exhortations for a more confrontational style of politics by the Opposition by segueing from his disquisition on ‘constructive anger” to one on ‘violence’.

“Constructive anger”, I would remind Mr Lewis from his own examples such as Dr King’s civil rights struggle in the USA, does not have to use violence. Dr King, in following the Gandhian strategy of “satyagraha” transmuted the anger precipitated by unequal social conditions into a constructive program for change. This is all I am exhorting Mr Lewis to do.

As I wrote back in 2009, “This fixation on the culture of violence leads to what psychologists call a “grievance-hunting” mindset. It is a pathological

at the hapless driver who was in the right all along. ** The holidays are always filled with disasters. Not surprisingly, there will be the drowning during an outing.

A family will travel to the

usual holiday spot when this particular disaster will strike.

Of course there will be finger pointing, but that would not remove the fact that sometimes a little vigilance is always important. ** The news of a fraud is going to emerge when details of an investigation would be revealed.

The source of the fraud would create a frown but then again, there is so much irregularity around that nothing should come as a surprise.

condition that betrays a state of mind uniquely incapable of seizing the opportunities and responsibilities of the present and so must morbidly escape to the past to discover a sanctuary of grievance for itself.”

The fixation, I explained, is due primarily to ideologues locking on to a problem space from the past, and in refusing to rigorously interrogate the present they mechanistically apply the answers from that past to circumstances that might have changed radically.

Critiques being always strategic, those answers are not so much wrong as irrelevant.

The “expired strategies” invariably lead to frustration, anger (and violence) since even though hard work may be done to implement them, success is elusive. External malevolent forces and scapegoats are blamed for the

failure and the grievancehunting mentality sets in.”

We can see the scapegoats in every letter of Mr Lewis and his cohorts.

Lewis says that “If Dev were not interested in racial dominance he’d speak out against intra and inter group(s) atrocities.” Mr Lewis’ anger issues seem to have affected his memory as well as his reason. I remind him that against all advice, I went to the Square of the Revolution in 2004 in solidarity with every African group in Guyana to denounce the ‘intra and inter group(s) atrocities” then being committed. My eyes were opened, however, when every group there denounced only the violence against Africans ‘youths”. I had to point out that innocent Indians, including children, had also been murdered.

In the euphoria of the moment before I spoke, Mr

Ravi Dev

Tacuma Ogunseye promised ‘protection’ as he introduced me. That protection seemed to have been withdrawn after I mentioned that Indians also had issues of justice.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

A life of service before self,

Ramesh Maraj is a ‘Special Person’

By Leon Suseran Today, when some persons serve in various capacities, whether in organisations or in their communities, they look forward for something in return, some material gain of sorts. This is certainly not the case with our ‘Special Person’ this week. He has selflessly served, and continues to serve, the Berbice community.

“I always do things to help people.

I don’t care about race, colour or creed. I deal with principle.”

Ramesh Maraj possesses that extra special quality of one who has served his region with distinction, in several notable capacities and positions, from agriculture to education and even

fraternally.

Ramesh was born at Rotterdam Village, a far-flung community along the East Bank Berbice corridor, to Jasodah and Danesh Maraj, cattle and rice farmers in the area. He quickly learned the tools of the trade and became entrenched in the rice- farming and milling business. His family established one of the first, if not the first, rice-milling facilities in Berbice.

“They (my parents) used to sell milk, and Rotterdam was owned by the La Cruzes, and they became the fourteenth persons to buy it (the village) since ownership of the village changed hands regularly.”

Briefly reflecting on his childhood, Maraj revealed that he used to be more in the fields. With respect to education, he attended the Friends Primary School and later, the Berbice Educational Institute, “and I used to read a lot— the newspapers and Indian Magazines, and I tried to follow good company”.

RICE FARMER AND MILLER The family, he reflected, had the “first modern rice mill” in Berbice and they bought a lot of machinery.

“We used to mill for the Cuban market and the mill started to work in March 1961.” His father passed away in October of that same year, leaving young Maraj to continue in the footsteps and carry on the family business, while giving support to his mother.

He was just 21, but he received a lot of help from his brother-in-law.

“I used to follow up some workshop training and mechanics, and when the combine used to come in those days, they came in crates, so my uncle had a combine and when they loosed it up, I went with the mechanic and watched them how they fit it up.”

“We carried on the work and my mom steered the family.”

He recalled how “rough” those days sometimes were when he used to drive a truck and transport paddy in the night “for farmers to get the mill to work...I used to mill rice at a cent a pound; a bag of 180 pounds”.

Maraj proudly claims that he was “the first and youngest rice farmer and rice miller in Berbice. At that time, we were doing 300 acres of rice, in 1962, when I took over from my dad”.

“The rice industry had a pick-up in 1958 and 1959, and Burma could not take all the paddy, and we put up a mill and we milled for the Cuban market and the Ivory Coast,” he recounted.

He spoke highly of the Fung-a-Fat and Mooksands families. “They were so good to us because they were very close to my father, and they checked us out to see how we were heading.”

Commenting on the career he loved back in the day, rice, and its presence today in Guyana, he said, “ the industry has been developing during the past couple of years and what I must say, is that when the government got these markets, the industry picked up from the early ‘90s and then you found that around 1998, 1999, there was a little drop and it picked up back during the last three years…better quality of paddy, yields and a lot more machinery came in during the last three or four years and farmers got back into their lands and they produced high-yielding paddy and got favourable market prices”.

However, he said that this year is a very tough one, given the cost for reaping and moving and “combines cannot reap all the paddy in the field, because of the weather— I know a lot about combines”.

ADVOCATE FOR THE RESIDENTS He recounted a memorable incident whereby he had sued the Reynolds Bauxite Company for dust pollution back in 1971.

“It was one of the biggest cases in this country. I advocated on behalf of residents; their complaints and concerns with the dust

Ramesh Maraj

and harmful effects that emanated from the company’s operations. There was an immense dust nuisance in Rotterdam on the rice crops and trees. I managed to get the assistance of Dr Fenton Ramsahoye and I had to talk to the President in getting a decision—It was a public nuisance and I had people along with me, who gave evidence, such as Dr Neville Trotz of the University of Guyana and Dr Mohamed Saheed Khan, a plant Pathologist with the UN, who was Principal Agricultural Officer at the Guyana School of Agriculture at Mon Repos at the time.”

Maraj won the case and the company compensated the people. He and his brother-in-law operated the rice mill until 1975.

“At that time, they wanted me to do expansion in the mill and it was not feasible...and they took over the mill and they brought new machinery. It never worked out. Eventually everything was sold, but the land is still there.”

SERVICE BEFORE SELF In 1962, Maraj played an

integral role in the formation of the Berbice Road Safety Association at the New Amsterdam Traffic Department as well as the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association. These were the first in a long list of organisations he would have given his service.

He joined the Lions Club of New Amsterdam in 1968, the start of another journey that would take him decades down the line and make him the oldest-serving Lion in Berbice to date, 44 years to be exact. He was sponsored to join the organisation, by Vick Omrao, former Manager of Wieting and Richter in Berbice, who saw leadership and other good qualities in him.

“I was sponsored to be a member of the club and that was a very big night at the Rose Hall Estate. It was 23rd October, 1968, the same night the Lions Club was celebrating its 7th Anniversary and I was inducted.”

Maraj opined that his leadership qualities were (Continued on page 38)

Collecting an award from a U.S. Embassy official last year, for long and outstanding service to the Berbice Chamber.

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$.16M for a bottle of rum

Angostura celebrates T&T's 50th anniversary EXPENSIVE TASTE: The 500ml decanter of "Legacy by Angostura".

(Reprinted from the Trinidad Express) Local producer Angostura says it has created the world's most expensive blend of rum, "Legacy by Angostura" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence of Trinidad and Tobago.

One bottle of the luxury blend will be auctioned for charity on August 4 in Port of Spain, the company said in a statement Thursday.

With only 20 500ml bespoke decanters available worldwide, the bottle is valued at EU20,000 (about TT$160,000).

"Like all exceptional blends of spirits, the

production of this rum involves just as much art as science and has been a labour of love for the Angostura Master Blenders who have fifty years experience between them. The project has taken six years of meticulous work with seven of the brand's most rare and precious rums making the final recipe," Angostura said.

The youngest rum is 17 years old and all of the rums in the blend have been aged in once used 200 litre American Oak bourbon casks on site at Angostura's distillery in Laventille.

Robert Wong, chief executive of Angostura said

T h u r s d a y, " C o m p l e x , smooth and aromatic, "Legacy by Angostura" is the ultimate expression of Angostura rum. We set out to create the greatest sipping rum ever produced and we believe we have achieved something that is both unique and unequalled. Once these 20 bottles have been sold, no more of this liquid will be available, so it's a truly unique opportunity for a few select individuals."

The average drink of "Legacy by Angostura" will set the customer back EU$1,400.

"Not only is the rum of the highest standard in the

world, the decanter, stopper and presentation box are also unique collectors' items.

Angostura has engaged Asprey of London, jeweller to the Prince of Wales, to develop the twenty limited edition decanters, which each took over 56 hours to complete using ten different master craftsman," Angostura said.

The auction will be held on August 4 at 9 p.m. during Angostura's gala dinner and dance at the Hyatt Regency (Trinidad) in Port of Spain.

Attendance is by invitation only and a donation of $1,000 is required to secure a place, the company said.

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From page 20 Home Affairs Clement Rohee had ordered the investigation after apparent attempts at a cover-up.

This was after a participant in the auction had blown the whistle on the alleged malpractices.

This newspaper came into possession of a document which listed the final bidding prices of a number of vehicles sold at the auction and the actual prices paid for some of them.

The document showed massive disparities between the final bidding price and the actual price paid.

STELLING RAMP BREAKS OFF, FALLS INTO RIVER

The Supenaam stelling is in the news again for the umpteenth time since the Works Ministry took possession just over two years ago.

Last weekend, a five-ton ramp used by side-loading vessels plummeted into the Essequibo River. By Tuesday it was retrieved from the bottom of the river and reattached to the stelling, at an unknown cost.

THURSDAY EDITION JAGDEO’S 12-YEAR REIGN A MAZE – GRANGER Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo’s 12-year reign at the helm of the Administration, has been “a commercial and industrial maze” that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is still attempting to unravel.

This was the comment by Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger on Wednesday during a party briefing to mark the coalition’s one year anniversary.

Granger was asked to weigh in on the completed review by the Ministry of

Kaieteur News

Public Works, over allegations of corruption surrounding China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC).

That Chinese Company has secured the US$150M expansion project for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

Granger said that with Jagdeo at the helm, the commercial transactions have been a maze and APNU is using whatever mechanisms available, to garner the relevant information on the several Chinese projects in Guyana.

He said that the dealings involving Guyana, Jagdeo and the Chinese have been heavily shrouded, hence the reason for Jagdeo to still be

present at Office of the President, chairing meetings.

“Several things happened during the 12-year Jagdeo regime which are obscure and which we are still to discover…I cannot weigh in on them, I don’t know of the full implications at this time.”

UG BOARD REJECTS BOURNE’S RESIGNATION The academic board of the University of Guyana has refused to accept the resignation of Chancellor Compton Bourne and is urging the University Council not to accept the resignation.

The academic board wants the Chancellor to reconsider his decision and has assured him of the “strongest commitment and support.”

Senior lecturers and workers of the university had called for Bourne’s head, accusing him of not doing anything for the University.

The Board met Tuesday and said that the reason for Bourne’s resignation was not supported by most of the academics on the board, among them all Deans, Heads of Departments, special representatives and top

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University officials.

FRIDAY EDITION SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS ORDERED TO REPAY KICKBACKS What was supposed to be a transparent, standard purchase of a 30-ft oceanworthy boat has ended up as a scam involving a small group of high level members of the Guyana Police Force.

This is according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, with reference to the purchase of a $17M luxury vessel for regular patrols and crimefighting purposes.

In a belated statement on the status of the much-touted addition to the police maritime fleet, the Ministry confirmed

that it had cause to take action against those responsible for the purchase.

The Ministry’s statement spoke of kickbacks received by the senior police officials and also informed that they were ordered to repay all illegally obtained proceeds from the purchase.

Controversy surrounded the vessel from the time it arrived here in September 2009.

UNMARRIED PARTNERS TO NOW ENJOY MORE LEGAL RIGHTS The National Assembly has, according to Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, corrected a 20-year-old omission which has seen thousands of Guyanese being discredited as a result of their legal standing.

He was speaking to the amendments which seek to give more legal rights to spouses and children of common law unions.

On Thursday, Nandlall, in successfully piloting the piece of legislation, reminded that common law unions have been in existence from since the dawn of time, “and for

those that believe, reaches as far back as the Garden of Eden”.

The Attorney General (AG) impressed on the House the fact that Guyana has inherited its legal system from England which was heavily influenced by the Church.

As a result of the Church’s clout over the British legal system, recognition to common law unions was never given. Nandall was adamant that the amended law will for the first time in the country’s history accord to a spouse in a common law union, the right to access benefits afforded those that are legally married, under the Marriage Act. SATURDAY EDITION COPS TAKE $360,000 TO RELEASE MAN WITH DRUGS, SUB-MACHINE GUN Less than a week after Acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell warned corrupt ranks to turn in their badges,

five TSU ranks are under investigation for allegedly collecting $360,000 to release a man whom they had nabbed with drugs and a loaded submachine gun.

Kaieteur News understands that the incident occurred last Thursday in Kitty and that three of the ranks, including a cadet officer, are under close arrest at the Brickdam Police Station.

Investigators have seized a Beretta sub-machine gun and 63 matching rounds.

They are also trying to locate two other ranks who were implicated in the transaction.

One of the ranks is a constable who is believed to be the mastermind.

According to reports, on Thursday, a gold dealer asked an acquaintance to pick up $360,000 for him at a Kitty location. After collecting the money, the goldsmith’s acquaintance reportedly went on an illegal transaction.

While doing this, he was allegedly nabbed by five TSU ranks. However, instead of

taking the man into custody, the policemen took the loaded Beretta and the $360,000. They then released the man.

UNAMCO BRIDGE, ROAD COLLAPSE Following five hours of continuous rainfall, the Unamco Bridge collapsed last Saturday evening.

Unamco is located in Upper Berbice. The Kerimeru Creek runs under the bridge and leads into the Berbice River.

Kaieteur News understands that as a result of the bridge collapsing, over $20M worth in lumber is stuck in the backdam on the left bank of the creek. According to sources, the Upper Berbice Logging Association and the Small Loggers Association are among some of the companies affected by this.

Meanwhile, a section of the Unamco Road has also caved in as a result of the continuous usage by logging trucks on a daily basis.

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Sunday July 15, 2012

Ramesh Maraj is a ‘Special Person’ From page 28 brought out serving for the first time in such an organisation and he learned to conduct meetings, etc. He quickly moved up the ranks to become 3rd Vice President and then to the Presidency.

“I had the biggest crowd when I took the presidency— Justice Larry Ganpatsingh gave the feature address and my membership developed then from 45 to about 82, within a year’s span...a lot of people came into the club and joined. The club got so big that as a result, the East Canje Lions Club was formed, and some members went across to that club.”

In 1978, he joined the Ituni

Branch of the Freemason Lodge. Again, he was sponsored “and they find that you can be a person of certain status...they come and talk to you and you have to meet certain criteria and they watch at you for a period and I was called into it.”

Later on, he would end up to be the founder/member of the Phoenix Lodge in 1993 and served Mastership.

Presently, he is in three lodges and was awarded the District Award.

Through his involvement in the Berbice Chamber of Commerce, Maraj served in numerous committees in the 1980s, where he used his influence to lobby for new

and improved facilities that would benefit his community in New Amsterdam, including equipment for the School for the Blind.

The following are some of the noteworthy positions in which Mr Maraj has served over the many years: Chairman of the New Amsterdam Water Enterprise - Today, the GWI Water Treatment Plant.

The Rice Producers Association (RPA) where he represented issues of farmers in the East Berbice area from 1964 to 1968.

The Executive of the Guyana Rice Millers Association, also from 19641968, as well as the

Executive of the Rice Action Committee for Berbice from 1972-1975.

President of the N/ A Lions Club from 1984-1985 and Chairman of Zone ‘B’ from 1987-1988.

Public Utilities Committee in 1988 and the Worshipful Master of the Ituni Lodge from 1989-1990.

President of the Berbice Chamber of Commerce from 2001-2003 Transport & Harbours Department (T&HD) Management Committee from 2001-2004.

On the Board of Governors of the New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI) and

Receiving a Certificate of Membership to the Berbice Chamber of Commerce & Development Association, in 2011, from the then President, Mr. Gyandat Marray founder-member of the Mark Lodge in 2007.

President of the Berbice Chamber, again, from 2007-2008.

ALWAYS HELPING “I always do things to help people. I don’t care about race, colour or creed. I deal with principle. For instance, a lot of people come to me for recommendations and once I know their background, and it’s acceptable, I give them. If I don’t know, I will tell them as it is…because I don’t want to give a recommendation to a person and they go and tarnish my reputation.”

He reflected that serving all over helped him, since he was among many people and he admits learning from them.

“You are being guided and you move on… no university, but reading and moving and mixing. It significantly enhances your learning.”

SELFLESS Being involved in Lionism for nearly half a decade, he has travelled all over the world. He, along with other Lions, advocated for the further development of New Amsterdam.

“We lobbied and we got the School for the Blind...and then the Lions raised funds and we built an upper-flat and the Braille Machine came in, which was funded by

overseas-based agencies.”

The club, under his leadership, also refurbished the Prenatal and Postnatal clinic at the old N/A Hospital.

“All of this was done with support of members”.

Today, he is lifetime member of the New Amsterdam Lions Club, and is looked to for advice by many. He is working assiduously with the current executive to “build back the club”. During the day, he quietly manages his motor spare parts store at Chapel Street in the town, and is still serving the Ancient County in many regards, sometimes just quietly behind the scenes.

Behind every successful man, they say, is a successful woman and Mr Maraj spoke highly of his wife, Chandrowtie, whom he married in 1963, stressing that she has been there all the time to give unwavering support even while he joined and was a part of the activities of numerous organisations and boards. “She is a very understanding person, who comes from a strong religious background.”

Everyone knows the Marajs and they are highly respected in their present community at Gay Park, Greater New Amsterdam.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Leadership needed to resolve trade issues with Europe

By Sir Ronald Sanders A copy paper manufacturer in a Caribbean country is facing closure of his business and his 300 employees are likely to lose their jobs because he woke up a few days ago to the reality that tariffs had been removed from a similar product imported from the European Union (EU).

The removal of the tariffs on copy paper from the EU was one of the commitments made by the government of the Caribbean country under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in 2008 by the 27-EU nations collectively and Caribbean countries individually.

What is alarming about this development is that the local copy paper manufacturer was unaware of the commitment of his government that will materially affect his business and probably put 300 persons out of work.

According to the manufacturer, when he contacted the relevant government ministry, he was informed that the removal of the tariff on EU copy paper was a “mistake”.

This particular Caribbean country is one of only six that have actually implemented tariff cuts on EU goods to which they committed under

the EPA. Eight other countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and Suriname, have not done so.

These eight countries face the daunting prospect of each going through a consultation process to resolve the issue. If they fail to do so, the EU will institute costly arbitration proceedings against each of them individually. The solution to the problem is for each of the countries to implement the removal of the tariffs swiftly on the EU goods to which they gave legally binding commitments.

The problem that confronts the eight governments is that when they implement this legally binding commitment, to which they readily signed-up despite warnings at the time that the EPA with the EU was both unequal and unfair, they will lose revenues. Further, local businesses that produce similar products will face strong competition from EU imported goods.

If the local businesses cannot compete, they will collapse putting their employees out of work. It is this latter problem that the local copy manufacturer (about whom reference was made earlier) now faces because whether the commitment to remove tariffs on imported EU copy paper

was a “mistake” by the government or not, it is legally binding and the European Commission is most unlikely to agree to change it. If they did, their action would open the possibility for other countries to claim “mistakes” for other products. The agreement would unravel.

This situation points to a lack of preparedness by Caribbean governments for the consequences of the EPA signed almost four years ago.

In the case of the eight countries that have not implemented the tariff cuts, two effects are now evident.

First, since they have not made provision for replacing the revenues that will be lost from the tariff cuts, and if they have to implement the cuts hurriedly to avoid arbitration, the only immediate way of replacing the lost revenue is more taxes on the local population. Second, once the tariff cuts are implemented, local producers of products similar to the EU goods will find themselves immediately at a disadvantage with no time in which to restructure their businesses to compete and survive.

Implementing the tariff cuts will not be easy. It will require the production of new tariff schedules for customs and tax offices that will have to be authorised by parliamentary-approved

Sir Ronald Sanders legislation. In any event, in this urgent situation, there will not be sufficient time for local manufacturers to gear themselves for competition.

The problems for these eight countries, resulting from their failure to implement the tariff cuts and to prepare their private sectors for the consequent competition, are now very real.

The difficulties are no less real for the six Caribbean countries that have implemented the tariff cuts.

Unless they have used the last four years to prepare their local producers of goods similar to the EU products for competition, those businesses will flounder and

their workers will be put on the breadline. In essence, the Caribbean public will be maintaining and increasing jobs for EU manufacturers while local businesses and local workers struggle.

It should also be recalled that Caribbean countries agreed to implement tariff cuts on a wide range of EU goods over a phased period.

Therefore, the present tariff reductions are only a first wave. There are others to come.

If the private sector in each Caribbean country is not aware of the commitments that their government has made under the EPA for tariff cuts, they would be negligent in not making themselves fully aware of these commitments now. If they fail to do so, like the case cited at the start of this commentary, they too will wake up one morning to the reality that they no longer enjoy a competitive advantage over imported EU goods. Governments that have made commitments under the EPA have no choice but to implement them now even if they later insist on a review of the EPA that can be done from October 2013.

The carrot that encouraged Caribbean governments to sign the EPA

was the commitment by the EU that Caribbean countries would have tariff free access to the EU market for goods and services. In reality, over the last four years very few companies or individuals have been able to access markets of the 27 nations of the EU. It is significant that if the Caribbean copy paper manufacturer cannot compete with tariff-free EU products in his own market, he has no chance of exporting his goods into the EU countries on a competitive basis. His operation is just too small, and Caribbean businesses are constrained from the delays in establishing a Caribbean Single Market and Economy from merging similar businesses into one or two entities that could compete with tariff-free EU products.

There is an urgent need for leadership to bring governments and the private sector together for joint action on these matters, or the Caribbean will be poorer for the failure to act.

(The writer is a Consultant and former Caribbean diplomat) Responses and previous c o m m e n t a r i e s : www.sirronaldsanders.com

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Sunday July 15, 2012

Born Loser

ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT COURSE At a recent software engineering management course in the US, the participants were given an awkward question to answer. “If you had just boarded an airliner and discovered that your team of programmers had been responsible for the flight control software how many of you would disembark immediately?”

Among the ensuing forest of raised hands, only one man sat motionless. When asked what he would do, he replied that he would be quite content to stay onboard.

With his team’s software, he said, the plane was unlikely to even taxi as far as the runway, let alone take off. ************* PUBLIC ADDRESS VOICE At the airport for a business trip, I settled down to wait for the boarding announcement at Gate 35. Then I heard the voice on the public address system saying, “We apologize for the inconvenience, but Delta Flight 570 will board from Gate 41.”

So my family picked up our luggage and carried it over to Gate 41. Not ten minutes later the public address voice told us that Flight 570 would in fact be boarding from Gate 35.

So, again, we gathered our carry-on luggage and returned to the original gate. Just as we were settling down, the public address voice spoke again: “Thank you for participating in Delta’s physical fitness program. ************* THE TRUCK DRIVERAND THE PRIEST A truck driver would amuse himself by running over lawyers. Whenever he saw a lawyer walking down the side of the road he would swerve to hit him, enjoy the load, satisfying “THUMP”, and then swerve back onto the road. (at this point some of you are probably wondering how the trucker could distinguish the lawyers from the humans. Obviously he saw the trail of slime they left!)

One day, as the truck driver was driving along he saw a priest hitchhiking. He thought he would do a good turn and pulled the truck over.

He asked the priest, “Where are you going, Father?”

“I’m going to the church 5 miles down the road,” replied the priest.

“No problem, Father! I’ll give you a lift. Climb in the truck.” The happy priest climbed into the passenger seat and the truck driver continued down the road.

Suddenly the truck driver saw a lawyer walking down the road and instinctively he swerved to hit him. But then he remembered there was a priest in the truck with him, so at the last minute he swerved back away, narrowly missing the lawyer. However even though he was certain he missed the lawyer, he still heard a loud “THUD”. Not understanding where the noise came from he glanced in his mirrors and when he didn’t see anything, he turned to the priest and said, “I’m sorry Father. I almost hit that lawyer.”

“That’s okay”, replied the priest. “I got him with the door!” ************* THEYKEEPCOMING Deep In the back woods of Tennessee, a hillbilly’s wife went into labor in the middle of the night, and the doctor was called out to assist in the delivery. Since there was no electricity, the doctor handed the father-to-be a lantern and said, “Here. You hold this high so I can see what I am doing.” Soon, a baby boy was brought into the world.

Whoa there, said the doctor, “Don’t be in such a rush to put that lantern down. I think there’s another one coming.” Sure enough, within minutes he had delivered a baby girl. “Hold that lantern up, don’t set it down there’s another one!” said the doctor.

Within a few minutes he had delivered a third baby.

“No, don’t be in a hurry to put down that lantern, it seems there’s yet another one coming!” cried the doctor.

The redneck scratched his head in bewilderment, and asked the doctor, “You reckon it might be the light that’s attractin’ ‘em?

God grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change, the COURAGE to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference.

Garfield

Non Sequitur

Peanuts

Shoe

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Homemade recipes EGGAND HONEY FACIAL MASK This recipe is good in removing the tan from the face due to prolonged exposure to sunlight.

What you need: Egg white Honey Bowl Procedure: In a large bowl mix together the egg white and the honey. Continue to stir until it becomes sticky and thick.

Apply to the damaged face for 5 minutes. And wash face thoroughly with a mild facial soap. Sometimes it would be advisable to wash face with lukewarm water alone to avoid skin complications of sun-burned damaged skin.

OATS AND HONEY FACIAL CREAM This is good in maintaining the radiance of healthy glowing skin.

Materials: Oats Honey Yogurt Ground Almonds Procedure: Get a piece of bowl to mix oats and honey together.

Sprinkle more oats enough to thicken the texture of the honey. Add yogurt and ground almonds and continue to stir until creamy.

Gently apply it to the face and wait for 5 minutes. Wash face with lukewarm water.

CUCUMBER FACIAL CLEANSER This is recipe will clean stubborn dirt from your face.

Materials: Cucumber Juice Milk

Procedure: Extract juice from the cucumber by using a juicer.

Get a small amount of juice and mix with milk enough to clean your face. Dub a little amount of the mix using a clean cotton balls and gently wipe your face. Then wash your face with lukewarm water.

ALLNATURAL FACE CREAM This is recipe is good in removing excess oil in the face and to prevent the growth of pimples and acne.

Materials: 1/3 cup cocoa 3 tsp of heavy cream 1/3 cup of ripe papaya 1 cup honey 3 tsp of oatmeal powder Procedure: Mix cocoa and heavy cream in a container. Add the ripe papaya and continue stirring with honey. Mix them thoroughly and add the oatmeal powder.

Continue Stirring until it will turn into thick creamy paste. Apply on the face and wait for 10 minutes. Rinse face with lukewarm water. It is safe to do this everyday or use this alternately.

HONEY LEMON FACIAL MASK This recipe will moisturize dry skin.

Materials: Honey Lemon Vegetable Oil Procedure: Extract the lemon juice in a piece of container. Then add honey and vegetable oil.

Apply on the face and leave this mask for about 10 minutes and wash face with lukewarm water.

SOLUTION FOR LAST WEEK’S SEARCH & FIND

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Sunday July 15, 2012

Talking about reproductive health Diet, Weight Loss A woman walked into one of the clinics with her teenage daughter and exclaimed to Nursey “this girl ain’t hearin me!” The mother had become frustrated because she found out her daughter was in a secret relationship and became pregnant. Nursey said she assigned the teenage girl to the prenatal clinic and told her how to stay healthy during her pregnancy.

Nursey looked frustrated herself. She said that she sees young girls like this in the clinic all the time. She even gets questions from bigger people in their 20s who don’t know much about their own reproductive health. I told Nursey that I could dedicate the next few health columns to reproductive health and talking to young people about it. Nursey got excited, “I could tell you a lot about that subject and now that school is out, it would be a great time for parents to talk to their children.”

Nursey said there is a sign in #63 Village that says “If you don’t talk to your kids about sex, someone else will.” It can be really hard to talk to your children about this subject, but the sign is right. If you don’t give your children the information, they will get it from someone else. It would

be nice if it were from a nurse or doctor, but most of the time it comes from a friend or a person who might not have your child’s health or wellbeing in mind.

Giving a child information about reproductive health does not mean that they will go out and start having sexual relations. In fact, many studies show children that feel comfortable talking to their parents about sex and other issues are more likely to wait to have sex. You are just giving them the tools to guard themselves from wrong information and to make healthy decisions.

Even if you think your child wouldn’t engage in sexual activities, they should still be prepared. Teenagers have bodies that change quickly and these changes can leave them feeling insecure and vulnerable. They also are at an age where friends can have a lot of influence, so they can feel pressured to do certain things. With the right information, your children can recognize an unsafe situation, learn to say no, or at the very least make sure they are making healthy choices.

Nursey agreed that even she sometimes has a hard time talking to youth about reproductive health. It can feel a little uncomfortable, but she knows it is worth it.

(HealthDay News) The drug Avastin neither prolongs the lives of breast cancer patients nor improves their quality of life, a new review of several randomized control trials of the drug confirms.

Researchers found that

women with metastatic breast cancer who took Avastin along with their chemotherapy treatments survived about two to six weeks longer than those who took a placebo with their chemotherapy — but the

By Krista Brooks

Here are a few tips to get started: · A good way to start out is to learn more information about reproductive health. You don’t have to have all the answers, but it is important to have a good base (we will be going over all the basics in this column over the next few weeks). · It is also good to explore your own views and values around sexual and reproductive health. Once you know how you feel about the topic, it will be easier to pass on your values to your children. · Try to be as openminded as possible.

Remember your own childhood and pressures you faced. If you take a hard approach, it might cause your

difference between the groups could have been due to chance or factors other than the drug, according to the study.

Additionally, women’s responses to surveys assessing their physical wellbeing and how well they function in their daily lives found no improvement among those taking Avastin.

Avastin (known generically as bevacizumab) received fast-track approval as a treatment for breast cancer from the Food and Drug Administration in 2008, but the agency revoked this approval in November 2011, when follow-up studies showed women taking the drug did not live longer than

child to be defensive or push their questions or behaviours away from you. · If you are feeling uncomfortable, be honest. If it was a difficult topic to discuss with your own parents, you can tell your child. If there is something you don’t know, you can always find out the information and get back to them.

Talking about sexual and reproductive health should be something that happens throughout your child’s life.

It is never too early to start, but you definitely don’t want it to be too late. As Nursey says “now is a great time to talk to your children about sexual and reproductive health.”

I will be back next week to discuss more things that Nursey says about reproductive health and talking to your children. Until then!

If you have any questions about reproductive health or any other health issues please e-mail nurseysaysguyana@gmail.com.

Krista Brooks is a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer working with the School of Nursing, which trains Nursing Assistants, Professional Nurses, and Midwifery Students.

Ease Menopause Symptoms: Study

(HealthDay News) — Menopausal women who lose weight eating a low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables could reduce or eliminate their hot flashes and night sweats, a large new study suggests.

One reason the researchers looked at weight loss as a way of dealing with menopausal symptoms was because of long-standing research linking hormonereplacement therapy to heart disease and breast cancer.

night sweats, the key menopausal symptoms, were seen in both overweight and normal-weight women who lost weight, Kroenke noted.

And the reason for that is fairly simple, she said: Fat tends to retain heat and losing weight helps the body dissipate heat more easily.

The report, which was published July 11 in the online edition of Menopause, involved data on more than 17,000 women who took part

“We wanted to see if this could be an alternative to hormone therapy,” said lead researcher Candyce Kroenke, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research in Oakland.

“Indeed, women who lost weight in the context of this healthier diet — decreasing fat, increasing whole grains, fruits and vegetables — were significantly more likely to reduce or eliminate symptoms,” she added.

Reduced hot flashes and

in the Women’s Health Initiative study.

The women with menopausal symptoms who were on a low-fat diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, who were not taking hormonereplacement therapy and who lost at least 10 pounds in a year were more likely to see night sweats and hot flashes reduced or disappear after a year than did women who maintained their weight (the “control” group), the researchers found.

Safe Composting Tips for People With Food Allergies those not taking it. The new review confirms the results of these studies.

The drug is still approved as a treatment for colon cancer and certain types of lung cancer and brain cancer.

The new review was published July 10 in the journal the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

(HealthDay News) — Composting food waste is safe for people with food allergies if they take some basic precautions, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

In order to compost food safely, people with food allergies must prevent allergen particles from somehow getting inside their body, such as through an open wound or by inhaling fine particles in the air or fumes.

To reduce the risk of exposure to food allergens, AAAAI experts advised that people with food allergies take the following steps while composting: Wear a pollen mask to prevent inhaling any particles.

Cover scratches or open wounds with goggles, gloves or long sleeve shirts and pants.

Keep in mind the possible effects of heat on food.

Like boiling or roasting foods, the heat from composting could have an unforeseen effect on the allergic properties of foods. As a result, theAAAAI recommended that people with food allergies take these safety precautions when handling materials after the composting process as well.

Anyone with food allergies who comes into contact with people who have been composting food waste should also be sure they wore gloves or thoroughly washed their hands when they were finished to prevent exposure to allergen particles, the AAAAI noted.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Country profile:

President-elect Jose Mujica

Uruguay has traditionally been better off than many other countries in South America, and is known for its advanced education and social security systems and liberal laws governing social issues such as divorce.

It was among the first nations in Latin America to establish a welfare state, maintained through relatively high taxes on industry.

Sunday July 15, 2012

URUGUAY The system, which had increasingly strained state finances, was reformed in the 1990s.

OVERVIEW Colonial towns, beach resorts and a year-round mild climate have contributed to a growing t o u r i s t i n d u s t r y. T h e economy has also benefited from offshore banking.

But a dependence on

livestock and related exports has left Uruguay vulnerable to ups and downs in world commodity prices.

Recessions in Brazil and Argentina - its main export markets and sources of tourists - propelled the country into economic crisis in 2002.

Payouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a restructuring of foreign debt encouraged a fragile recovery.

But the recession left many Uruguayans living in poverty and prompted thousands of younger people to leave.

Most Uruguayans are of European origin - chiefly Spanish and Italian.

The country has a large middle class and is largely free of serious income inequality. But the minority who are of African or mixed European-indigenous descent form a higher proportion of its poorest people.

In the 19th century U r u g u a y ’s n e w l y - w o n independence was followed by a prolonged and ruinous conflict between two political factions - the land-owning Blancos (whites) and the urban Colorados (reds).

More recently, Marxist Tupamaro urban guerrillas waged a campaign against the establishment in the 1960s and Uruguay suffered repressive military rule between 1973 and 1985.

Uruguay staged football’s first World Cup in 1930, and has won the tournament twice.

FACTS Full name: Oriental Republic of Uruguay Population: 3.4 million (UN, 2009) Capital: Montevideo Area: 176,215 sq km (68,037 sq miles) Major languages: Spanish, Portunol or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix) Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 73 years (men), 80 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: 1 Uruguayan peso = 100 centesimos Main exports: Meat, rice, leather products, vehicles, dairy products, wool, electricity GNI per capita: US $8,260 (World Bank, 2008) Internet domain: .uy International dialling code: +598 LEADERS President-elect: Jose Mujica Former leftist guerrilla Jose Mujica was elected in a run-off election against conservative former

President Luis Lacalle in November 2009.

Mr Mujica won about 53% of the vote. Like his p r e d e c e s s o r, Ta b a r e Vazquez, he belongs to the left-wing Broad Front (Frente Amplio) coalition, and promised to continue President Va z q u e z ’s policies.

He was a co-founder of the left-wing Tupamaros urban guerrillas, and played a key role in transforming the group into a legitimate political party. He is popular with the the poor and the working class His rebel background alarmed conservatives, but his campaign was at pains to stress that he had left his militant past behind.

Celebrating his win, he promised that there would be “no winners and no losers” after his election.

Mr Mujica is known for his informal and plainspeaking style, and has said that he models himself on Brazilian President Lula Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftleaning former trade unionist known for a centrist approach.

The new president’s victory was seen as largely the result of his predecessor ’s popularity and the economic growth Uruguay enjoyed during President Vazquez’s fouryear term. Mr Vazquez was barred from standing for a second term.

President Mujica is set to take office on 1 March 2010.

Outgoing President: Tabare Vazquez Tabare Vazquez, from the Broad Front coalition, is due to step down in March 2010.

He became Uruguay’s first left-wing head of state in March 2005, having defeated the ruling Colorado P a r t y ’s candidate in the presidential election.

His win was part of a regional trend which had seen the emergence of left-wing governments in Brazil, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina.

Mr Vazquez is a cancer specialist and a former mayor of Montevideo.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

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The Jacamar Interesting creatures ...

few species are thought to sometimes engage in cooperative breeding with several adults sharing duties.

The family nests in holes either in the soil or in arboreal termite mounds.

Ground nesting species usually nest in the banks of rivers (or more recently, roads), although if these are not available they will nest in the soil held by the roots of fallen trees.

Bank-nesting jacamars can sometimes be loosely

The jacamar is of the family, Galbulidae, of near passerine birds from tropical South and Central America, extending up to Mexico. The order contains five genera and 18 species. The family is closely related to the puffbirds, another Neotropical family, and the two families are often separated into their own order away from the Piciformes, instead being placed in the Galbuliformes.

They are principally birds of low altitude woodlands and forests, and particularly of forest and edge and canopy.

The jacamars are small to medium sized perching birds ranging between 14-34 centimetres in length and weighing between 17-75 grams. They are glossy elegant birds with long bills and tails. In appearance and behaviour they show resemblances to the Old World bee-eaters, as most ariel insectivores tend to

have short wide bills as opposed to long thin ones.

The legs are short and weak, and the feet are zygodactyl.

Their plumage is often bright and highly iridescent, although it is quite dull in a few species. There are minor differences in plumage based on sex, males often having a white patch on the breast.

J a c a m a r s a r e insectivores, taking a variety of insect prey (many specialize on butterflies and moths) by hawking in the air.

Birds sit in favoured perches and sally towards the prey when it is close enough. Only the Great Jacamar varies from the rest of the family, taking prey by gleaning and occasionally taking small lizards and spiders.

The breeding systems of jacamars have not been studied in depth. They are thought to generally be monogamous, although a

colonial. Clutch sizes are between 1-4 eggs, with 2-4 being more common. Both parents participate in incubation. Little is known about the inc ubation times of most species, although it lasts for between 19–26 days in the Rufous-tailed Jacamar.

Chicks are born with down feathers, unique among the piciformes.

The Paradise Jacamar, Galbula dea, has been discovered in Guyana. This

bird species is rather small, approximately 30cm long with a long pointed tail, dark brown cap, white throat and long needle-like bill. It has dark greenish blue plumage with iridescent wings. Both sexes are similar.

According to researchers this species is distributed throughout tropical rainforests and savannahs of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the Guianas. The bird's range encompasses nearly the

entire Amazon Basin, except in the northwest basin in parts of Colombia and Venezuela, (the northeast is the three countries of the Guianas, which drain to the Atlantic-Caribbean). Their diet consists mainly of butterflies and other flying insects.

Widepsread and common throughout its range, the Paradise Jacamar is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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A little girl's struggle to be educated bears fruit…

How Coleen Germaine overcame poverty to become US award winning teacher

By Rehana Ashley Ahamad

S

he grew up in a one-bedroom home in Gordon Street, Kitty, where she lived with her mother, eight siblings, and a visiting father. They never knew where their next meal would come from, but today, 57year-old Coleen Germaine is proud to have overcome the odds, and is celebrating ten years of being an award winning teacher in the United States.

She was honoured for her “Outstanding Leadership and Commitment” by the New York State. She was also the recipient of the “Outstanding Professional Achievement Award” from her school.

Her father used to work in the interior and would show up months, or in some cases even years, apart.

All the while, her mother was on a mission that required much courage and guts. Her goal was to not have her children abandon their education because of their poverty.

Though they were in a dark phase, Coleen's mother was determined. She was a seamstress, and worked three additional domestic jobs, which sufficed their meals.

It was a struggle, as Coleen describes it. She was

her mother's second child, and was faced with many responsibilities from a tender age.

But, with all the overwhelming odds, Coleen knew she wanted to become a successful woman. Hers is a true story behind the lyrics of Baby Sham and Alicia Keys' “Ghetto Story”- “Big dreams in my head, empty my tummy, might crack a smile, but ain't nothing funny.”

Even during that intense struggle, Coleen managed to obtain a sound primary education. She attended 'Saint James-the-Less' Primary School in Kitty.

However, as the Common Entrance Examination approached, Coleen was over-aged and could not sit the examination. And strange enough, she was too young to take the test the year before. Thus, Coleen was put in the upper forms of the same primary school.

That's when her frustration set in. She was embarrassed, especially since everyone at school knew she had great potential.

Though Coleen yearned to pursue a secondary education, nothing was for free back then. Not even education.

Even though Coleen's mother badly wanted to make her dream of attending secondary school a reality,

Coleen Germaine

she could not have afforded it. During my gaff with Coleen, she recalled sharing her feelings with her mother, who, being the wise and understanding woman that she was, decided to transfer her daughter to another school - the Fountain AME Primary School in Queenstown.

But that just made the embarrassment go away. It did not deter the deeply driven 12-year-old from wanting to further her studies. At that time, she

badly wanted to become a Mounted Branch rank- “one of the officers who would ride around on their horses”.

Despite the odds, Coleen would make the most of every little opportunity that came her way.

After a few months of attending the Fountain AME, Coleen managed to obtain information about a partial scholarship being offered to attend the Rama Krishna Secondary School.

She was confident, but still, she knew that even if

she was able to secure the partial scholarship, her mother could not have afforded to pay the remainder.

But surprisingly, Coleen wanted to take the test.

Again, the odds were not in her favour, but she felt all she needed was a little courage and faith.

So one Saturday morning, under the pretext of going to the market, little Coleen went to take that test.

She said she was confident that she would be one of the few persons to obtain the scholarship, but did not know what would happen thereafter.

Coleen made it; the very young and jovial girl managed to obtain the partial scholarship.

While her mother was very proud, she was heartbroken about not being able to afford the other half of the scholarship.

Even Coleen's siblings began to look up to her as the one who managed to accomplish “the unthinkable”.

Again, Coleen was determined to attend the Rama Krishna Secondary School, but didn't know how.

Sitting, thinking about her next move, Coleen recalled her father had once told her about his brother living in Dominica. Her father was a Dominican, and his ancestral home was also

there.

Though vaguely, young Coleen even remembered the address, so, she decided to write him a letter.

She was not very hopeful for a reply, but after a few days had passed, Coleen received a letter. It was from her uncle. He acceded to her request and promised to send her some money.

It was not long after that Coleen received an envelope addressed to her. It contained a large sum of cash, and a letter from her uncle.

Coleen's mother was the happiest of all. Coleen was finally able to attend secondary school - that too well equipped and well dressed, thanks to the uncle she never met.

Fast forward three years, and Coleen's life had slightly improved. She was in the third form and all was well.

But then came the massive postal strike, which caused her to lose contact with her uncle.

Coleen was once again desperate. She could not have attended the school any longer. Her faith, for the first time, faltered.

Coleen had to leave the Rama Krishna Secondary School. She spent a few miserable days at home, before she made up her mind to pull herself together.

She read about a voluntary programme (continued on page 50)

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Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

How Coleen Germaine overcame poverty to become US award winning teacher From page 49 offered by the Ministry of Public Works with regard to the Mahdia Road Project.

Coleen, once again hopeful, filled out the form, and was taken via an airplane to work on that project.

After she spent about a week in Mahdia, Coleen returned home.

Not long after, she got hold of another government project in Orealla. There she met a few teachers.

Their behaviour and conduct made an immediate impact on Coleen. She suddenly knew, with all her heart that she wanted to teach.

During this time, her family had been slightly lifted out of poverty, and Coleen had a step-father.

She said that the last thing she heard about her father was that he left on a ship to go to Trinidad. The ship left Guyana, but disappeared before reaching the twin-island republic.

Nonetheless, Coleen was thankful for the presence of her step-father, who helped

tremendously to lift them from their poor state.

Her mother managed to obtain a plot of land in Enmore, East Coast Demerara.

And after returning from the Orealla trip, Coleen, being about 15-years-old, decided that she will open a bottom house nursery school.

Nursery schools did not exist during that time, but many people conducted what one would refer to as a “bottom house school”, it was basically an off record institute so to speak.

“I talked to my mother about it, and she asked our pastor if I could utilize a section of the church for a couple hours every day, and he agreed.”

Coleen remembered walking around the community with her siblings trying to advertise the newest bottom house school of Enmore.

Enmore was where their new home was. Coleen's stepfather, her mother, siblings, and herself built the

home with their bare hands.

It was a comfortable house, and Coleen's family crisis had eased, since her stepfather was planting a garden, while both he and her mother worked other jobs.

Nonetheless, Coleen's bottom house flat went up and running. Two years had passed, and Coleen was still teaching at that very bottom house nursery.

She then heard about a Teacher's one year training programme in Georgetown.

It was called the Guyana Assessment for Early Education, a programme geared to assist unqualified teachers who desired to become qualified; it seemed like a programme designed specifically for Coleen.

During the training, Coleen had to work along with teachers from three private schools. The first was Winfer Gardens.

After much dedication, C o l e e n ' s e ff o r t s w e r e admired by the owner and Headmistress of the School, who started to give her a

salary.

After a few months spent there, Coleen had to take off for another school.

“It was so sad you know?

I didn't want to leave. Ms. Winifred and I became attached to each other. She even made me promise to return for a job after the training. And I did.”

As the programme came to an end, Coleen returned to work for Ms. Winifred.

Before she knew it, she was in her 20s, married and pregnant.

Coleen gave birth to baby boy, Esan Germaine, just before her marriage ended. That centered on Coleen wanting to continue working.

The young woman, having gone through a lot to be where she was, took a transfer, and returned home to work at Haslington Nursery School.

Coleen managed a child, while attending the teachers' training college, where she graduated with two distinctions.

It was not long after that Coleen's Dominican uncle visited Guyana.

Fast forward a couple years, Coleen, at age 30, was promoted to the post of Headmistress of Enmore Nursery.

Yet, the determined little girl inside of her was not satisfied. She decided to once again volunteer.

Coleen found the Caribbean Based Rehabilitation (CBR) (Guyana) to be a meaningful programme.

She joined, and had been advocating for disabled children countrywide. She was among those advocating for the ramp at the National Cultural Centre.

This was the programme that gave Coleen a chance to travel overseas. Whenever the head of the local chapter could not make it to a regional conference, Coleen would be next in line to go.

The programme was also working in coordination with the Ministry of Health, with Coleen being its liaison.

The CBR programme exposed Coleen to a scholarship offered to attend the University of London.

She applied, and days after (election day of 1992), Coleen was off to England on a full scholarship to be trained on how to become a trainer.

By that time, Coleen's two children were staying with her mother who still resided in their Enmore home.

After getting her

Diploma, Coleen was offered to stay on another scholarship to complete her Master's Degree. But, Coleen was missing home, and refused.

A few months later, Coleen was traveling to Africa on another CBR seminar, and had to make a stop in England. During that stop, Coleen decided to enquire if the offer was still available.

It was, and she took the offer. She went ahead again, and completed her Master's Degree.

While coming back home from her first Scholarship, Coleen had obtained a 10-year visa to the US. So after both her scholarships, Coleen spent some time home, and was back on the boat again.

She managed to take up residency in the US where she pursued a Master's in reading before becoming a teacher.

For the past ten years, Coleen has been a teacher there. Her award has made her family proud.

Today, Coleen advises others that nothing is impossible, and that one should always strive for greatness despite the many inevitable obstacles.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 51

Chicken prices to further increase Poultry Farm

Key players in the poultry industry are anticipating the further increase in chicken prices in the coming month.

The price for soya bean meal, a key ingredient in chicken feed, is expected to further increase for the next shipment from the US to Guyana in August.

According to a representative of a large scale poultry company, since January consumers have been faced with increasing chicken prices and chicken shortage on the local market. These were as a result of high mortality among poultry and increasing demand for the product in the gold mining industry.

While these local factors were main contributors to the high prices consumers paid for chicken, poultry producers were faced with increasing prices for corn and soya bean meal.

The representative pointed out that his company has substituted rice for corn to reduce their production cost.

But because soya bean meal is neither produced nor is there a substitute available in Guyana producers are forced to endure the high price on the US market.

The representative said poultry producers were informed that poor weather conditions

in the US led to the price increases. It was suggested that countries around the world would also be affected by this price change.

Small scale farmers who have been able to access quality baby chicks are hoping to enjoy the price increase, which could reach $400 per pound but are worried about the cost for chicken feed.

Region Eight Councilors...

From page 15 that the price was actually $50,000 for the rental. So there are several instances of noncooperation and the RDC is not prepared at this time to work with Mr. Harsawack.�

Kaieteur News was able to make contact with Harsawack yesterday who confirmed that a vote of no-confidence was passed against him.

However, he declined to comment and referred the newspaper to Nigel Dharamlall, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government. The Permanent Secretary's phone was however, switched off.

Kaieteur News was unable to make contact with Region Eight Chairman, Mark Crawford.

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Kaieteur News

From the Diaspora

By Ralph Seeram “He has to give me that truck he tried to run me over with”, my friend remarked in a very serious tone.

“Are you crazy”? I replied that I was acting as his “big brother” for the wedding. It was a typical “bottom house” Hindu wedding. My friend, a Christian, was told that he can refuse to eat until the father of the bride gives him a satisfactory gift.

The ritual, I understand, was more of a symbolic nature, but my friend took it literally. Why did he demand the Bedford truck?

I recently visited Guyana for the wedding of my nephew. I recalled when I received the wedding invitation the envelope was unusually large and heavy.

On opening it, I discovered there were two invitations, one for a Hindu ceremony and one for a Christian wedding plus reception at the Pegasus.

Included were also invitations to various pre Hindu rituals leading on to the ceremony.

My daughter pointed out to me that I will have to get two outfits, one for the Hindu ceremony and one for the Christian wedding and reception.

This wedding caused me to reflect on a recent trend in the Guyanese community here in Orlando, Florida and in Guyana itself. There are not only marriages between the believers of the two religions but also two distinctive ceremonies. There was a time in Guyana when this was not possible, in fact downright impossible.

I know of many cases where parents of both parties adamantly opposed any such

Sunday July 15, 2012

WHEN IT COMES TO WEDDINGS THE LINES ARE BLURRED BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND HINDUS unions. I also know of many occasions where young couples openly defied their parents and eloped because their respective parents opposed their union because they came from different faiths. Of course I am talking of way, way back in time.

Times have changed, young people are more liberated, and in most cases more financially dependent, not depending on their parents “purse strings”. Of course Western influence also played a significant role.

My first inkling that changes were on the way goes back to over thirty-five years or so. A very close friend of mine was getting married; both parties were of the Hindu faith, so there were no problems on that front.

The Bharriat which I was part of arrived at the bride’s house; the Hindu marriage ceremony was performed and it was time to leave. My friend changed from his Indian wedding outfit to a suit and was about to leave with his bride when “hell broke loose”.

His father demanded that he wear his full Indian wedding clothes to leave the bride’s home. My friend insisted that the ceremony was over and he can “wear what he wants”.

The bride’s parents chimed in to say their daughter can’t leave until he wears his wedding outfit. He in turn informed them that she is his wife and they have no say.

The back and forth went on for more than an hour with no solution in sight, both parties “sticking to their guns”. I spoke to my friend and his father in order to arrive

at a compromise. His father insisted he has to leave the yard in his wedding outfit and that when he reached the road “he can do what he likes”.

Now the funny part of this story is the argument revolves around him crossing a bridge over a four-foot drain to the road, yes, three steps at most, yet everybody was holding their ground. I suggested that my friend should compromise in respect to his father’s belief and wear his wedding gear the few feet to the road; he complied and furiously undressed on the road.

While I did not realize it at the time that was a significant indication that changes were in the making.

I enjoy Hindu wedding ceremonies; they are so rich

in symbolism. Every step of the ritual brings greater awareness to the parties on the responsibilities ahead.

And so it was with my friend mentioned at the beginning of this article, and why he demanded a truck as a dowry.

When word came to the father of the bride that my friend was interested “in her hand of marriage” he was furious. His Hindu daughter would not marry a .Christian.

Truth be told, his sons, my friend and myself were very close friends. The thought of religion as a barrier to our friendship never occurred. So when the father got word that his daughter was going “around with a Christian he was furious, so furious that when he saw my friend on the

road one day he tried to run him down with his Bedford truck.

Eventually, greater sense prevailed and he relented and agreed to the union of his daughter and her boyfriend.

My friend never forgot the incident, so when someone told him that his father-in-law will have to give him a gift of his satisfaction before he can eat he took the point literally.

After nearly an hour impasse I got annoyed told him in no uncertain term that he has to stop the nonsense, as the ritual is largely symbolic. Besides, he was already legally married, so it did not matter if the father in law gave him anything.

Further, there were guests waiting at his house for the

arrival of the bride. He relented and things went smoothly from there.

Yes, time has changed since then; a double wedding is the norm now, a bit more expensive, but the end justifies the means. I have a wedding to go to next weekend here in Orlando. You guessed it; it’s a double ceremony— Hindu one day and English reception the next day.

And I just received a save the date for a wedding in Guyana for next April. I have also been informed that there will be a Christian and Hindu ceremony. I already have my outfits, I am ready.

Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: ralph365@hotmail.com

Deafening silence on condition of East Bank Berbice road

By Leon Suseran There seems to be a deafening silence from the government and related agencies regarding the future plans for the East Bank Berbice road. Very little has been said about the issue which had raised its ugly head again over the past days, with heavy- duty vehicles becoming stuck in the gigantic craters along the poorest sections of the road.

This sparked renewed calls for a new road; calls which seemed to have been falling on deaf ears. The government has just finished building new roads not far from East Bank Berbice.

These roads were built at East and West Canje roads. There

...conflicting statements abound is a brand new roadway in to New Forest, Canje. The population is far, far less there than along the EBB corridor.

The East Bank Berbice road is 25 miles long, beginning from Overwinning and goes right up to Germania, the last village on the EBB corridor. There has not been an official population count along the corridor, however, thousands are believed to be living there since numerous housing schemes and persons have occupied the areas.

There is a cement bagging facility at Everton, GuyOil terminal, bauxite operations and ironically, even a road-

construction firm, which many residents say has been responsible partially for damaging the road.

Additionally, farmers depend on the road to shuttle their produce out of Mara and other farming communities.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation also shuttles its workers along the road so that they can get to the sugar cane fields at Providence.

The EBB was constructed

by GuyConstruct many years ago and many of the older residents say that there has never been any major works on the road since that time. A senior citizen said that the EBB road has not been rehabilitated

for over 50 years. “Everybody neglecting this road”.

He said that the EBB corridor was once a prestigious, well- made road during the early years in President Burnham’s time....”I worked on this road with GuyConstruct and from since Burnham and Hoyte dead, this road done! They ain’t looking after nothing! They doing New Forest road where people don’t live and look how many years people punishing with this road!”

CONFLICTING STATEMENTS To appease the many angry residents and hire car operators following the many protests and expressions of Continued on page 53

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Govt appoints Registrar of Deeds Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, on Friday announced the Judicial Service Commission’s appointment of Azeena Baksh as the new Registrar of Deeds.

Baksh, who assumes her new office from tomorrow, is the holder of a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Guyana.

She also completed the Certificate of Legal Education (LEC) at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and held several positions at various agencies including at the Ministries of Legal Affairs and Human Services and Social Security.

In 2010, she was awarded a full scholarship at the Ohio Northern University to pursue a Masters of Law degree, which she successfully completed and was employed at the Governance Unit of the Office of the President up to the time of her appointment.

The AG, according to a government release, described Baksh’s appointment as a tremendous achievement in light of the fact that a lawyer has not been functioning in the important position of Registrar of Deeds in over 30 years.

“I am of the firm view that a Registrar of Deeds ought to be a lawyer simply because of the highly technical, legal functions that are devolved to that office and therefore a person who holds the qualification of a lawyer is obviously best suited to hold such a position,” he said.

Government, through the Ministry of Legal Affairs is undertaking several reforms in the Deeds Registry itself, which are being piloted through a consultant, Nicola Pierre, who was hired by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Plans are on stream to establish a commercial registry, which will be disengaged institutionally

Azeena Baksh, Registrar of Deeds and Anil Nandlall, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and physically from the Official Gazette Bill 2012 Registry from the position as servants into Deeds Registry so that the which has already been public two can function separately. tabled in the National employees of the Deeds Over the years, the workload Assembly will pave the way Registry Authority.

Minister Nandlall has increased significantly for this development. and as such it has become too Notably, through this explained that the law burdensome for the two reform process, the Legal provides for their transferral registries to function as one Affairs Ministry is seeking to to be unaffected by any grant to the sub registries detrimental impacts on their entity.

The Ministry is in the greater functional autonomy. benefits which they are process of acquiring a At present, the registries in receiving as public servants.

The workers are given building which will house the places like Essequibo and Berbice are completely the opportunity to state commercial registry.

At the last sitting of the dependent on the main office t h e i r p o s i t i o n o n t h i s transferral process; National Assembly, Nandlall in Georgetown. ”We are changing that however, their response, tabled an amendment to the Deeds Registry Act, which system to permit someone which is the condition for seeks to confer upon a who is working in a particular the financing to be made purchaser in the agreement of registry and resident in a available, has not been as sale some form of protection. particular county, to perform f o r t h c o m i n g This will manifest itself in the that function subject of anticipated.

Minister Nandlall called agreement of sale being a course, to the general ‘registrable’ interest and supervision of the Registrar for their speedy cooperation capable of being registered at of Deeds. We will have one so that this process can be the Deeds Registry in the registrar and assistant concluded as early as same way a transport is registrars who will head the possible and explained to registered. sub-offices in Berbice and them that if they feel disadvantaged in any way by ”We have to begin to put Essequibo,” the AG said. systems in place to facilitate Plans are also in place to the transfer, they will be that change in the law; we will convert the Deeds Registry diverted into other areas of have to open a register in from a Central Government the public sector so that they to a semi- can maintain their status as which agreements will be filed agency at the Deeds Registry and autonomous body. In 1999, public servants. annotated in the same the Deeds Registry Authority manner that a mortgage is Act was passed but for annotated,” he explained. various reasons, it has not Another aspect of the yet been implemented. reform process will see the Its implementation availability of an E-version of depends on the transition of the official gazette. The the staff of the Deeds

Page 53

Deafening silence...

From page 52 disgust recently about the state of the road, different officials have said different things regarding the future of the road.

Region Six Chairman, David Armogan, in whose region the road falls, said that he is frustrated about the issue just as anybody else. He said, too, that the Works Ministry has taken over the road issue and is awaiting their works, the scope of which he is not aware.

He said that he has been trying to contact Mr. Robeson Benn all week but has been unsuccessful. His ViceChairman, Bhopaul Jhagroo, said on Wednesday during an angry protest, that there is money in the region’s coffers for “a part of this road to be done”.

“This road cannot patch; I agree with you, it needs a new road...so for now, as from today, we will do some patchwork until such time when we can get a perfect road”. He could not say when a new road will begin, even if it will be this year.

“I can’t say when; I am hoping it would be as early as possible”. He said the President would be in a better position to say what avenues are being pursued to garner the finances to do the road in a major way.”

Minister Robeson Benn was in Parliament this past week and spoke about other issues, except the EBB road. He spoke, too, about removing old and derelict vehicles from the public roads, but nothing was mentioned about the poor state of this roadway.

Many are of the opinion that several hundreds of millions of dollars are needed to build a new and proper road on the EBB corridor and that the government

does not have that kind of money at the moment.

As such, they are “buying time” and delaying the issue as much as they can.”

But President Donald Ramotar promised the residents a new road on May 5 while at Highbury, EBB. He did say that the opposition did not cut that part of the budget.

“And I promise you, it’s (the EBB road contract) in our budget and fortunately that part of the budget was not cut”, Ramotar said to more applauses and cheers. “We will start the road on the East Bank of Berbice...”and the crowd started to shout “Up to Mara! Up to Mara!”

But Ramotar could not have appeased the crowd by promising that the new road will stop at the very end to Mara.

“We are trying to go all the way to Mara, but I don’t think we can finish that this year, but a start will be made to ensure that you have a proper road to commute, to produce and to develop within your county here”, he said.

Residents are holding the President accountable to that statement and promise.

Mohamed Ally, President of the EBB Hire Car Association believes they are being lied to and fooled. Ally questioned that if the President hinted that the money was in the 2012 budget to do the EBB, where is it? [the money] Ally said that they were fooled and lied to. “We want Mr. Ramotar to come and tell us that if the promise he made to us at Highbury, if that was a false promise and if he, too, is part and parcel of the fooling process and we will continue to make that demand and continue to protest until some positive action is taken towards our just cause”.

They have since raised their fares and commuters are now paying far more than they used to pay to travel from N/ A to EBB.

Page 54

Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

FOR SALE/RENT American pool table 2770578 DATING SERVICE

WANTED

CAKES & PASTRIES

Workers for landscaping Call: 656-1326,626-1044

Courses in cake decoration, pastry making & cookery, tel: 670-0798. Wedding dresses for sale & rental.

Caretaker for sawmill at Yarrowkabra,wood mize experience will be an asset Call:261-2553 Experience Heavy-Duty Mechanic (aged 35 years & older), Experience Security Officer (aged 40 years & older) Call: 225-8889,2257905,225-7909 1 Domestic worker must know to cook Mon-Sat 7:00am-3:00pm $15,000 30-45 yrs 628-6160 or 227-8998 (Richie) 1 Handy boy to work in the interior Call: 688-0197 Survival Shopping Complex,Sheriff Street needs cashiers,salesgirl,bag packers Call:227-5287-90 Live in/live out babysitter/ domestic. Call: 225-0188, 225-6070 Experienced hair dresser needed at Xpressions Salon call 226-7268 1 Baby sitter to work in the interior Call:697-1513

SALON Make up courses, artist trained & certified in Trinidad: 660-5257,647-1773 Cosmetology Classes & Small Classes from as low as $4,000.Learn in our peaceful & happy environment Call: 226-9448 Summer special from July 16-August 31 in C o s m e t o l o g y, N a i l s & Make-up Call Abby 2161950,666-5241,619-7603 FOR RENT Rental of roller, bobcat & excavator. Contact numbers: 621-4786 or 220-5580 Business property Church Street US$4,500,Nandy Park US$2,200,Campbellville $60,000 Steve 699-5490

Urgently Needed!! One delivery man with Motorbike,Apply to Big Daddy Burger and Grill Call:226-2829,225-1024 Mature couple to work on farm at Kuru Kururu, Linden Soesdyke Highway. Call: 641-4952 One maid to wash,clean and cook Call:225-8889 (Ask for Mr.Richards) EXCAVATOR OPERATOR, MECHANIC (PERKINS & BEDFORD),TRUCK DRIVER (MODEL M & TM) CONTACT: 223-5273-4.

WATCHMAN,YARDMAN CONTACT:223-5273-4.

Porters to work at grocery stall Stabroek Market Call:226-9800, Experience is an asset.

LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & Sons Driving School,First Federation Building Call:225-4858,6445166,622-2872,615-0964

WANTED 1 Cook Call:225-7259 Weeder to clear 3 acres in Demerara River opposite Timehri Dock $25,000 monthly,benefits long term Call:613-7704

1 Shop assistant to work in the interior Call:688-4905

One male shop assistant Age 18-25 years Call:2257794,679-1151

1 Watch man,1 Yard man Please Call:223-5273-4 Larry/ Leanand

One live in maid and live out Call:668-3985,253-3149,2643355-56

Taxi Drivers Call:2253234,614-8022

Live in domestic,must know to cook, salary $50,000 monthly, boarding & lodging free Call: 610-5043

Urgently need caretaker to cultivate 5 acres land, Demerara River opposite Timehri Dock Serious inquires Call:613-7704 Cleaner & Part time counter attendant wanted Call:2319804 between 3pm to 5pm.

Sewing girls and seamstress to sew Call:226-1458 1 Domestic,preferably to live in between ages 20 to 45.Must be honest & reliable Call:2230742

EDUCATIONAL Princeton College Summer Classes,Primary/Secondary School,Students Age 618,CXC Adults Classes,Affordable Fees Call:690-5008,611-3793 SUMMER CLASSES : Phonics & Reading, Mathematics & Language, Science & Social-Studies, Craft & Fun day, Garnett Street Kitty Call: 654-8650 Summer computer classes, age 5-16, Micrographics Technology, Vreed-en-Hoop Call: 264-3057 Summer computer classes, age 5-16, Micrographics Technology, Parika( Bollywood Building) Call: 264-3057 Summer computer classes, age 5-16, Micrographics Technology, Grove Public Road Call: 266-3976 Special Advanced Diplomas in computers for students completed 2012 CSEC, Micrographics 264-3057 $15,000 Discount Vreed-EnHoop Registered Now!! Monar Educational Institute 163 Crown Street, Queenstown.Day care,Play school,Nursery,Primary & Secondary Call:2237226,227-3338 Private Summer Tutoring for children preparing for Grade 1 & 2 Contact Miss Gittens 641-6484,673-7186 SUMMER CLASSES:Come learn to do tips,hand design,make up and poised $10,000 Call:226-9448,6287880 Learn French from your car Call:673-1232 Learn Spanish Easy Call:6731232 Imperial College-Jan / June CXC 2013. Full time/Lessons /Adults classes. Payment packages & discounts available. Call: 683-5742, 2277627 Summer classes, Reading, Phonics, Language, Mathematics, Art, Games & lots more! Roxanne Burnham 619-4355, 218-2076

FOR SALE One Hilux Vigo (2011) New Call:231-5171,619-7134 Anchorseal Call:BR&T Paint Store 265-3541,695-4785 MINELAB & GARETTE GOLD DETECTORS. 6097625, 675-7292 NARS lipgloss, eyeshadow & Clinique Chubby Stick. Tel: 669-8374.

Grand Opening!!! Diamond Evergreen Plantshop, 156 Section ‘’A’’ Diamond Block X E.B.D, School street/ second corner Call: 2162199, 687-5631, 698-4855 Champion pure breed rottweilers pups, parents imported, grandparents are International Champions from dog show Arena Call: 685-2584 MAC STUDIO FIX POWDERS $7,900, SACHA 2in1 $2,000 MAKE UP – top Brands Tel: 647 -1773 John Dickinson Exercise Books (Large Quantity) wholesale only Call:6191105,622-3766 Honda ATVS 4X4 500, 2012, Licence driver Call: 691-3851 or 622-5762 IBM Thinkpad laptops.

Brand new $75,000 Call: 6812111 Printer ink cartridges $2,500, Power inverter $20,000 Call: 650-7699 1-DOOSAN EXCAVATOR, 1-290 DAYOU EXCAVATOR, IN E X C E L L E N T CONDITION, CAN BE INSPECTEDAT ITABALLI CONTACT:223-5273-4.

Pure breed pitbull pups,6 weeks old ideal for family settings and security 6429753,622-1217 1-50 Gallon, electric water heater (brand new) Call: 647-1773 One PC 300 Komatsu bigger than 320 Caterpillar.Price $ 2 4 Million Call:2258334,640-4627 Dell computers complete with 17 & 19 inch LCD from $50,000 Future Tech 231-2206 Going cheap…used clutch & pressure plates, compressors and hydraulic pumps. Call: 661-3043

MASSAGE American style massage service Call: 609-4036 Massage Therapy..!! You come to us or we come to you Call:622-6256 DRESS MAKING 6 weeks course in designing and sewing Call Sharmie 225-2598, 641-0784

Immediate link-Single 18-80 yrs.Confidential: Tel: 2238237,648-6098. 8:30am5:00pm Mon-Sun (Both phones same hours) NO TEXTING.

Doberman and Rottweiler puppies, 6 weeks old, fully vaccinated and dewormed.

Please call: 649-4743 Ask for Denis 1 Bobcat & trailor Call:6460101 Live meat birds Call:650-4421 MF Tractors 390+265+265 FT End LDR Call: 2763855,613-1129 Hague W.C.D

SERVICES Permanent &Visitors Visa Applications Professional Immigration Consultant Sabita - Room E-4 Maraj Building 225-6496/ 223-8115/662-6045.

Problems with PC? Call Roul for assistance 610-9490

FOR SALE One Mitsubishi Lancer 1500cc and Mitsubishi L200 Call John/Nicolette:225-3553 SAMSUNG CHRONOS 7 LAPTOP INTEL CORE i5, 8GB MEMORY, 750GB HDD, 14'’ LED HIGH DEFINITION, WINDOWS 7. NEW /SEALED $180,000.

TEL: 683-3161 One ice-cream dispenser, price $200,000 negotiable Call: 673-1232 1 Crown Amp Macro Tech 5000 2VZ,1 RMX QSC 1450 Call: 614-1398 Tibitean Pups Call:225-4780, 663-3407 Toyota Starlet EP71 Call: 6247155 One 15 Hp Yamaha long foot Call: 689-5254 or 643-0332 Brandnew American made Crosely 10.5 cu ft Refridgerator for sale $75,000.697-5677 American Dog Food,Sell Off Price,33 lbs-3,000 Call:6289119 1-10 RB Dragline, 1-240 Massay Ferguson Tractor Call:687-6174 Two labour lorries from GuySuco Call:228-2095 Cheap earth delivery to spot E.C.D, E.B.D Call:627-9977, 689-0182 Clean garden earth and bobcat rental,excavating, clearing and leveling Call:616-0617,663-3285 Headrest L.C.D,Musical Instruments Bass, Acoustic Guitars, Amplifiers, Speakers, Honda Pressure Washer, Mini DV Camcorder Call:6473608,682-8195 One Sharp 21" Colour television,one year old,excellent condition Call:223-9987 New 5 Speed Drill Press,4 ton portable puller kit,energy saver bulbs Call:641-1127 Custom printed paper cups Call:231-8819,613-5645 1 BMW Car Call:623-9679 4-18 inch R.C.F Speaker with boxes,2 Solar plate,2 lowmids box,1 15000 watts generator,1 electric stove Call:623-9679 16.5 cubic feet fridgedaire refridgerator $165,000 negotiable perfect condition Call:685-5004 19 inch TV in box $50,000 2231765

We refill HP cartridges for $1800 Call: 650-7699 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer Call:2310655,683-8734 Omar HOME SERVICES FOR COMPUTER REPAIRS FROM GEORGETOWN TO LUSIGNAN IN L.B.I. CALL:220-2776,675-7292 Bodywork (Spray paint) your vehicle at an affordable cost today,fast,efficient & reliable Call Kenneth 2220811,619-4550 Blackberry unlock $2000 also PC games starting from $1500 Vickram at Cell:6527560 Cruiser transport 4x4 pick-up service + mechanic & mining for hire, anytime, anywhere, right now Call Stevev 6749547,653-6687 Repairs to gas stoves,blenders,washing machines,electric stoves Call:686-6209 Online Shopping,computer repairs,pay pal payments,internet calls, buy, sell, rent homes now, Keyhomes 223-1765,615-8734 PLUMB RIGHT..!! Get your domestic plumbing & installations and repairs done without hassle Call:668-2319

TOUR Suriname Summer Vacation Return Trip 19-22 July Call:639-2663,644-0185,6655171,227-8290 MANAUS BRAZIL, BOA VISTA BRAZIL, P A R A M A R I B O SURINAME, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO TEL:225-7775, CELL:592-668-6501,45 MAIN STREET PLAZA H O T E L , EMAIL:info@fvtoursgy.com CAR RENTAL Progressive auto rental, cars from $4,000 per day. Call: 6435122, 656-0087, www.progressiveautorental.com Al’s car pick up & canter rental Call:698-7807 Premio,110Corolla.Call:679-7139 FABS RENTAL,cars & jeeps rental Call:600-6890 or email fabsrental@yahoo.com (Continued on page 56)

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 55

The Abigail Column He doesn’t want people to think we’re dating

Dear Abigail, There is a boy who I consider to be my closest friend. Over the last three years we have spent a lot of time together and have had ups and downs in the friendship.

Recently I admitted to him that I had feelings for him, and unfortunately he didn’t feel the same. We managed to work through it and now he’s been in a relationship with a girl for a few months. I have been very supportive of his relationship and he and I are

comfortable where we are as friends. We are certainly on the same page.

What I don’t understand is why he gets uncomfortable and mad at me if people see us out in public and assume we are in a relationship. I tell him that it doesn’t matter what people think. As long as we know what we are and aren’t, that’s all that matters. He doesn’t feel that way. If someone assumes that we are dating, it really bothers him.

I care for him very much but I can’t put up with this anymore.

Good Friend

immature. My guess is that he’s freaking out because he feels guilty. If other people assume that you’re a couple, does that mean that he’s leading you on - or betraying the girl he’s actually dating?

You should talk to him about this, when you’re both relaxed and just hanging out alone.

I also want you to ask yourself a few questions when you’re nice and calm. You say that you’ve come to terms with the nature of this relationship, but are you happy? Are you capable of dating other people? Do you want to?

This doesn’t sound like a platonic friendship. I’m not sure what it is.

Dear Good Friend, He

sounds

pretty

Sunday July 15, 2012 ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) You could be misinterpreted if you're not careful. You may want to take a look at courses offered at a local institute. Get ready to discover love, passion, and the desire to enjoy all that life has to offer.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) Your leadership qualities will come in handy. You must make them stand on their own two feet regardless of how much you want to make things better for them.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) You need to look into some private matters before you can proceed with your plans. Your intellectual charm will entice mates who have common interests.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Coworkers may not be giving you all the pertinent information. Your emotions are soaring and if you don't get your way, look out world. Deception is apparent.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Be up front if you don't want to be embarrassed. Lovers will be demanding. You are best to sign your partner up for activities that will be tiring. Try to stay calm, and whatever you do, don't nag.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) You can make professional decisions today that will affect your position Home improvement projects will enhance your residence and bring the family closer together. Don't put all your cash in one place.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) Be careful not to divulge secret information today. Your partner may make you feel jealous and unloved. Do not get involved in joint financial ventures.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) Travel opportunities must be taken advantage of. Chances are you could get stuck with a colleague's job unexpectedly. Mingle with those who can help you get ahead.

SAGIT (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Do you really want to start something with someone you can't reason with? Your accomplishments could exceed your expectations if you mix a little business with pleasure.

CAPRI (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Love can be yours if you get out and about. Hassles with female colleagues may lead to problems with your boss. You should avoid getting involved in the personal problems of colleagues.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Your fun loving approach will be admired and appreciated by others. Don't expect the whole family to be overjoyed.

Get involved in activities that will be fun for the whole family.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Be extra careful with your valuables; loss and theft are evident today. You must be sure not to be frivolous, because as the saying goes, easy come, easy go.

DTV - CHANNEL 8 09:25 hrs - Sign On 09:30 hrs - Turning Point 10:00 hrs - Kickin’ It 10:30 hrs - Lab Rats 11:00 hrs - The Ultimate Spider-Man 12:00 hrs - Movie: Someone Else’s Child 14:00 hrs - Movie: Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story 16:00 hrs - Movie: Adopting Terror 18:00 hrs - Faith in Action 18:30 hrs - Know Your Bible 19:00 hrs - Greetings and Announcements 21:00 hrs - DTV’s Summer Movie Fest 23:00 hrs - Sign Off NTN - CHANNEL 18 CABLE 69 0500h - Sign on with the Mahamrtunjaya Mantra 0500h - Timehri Maha Kali Shakti Devi Mandir Presents Krishna Bhajans 0515h - Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc Presents 0530h - Queenstown Masjid Presents Quran This Morning 0600h - R. Gossai General Store Presents Krishna Bhajans 0615h - Jettoo’s Lumber Yard Presents Krishna Bhajans 0630h - Muneshwar Limited Presents Krishna Bhajans 0645h - Double Standard Taxi Presents Krishna Bhajans 0700h - Ramroop’s Furniture Store Presents Religious Teachings 0730h - The Family of The Late Leila & David Persaud Presents Krishna Bhajans 0745h - Sankar Auto Works Presents Krishna Bhajans 0805h - Sa Re Ga Ma (Musical Notes) A Live Call-In Program 0930h - DVD Movie:BACHNA AE HASEENO (Eng: Sub:) *ing Ranbir, Bipasha, Minissha & Deepika 1130h - Guyana’s Entertainers Platform 1200h - Hinduism in a changing world presented by Pt. Ravi 1230h - LET’S TALK with LAKSHMEE 1300h - DVD Movie-: JANNAT 2 (Eng: Sub:) *ing Emraan Hashmi & Esha Gupta 1500h - L’il Masters 1600h - Teaching of Islam 1630h - Lil Masters 1730h - Ganesh Parts Presents - BHAGAVAD GITA ( Dis-

courses in English) - Serial 1745h - Birthday Greetings / Death Announcement & In Memoriam 1800h - Lil Masters 1900h - Geet Gaata Chal Live with Joel 2000h - Indian Soap - Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuyien 2030h - Indian Soap - Yahaan Mein 2100h - Indian Soap - Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke 2130h - Indian Soap - Pavitra Rishta 2200h - Indian Soap - Punar Vivah 2300h - Sign Off with the GAYATRI MANTRA MTV - CHANNEL 14/65 Sign on 06:30 - Prayag Vanie 07:00 - Transpacific Bhajans 08:00 - Christ for the Nation

08:30 - Puran Brothers: Shiva Bhajans 09:00 - Muslim Melodies with Al Madina Exclusive 09:30 - Teleview Kutbah 10:00 - DJ Stress Indian Movie 13:00 - Garam Geet 14:00 - Wendy Khan and Dheeraj Show 15:00 - The Variety Show with WR Reaz 16:00 - Bollywood Sensation with Kavita 17:00 - Birthdays & Other greetings 17:15 - Death Announcements/ In memoriam 17:30 - Sitcom 18:00 - Entertainment Buzz with Shivanie 18:30 - Village talk 19:00 - A Groovy Kinda Love 19:30 - Focus on GRA 20:00 - Sangeet Mehfil 21:00 - Indian Movie: Tezz Sign Off

Guides are subjected to change without notice

Page 56

Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

Stag Beer EDFA Senior League...

(From page 54)

PROPERTY FOR SALE 1-Top flat wooden building,20"x16"x8" and land 64"x56" Kuru Kururu Soesdyke Linden Highway Price Negotiable Call:6754853 East Bank $12M,Kitty $35M,Section K $27M,Albertown $29M DIANA 227-2256,626-9382 Sheriff Street $70M, Campbellville $30M, Queenstown $130M,Robb Street $150M DANA 2272256,626-9382 One business propert, Brickery Public,East Bank Demerara Call:660-8128 1-3 bedroom house,going business spot (newly renovate), Bloomfield Public Road,Berbice Call: 690-6520, 642-0110 East Street $60M (Neg.),Albertown $31M,Kitty $26M,Northen $13M,Annadale $28M, Keyhomes 223-1765, 6158734 Quamina $45M,Sheriff $150M,Regent $300M,Camp $300M,East Coast Public Road,Keyhomes 223-1765,6158734 Prashad Nagar $65M,Bel Air Park $55M,Section K $50M,AA Eccles $75M,Continential Park $50M,Keyhomes 223-1765, 615-8734 North Road $50M,Queenstown $75M,New Market Street $45M,Church Street $80M,High Street,Keyhomes 223-1765,6158734 Prime Business spot Herauni Linden Highway $30M,Shell Road Kitty $55M,Business Property Church Street US$600,000 Steve 699-5490 Agricola 3 house 1 lot $20M,Agriculture Road $21M,Diamond $12M,Land Samantha Point $3.5M Steve 699-5490

TO LET Fully furnished short term apartments, Eccles.

Call:679-7139 Eccles $80,000, Albertown US$750,Campbellville US$1,250, Nandy Park US$1,800 Diana 227-2256, 626-9382

VEHICLES FOR SALE 2007 Toyota Ractis $2.7M,2004 Mazda RX8 $2.8M,Never Registered Call:617-2891

VACANCY Cashiers, cooks, waitress, kitchen assistant, handyman and security. Call: 218-5120

Quantum Auto. In stock Toyota Premio, Allion, Spacio, Fielders and Raums Fully loaded 624-7684, 6172378

Vacancy exist for porters, drivers, office clerks. Apply Lot 10 Vlissengen Road.

1 Enclosed canter,$1,050,000 negotiable,diesel engine 2 ton,good working condition Call:223-1599,641-5720 Toyota Hilux pick-up, solid DEF, 4X4 long base, diesel, excellent condition Call: 6230243 Unregistered 2005 Raum $2,400,000,1999 Raum $1,950,000,2005 Tacoma Isuzu Truck $2,400,000 solid Deff pickup Call:227-1737 1 Toyota Pick up V6. Call: 642-4779 Unregistered Toyota Silver Allion Call:671-7701 1 Toyota Spacio PNN Series Call: 662-5036,685-7264 1 Toyota L-Touring Wagon, good condition, mags, fully powered. Owner driven. Call: 660-4626,666-8204 Toyota Corolla NZE ,11 months old, Late P N N Series,CD Player, television, magrims. Price $2.250M Call: 618-3093 1 Spacio (Unregistered) new model,fully loaded $2.5M,1 Premio (Dark Grey) Unregistered $3M Call:6210956, 641-0795 Toyota Mark 2 PJJ Series Call Owner 644-6608 Nissan Wingroad Wagon,Toyota Runx 6122522, 645-5893 1 long base VVTI, ABS Mini bus in excellent working condition BLL 7119. Contact Tony 641-3906

Long term live in maid/ nanny, 30-45 years.

Location: Kuru Kururu Call: 656-1284 Be part of our world class customer care team.Call:2200401-3 or Email: recruitment Guyana @qualfon.com One driver salesman, must have lorry on licence Call: 220-1500,614-4626 CUSTOMER SERVICE R E P R E S E N TAT I V E CALL:225-9030 FOR MORE INFORMATION Cashier: apply at Shell Road Ramsburg Service Station, Providence East Bank Demerara. Call: 2657305 Wanted girls to work,5 CXC Grade 3 minimum Call:6422028 Wanted girls to work,must be able to run a TV show,Keyhomes 2231765,615-8734 TO LET Fully furnished 2 bedrooms apartment for short term in Linden,Internet hot & cold Call:444-4704,614-4415 Bel Air Park US$1500,Keyhomes 2231765, 615-8734 Prashad Nagar US$1500, Keyhomes 223-1765,6158734 American Home US$500 Kayhomes 223-1765,615-8734

Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 6221610 Clearance Sale!!!

Unregistered Toyota Bb (Scion).Flair kit, mags, foglights, CD,alarm, coilovers.

643-6565,226-9931 Jags’Auto,VVTI,IRZ Manual Buses,Premio,Wagon,IST Call:616-7635 1 Toyota Hilux Surf (hardly used),automatic,fully powered,alarm price $2.3M Rocky 225-1400,621-5902

VEHICLES FOR SALE 1 AT 212 Toyota Carina (New model) automatic,fully powered,A/C,alarm,mags,price $1.6M Call Rocky 621-5902,2251400 1 Mitsubishi Pajero (New m o d e l ) crystal,automatic,gully loaded, immaculate condition price $8.5M Call Rocky 621-5902,225-1400 1 Toyota RAV 4,automatic, fully powered,A/C ,CD,mags price $2.3 M Rocky 2251400,621-5902 1-AT 170 Toyota Corona (full light) automatic,fully powered,CD,mags,alarm.Price $750,000 Call Rocky 621-5902 1-Toyota RZ Longbase (EFI) hardly used,manual,immaculate condition,price $1.7M (Neg.) Call Rocky 621-5902 ,225-1400

1 Toyota Vios (PMM series) Automatic,fully powered,A/C ,mags,alarm ,price $2M Call Rocky 621-5902,225-1400

Unregistered Spacio $2.4M,Fielder $2.3M,Cami $2.3M Call:641-1127

1-F-150 Year (2002), Six cylinder engine (milage 36000), fully loaded, excellent condition. Call: 690-6520, 642-0110

Ann’s Grove & Buxton Stars draw 1-1; double header on today @ BV Competition in the Stag Beer sponsored East Demerara Football Association (EDFA) First Division League will continue today with a double header at the BV Ground, East Coast Demerara.

Victoria Kings and Golden Stars will open play at 14:00hrs with the main event featuring Plaisance and home team BV. Both BV and Victoria Kings will be seeking to increase their point’s tally having won both their opening matches last weekend. BV defeated Buxton United 2-0 while Victoria Kings were 1-0 winners over Mahaica Determinators.

In the lone game played yesterday at the same venue, Buxton Stars and Ann’s Grove battled to an exciting 1-1 draw.

Both teams came to the park offensive minded but neither was able to nail the many chances created after hitting the network once each.

Ann’s Grove it was that took the early lead when a long range shot from Nokosie Denny on the left side of goal looped over the head of the Buxton makeshift goalie Randy Phyll who had to take up duties for the first 20 minutes of the game.

The goal saw wild celebrations by Ann’s Grove but Buxton kept their focus and knew that it was early days yet. In the meantime,

LAND FOR SALE 1 ½ acre, 48ftx1300ft V/Hoop Call: 627-9351 Transported land at Soesdyke access to both river & public road Call:2615146,261-5020,675-1671 32 Acres for sale, Lot 5 Content, E.C.D, $256,000.00(USD) Call: 813319-4219 or rpooran@tampabay.rr.com Large transported prime land for sale in Central Georgetown Call:612-3556 House Lot 100x50 E.B.D Best Offer Call:611-1196 Eccles $16M,Kitty $18M,Queenstown $35M,100X50 Main Street,Kingston,Triump $ 7 M , A n n a d a l e $6M,Keyhomes 2231765,615-8734

first choice custodian Royston Nascimento took up duties between the uprights.

It did not take Buxton Stars too long to nullify the Ann’s Grove advantage and as fate would have it, it was longer, long range shot that did the trick at the opposing end of the goal.

From midway in the Ann’s Grove half also on the left side, Bako Lewis, himself was more than surprised when his lobbed pass which was intended for one of his colleagues sailed high into the air and seemed destined to clear the cross bar but dropped into the back of the nets in the 23rd minute just over the finger tips of a surprised Travis Allen, Ann’s Grove goalkeeper.

The equalizer brought back smile to the faces of the Buxton supporters and players. Neither side stepped off the throttle as the exchanges were fast and furious. Some close chances were created but neither of the teams was able to breach each other defense which meant that they had to settle for an equal share of the spoils when eth final whistle was sounded by Referee, Venton Mars.

Ann’s Grove which won their first game by walk over now move to 4 points in the standings and top of the tables, Buxton Stars increased their tally to two points having secured their second draw in as many matches.

GRFU Seven’s Inter-Club...

From page 61 from the towering grass, “We will probably get the UG ground cut and in a good condition. This ground (UG ground) seems to be our best right now because the National Park field will take quite a lot of work to get it back into a safe playing surface.” Despite not having

the appropriate goal post for the game, the President disclosed that the Union will be the taking their portable goal post at the Campus.

The League continues on Saturday as either the National Park or the University of Guyana rugby field from 3pm.

(Juanita Hooper)

RHT Pepsi and Albion...

From page 62 Phaffiana Millington.

Albion will depend heavily on their three national Under-17 players; left arm spinner Gudakesh Motie who also represented Guyana at the Under-19 level last year and two off spinning allrounders, Sharaz Ramcharran and David Latchaya.

The other noteworthy cricketer in the side will be Balchand Baldeo who

registered scores of 99 and 100 in his team’s quarter final and semi-final respectively.

Other players to watch are batsmen Tyrone Pooranauth and Devendra Latchman, wicketkeeper batsman Shivnarine Shirkissoon, legspinner Veeren Ramoo and pacer Azam Khan.

The umpires are Zaheer Moakan and Roshan Moakan with Augustus Outar as stand by. Play is scheduled to

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 57

Deon Barnwell - Former Baird should be first preference for Govt. to step Guyana Int. 1985 - 1996 for 2016 Olympics up-it isto time the plate for athletics - youngest World Cup Captain in CONCACAF The Cooperative Republic of Guyana recently achieved another milestone in the world of sports. The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) which is a 100+ years old celebrated 36 years of playing World Cup Football.

Statistician Charwayne Walker who started a series of articles to highlight Guyanese players, who would have served this nation during those years, continues with his second installment having featured Earl O’Neal (WC Player 1976-1980) in the first.

Our featured player in this installment is Deon Barnwell – Guyana International Player 1985 – 1996.

Born on the March 28, 1969, Thomas United utility maestro Deon Barnwell became the youngest man to Captain a Guyana team in a World Cup qualifier. Barnwell was 19 years one month when he led the Land of the Majestic Kaieteur Falls against Trinidad & Tobago at Camp Ayanganna, April 1988.

Although Guyana lost the match 4-0 it was the only time a 19 year-old had the distinction of wearing the captaincy arm band in a World Cup qualifier in the CONCACAF Region.

Barnwell’s first stint in national colours was at the Robbies International tournament in Toronto Canada in August 1985 at age 16 years four months. He ended the tournament as the leading goal scorer with 13 goals and the headlines in Toronto was “Little boy with a big future”.

His next International assignment was October 1985 this time with the National Under-21 team for an International Triangular series with host Suriname and French Guiana.

Guyana lost both matches, but just like in Toronto four months earlier, the 16 year-old

Barnwell was Guyana’s leading goal scorer. So it was no surprise when National Senior Coach Lennox Arthur included Barnwell in the National Under-23 squad against French Guiana’s senior National team for two friendly Internationals at Camp Ayanganna in November 1985.

In the opening encounter Barnwell became the youngest Guyanese to score in International matches, he was 16 years 8 months. His goal and another by Adrian Forde inspired Guyana to a 20 win. Barnwell was also on target in the series finale which ended 1-1.

The following year, July 1986, Barnwell featured in two friendly Internationals against Barbados at the GCC Ground, Bourda. His next outing in national colours was back in Toronto Canada, August 1986 with the National Under-19 team for the Robbies International tournament and just like he did in 1985, he was again the leading goal scorer.

His 1986 International campaign ended on a sad note with a draw and a loss to Suriname in the Caribbean Football Union Under-19 championship. Guyana suffered International Tours Canada Suriname Canada Suriname Bahamas St. Lucia Barbados Dominican Republic Guatemala Los Angeles Trinidad & Tobago Suriname Suriname Suriname Trinidad & Tobago Antigua & Barbuda St. Kitts & Nevis Suriname

a 4-0 drubbing in Paramaribo and drew 1-1 at Camp Ayanganna.

Barnwell silenced the fans in Nassau, Bahamas with a brace in January 1987 before his 18th birthday as Terrence Archer’s men started their Olympic qualifying campaign with a 3-0 victory.

Two days later still not 18 years old, he scored another double, this time against St. Lucia in Castries as the Guyanese won that International friendly 3-1; Barnwell netting his third brace of goals at the International level.

In March 1987 against Barbados at the National Stadium in Bridgetown, Guyana drew 2-2 with the host. The 18 year-old 9th senior International goal was achieved against Grenada at Mackenzie Sports Club Ground as Guyana won 3-0.

Now could FIFA or CONCACAF show which other 18 year-old had 9 senior Internationals goals.

Barnwell scored his last International goal against French Guiana at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium in Paramaribo in the Shell Caribbean Cup, 1994. He played his final International match for Guyana in 1996 against Suriname at GFC Ground at the age of 26.

1985 1985 1986 1986 1987 1987 1987 1987 1987 1987 1988 1990 1992 1992 1993 1994 1994 1996

Robbie International National Under-21 Robbie International CFU Under-19 Champ/s Olympic Qualifier International Friendly International Friendly Olympic Qualifiers Olympic Qualifiers Olympic Qualifiers World Cup Qualifier Shell Caribbean Cup Shell Caribbean Cup World Cup Qualifier Goodwill Tour Goodwill Tour Goodwill Tour Shell Caribbean Cup

Kadecia Baird

Overseas-based Kadecia Baird of Medgar Evers High School used her god given talent last Friday evening to write her name into the books of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) and also the Guyana Olympic Association after generating a splendid performance in the women’s 400 meters at the IAAF World Junior Championships (WJC) in Barcelona, Spain.

The former Royal Youth Movement (RYM) athlete, being the only one to stand on the podium for Guyana at the Championship in her pet event, separated a first-tosecond sweep from United States of America, Ashley

Spencer (first) and Erika Rucker (third) in a time of 51.04 seconds.

Baird performance from the Games allowed her to not only break her personal best, which was set a month ago, but also permits her to have the new Central American and Caribbean Junior Record, a record for Guyana.

The record was held by Onica Fraser in a time of 54.38 seconds.

Baird better known as the ‘Closer’, a rising senior athlete at her school, she is the first on the list when it comes to selection for teams especially the 2016 Olympic Games, however there may be a possibility that the long

legged athlete might not be representing the country of her birth because she is expected to accept US citizenship by then and can try out for her adopted country.

Proving that she has what it takes after first qualifying with Olympic 400 meters standard B time a month ago and now improving from the B standard to the A standard (51.55 seconds), the athlete will not be able to take the golden opportunity as Aliann Pompey, a three-time Olympian, who qualified a year ago (July) with 51.66 seconds.

Pompey lately ran a time of 52.10 seconds at the U.S Club Championships in Omaha. She has already indicated that she will not go to the Olympics this year and Pompey is already our representative in London.

Baird did not only book her name in Guyana records but also in the United States records, which is now the fifth-fastest time in U.S. high school history. Her 51.04 seconds is also ranked the second fastest junior time in the World.

Having the fastest US 400 meters time for the year, registering a time of 52.14 at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina on June 16, she added the new PB to her event.

Below are the honours of the 17 years old athlete, Kadecia Baird:

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Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

Windies take series despite Taylor’s ton West Indies sealed their first ODI series win over Testplaying opposition other than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh since April 2008, barely overcoming a heroic century from Ross Taylor, coming back after missing four matches due to a shoulder injury.

Taylor was up against too many opponents yesterday an offspinner who went at two runs an over, a fiery quick who bowled at close to 150 kph, and his own batsmen, only one of whom managed a strike-rate of more than 60.

Still, Taylor kept slogging sixes over the leg side to bring the equation down to 50 runs required off the last seven overs. Sunil Narine bowled three of those overs for two, four and three runs.

New Zealand were also denied a no-ball, and a freehit, in Narine’s last over. Taylor holed out in the next over, the penultimate. Game over.

Taylor had arrived in the eighth over when New Zealand’s other big hope, Brendon McCullum, playing his first competitive game since the IPL, had pulled Andre Russell to short midwicket for 10 off 18.

Taylor ’s response was consecutive fours - a trademark cut past point and a firm push past mid-off.

Three overs later, Rob Nicol, who had swung his way to 35 off 32, swung Darren Sammy to deep midwicket. Taylor’s response was to walk into an extra cover drive for four.

Kane Williamson was again a mess against Narine, and New Zealand were reduced to 75 for 4. Then followed the highest partnership of New Zealand’s innings, 71 for the fifth wicket between Taylor and Tom Latham, who trudged to 32 off 62, and further increased the pressure on his captain. The stand ate up 20 overs, dot

balls making up more than 11 of them, as Narine, Sammy and Marlon Samuels proved difficult to get away.

Nathan McCullum and Jacob Oram carried on in Latham’s vein, but Taylor found a way again, slogging Marlon Samuels and Russell for consecutive sixes each.

But even Taylor could not do anything about Narine, whose figures of 10-1-20-2 told everything. The maiden he bowled was to Taylor.

With 28 needed off 11, Taylor miscued Tino Best to point, and handed the series 3-1 to West Indies with a game to go.

It was the second time West Indies had recovered yesterday. The first time, their batting was again put to the test, first by Sammy’s decision to bat under overcast skies and on a pitch freshened up by rain, and then by Chris Gayle’s early dismissal. And again, they were left struggling, till the

batting Powerplay, against a New Zealand attack bowling with refreshing intent for the second game running. But their depth bailed them out from 20 for 3 with Kieron Pollard’s mature half-century, also his slowest in ODIs, leading the recovery.

Till Pollard and Devon Thomas - playing only because Denesh Ramdin had to get married - took 53 runs off the batting Powerplay, West Indies had limped to 129 for 5 in 35 overs. But the Powerplay shifted the momentum, and West Indies carted the last 15 overs for 135.

In the third ODI, Pollard had come in at 52 for 4 and soon left West Indies in a bigger hole at 85 for 6. Today, he came in at 59 for 4 and carried them past 200.

Till he hit his first boundary, Pollard had made 14 off 41. He quadrupled his score off the next 29.

It didn’t matter where New Zealand bowled. Pollard

kept swatting them on the leg side. He even dragged a Tim Southee full toss from way outside off stump in front of square leg.

Thomas overcame his own struggle to play a neat supporting knock before both he and Pollard fell after taking West Indies towards 200. Andre Russell and Darren Sammy ensured they got well over the 250-mark, with several powerful blows at the death.

Anything above even 200 was looking highly improbable at 20 for 3. The pitch and conditions were helpful, and New Zealand’s four seamers exploited them skilfully, troubling the batsmen with swing, seam, bounce and nip. The fact that most of the West Indies batsmen like to bat in only two gears, top or neutral, helped New Zealand.

Southee, who had removed Gayle in the third ODI as well, did the job again, striking Gayle in front with his

first ball.

Samuels showed how it was to be done on this track, getting surprised several times by Oram’s sharp bounce but surviving with soft hands. He chose the right deliveries to attack and placed them well. However, on 46, he was trapped in front by a skiddy Nathan McCullum delivery to leave West Indies on 105 for 5.

Given the state of the innings, West Indies needed the remaining batsmen to follow Samuels’ approach, with the pitch easing out.

Pollard was the unlikeliest to do so, but he did. He also left New Zealand requiring the highest successful chase on this ground if they were to level the series; despite Taylor’s heroics, they fell short.

Scores: West Indies 264 (Pollard 56, Samuels 46, Oram 3-42, Southee 3-53) beat New Zealand 240 (Taylor 110, Best 4-46) by 24 runs.

GASA Goodwill Time Trails...

A number of swimmers make times The Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) will run off the final day, today of trials for the 2012 edition of the Regional Goodwill Swimming Championships. Warm-up time is 10:00hrs at the National Aquatic Centre and the events scheduled for today are the 100m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke.

Following are the results of day-two events along with the athlete’s time, the corresponding attained qualifying time and the variation from the actual respective qualifying times in the final brackets.

Qualifiers Accalia Khan - Girls 1112 50m Back - 40.12 - C Time (B time - 39.08) Dylan Nurse - Boys 1112 50m Back - 39.91 - B Time (A time - 37.58) Kevin Dare - (Linden) Boys 11-12 50m Back - 41.69 C Time (B time - 41.34) Onika George - Girls 13 14 50m Back - 37.41 - C Time (B Time - 37.21) Joseph Seguina - Boys 15 - 17 50m Back - 34.44 - C Time (B time - 34.05) Britany van Lange - Girls 15 - 17 100m Free - 1:03.68 - A Time (A time - 1:04.65) Onika George - Girls 13 14 50m. Butterfly - 35.88 - B time (B time - 36.16) Jamila Sanmoogan - Girls 13 -14 50mButterfly - 37.63 - C time (B time - 36.16) Britany van lange - Girls 15 - 17 50m Butterfly - 35.49 -

Accalia Khan

Joseph Seguina

Britany van Lange

Dylan Nurse

B Time (B time - 36.29) Joseph Seguina - Boys 15 - 17 50m Butterfly - 30.99 - B time (B time - 31.34) Omali Dare - (Linden) Boys 15 - 17 50m Butterfly 32.48 - C Times (C time - 32.48) The following Age Group performers including nonqualifiers also performed well on the day.

Girls - 8 and Under Donna Carter & Naomi King; 9-10 - Sarah King; 11-12.

Boys - 8 and Under - Leon Seaton; 9-10 - Nkosi Beaton; 13-14 - Shane Pulmeyere (Region 1) and Omar Adams.

According to a GASA

release, Shane Pulmeyere’s performance in the 50m Backstroke was a convincing win and that proved quite a rival for the Georgetown athletes.

Qualifiers from Day One Girls 15-17 200 SC Meter Freestyle – Britany van Lange 2:19.49 - Goodwill A time Boys 13-14 100 SC Meter Butterfly – Hannibal Gaskin 1:07.62 Goodwill B Time Boys 15-17 100 SC Meter Butterfly – Joseph Seguina 1:08.58 - Goodwill C Time Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Breaststroke – Omari Dunn 38.27 - Goodwill C Time

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

NLSC Inter-Corporation Dominoes Comp.

Page 59

Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition...

Registration closes July Best two teams set for riveting final showdown today 20; action starts July 27 The Next Level Sports Club (NLSC) fourth annual Inter Corporation Dominoes competition is set to get underway on July 27 at the Banks DIH Sports Club, Thirst Park and the best sides in the country are expected to go head to head as they battle for supremacy, including defending champions, F&H Printing Establishment.

The last competition attracted 55-Teams and the organisers are aiming to better that amount this time around.

Registration which closes on July 20, 2012 and will cost each team $9,000, $2,000 of which will go towards three charitable entities, can be done via the organisers by calling telephone 223-6500, 697-2929 or 629-8128. As an added incentive, the first thirty (30) teams to register will receive a gift.

Ministries and Corporations are invited to field up to three (3) teams of no more than nine (9) players per team for this event. Only workers from the respective Ministries, Corporations and business entities will be allowed to compete. NLSC has stated in pellucid language that ‘Absolutely no guest players’ will be allowed.

The tournament will be played on a two in one out basis under the rules of the Guyana Dominoes Association (GDA); the first prize is sponsored by beverage giant, Banks DIH

Limited under the R1 Vodka brand.

Since the launch of the competition a number of other companies have stepped forward with sponsorship, among them are TNT Domino Team, which has sponsored the 2nd prize money and trophy, while Digicel (Guyana) has committed Trophies and medals for third, fourth and fifth placed teams.

Steve’s Jewellery of Church Street will be responsible for one gold chain that will be presented to the Most Valuable Player. Nigel’s Supermarket, on board from the beginning of the tournament, has committed to one hamper for the recipient of the first double love in the tourney.

Other sponsors include Kings Jewellery World, H. Persaud Grocery, Giftland Office Max, Guyana Lottery Company, M. Beepat & Sons, HJTV, Bovell Construction, H.B Curtis & Associates, East End Taxi Service, Reginald Benn, Godfrey Rollins, F&H Printing Establishment, Patterson & Patterson Associates, Jiffi Lubes, Supremacy Trading & Investment Services, Universal Janitorial Services, White Castle Fish Shop, Health Sector Development Unit, Citizens Bank Guyana Ltd, Samuel Humphrey’s Investments and Humphreys Bakery & Farm Products.

Prizes for this competition will amount to approximately $750,000.

Entries close today for Norman Singh, Digicel $11M horse race meet Entries close today for the Norman Singh Memorial Turf Club, Digicel one day horserace meet set for Sunday July 22 at the club’s track, Bel Air, No 6, West Coast, Berbice.

Eight races are slated for the days programme with $11M in cash and trophies up for grabs. So far most of the top horses in the country have taken entry for what is expected to be an action packed day of races.

The feature event is for B class horses over 1700M. The winner will gallop away with a first prize of $2M, with the top five finishers collecting decent rewards. The second place finisher will gallop away with $1M. The top Guyana and West Indies Bred three years old horses in the country are expected to be in action as they battle for $1M also over 1700M. The three year old event for Guyana Bred horses has $400,000 for the winner over 1400M. The E Class event also has a tantalizing first prize of $700,000 with the distance set at 1200M. In the two year old West Indies Bred race, the animals will compete for a first prize of $600,000 and will be run over a distance of 1000M. The Guyana Bred Two year old Horses will run for a winner’s money of $400,000 over 1000M. The other races listed for the day’s programme are the

I1 and Lower 1200M race with $250,000 going to the winner.

The final race for the day will be for unclassified Division 1,2&3 animals and will see them racing over 1200M with the winner taking away the $200,000 first prize.

Among some of the racehorses already entered are: California Strike, The Trip on me, Dark and Lovely, The Message, Jest Set Go, Grande Roja, Who so ever, Score’s even, Marathon Man, Zelick, Settle in Seattle, Storm in a tea cup, Serenity, Happy Choice, Rock Sonia, Silent Lizzy, Watch my Shadow and Rosetta, while the E class event features Fairy Landing, Majestic, Got to go, Appealing Harvest, Top of the line, Technology, Traditional man and Bridle Stone Corner.

Races will start on time as scheduled on the programme and all horses must be in the observation paddock 15 minutes before the start or they will be disqualified.

Owners of 2 year old horses must provide their certificate of Registration or Breeders Stud Certificate at the time of entry or on race day according to the rules governing the meet.

All the winners will be presented with trophies compliments of the sponsors.

There will also be rewards for the outstanding individual performers which will include top jockey, trainer, stable and horse compliments of Ramesh

Sunich of the Trophy Stall, Bourda Market, Digicel and the organisers.

The race meet will be run under the auspices of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority and those interested in entering their animals can do so by contacting Secretary Gansham ‘Ganesh’ Singh on Telephone 649-3636, 2320219 or organizing Secretary Campton Sancho on 690-0569 or at the Club’s office at No 6 Bel Air West Coast Berbice.

Horse owners are also reminded to get their horses properly registered with the Guyana Horse Racing Authority, as those horses not properly registered will not be allowed to participate in the day’s proceedings. Race time is 12:30hrs.

By Rawle Welch There is no doubt that the two best teams in this year’s Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition have made it to the championship round and judging from their semi-final performances and those that preceded Friday’s action, fans, scouts and even the ones who were constructively critical of all the negative developments that took place during the tournament are invited to witness what is anticipated to be a riveting contest between Christianburg of Linden and Waramadong of Region 7 today, at the Police Sports club ground, Eve Leary.

The two teams met at the semi-final stage last year and Christianburg came out victors, but since then they’ve lost two key players in Clarence Huggins and Trenton Lashley, both missing due to age ineligibility, while Waramadong though missing a few players from last year have looked much stronger now.

Their much improved performances seems to have been owed mainly to the increased experience of their mid-field maestro McCurd Crammer, a beneficiary of the Digicel Kick Start Programme under the guidance of England international John Barnes, while Cirilo George, Kenzy George, Myles Albert and Armon Fredericks have all looked dangerous in attack coupled with the relatively secure hands of goalkeeper Gerald Isaacs.

Christianburg despite playing their last two matches in undesirable conditions due to the inclement weather have still managed to display glimpses of their class and

- Bygeval, St. Ignatius battle for third place everyone is thinking that given suitable conditions they could hold their own against any opponent in the competition and providing the rain subsides and the pitch is well prepared, football fans will be in for a treat from the Mining Town lads.

They have shown no weakness in any area, their big central defender Travin Byden has stood up manfully to all the challenges that have come their way and is also regarded as a potent force in the corners and set pieces with his superior jumping ability, while the prolific Marmalique Davidson, Alan Halley, Yannick Simon and Ezra Ashby are all skilful players and deadly inside the box.

Christianburg holds the psychological edge, having beaten them previously, but Waramadong, a team that travels with a large band of vociferous supporters must be confident following their commanding performances in their last two games.

It sets up nicely for a interesting game that pits the future stars of Guyana on one pitch and is therefore a must see.

The third place playoff between Bygeval and St. Ignatius once again highlights a team from the

coastland versus another from the hinterland thereby emphasizing the strength of the teams those areas.

Bygeval were clearly outclassed in their semi-final matchup against Waramadong and it is left to be seen whether or not they’ve recovered from that licking, while St. Ignatius, though, understandably they might be disappointed by the close defeat against Christianburg will no doubt be looking to end the tournament on a high and reemphasize to all and sundry the need to look seriously into the hinterland areas when arriving at a national selection.

The tournament despite the hiccups is an overwhelming success and kudos must be in place to Digicel for displaying the intestinal fortitude to invest such a large sum of money, something that no other entity has shown the willingness to do, to showcase the rich talent that exist at the junior level.

This year marks the second in the tournament’s history and when it climaxes today and a careful review is done, there is no doubt that next year will be bigger and better.

Kick-off time is 16:00 hrs.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

Cheeks tops ASKG medal count at recent IKD World Cup Kristina Cheeks of the Association Do Shotokan of Guyana (ASKG) is the top medal winner from her Dojo’s entry at the 2012 International Karate Daigaku (IKD) World Cup held in Toronto, Canada on July 8th-9th.

Kristina medaled in all five of her age group events, obtaining gold in Team Enbu, Team Kata Bunkai and Individual Kata. Silver medals were won in Team Kata and Individual Kumite.

Also winning multiple medals were Leah Shariff with 5, Alexander Cheeks with 5, Christy Dey with 4, Samuel Ming with 3, Tariq Dundas with 3, Shaqueille Agard with 3, Theresa Sampat with two, Patrick Cheeks with two, Roger Peroune with 2 and Prince Alguedowan with 2.

Nathalie Gibson got gold in Adult 20-39 Kumite while Jason Jerrick got bronze in Adult 20-39 Team Kata Bunkai.

The tournament, which was the first World Cup held by the newly formed IKD, attracted over two hundred participants from ten countries including sport power houses Jamaica, USA and host country Canada.

The opening ceremony, on day 1, preceded the Team Enbu, Team Kata Bunkai and Team Kata which set the pace for the Individual Kata age group events.

Competition was expectedly high and close with separation by tenths of a point in some instances. The system used the flag system for the elimination rounds down to eight finalists. In the

Officials and members of the Association Do Shotokan of Guyana take time out for a photo following their successful showing at the games.

event of ties, rematches were done to decide who went forward to the next round.

Seven judges were then used, for the final, in a points system. The highest and lowest scores were ignored and the remaining five tallied.

In the Boy’s 18-19 Individual event, Lisandro Aldana of Venezuela won gold with 37.1 points to edge out Samuel Ming on 37.0 points with Eric Hing (Guyana Karate College) third with 36.9 points.

Nathalie Gibson was unfortunate when she lost out in a rematch in the 20-39 Individual Kata semi-final.

Cheeks, Dey and Shariff were outstanding as a team and barely lost out on the teams gold sweep when they finished second to Canada in the 14-19 Team Kata event.

Shane Rahaman confirmed his Kata class with a repeat of the gold he won in Panam 2010. Ming also moved up and took part with Patrick Cheeks and Roger Peroune in the elite Adult 20-39 Team Kata event and got the bronze also by a 0.1 point margin from silver medalists, Barbados. Canada won the gold.

Kumite events were then completed on day two.

Nathalie Gibson was the lone

gold medalist in the elite 2039 Individual Kumite event.

Gibson showed superb attacking speed and that combined with solid defence and counterattacks took her to the gold medal.

Samuel Ming, Kristina Cheeks and Theresa Sampat lost in the finals and had to settle for silver, while Leah Shariff got a bronze.

Christy Dey was unfortunate to be disqualified for opponent contact in the first round of her Individual Kumite event. Shane Rahaman also lost 1/0 in the first round when the ring referee did not register his signaled scoring point and time ran out. Patrick Cheeks,

Roger Peroune and Jason Jerrick showed great determination in the elite Individual Kumite event and Cheeks got through to the third round before he was eliminated. His second round match was tough when his opponent decided to brawl but Cheeks kept his composure for the win.

The full results are: 8-13 Male Team Enbu (Group A) - Alexander Cheeks, Tariq Dundas, Shaqueille Agard – Silver 8-13 Male Team Kata Bunkai (Group B) - Cheeks, Tariq Dundas, Shaqueille Agard – Gold 14-19 Female Team Enbu Kristina Cheeks, Christy Dey,

Leah Shariff – Gold 14-19 Female Team Kata Bunkai - Kristina Cheeks, Christy Dey, Leah Shariff – Gold 20-39 Male Team Kata Bunkai - Patrick Cheeks, Roger Peroune, Jason Jerrick – Bronze 8-13 Male Team Kata (Group A) - Alexander Cheeks, Tariq Dundas, Shaqueille Agard – Silver 14-19 Female Team Kata Kristina Cheeks, Christy Dey, Leah Shariff – Silver 20-39 Male Team Kata Samuel Ming, Patrick Cheeks, Roger Peroune – Bronze 10-11 Female Individual Kata - Theresa Sampat – Silver 12-13 Female Individual Kata – Leah Shariff – Silver 12-13 Male Individual Kata - Alexander Cheeks – Bronze 14-15 Female Individual Kata – Christy Dey – Bronze 16-17 Female Individual Kata - Kristina Cheeks – Gold 16-17 Male Individual Kata - Shane Rahaman – Gold 18-19 Male Individual Kata – Samuel Ming – Silver 10-11 Female Individual Kumite - Theresa Sampat – Silver 12-13 Female Individual Kumite – Leah Shariff – Bronze 12-13 Male Individual Kumite- Alexander Cheeks – Silver 16-17 Female Individual Kumite- Kristina Cheeks – Silver 18-19 Male Individual Kumite – Samuel Ming – Silver 20-39 Female Individual Kumite – Nathalie Gibson Gold

Edghill stumbles at Latin American Championships Guyana’s leading female junior table tennis player, Chelsea Edghill was unfortunate to not end up in the Round-of-16 at the Latin American Cadet and Junior Table Tennis Championships in Mexico when she secured the lowest aggregate in her group.

Edghill defeated Mexican, Maria Espinosa but lost to Brazilian, Tathiane Pimentel with Espinosa beating Pimentel. Hence, the three players, Edghill, Espinosa and Pimentel ended up in a three-way tie with a win/loss ratio deciding the qualifiers for the Round-of-16.

Pimental was the number one seeded player in the group. Only two players from the group went through to the Round-of-16.

“According to my calculation, she (Edghill) should be second, so I am appealing right now,” Edghill’s Coach, Idi Lewis, who is in Mexico said briefly yesterday.

Players from Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Honduras, Guatemala and Puerto Rico competed in the event.

Edghill also qualified for the Latin American Cup based on her silver medal performance at the Caribbean Junior and Cadets

Chelsea Edghill

Championships. She would be participating in the Latin Cup and an ITTF junior circuit event involving players from all over the world.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 61

‘Friends of Former Guyana Cricketers’ honours past cricketer, Andrew Lyght

GRFU Seven’s Inter Club League postponed until next week - possibility of play at the University of Guyana ground

Andrew Lyght (jnr) accepts a plaque from a representative of the sponsors in the presence of other cricketers and administrators. The prizes for the respective categories are displayed on the table Cricket fans experienced a unique moment of nostalgia when a group of past cricketers, dubbed ‘Friends of Former Guyana Cricketers,’ residing in the United States of America, challenged a contemporary squad from the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) at their Lance Gibbs Street club, to a 12 overs a side match in commemoration of late cricket star, Andrew Lyght, yesterday afternoon.

Early morning showers almost forced the abortion of the match but the sun fought its way through the dark clouds and eventually prevailed. Despite this, the initial 40 overs encounter was slashed almost by half to facilitate the event.

‘Friends of Former Guyana Cricketers’ took first strike

and on the back of sterling knocks by Faoud Bacchus (28), Dereck Kallicharran (24) and Andrew Lyght (jnr), who scored 26, compiled 108-6.

In reply, the DCC squad, led by Chris Barnwell, lashed 115-3 in 9.5 overs to take the honours.

Jamal Hinckson top scored with a swashbuckling 45 with support from Derwin Christian who struck an unbeaten 29. Hinckson was eventually adjudged man of the match while Lyght received a special trophy for his bowling prowess.

He was later presented with a pair of batting gloves and a bat while Mr. Kallicharran handed over a monetary donation on behalf of the overseas group.

Meanwhile, former captain

of the West Indies Cricket team, Clive Lloyd graced the occasion with his presence and referred to the late cricketer as a ‘leading Lyght.’

“The Super Cat” as Lloyd was fondly called, also reminisced on the glory days of West Indies cricket and of Lyght’s contribution to the sport.

Several other colleagues of the late cricketer also spoke glowingly of his contribution including former West Indies spin bowler, Roger Harper while President of the entity that sponsored the tournament, Rockaway Auto Sales, Hafeez Ali, presented a plaque to the administrators of the club in commemoration of the late cricketer’s contribution to the sport at that institution.

Several cricket stars of

yesteryear graced the event and included Derrick Kallicharran, William White, Ray Joseph, Ramcharitar and Tyrone Etwaroo, former Guyana & WI U19 player, Eon Grant, former Guyana U19 player, Godfrey Edwards and Safraz Ally.

Other past stalwarts also included Victor Benjamin, Hafeez Ali, Lyle Wilson, Nigel Harper, Jerry Persaud, Saheed Mohammed, Selwyn Smith, Wazir Khan and Jai Sharma.

The overseas players will once again be in action when they tackle an over 40 team from the Everest Cricket Club in a 20/20 affair at their Eve Leary sward this morning.

The competition is the inaugural of what the organizers hope to be a yearly feature.

Pepsi Hornets female team and Yamaha Caribs male team would have been up for the challenge of the day yesterday afternoon if play was permitted in the Guyana Rugby Football Union InterClub Seven’s League which was postponed by the inclement weather which caused various playing venues including the National Park rugby field to be water logged.

Both teams last week came out on top of the first round on the League after playing several robin round matches to come out victorious against their opponents.

The female team, Pepsi Hornets which currently stands on top of the League made a crucial rebound to claim the first round with a total of 26 points while the male team, Yamaha Caribs took advantage of the field with their powerful attacks, gaining more ball possessions than the other teams to registers their tries and with successful conversions to conclude with 43 points.

Kaieteur Sport speaking with the President of Union, John Lewis, was made to understand that the Union was permitted usage of other grounds, which included the University of Guyana field (rugby) to continue the

League yesterday but on visiting the venues postponed the games as all of the fields visited during the day were in deplorable states, “We had hoped to continue today as the League started last Saturday in the National Park. Unfortunately the weather during the week and the grass on the field made it unplayable for competitive matches.”

The President, who stated that they tried to acquire other playing venues, hopes that good weather prevails during the week to allow play for the League, “We visited the ACDA ground across from the National Park but that also was waterlogged to an extent,” he said.

Lewis added that the Referees were in doubt of the ACDA, a ground which United Alpha Football Club conducts daily training sessions on since the land was once a dumping site. “The referees were not sure of whether the ground was safe.

It is a ground that was built on a dumping site and they were not sure what can be coming out of the soil.”

Lewis further stated that the next matches for the League will more than likely be played at the UG ground, given that the field is slashed (Continued on page 56)

Page 62

Kaieteur News

Sunday July 15, 2012

NCBL finalists to be decided tonight

By Edison Jefford With all the usual big contenders of the Inter-Ward Basketball Competition eliminated from the now rebranded National Community Basketball League (NCBL) and with the emergence of new forces in the sport locally, tonight is set to produce pulsating basketball from 7pm at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

McDoom/Diamond and Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust are the only two remaining teams from Region Four still in the competition. Plaisance/ Vryheid’s Lust will play Wismar in one of the semifinal. The opposition for McDoom/Diamond was decided last night when Kwakwani faced the Central Mackenzie ‘Dream Team’ in a quarterfinal game in Linden.

Plaisance will hope that Ryan Gullen continues his form from the International Weekend where he represented Guyana against the Washington D.C Jammers. Gullen, who was known to play in the power forward position, had a guard/forward role on the national team.

Gullen was deadly from three-point range against the Jammers. In addition, he knocked down 15 foot jumpers with super tall players in his face. The

Ryan Gullen Ravens Basketball Club forward played huge minutes for Guyana and will have a similar role to play tonight.

If his form continues, Wismar will struggle to defend Gullen with his insideout game that made him a firm fixture on the national team.

Fortunately for Plaisance, their Coach, Andrew Hercules was also on the coaching staff for the national team.

Hercules would have also seen his shooting guard, Steffan Gillis on the national team. Gillis will be a major part of Plaisance’s offence tonight. His sharp-shooting was on point against Jammers. It will be an asset for his still developing Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust team.

Veteran guard, Enoch Mathews has been consistent for Plaisance with

Stephan Gillis

Quincy Jones

Permaul to lead WICB President’s XI against New Zealand St. John’s, Antigua – The Selection Committee of the West Indies Cricket Board yesterday announced a 12member WICB President’s XI squad for the three-day, tour match against New Zealand, starting this coming Friday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

The squad will be led by Guyana’s Veersammy Permaul and also features Guyanese Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine and Assad Fudadin.

Darren Bravo has still not

fully recovered from the groin injury that sidelined him on the recent tour of England and was not considered.

Squad Veerasammy Permaul (captain) Adrian Barath Shivnarine Chanderpaul Narsingh Deonarine Kirk Edwards Assad Fudadin Delorn Johnson Kevin McClean Kieron Powell Kemar Roach Shane Shillingford Devon Thomas

Memorex/Leslie Amsterdam Mem. U-17 final...

Chris Williams

Travis Burnett

their emerging guard, Ron Campbell having a major role to play as well. These were the four players who led Plaisance to a place in the semi-final. Against Wismar, they will need more support.

This is the one area where Plaisance seem to be vulnerable the most. They do not possess enough depth in the face of their biggest challenge of the tournament.

Wismar knows their basketball and will be hoping to shut down the ‘Big Three’ for Plaisance tonight.

Quincy ‘Prag-Z’ Jones is a usual handful in the paint.

He does the dirty work for Wismar and is a tough player to defend. He gets inside and usually forces the opposition to foul, which creates the offensive advantage for his

team. Jones will get sufficient support.

Forward, Trevor Profitt has been around time immemorial and is vastly experience. Wismar will need him and their other senior player, guard, Nevin Grenville to guide them against a very good Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust team. To support them, Wismar has integrated guard, Marlon Pollydore and shooting guard, Chris Williams to senior roles in the team.

The game is expected to be a good contest between two good teams. The Travis Burnett-led McDoom/ Diamond against either Kwakwani or Central Mackenzie will be another contest to watch as the NCBL provides a night of entertaining basketball.

RHT Pepsi and Albion to battle on Tuesday & Wednesday at Albion After being delayed for months due to the consistent bad weather in the Ancient County, the Berbice Cricket Board has decided to set the final of the Memorex Enterprise sponsored Leslie Amsterdam Memorial Under17 cricket competition for next Tuesday and Wednesday at the Albion Community Centre Ground which is top condition despite the rain.

Battling for championship will be the two top Berbice teams, Rose Hall Town Pepsi and Albion Community Centre.

Both sides will be at full strength with their national players now available after

returning home following duties for Guyana in the recent Regional Under-17 tournament in Tobago.

Defending champions Rose Hall Town will be spearheaded by their national all-rounders Shailendra Shameer and Arif Chan both bowling off spin, they will be backed up by some of their colleagues with Under-15 Inter County experience in off-spinner Daniel Lewis allrounders Viendra Gooniah, Devin Baldeo and wicketkeeper batsman Nicholas Cameron. Also donning the uniform will be Berbice female off-spinner (Continued on page 56)

Ryan Crawford Turf Club and Sports Facility says thank you.

The Management Committee of the Ryan Crawford Memorial Turf Club & Sports Facilities at Alness Corentyne has taken the opportunity to extend heartfelt thanks to all the sponsors and the various media houses in Guyana who contributed in making their one day Caricom Horserace meet held on Monday July 1st at the Clubs Entity Alness Corentyne Berbice a success.

Among them are Banks D.I.H Limited, Attorney at Law Rajendra Poonai and Bish Panday of the P & P Syndicate, Delmur Company Ltd, Dequan Shipping & Trading Incorporated, P&P Insurance Brokers, Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI), Digicel, Attorney at Law Abiola Wong, Caricom General Insurance, Ramesh

Sunich of the Trophy Stall Bourda market, Two Brothers Gas station, Berkley’s Mining, Mohammed Rahim, the Elcock Family, Ryan and Julio Perreira, Desmond Sears and Company, Chandra Poonai, Dr Dwight Walrodn, Bobby Misir, Henry Green, Bobby Vaughn, Mrs R Poonai, Aubrey Elcock and Family of the U.S.A, the Tickaram Family of the U.S.A, Roopnauth Sewsankar of the U.S.A, the Suknandan Family of the U.S.A and Sunil Tickaram of the U.S.A, Francis “Chico” Chichester & Friends, Noressa Saul, Zinzy Goring, Loressa Mohabir, Nirmala Samaroo, workers o f T h e Ry a n C r a w f o r d Memorial Turf Club and Sports facilities, among others and the various media houses.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 63

t r o Sp

Windies take series despite Taylor’s ton P. 58

Keiron Pollard pulls Jacob Oram uring his innings.

Ross Taylor celebrates his hundred.

Best and Sammy Celebrate Winning the Digicel ODI Series.

Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition...

Best two teams set for riveting final - Bygeval, St. Ignatius showdown today battle for third place P. 59

Could the Police Sports Club be transformed into what was seen in Kamarang recently, the overwhelming support for the team from Region 7?

(from left)- Alan Halley, Travin Blyden and Yannick Simon, three key players that Christianburg will be depending on to take them to victory and the title.

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