Kaieteur News

Monday Edition

Online readership yesterday 96,033

June 16, 2014 - Vol. 6 No. 24

Price $80

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Businesswoman’s body found with hands and feet bound The perfect Father’s Day gift - a first time father shares his joy

Andrew Goodridge is overjoyed at becoming a father for the first time.

Govt., Opposition still trading blame as FATF review looms ...Granger believes executive readying for an election

Govt. ignoring Motion to bring NICIL under parliamentary scrutiny - APNU

Policeman accused of raping female colleague Driver abandons car after killing security guard in hit and run accident - later surrenders with lawyer

Monday June 16, 2014

Kaieteur News

Page 5

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

Defend our faiths with gentleness and reverence DEAR EDITOR, I humbly submit a response to the Swami Aksharananda letter dated 19th - 20th May, 2014 with reference to the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG) press release on the violence between the indigenous Bodo tribe and the Muslims of Bangladesh in which 30 persons including women and children were killed; and the second entitled “CIOG denounces kidnapping in Nigeria”.

What should be stated is that communal violence has been going on for a long time in India and there have never been any “ramifications” in Guyana.

However, Sawmi has one question: “We are further told that such terrorists that make up Boko Haram are not true Muslims and that they misinterpret Islam when they claim that their actions are consistent with Islamic teachings. My only question is that how can a religion be so uniquely, consistently and universally misunderstood by millions of its own followers stretching from Indonesia to Morocco, including America and Europe?”

Dear Swami, questions, like words, can be used as ammunition. Questions are not deserving of satisfactory answers simply because they are asked. Not even God can answer your question, hmmm...

Here in Guyana, dear Swami, I know of Pandits who differ; I am sure you are aware of that. So the same question

applies: How can Hinduism be misunderstood by its adherents? But it’s not about tit for tat.

Seeing toxic stuff like this should make our hearts sink further. Further than we knew was even possible; especially when we see “religious” persons engaging in verbal carnage.

Seeing such stuff should bring despair to our minds and a bad taste to our mouths. When we allow ourselves to cling more to dissent than to God, when we cherish words of death more than words of life, when we spend more time complaining about what is wrong than putting energy into being the good, this is exactly the “devil worship” experience we recreate—and there are always voices willing to shout their support. Muslim for Muslim, blindly. Hindu for Hindu, blindly; and Christians for Christians, blindly.

In many circles religion has become synonymous with negativity. To both it must be said that in nature there is fundamental unity running through all the diversity we see about us.

Religions are given to mankind so as to accelerate the process of realization of fundamental unity. Therefore both sides should sit at the table and like civilized humans deal with social justice issues here in Guyana (housing for the poor and medical services and empowerment through education) which definitely would have ramifications for poor people and the world at large.

Corruption benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor.

Say no to it.

And stop using language as scud missiles for this leads AWAY from the God you all think you serve.

In his sermon “The Weight of Glory,” C.S. Lewis took note of a subtle shift in the language of his day, which he felt was the first detour in a road leading far away from God. Writes Lewis, “If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, they would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philosophical importance.”

He goes on to explain the ideologies that grow out of subtle shifts of language.

The positive answer requires a perspective that looks outward at others.

Those who are the recipients of the virtue or else the one from whom this virtue arises in the first place. Whereas the negative virtue shows that our concern is primarily with ourselves.

Our own self-denial and hence the “appearance” of good virtue. To put this in terms for the subject at hand: Religious Scriptures has lots to say about what is wrong with the world. But thankfully, this is never the end. And of course, they have a lot to say about complaining.

It is very true that we live in a world that is full of philosophical pitfalls, bad

behavior, and wrong theology with which we could rightfully see fault. But so it is very true that we live in a world full of the glory and action of God. So why are we at times more excited to see fault than to see faith?

Why are we so quick to complain and so lamentably slow at showing the world our reason to be more fully alive and authentically graceful?

The same God who tells us to defend our faith tells us to do so with gentleness and reverence. The same scripture that bids us to do all things “without complaining and arguing” instructs us to do so because it is by our “holding fast to the word of life” that we demonstrate we are truly holding onto a different message than that of a crooked and perverse generation.

In the congregational worship services we create with our words and actions, with the things we do and the things we leave undone, might there be good reason for those around us to say to those of other faiths: “My brother”; “My sister” with genuine smiles.

Let those who have been writing letters that cause angst in the religious communities reach in person.

Let them dialogue with words of life; and let these seeds be planted in our communities so that the flower of harmony can bloom.

Or are we willing to continue planting destructive

seeds (religious GMO seeds) that poison the heart and soul of the coming generations?

These words of Gandhi are worth reading and teaching to young Muslim & Hindu children: “I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you.” As are these Divine Words from the Quran: “Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in God and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.” 2:62 Finally, whether it’s Assam, Nigeria or Guyana the only “ramification” should be one of JUSTICE. And that should be our lifelong struggle. Whether you’re from China, Russia, India, Africa any other country or continent. Whether you’re Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Atheist or Agnostic or any other JUSTICE ought to be the order of the day.

Here is an instructive discussion between Franklin and Paine: ”Where liberty is, there is my country,” Benjamin Franklin once said to Paine. “Where liberty is not, there is my country,” Paine replied.

For Paine, the role of a citizen extended beyond

national borders. The fight of those living under any system of tyranny was his fight.

“When it shall be said in any country in the world ‘My poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of happiness’. When these things can be said,” Paine wrote, “then may that country boast of its constitution and its government.”

Justice or tyranny...which one shall we boast of? When despair strikes, remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.

Think of it - always. My Hindus and Christian friends will forever remain in my heart and nothing will break us apart - nothing.

Nazar Mohamed

Page 6

Kaieteur News

Monday June 16, 2014

Police Wives Assoc. says it will not be bullied by the Force’s administration The administration of the Guyana Police Force has reportedly shot the door on the Police Wives Association (PWA), widening a rift that was brewing since the installment of Seelall Persaud as the Acting Commissioner of Police.

The rift has resulted in the Police Force denying the Association’s members access to the building at Eve Leary, for their customary activities.

The situation reached fever point last Friday when members of the duly registered non-governmental organization, which has been in existence for the past 61 years, turned up at Eve Leary to hold their regular meeting, only to find that the locks had been changed.

But the Association has vowed that it will not be bullied by the Guyana Police Force even if it means resorting to seeking

assistance from outside.

They are convinced that the Force is using its position as the association’s main sponsor to take over the running of the PWA. According to sources at police headquarters, the rift has its origin in the fallout between the Force’s administration and the Past Patron of the Association, Grace Brumell.

Reports reaching this newspaper, the Force’s administration is uncomfortable with the iron clad hold, and legacy that Brumell had left and is seeking to install one of its senior female ranks into a decision making position in the Police Wives Association—a move that is not in keeping with the organisation’s constitution.

Following M rs.

Brumell’s departure at the end of her husband’s tenure as the Commissioner of Police,

the PWA’s executive, in March, wrote to the wife of the new head of the Force, inviting her to take up the position, which will make her an ex-officio member.

“She is not an elected member of the executive but because of her husband’s office, the wife of the serving Commissioner would be invited to be the Patron,” a source at Eve Leary stated.

However, there was no acknowledgement of the invitation.

It is not clear why the present Commissioner’s wife has not accepted the invitation to be a part of the organization, especially since all of the previous Commissioners’ wives or spouse have been involved with the PWA, from its inception.

Meanwhile, the police administration wrote to Mrs Brumell requesting that she does a formal handing over

- members locked out from meeting place of her position to Senior Superintendent of Police Maxine Graham.

But in response, Mrs. Brumell informed the Force that she is appalled at the position taken by them, since their request was not in keeping with the PWA constitution.

It was explained that the Police Force overstepped its boundaries, since it has no jurisdiction over the PWA. “What the police did was never done in the history of the Police Wives Association.

No (previous) police admin has ever written to the outgoing Patron…the Association does that part,” the source said.

The position taken by Brumell along with some members of the Association apparently angered the Force’s adm i n i s t r a t i o n , w h i c h t h e n l o c k e d the Association’s members out of the building where they would usually meet. This was in May, last.

“The Association had its anniversary celebrations going and when they turned up there, the locks on the door had been changed. They

had stuff in the place to make up hampers to share out to ex-policemen who are less fortunate now and they could not access it,” the source told this newspaper.

Two members of the Association’s Executive subsequently met with Assistant Commissioner Balram Persaud to sort things out.

At that meeting, mention was made of the response that the Force got from Mrs. Brumell to their request and it appeared that the Association was being made to pay the price for that.

An agreement was reached for the Association to access the building in exchange for accepting Senior Superintendent Graham to work along with the PWA. Things returned to some normalcy for a while.

But later on, the Association sensed that the Force was not being genuine in the repaired relationship.

The alleged scheme was exposed at the Association’s General Meeting last Wednesday.

At that meeting over 100 policewomen, mostly

Trainees and Supernumary Constables, turned up with the purpose of joining the Association to give the Police Force a greater hold with more voting strength.

“There is a Police Women’s Organization, so why suddenly all these women want to be a part of the Police Wives Association?” the source asked.

The move was stoutly resisted and again the relation was strained leading to another locking out.

This newspaper was on hand on Friday night to see several members sitting outside their locked meeting place.

“We will try to get our own building because we don’t want to be embarrassed like this anymore,” one member stated.

The Police Wives Association has been responsible for the establishment of several ongoing initiatives that benefit members of the Force and their families.

The Police Force’s daycare was the brainchild of the PWA. The body has also organized a youth programme for the children of policemen and women.

As a result of the lockout, the youth programme has been suspended with the Force withdrawing the minibus that was pledged to provide transportation for the children.

The Association intends to stand up for its right to remain outside the control of the Guyana Police Force, although they know that there could be repercussions for the spouses of members.

“The police tried to take over the association before and most of the members had to back off because of their husbands’ position in the Force,” the source explained.

Presently the association has strength of over 50 members but there are concerns that strength could diminish over the coming years.

“Policemen do not want their wives to join because they are afraid of the victimization whenever we speak out on things affecting us. It is not us the Force will victimizing, it’s our husbands,” one of the members told this newspaper.

The Association however said that it has not closed its doors on the police and are hoping to meet with the Minister of Home Affairs, who they hope could intervene to bring the situation to an amicable resolution.

Monday June 16, 2014

Kaieteur News

Page 7

Egypt police confiscate rights group’s publication CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security forces confiscated copies of a human rights group’s newsletter and arrested a print shop worker, saying the publication threatened the government, the head of the group said yesterday.

Gamal Eid, of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, said police seized 1,000 copies of the publication, entitled Wasla, or Link, from the printers the night before. Lawyers said investigators accused the worker of illegally printing material that advocates the overthrow of the government and of belonging to a terrorist group, in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, said Rawda Ahmed, a lawyer for the group.

The government declared the Brotherhood a terrorist organization last year and has cracked down on its members and activities.

It was not clear if ANHRI itself or the content of the newsletter was the source of the accusations, Ahmed said.

In a statement, the group said the worker is not responsible for the published material, and denied it was “seditious.” The worker will continue to be held pending further investigation from the national security agency, and Eid has been called in for

questioning Monday, Ahmed said.

ANHRI is an Egyptian human rights and legal center focusing on freedom of expression and Internet freedom in the region.

The newsletter is a digest of blogs and social media content that has been distributed to select readers by mail since 2010. The current issue focused on newly elected President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, with activists discussing the sources of his popularity. One of the contributors argued in favor of el-Sissi’s left-wing opponent in the elections, while another supported voting for el-Sissi, saying he would keep Egypt a secular state. The issue also included an article on journalist who works for Qatar-based broadcaster al-Jazeera who has been in detention since last year, without formal charges and on hunger strike for over 100 days in protest.

Security officials were not immediately available for comment. Eid called the accusations “ludicrous,” and feared they were the start of a crackdown on civil groups critical of the government. He said the confiscation broke the law and was unconstitutional, giving an ominous sign for

Gamal Eid freedom of expression under the new president, just a week into his term.

Egypt’s newly amended constitution states that censorship or confiscation of publications is prohibited, permitting “limited censorship in times of war or general mobilization.”

Since last year’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the government has shuttered the Brotherhood’s daily newspaper and closed a number of Islamist TV stations.

Also on Sunday, police seized a number of supermarket chains in Cairo and its twin city of Giza, owned by a deputy leader of

the Brotherhood, Khairat elShater, currently in jail, and another wealthy businessman considered a supporter of the group. A government committee has been inventorying the assets of the group and has already ordered the assets of over 500 members seized. Schools and charity groups operated by the Brotherhood have already been targeted by the decision, part of government moves to cripple it by severing its finances.

The head of the committee that reviewed the Brotherhood assets, Ezzat Khamis, told local media that 42 branches of the two stores were being inventoried and will be handed over to a government appointed

agent to run.

The Brotherhood denies it adopts violence and has kept up its protests against the current authorities.

The supermarkets are among the better known businesses linked to the group, and employ thousands of staff. An economist with a major investment bank said the confiscation Sunday was expected and is in line with government policy to go after the group, downplaying it would have an impact on the general investment atmosphere in Egypt. He agreed to speak on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive business matter.

El-Sissi has made it a priority to attract foreign and domestic

investment to help Egypt’s ailing economy. He has so far gained strong financial support from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and other Gulf countries, who opposed the Brotherhood’s rise to power.Also Sunday, the trial of the brother of al-Qaida leader Ayman el-Zawahri, a native Egyptian, opened but was adjourned swiftly because security officials couldn’t secure his presence in court.

Mohammed el-Zawahri was referred to trial along with 67 others in April on charges of forming and leading a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida and planning attacks. El-Zawahri, arrested after Morsi’s ouster, had been freed from prison following the 2011 ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Monday June 16, 2014

Monday June 16, 2014

Kaieteur News

Cases of Child Labour underreported atrocities. At the level of Government, we remain vigilant to guard against it and will continue to strive to improve the social protection that is necessary to prevent this scourge. The Government of Guyana is committed to ensuring that every child completes secondary education and move to even higher academic qualifications.”

The Labour Minister noted that social protection of children is a human right and makes sound economic and social sense. It enables children access to education, health care and nutrition, and plays a critical role in the fight against child labour.

“Giving social protection to our children helps to prevent the scourge of child labour by reducing economic

Minister of Labour, Dr. Nanda K. Gopaul vulnerability of families, enabling children to go to school, and protecting them from exploitation. The Ministry of Labour re-affirms its commitment to combat all forms of child labour thus ensuring our children are given the opportunity to live healthy, happy and productive lives.”

Minister Gopaul (Continued on page 18)

Monday June 16, 2014 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Today requires careful planning on your part -- and fortunately, your thinking is deliberate. It's a great time to absorb all the variables and come up with something bold and unexpected. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Someone is trying to get attention by breaking all the rules -- and while you're tempted to bust them for it, you may just be playing into their hands. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): You should be seeing things quite a bit differently by the end of the day -- so make sure that you're ready for a big shift in perspective. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): You have got to display adaptability today -- even if you'd rather just slink home and crawl back under the covers. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): You need to take greater care with a person or project that seems to be taking up more mental space than it deserves.

It is actually important, so make sure that you're taking it seriously. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept.

22): Your energy is a bit diffuse today, so you may find it harder than usual to keep your comments productive. That's not to say you're mean-spirited, of course; just that you need to keep it upbeat.

Govt., Opposition still trading blame as FATF review looms … Granger believes executive readying for an election

- Labour Ministry re-affirms commitment to combat the problem Statistics show a decline in child labour. However, there are still 168 million children worldwide who are being forced to work; 85 million of them are in hazardous work.

In Latin America and the Caribbean there are approximately 13 million children who fuel the labour force.

Under the theme ‘Extend Social Protection: Combat Child Labour’, World Day Against Child Labour was observed on Thursday last and the Guyana government acknowledged that there were unreported cases of child labour.

According to Minister of Labour, Dr. Nanda K. Gopaul, “everyone has a duty to report cases of child labour.

We need to expose these

Page 17

********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22):You can get a deeper sense of what other people are going through today as long as you tap into your positive mental energy. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 Nov. 21):It may be a bit harder for you to open up to new ideas today -- so see if you can trick yourself! Just because you're not feeling it, that doesn't mean you won't have a change of heart tomorrow. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): It's a great day to keep your mind wide-open -as long as you're not just going along with any kooky idea that comes your way. .********************* CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): It's time to change something up -- maybe your look, or maybe your career goals. It's also a good time for you to step into a new role, as long as you're not just jumping for the sake of jumping. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 Feb. 18): Your divine energy is radiating out in all directions, attracting all the right people to your brilliance. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): Change is coming, like it or not. The weird thing is it feels really sudden, but if you just let it wash over you, you should quickly realize that it's been coming for weeks or even years.

Guyana will come up for review by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) this week but there has been little progress in relation to the passage of the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill as well as addressing the outstanding matters.

This was confirmed this past week by both Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon and Leader of the Political Opposition, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger.

Granger during a press engagement at his Office on Friday said that on the matter of the conditions set out by the Opposition, namely the none assent of a number of Bills voted for by the majority and the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, a mechanism is still to be agreed on.

He said that following his meeting with the President where a commitment was made to work towards common ground, the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall and his shadow counterpart Basil Williams were to meet and work out a mechanism to have

the issues resolved but this has not happened.

Granger told media operatives that government is responsible for the delays and suggested too that it may be preparing for an election.

Government, he said is, “taking its own sweet time...It is preparing to go ahead for some kind of elections, you can hear the talk.”

He said when he met with President Ramotar recently, he repeated the position of the partnership that it is not going to agree to support any measure on the AML/CFT Bill unless there was prior agreement by Government to establish a mechanism by which the Bills to which assent was not granted, were returned to him for his signature.

According to Granger, he advised the President to have Nandlall meet with Williams to agree on a mechanism or process for which the Bills could be returned.

He reported that there were two subsequent meetings but still no agreement.

“Nandlall seems not to be aware of the need and urgency for agreeing on a process.”

Opposition Leader David Granger Granger reported too that the Special Select Committee is still meeting but is unlikely to come to a satisfactory conclusion unless the Government agrees to the amendments put forward by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).

The Opposition Leader stated that APNU is in talks with the Alliance for Change and “we support their demand for a Public Procurement Commission.”

Pointed to the fact that Guyana will come up for review in a matter of days, Granger said that the matter has been engaging government for 14 months now and that it is the executive that is unwilling to act on the demands. Dr Luncheon in his post cabinet press briefing this past week had also lamented the situation but he blamed the Opposition for the stalemate.

According to Dr Luncheon, Blacklisting should be avoided at all cost and if Guyana is caught in that trap, it is not easy to be removed.

He said that international experience has shown that at a minimal it takes two years to be removed from a blacklisted status.

Dr Luncheon drew reference to the FATF plenary to he held this week and said that as a result of blacklisting, Guyana will see countries moving to protect their financial systems when doing business with this country.

Free health...

(From page 3) keep jeopardising other people’s lives.” According to her, it is imperative that efforts be made to “let Nathalie Caseley, let Guyana at large know that action has been taken...because the public will continue to lose faith in the public health system.”

Caseley has not ruled out taking further action, even picketing the health facility, if sincere efforts are not made to help her get closure into her son’s death.

Page 18

Kaieteur News

PRESIDENT LAUDS CHINA’S HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

(From page 19)

– as 10th Chinese Medical Brigade leaves and 11th batch welcomed

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Humanitarian assistance has become a very important aspect of China’s assistance to developing countries, and the presence of that country’s doctors in Guyana is evidence of that humanitarian contribution, President Donald Ramotar highlighted this evening.

Speaking at a welcome and farewell reception for the tenth batch of medical doctors from the People’s Republic of China, who served for two years and the welcome of the eleventh batch, President Ramotar thanked the outgoing batch for their service to Guyanese and welcomed the new team.

“I hope that you will also endear yourselves to the Guyanese people, and also make an important contribution towards building stronger relations between the People’s Republic of China and Guyana,” President Ramotar told the eleventh batch.

During the last two years, the 10th medical team

comprising 14 doctors carried out several medical outreaches targeting 27,000 patients in various communities, attending to 2,900 critically-ill patients and performing more than 5,100 operations.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds ,Mrs. Yvonne Hinds and Minister of Health, Bheri Ramsaran were also among persons attending the reception which was held at the Chinese Embassy, Mandela Avenue.

Speaking of the Chinese who have come to Guyana and of their contributions to its development, President Ramotar said, “in every field of endeavour they have made a great contribution to our country, they are part of the total mosaic of the Guyanese population that has its origin in different parts of the world, but uniquely forging a common thread, a common identity, a common culture, and that I think is extremely important and very good, and can even make us a stronger

Canje River residents...

From page 16 been informed and officials were expected to re-visit the area to assess the situation.

Crawford, who has been championing the cause of the residents of the Canje River area, had two bottles in his possession at the meeting, one with discoloured water and another with the regular river water to show what the residents have to endure.

APNU, he said, will be taking legal action against the farmers, the Government and GuySuCo on behalf of the residents. He said that, presently, a petition is being prepared to be sent to the relevant persons on behalf of the residents.

The party is also contending that the unfinished GuySuCo pump will be a waste since it is

being built in a basin and will be flooded easily. The party is contending that the practice is not in line with EPA standards and questioned if the projects have been approved.

Regional Chairman David Armagon was not happy and issued a stern warning to members of the Co-op. He said that “the New Haven Coop Society has fallen back on their word, despite giving assurance that no contaminated water would be released int the river. They gave assurance that the sluice would be close.”

He said that punitive action would be taken against those bent on breaking the law. He said that the Minister is apprised of the situation and is expected to deal with the issue as urgently as possible.

nation.”

Speaking of 1978, and of the opening-up period of China, the President said that the Asian country made an enormous contribution to the whole world, particularly in 2008 “when we had the financial and economic crisis that gripped the world, it was fundamentally the work of China, the economic development within China, but also the investment that China has put in many of our countries that has helped the international economy to keep growing.”

Important too, the Head of State noted that Chinese investment goes into infrastructure, into developing the real economy, the productive sector of the economy “… and that has proven very important for all of us, in Asia, Africa, this part of the world, Latin America, Europe, North America, Chinese investment has made an important contribution,” President Ramotar underscored.

Diplomatic relations with China go back more than 40 years, but even before that the links with Guyana and China

have gone back for centuries.

Ambassador Limin congratulated the outgoing medical team on their successful completion of duty and promoting Guyana/China friendly relations.

Limin said that the doctors received acclaim from all walks of life in Guyana, noting that Dr. Zhang Yueming was appointed Director of gynaecology and obstetrics at the Georgetown Hospital, which was unprecedented in the history of Chinese medical team in Guyana.

“I believe that the 11th medical team will carry forward the fine tradition of healing the wounded and saving the dying; knowing no boundary, strength, solidarity and cooperation with local medical skills, and making more contributions to deepening the friendship between our two people,” Ambassador Limin noted.

The presence of the Chinese medical team speaks fully of the growing relations that exist between Guyana and China. About 150 medical experts have worked in Guyana since the first team came in 1993. (GINA)

Cases of Child Labour...

(From page 17) underscored that “The Government has continued to put social programmes in place aimed at supporting families to meet basic needs.”

Among these is the school feeding programme, which provides a hot meal for children in many areas in our interior location.

The government also provides each child in the public school system with a uniform voucher to aid in the provision of school materials, including text books.

“An additional grant of $10,000 per child will be given to ensure that parents acquire other necessities for their children to attend and remain

in school.

In addition, transportation for children, especially in remote areas, is being provided and parents, especially single parents, are being empowered with requisite skills to better meet the needs of their families.”

Minister Gopaul noted that the Ministry of Labour, through its Labour Officers, continuously sensitizes students, parents, teachers, employees and employers on the negative impact of child labour.

The Ministry also monitors and investigates reports of under-aged children who are engaged in any form of employment.

Monday June 16, 2014

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

Dressed and mill cut lumber: Kabukalli, Silverballi, Greenheart, Purpleheart etc – Call: 688-6579 1 Titan fully loaded 4 Wheel Drive, $2.6M Negotiable – Tel:699-2322 or 678-2814.

Must go urgently!

Mix breed German shepherd pups, 8 weeks old, fully vaccinated & de-wormed – Tel: 649-7271 Established business place, 3 storey building @ Lot 220 South Road – Contact: 2271042, 601-3399, 676-5450 Tibetan Terrier Puppies for sale – Telephone: 226-4166, Cell: 641-8571 Pluck Chicken – Call: 6273484, 253-3246 Used pedicure chair, hair dryer and salon chair – Tel: 668-9583, 698-5272 Spares for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call: 225-9032, 647-2943

Kaieteur News

FOR SALE/RENT American Pool tables - Call: 277-0578 FOR SALE 4WD Ford 150XLT V8, excellent condition, price negotiable - Tel: 698-0904 One bush cutter - Call: 6816603

CAR RENTAL Dolly’s Car Rental - Call: 225-7126/ 226-3693 dollys autorental@yahoo.com/ www.dolly sautorental.com ProgressiveAuto Rental: Cars & SUV for rental- $4,000 & up per day- Call: 643-5122, 628-2284 ,Email:pro_ autorental @yahoo.com Aidan’s Car Rental, Canter & Pickup- Call: 645-7981/ 6987807 Harmony Inn Car rental: Cars from $5,000, Allion, Premio, Allex, Suzuki, Runx – Tel:6947817, 668-0306 Wings Car Rental- Call: 6906494/ BBM pin: 24E17558

Craig Street - $32M, David Street - $40M, Thomas Street - $65M, Sheriff Street - $150M, Etc. Contact Sonja: 225-7197/ 623-2537 Fluffy Dachshund pups, one pure white available – Tel: 226-9548, 670-2653,618-1706 G- Touring Wagon in excellent condition – Flair kit, mag rims, air condition, etc – Call Pablo: 641-1303. Price $1.1M negotiable One slate pool table 8’X4’ $400,000 – Tel: 601-8083, 6892658 Pure Rottweiler pups, parents are imported pedigree dogs Call: 264-2870 or 6726402 after 6pm 665-9140 or 639-1431 Two wedding dresses and three cat beds – Call: 2205125; ask for Janet One used AE81 Toyota Hire$140,000. Contact Ronald: 254-1308, 666-7750 A fully equipped sawmill operation at prime location: large land space, plenty suppliers & customers – Contact Swamee: 614-1466; 678-1421 One two-storey concrete building at Tuschen New Scheme, E.B.E – Contact No: 627-6305, 668-6858

FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 One nails table - Busy area!

Call: 602-5469 or 628-9297 Salon stations for stylist & barbers in comfortable atmosphere, hot & cold water, affordable rent - Tel: 619-5829, 683-3466 GT TOOL RENTALS SPECIALS: CONCRETE SAW; JACK HAMMER WELDING MACHINE & MORE. 2ND TOOL ½ PRICE – CALL: 675-0767; 627-5098

VACANCY 24 Hour East Coast Guyoil needs night pump attendants, salesgirl, office assistant & handyman- Call: 670-8893/684-2838 Office clerk senior/junior, CXC English, Mathematics & computer knowledge an asset- Call: 225-0188/225-6070 1 - Civil Engineer (full time), securities, skid steer & excavator operators, mechanic, body works man (spray), office assistant – Call: 603-4098 Real Estate clerks, Road foreman, operations manager, Accounts Clerk, Kitchen Assistant, Hauler Driver & Truck Drivers –Call: 603-4098 RA Soda Factory at Good Hope Branch: vacancies for sales clerk, bond clerk and drivers – Tel: 330-2399, 3302772, 623-5920 RA Soda Factory at Rosignol Branch: Vacancies for Accountant, Bond Clerk, sales clerk, Drivers, male & female workers – Tel: 3302399, 330-2772, 623-5920 Exist for one female cleaner; apply in person @ Alabama Trading, Georgetown, Ferry Stelling.

Exist for one Accounts Clerk.

Please bring written application to Mike’s Pharmacy, 56 Sheriff Street.

Pump Attendant @ Shell Service Station, Providence, EBD. Must be able to work shift (5am-3pm & 3pm-12pm) – Tel: 265-7305 Cashiers @ Shell Service Station, Providence, EBD. Must be able to work shift (5am-3pm & 3pm-12pm) – Tel: 265-7305

PROPERTY FOR SALE

SALON

VEHICLE FOR SALE

One house and land for sale at Covent Garden Island – Call: 265-3586

Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad.

Call: 660-5257, 647-1773

2006 Blue Nissan Titan.

Fully Loaded GSS Series.

Contact: 604-6108.

1-2 storey wooden & concrete house with 5 bedrooms, upper flat & lower flat 4 apartments located@ Shell Road, kitty - $38.9M Tel: 642-7898 Commercial property at Corner Spot, Lodge - Tel: 627-4900 Herstelling - $16M, Grove $19M, 4.5M, $9M, Eccles $31M, Diamond - $12.5M, Public Road - $65M – Tel:676-5537, 646-1334, 6123501,667-2422

Earn a certificate in cosmetology, wig designs or nails alone, limited spaces Call Abby: 619-7603, 666-5241

2009 Red Nissan Titan. Flex Fuel GRR Series. Contact: 604-6108.

Honda CRV, Toyota AT192, AT212, Raum, L-Touring Wagon, AE100 Corolla, EP82 Starlet, Fun Cargo, IST – Tel: 644-5096, 697-1453 One Toyota Land cruiser Prado, PMM Series Call: 225-0188, 223-7500, Mon-Fri 8:15-4:15pm, Sat - 8:15-1:15PM

SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.–CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620

Toyota Avensis 2003, PRR series 18" Rims, leather interior, HID, A/C, Alarm, TV, $3.250M, immaculate condition! Tel: 609-7257, 602-5974

Prime business and residential 3 storey property in excellent condition, situated 11 Camp and Norton Street G/town, negotiable Call: Pearl Realty: 689-9991 Nandy Park - $24M, Robb Street - $25M, Kitty $32M35M, AA Eccles - $55M – Contact Diana: 227-2256, 6269382 One 2-storey wood & concrete house, 3 bedrooms with one self contained with A/C @ Parika E.B.E – Call: 660-3118 One house & land for sale at good hope E.C.D – Tel: 621-1722 Location 106 Samatha Point Grove, EBD – One flat 3 bedroom concrete house – Tel:266-0580, 670-1452. Price Neg. Queenstown, second building, 3 bedroom cottage in good condition - $16M – Contact B&G’s Realty – 6179717, 682-4094 Norton Street Lodge, 2 properties in the yard 42X120 $30M negotiable - Contact B&G’s Realty – 617-9717, 6824094 House & land for sale at Buxton, E.C.D – Tel:686-0888, 699-7559 North Ruimveldt - $14M and $25M, Annandale Scheme$6.5M - Tel: 603-9593

EDUCATIONAL Now enrolling for a Diploma in computers (9 courses) special discount for 2014 CXC students at MicroGraphics, Vreed-EnHoop –Tel: 264-3057 Now enrolling for summer computer classes – Ages: 514yrs, certificate course at MicroGraphics Technology, Vreed-En- Hoop –Tel: 264-3057

One restaurant, located around Princess Hotel Area – Preferably Chinese – Tel: 617-1481

I.A.S – 94 Alberttown: CXC Adults/ Students classes $1200 per subject. Day/ Evening / Grade 6 classes – Call: 223-7906, 690-5008

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

Canadian School of Arts & Science, now enrolling students for summer classes in remedial Mathematics & English – Call: 216-6921

Page 19

Rob Street, 3 flat property, price negotiable - Contact B&G’s Realty – 617-9717, 682-4094 287 Samatha Point Grove, EBD – One Flat 2 bedroom concrete house – Contact: 266-0545, 675-6074, price neg.

LAND FOR SALE Mining Blocks at Mazaruni & Kwakwani- Tel: 627-4900 Campbellville, vacant land 60’X120’ – price negotiable Contact B&G’s Realty – 6179717, 682-4094

Guyana Passport & Visa Forms Application, USA, Canada and England. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535.

COOL TECH : Repairs Services & Installation of all types if homes appliances: Air Condition & Refrigeration units - Tel: 233-2008; 675-4959 Permanent & Visitors Vi s a Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call Sabita: 2256496, 662-6045 Repairs to refrigerators, gas stoves, washing machines, A/C units – Call Lindon: 6411086, 694-2202, 227-8907 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer. Call Omar: 2310655, 683-8734 Repairs, sales & spares, air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call: 225-9032,647-2943 House plan drafting from$10,000 electrical works and estimates services available.

Tel:667-2189,646-6572,629-8750 Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves: Call 683-1312, 627-3206 (Nick) For low cost: Repairs to fridge, freezer, A/C unit, microwaves, TV & washing machine - Call: 629-4946 or 225-4822 DaSilva’s Welding & Fabricating specializes in: Grills, Gates, Pontoon, Lavador etc. Best prince in town - Call: 647-6880/ 219-1680 NEED WORK CALL LABOUR READY STAFFING SERVICES AT: 603-6052 OR 227-2766 LAND FOR SALE Two mining blocks – North West District, M3 Road, 4 South East – Phone: 6011371 Diamond - $8M, Atlantic Gardens - $15M- Tel: 6039593

2006 – PREMIO - $2.3M, 2008 – BLUEBIRD - $3M, 2005 – SPACIO - $2.1M. ALL VEHICLES ARE FULLY LOADED & UNREGISTERED – CALL: 642-7295 2 Silver Spacio – registered and unregistered, dark interior, new model with TV Tel: 697-0294 One Toyota Rav4, PMM Series, fully loaded, good condition - Price$1.9M negotiable. Contact: 669-6499 One 8000 Forde Tractor, one 450 Forde tow truck, one Toyota Tacoma – Contact Floyd: 694-5599 RAV 4, PLL 9729 in excellent condition – Contact: 6269582 Smart Choice Auto: Unregistered 212, Allex, old & new model Spacio, 05 & 03 Allion, Voxy- Call:6523820/ 665-4529 AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154 Mitsubishi Canter 2-Tons enclosed, excellent condition – Call:220-5281 Toyota Raum, Silver, year 2002, PMM series with alarm – Call: 621-5244 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 TacomaCall:680-3154 Toyota Raum PMM, excellent condition.

Documents ready for Bank Purchase – Call: 689-4330 One enclosed canter for sale 3½ Ton, GJJ 8286 – Contact: 613-0830, 666-2549 Noah/ Voxy, unregistered, (private or bus), Toyota Regius/ Super custom, unregistered (goods) – Tel: 603-9700 (Continued on page 18)

Page 20

Kaieteur News

Monday June 16, 2014

CCJ head: Length of pretrial detention a human-rights issue Trinidad Express - Head of the Caribbean Court of Justice Sir Dennis Byron has described pretrial detention in the region as a human rights issue.

Speaking on Saturday at the Dana Saroop Seetahal Symposium: Re-engineering the Criminal Justice System, at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Byron, who identified the breakdown in morals and values in individuals as a factor of crime, said, “One of the greatest travesties is to be found in the management of pretrial detention.

“The extraordinary length of pretrial detention must be regarded as a human-rights issue and should be targeted as a pressing priority. Courts in our region have often heard cases after the suspects were imprisoned for a period longer than if he had been tried and convicted immediately.

Sir Dennis Byron “A recent report commissioned by the UN Development Programme, which examined human development and better in seven Caribbean countries, found five of them reported occupancy levels well above a hundred per cent of capacity, almost one third of the population were persons being held on remand

awaiting trial and one instance the figure was as high as 50 per cent.

“Only two prisons had facilities that meet international standards,” he said.

Addressing the approach to the current spiralling crime, Byron said a holistic approach must be taken in order to deal with crime throughout the region, but the use of advance techno-logy by police is needed in crime detection and prevention.

“There must be holistic change among all major players. In relation to the police, the level of crime detection has to be addressed. In recent times the regional rate hovers at around ten per cent. And for small societies this is a cause for concern.

“We, in our region have serious work to do.

Technology must become the handmaiden of the police in

addressing spiralling crime— wireless surveillance, GPS systems, PDA devices, in-car computers must enhance and eventually replace police reports, station diaries and eyewitness testimonies. Such advances will not only assist in crime detection, but also crime prevention thereby ushering the new advancements in techno-logy,” Byron said.

This, he said, must be coupled with adequate technical training of the police and public demands for capacity development to ensure there is an environment free from fear and that the justice system is brought to bear.

He also pointed out the need to allocate resources to channel funding to social justice programmes for all

people to develop their full range of human potential.

“Instead of demonising criminals, we should try to understand them and the reasons they have opted to behave the way they do.”

“We all have a stake in creating a more just and equitable society grounded in the rule of law, as injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” he said.

World Bank urges the Caribbean to “double down” on domestic reforms WASHINGTON - CMC The World Bank is urging the Caribbean countries to “double down” on domestic reforms, saying that first quarter weakness in 2014 has delayed an “expected pickup” in economic activity.

According to the Washington-based financial institution’s Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, the region is headed for a year of disappointing growth.

The report says bad weather in the United States, the crisis in Ukraine, rebalancing in China, political strife in several middleincome economies, slow progress on structural reform, and capacity constraints are “all contributing to a third straight year of sub five percent growth for the developing countries as a whole.

“Growth rates in the developing world remain far too modest to create the kind of jobs we need to improve the lives of the poorest 40 per cent,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “Clearly, countries need to move faster and invest more in domestic structural reforms to get broad-based economic growth to levels needed to end extreme poverty in our generation.”

The World Bank has lowered its forecasts for

developing countries, now eyeing growth at 4.8 per cent this year, down from its January estimate of 5.3 per cent.

It said signs point to strengthening in 2015 and 2016 to 5.4 and 5.5 per cent, respectively.

The bank said China is expected to grow by 7.6 percent this year, “but this will depend on the success of rebalancing efforts”.

“Activity in the Latin America and the Caribbean region has been weak, reflecting stable or declining commodity prices, the drop in first quarter US GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth and domestic challenges.

“The regional weakness carries over from 2013, weighing on merchandise exports in a number of countries,” it added.

The World Bank, however, said regional exports, including tourism receipts in the Caribbean, “are expected to firm due to stronger growth in advanced countries, and improved competitiveness following earlier currency depreciations.

“This, coupled with continued robust investment growth along the Pacific coast of South America, and strong capital inflows should overcome first quarter

Jim Yong Kim weakness and generate a modest 1.9 per cent increase in regional GDP in 2014, with growth accelerating to 2.9 per cent in 2015 and 3.5 per cent in 2016,” the bank said.

Overall, the World Bank said the global economy is expected to pick up speed as the year progresses and is projected to expand by 2.8 percent this year, strengthening to 3.4 and 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

It said high-income economies will contribute about half of global growth in 2015 and 2016, compared with less than 40 percent in 2013.

The World Bank said the acceleration in high-income economies will be an “important impetus” for the Caribbean and other developing countries.

It said high-income economies are projected to inject an additional US$6.3 trillion to global demand over the next three years, “which is significantly more than the US$3.9 trillion increase they contributed during the past three years, and more than the expected contribution from developing countries”.

The bank said developing country bond yields have declined, and stock markets have recovered, in some cases surpassing levels at the start of the year, “although they remain down from a year ago by significant margins in many instances”.

Monday June 16, 2014

Kaieteur News

Deputy COP leader upset with T&T PM PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – A senior official of the Congress of the People (COP) party, Dr. Lincoln Douglas, has accused Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar of showing “gross disrespect” to the party as the debate continues as to whether or not Sports Minister Anil Roberts should have been removed from the Cabinet.

The COP is the second biggest partner in the fourmember coalition government here and the party earlier this month suspended Roberts after he failed to cooperate in an investigation into whether he is the individual in a video showing a man rolling what appears to be a marijuana joint and partying in a hotel room.

Douglas, the COP’s deputy leader, who is contesting the June 29 contest for the leadership position, said “politicians continue to play games with the responsibilities entrusted to them, and insult the intelligence and integrity of the nation”.

Douglas, who is also the minister of arts and multiculturalism, said in a statement “in public life, there is the court of law, and there is the court of public opinion, and both of them are as equally important as the other as they determine how you are measured as an upholder of the public’s interest.

“The COP was well within its right to have disciplined Anil Roberts for his politically irresponsible approach in not cooperating with the party.

“The failure of the Leader of the People’s Partnership (government) to honour the core values of the COP—that persons in public life must be responsible and accountable—amounts to gross disrespect of the COP, its leaders and its members.

“Leaders must be responsible to their party and accountable to the nation.

But no! The COP and its leader could not have been afforded that respect! It’s similar to two parents living in a home where one made a decision to discipline a child the others says ‘nah! Leave the chile alone nah’. How could this be respectful of the partners? How could this be supportive to the People’s Partnership?”

Last week, Prime Minister Persad Bissessar acknowledged that there “has been a clamour in some quarters for me to have taken immediate action in relation to allegations made against

Dr. Lincoln Douglas Minister of Sport Anil Roberts”.

But she said having received a full report from Roberts “the matter does not require my consideration at this time” and that while she has the authority to make decisions, she allowed the COP, of which Roberts is a member, to address the issue.

“I am not judge or jury. I can only weigh the statements made by any member of my government against the evidence or lack thereof presented to me. I hold fast and true to the inviolable principle of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

“After considering the strong denials made by the honourable minister, and having regard to the fact that there exists no evidence to corroborate any of the allegations made against Minister Roberts, I find that there is no matter arising which requires my consideration at this time.”

In his letter, Roberts denied ever having used “any drugs inclusive of marijuana, during my tenure as minister of your Government.

“It is with great sadness that I have watched a relentless media campaign designed to defame, hurt and disrespect not only me, but my wife, children and unborn child, as well as my constituents, my government and you, my beloved prime minister.”

He said the “production of the video is an extreme form of mischief which places one in an unenviable place to “defend” oneself by making statements and pronouncements that in turn will be used in tandem with the video of dubious origin and delayed production to condemn the speaker”.

But Douglas said that the second issue that arises from the Roberts situation “is just

Kamla Persad Bissessar as profound and destructive as the first having been disrespected” adding “what do the COP leaders do?

“They just take it and walk away. There is no defending of the COP, no defending of its principles, no defending of its sovereignty. No wonder why people are saying the COP has lost its way and has sold out.

“The real issue in all of this is that the COP has advanced a position on how an issue concerning one of its members must be dealt with.

“There is a principle and standard by which we deal with situations, and the COP’s position in all of this must be respected and incorporated into the decision making process by the prime minister, who isn’t only a prime minister, but the more importantly, the leader of a coalition of different parties.”

He said the way in which the ruling United National Congress 9UNC), the biggest partner in the coaition and the COP “interact with each other on matters like these must be revisited.

“Since the Fyzabad Accord (the agreement signed to bring about the coalition), there is the perception—and even reality—that there has been no meaningful mechanism developed to ensure a healthy coalition relationship,” Douglas added.

Page 21

Santos re-elected Colombia president in peace vote BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Juan Manuel Santos convincingly won re-election yesterday after Colombia’s tightest presidential contest in years, an endorsement of his 18-month-old peace talks to end the Western Hemisphere’s longestrunning conflict.

Santos defeated rightwing challenger Oscar Ivan Zuluaga with 53 percent-to47 percent of valid votes, with 98 percent of precincts reporting less than an hour after polls closed.

Zuluaga was backed by former two-term President Alvaro Uribe, who many considered the true challenger.

They had accused Santos of selling Colombia out in the Cuba-based negotiations and insisted Zuluaga would halt the talks unless the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, ceased all hostilities.

The outcome affirmed Santos’ position that he has steered Colombia to a historic crossroads after a halfcentury of conflict that claimed more than 200,000 lives, most of them civilians.

The campaign has been the Andean nation’s dirtiest in years, and Uribe continued to alleged widespread fraud by the Santos camp right up to the closing of polls.

Zuluaga shocked the incumbent’s camp by outpolling Santos in the May 25 five-candidate first round of voting.

Zuluaga and Uribe had accused Santos, grandnephew of a president from a blue-blood Bogota clan that formerly owned the newspaper El Tiempo, of offering impunity to the rebels.

Bogota industrial designer Felipe Quintero said he voted for Zuluaga, a previously little-known finance minister during Uribe’s administration, because Santos was conceding too much to rebels.

“They need to be

punished, not to be rewarded with liberty” and seats in Congress, Quintero said.

Santos, 62, denied he would let war criminals go unpunished.

And he is no dove. As Uribe’s defense minister and then president, he helped professionalize Colombia’s U.S.-backed military and wielded it to badly weaken the FARC, including killing its top three leaders.

The bulk of Colombia’s left endorsed Santos, a University of Kansaseducated economist and veteran of three Colombian presidential Cabinets prior to his own presidency.

He also got the backing of 80 top business leaders last week as he announced exploratory talks with the National Liberation Army, Colombia’s other, far smaller rebel band.

Beyond betting his future on peace, Santos has improved ties with the leftist governments of neighboring Venezuela and Ecuador, a sharp contrast to Uribe.

Yet the incumbent has a “severe likeability and trust problem,” said analyst Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America, saying the president has been “unable to shake the image of an out-of-touch Bogota aristocrat who will promise everything and deliver little.”

Bogota business consultant Maria Eugenia Silva cited a big reason many Colombians voted for Santos despite his faults: Alvaro Uribe “The eight years he was president were a time of some of the works corruption and biggest scandals,” she said.

With Uribe the power behind Zuluaga’s bid, a victory for his candidate would have lessened chances the former leader could face prosecution for alleged crimes, including human rights violations.

Blemishes of his 2002-10 government included extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians to boost military body counts, illegal

Juan Manuel Santos spying on judges and journalists and the funneling of agricultural subsidies to well-heeled ranchers. Uribe won a Senate seat in March after being constitutionally barred from another presidential run.

Zuluaga was backed by cattle ranchers and by palm oil plantation owners, beneficiaries of a deal Uribe made with far-right paramilitaries that dismantled their militias.

Big landholders had by then consolidated control over territory that the militias had largely rid of rebels while driving at least 3 million poor Colombians off their lands. As part of the Santosnegotiated peace process, those stolen lands would be returned.

The slow pace of peace talks did not help the incumbent. Framework agreements have been reached on agrarian reform, dismantling the illegal drug trade and creating a role for rebels in national politics.

But analysts say Santos could have done much better at communicating the gains and building public support.

Still, the peace process ranked relatively low on most Colombians’ list of priorities.

The Gallup poll found less than 5 percent of respondents believe the FARC will be the next president’s main problem.

For many, spreading the benefits of a growing economy is more important.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

Monday June 16, 2014

JPS reps resell seized wires for illegal connections Jamaica Observer WHILE the Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd (JPS) has been scratching its head trying to find ways to reduce or eliminate electricity theft, some of its own are also ripping off the company by their illegal action.

Countless claims have been made by residents of the Western St Andrew community of Riverton City, fewer from the adjoining Seaview Gardens, Phase One, and an even lower number from Duhaney Park, also in the constituency, of unscrupulous acts by contractors and employees of the JPS. The general cry is that whenever JPS crews disable illegal electrical connections in some communities, and confiscate wires used to conduct electricity, some of the same members of the disconnection crews return later and sell residents the wires that were taken away.

Late Saturday night, two residents from the Rockfort area, East Kingston, also said that they, too, had felt the stinging hands of the corrupt JPS disconnection crew.

“This is a regular thing a Riverton. Dem man dey wi just pull dung yu wire and right after dem and the police gone, jus’ come back inna the area and sell the people dem back the wire and dem even connect back the light fi a extra money,” said one resident of Riverton City, who had no problem being named or photographed, but whom the Jamaica Observer thought would be better off

POWER RIP-OFF!

JPS representative disconnect illegal lines in a Corporate Area community. staying anonymous.

“Da thing ya is a big thing, yu know boss.

Anytime you hear bout a disconnection inna Riverton, yu can bet seh the man dem a go come back and sell the people dem the same wire that dem tek down,” the man said.

The JPS confirmed yesterday that it had knowledge of the practice, but wants residents to come forward with information that can assist the company in prosecuting offenders.

“It’s not the first time that we have received such reports, but we would like some more specifics from the people who are affected,” the JPS’s Director of Communication Winsome Callum told the Sunday Observer.

“The company is aware of it and we have even dismissed contractors and

employees who have been involved in such acts of corruption,” Callum stated.

A Duhaney Park woman told this newspaper that she had to pay $3,500 to obtain and reinstall lines that were earlier taken down by a JPS crew, accompanied by the police, months ago.

“Mi did need the light.

Me caan do without it, because mi have young baby and mi need the fan and the fridge in particular,” she said, adding that getting regularised was not something that she can do now because she would not be able to afford it, based on how much she earns.

The sentiment was echoed by a young man in Seaview Gardens, Phase One, who said that he, too, had to pay to get back the apparatus, after his power was cut while

he was at work. Leaving work early, he sought ways to get back the commodity, only to be approached by a man, whom other residents said was among a crew that had disconnected the electricity earlier, who offered to “set me up”.

“Mi gi him a change and him gi mi back the wire dem, but him never connect it back, because that a nuh nutten fi connect it. Mi jus’ get another youth to run the wire and mi all right again,” the man said.

The JPS revealed that electricity theft had caused the company to lose several millions of dollars over many years, something that had resulted in legitimate

commercial and residential customers paying more to Jamaica’s lone electricity provider, to allow the organisation to recoup some of the losses.

Callum said that acts of corruption by any JPS representative would be met with stiff resistance by the company’s leadership.

“JPS will not tolerate corruption among our employees and contractors, and will take immediate action to dismiss persons found carrying out illegal activity.

We therefore encourage members of the public to provide specific details when making reports, to facilitate full investigation,” she said.

“JPS gets reports from time to time about illegal activity among our employees and contractors.

Up to this week, based on a report to our Customer Care Centre (1-888 CALL JPS) a contractor was pulled off duty after preliminary checks established reasonable suspicion of corruption. The contractor is alleged to have assisted in making a number of illegal connections in communities with RAMI (Residential Advanced Metering Infrastructure) systems. He has been suspended from any further duties until the investigation is completed,” Callum said, reinforcing the point that several employees and contractors had been dismissed for corruption in recent times.

Global investors warm to JA bonds Jamaica Observer FINANCE Minister Peter Phillips is expected to start meetings with global bond investors in Europe today, following a non-deal road show in the US, where his team wrapped up discussions on Friday.

Investors seemed to have warmed to the idea of investing in Jamaican Eurobonds again, mainly due to fiscal and economic reforms that have been implemented under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so far.

“The story looks pretty strong, relative to where the country has been,” said Carl Ross out of the Boston office of international fund manager, GMO. “The fiscal effort looks phenomenal.”

Oppenheimer’s Greg Fisher figures Jamaica would be welcomed by the international capital market.

“Jamaica has shown an ability to push through the barriers to achieve positive growth, a positive signal to Wall Street that has been a long time in coming,” said Fisher, who has traded more Jamaican Eurobonds than anyone else.

“The Government can go to the capital market given that they have adhered so faithfully to the IMF agreement, particularly with respect to the critical fiscal targets.

“In today’s world, that is an anomaly.”

Bloomberg had previously reported that Citigroup had been asked to organise meetings for the Government with global bond investors, initially in New York from June 10-13, followed by meetings in Europe from June 16-18.

The Jamaican team included Bank of Jamaica Governor Brian Wynter, Financial Secretary Devon Rowe, the finance minister’s technical advisor Helen McIntosh, and Dian Black, who is the acting principal director for the Debt Management Branch.

Invesco’s emerging market senior portfolio manager, Sean Newman — a Jamaican based at the GMO’s office in Atlanta — reported that Jamaica’s economic team advised that they were not planning to raise funds at this time, as the Euro maturity coming due later this year was “already covered”.

In any case, he believes that “if they do decide to come to market, I think it will be well received”.

Recent new issues by Bank of Brazil have been five times oversubscribed, stronger credits like Korea were ten times oversubscribed, and the average issue coming to market recently has been about four or five times oversubscribed, according to Newman.

What’s more, Kenya, a country with credit comparable to Jamaica, was now on a roadshow to raise a ten-year, US$500 million Eurobond, which carries a rate of seven per cent. In the case of Ecuador, despite defaulting on its external debt several times in the past and its low CCC rating, the Latin American country is currently seeking to raise money for ten years at just eight per cent.

While the Jamaican Government was in the room, investors questioned the strength of the social

Peter Phillips consensus on the IMF programme (particularly the critical issue of public sector wage restraint), the extent of the commitment to restructuring the public sector, current fiscal year trends, the state of our net international reserves, current fiscal/tax reform measures, the pipeline for major international foreign investments in Jamaica, and how the current account deficit would be funded.

Notably, the team projected a reduction in the current account deficit to five per cent of GDP. Newman described the economic team’s presentation as a “good update”, adding that “a few years ago, Barbados would have been the star of the region”.

“How things have changed,” he said.

Importantly, international investors were interested in Jamaica’s commitment to not restructure the external bond debt, which remained untouched, following three debt exchanges in three years.

The Jamaican team assured that external debt restructuring was against the constitution.

Monday June 16, 2014

Kaieteur News

POLICEMAN ACCUSED OF RAPING FEMALE COLLEAGUE

A Police Constable betrayed the trust of a female colleague when he had forced sex with her after offering her a drop in his car.

The rank, who is reportedly stationed at the Number 10 Police Station, in the Mahaica Creek, was placed under close arrest yesterday after the female rank reported the matter to her superiors at an East Coast Demerara police

station.

This newspaper understands that on Thursday night the female, one of the recently appointed Traffic Wardens, had begged the Constable for a drop to her home in Plaisance.

But according to a reliable police source, the Constable took her to a bar in Plaisance where she accepted a “few drinks” from him.

They later left Plaisance

and headed to another location in Albouystown where again they engaged in more “drinks”.

It was just after they left the Albouystown bar that the alleged rape occurred.

The source said that the Constable did not even have the courtesy to take the warden back home.

The traumatized warden subsequently reported the matter the following morning

and unknowing to the Constable, a message was sent out that he be arrested whenever he turned up for work.

Sure as day turns to night, he was promptly placed under close arrest while an intense investigation has been launched.

“Rohee gon jail he, because is one ah Rohee police he touch,” the source said.

Letters... Where your views make the news

A masquerade of delusioned...

From page 4 thinking that they were supporting a national antiImperialist conflict and not a partisan racist crusade for power.

And to support the claim of religious racism, [5] Daily Chronicle 13 June 1964, reads…” letters were sent to certain ethnic teachers by a group calling themselves ‘The removal gang’ to certain schools between Crabwood creek to No. 60 Village Quote: “ The letter was signed “The Removal Gang” and carried the tracing of a Swastika. It advised the recipient to remove from the district before a certain time failing which “We will kill you” and was posted in the Skeldon area.”

Burnham did not place the Jagans before the court, though Jagan admitted; see, ‘Evening Post June,1964. ‘He tells the truth to Dr. Williams Jagan Admits Responsibility for Terror Campaign’ and the biographers of that era detailed his guilt. Read Jai Narine Singh’s ‘Guyana Democracy Betrayed’ among other works, Burnham’s PNC proceeded to bury that past, to look towards the future. It’s not by chance that one of the leading authorities on African Dance in this county is an Indo-Guyanese female, I’ve known Amerindians who earned Government scholarships and Afro Guyanese.

How many came back is another question. That was why by the time my training required me to leave Guyana to go to Scotland to fulfill a

crucial area, I was told that I couldn’t go because with my skills I wouldn’t come back.

Frustrated, I directed my skills elsewhere, developing a new career. Someday, a list of those qualified by their academics and skills would be made public and it will be demonstrated that there was no ethnic philosophy in education.

For example, skills training in the Youth Corps and National Service was open to all. It was the PPP who misguided Indo Guyanese not to enlist, those who enlisted and who were my peers as pioneers at Kuru Kuru College and the GYC will contradict Bisram’s victim syndrome foolishness.

The PPP was seen as the bogeyman of my early pre teen years, and by most groups who were their targets and though in the 60’s those groups were mainly Portuguese and AfroGuyanese, yet Indo Guyanese were their first victims.

Those who were the members of the MPCA, for the Trade Union were the first steps to Power for the sake of Ideology and not ‘People’, and their methods then were in the same vein as the Roger Khan-Jagdeo period. For those interested in the events of this tragic era of our modern history, see our libraries for ‘ The Communist Martyr makers’ a publication of the BG TUC. Therefore any writer wishing to discuss the subject above has to take it from the top, to re-quote Clive Thomas

from Arnold Gibbons’ book on Walter Rodney ‘Identity and Ideo l o g y ’ “ B o t h Africans and Indians brought to Nationhood the racial animosities learned in the pre-independence period. And covert if not overt hostility debilitated energies that should have gone into productive independence.

Sectional rather than National loyalties prevailed.”

The grounds to activate those animosities were well in place before the PPP and PNC with joblessness, poverty and a social caste system for certain jobs, and the battles started by Hubert Critchlow still being fought, though Critchlow would turn in his grave for what has become of his legacy.

None can question the transformation from socialism towards the uncertain, deceptive grounds of the free market state for the national

interest, boldly initiated by former President Desmond Hoyte, and the continued effort to forge a national political philosophy with accountability for national prosperity that became APNU in 2012, with the AFC, all recognizing that power must be reflected in the wellbeing of the people.

Only the PPP remain stagnant, willing to practice ‘Race Baiting’ to sell our interests as a kick back puppet to questionable Chinese Mandarins.

They, like the illegitimate mother of the Solomon romance, that would rather murder the child that is Guyana rather than admit, that the age of its race and spite politics is over, and it has to work with the best we have, or continue to become the fossilized Barabbas, of political dinosaurs.

Barrington Braithwaite

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Kaieteur News

Monday June 16, 2014

Advancing Iraq rebels seize Northwest town in heavy battle (Reuters) - Sunni insurgents seized a mainly ethnic Turkmen city in northwestern Iraq yesterday after heavy fighting, solidifying their grip on the north after a lightning offensive that threatens to dismember Iraq.

Residents reached by telephone in the city of Tal Afar said it had fallen to the rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after a battle which saw heavy casualties on both sides.

“The city was overrun by militants. Severe fighting took place, and many people were killed. Shi’ite families have fled to the west and Sunni families have fled to the east,” said a city official who asked not to be identified.

Tal Afar is a short drive west from Mosul, the north’s main city, which the ISIL fighters seized last week at the start of a drive that has plunged the country into the worst crisis since U.S. troops withdrew.

Most of the inhabitants of Tal Afar are members of the Turkmen ethnic group, who speak a Turkic language.

Turkey has expressed

concern about their security.

The city had been defended by an unit of Iraq’s security forces commanded by a Shi’ite major general, Abu Walid, whose men were among the few holdouts from the government’s forces in the province around Mosul not to flee the rapid ISIL advance.

After sweeping through towns in the Tigris valley north of Baghdad, ISIL fighters appear to have halted their advance outside the capital, instead moving to tighten their grip on the north.

The Turkmen and other residents of Tal Afar are divided among Sunnis and Shi’ites in a part of Iraq with a complex ethnic and sectarian mixture. The city is just outside Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, whose own security forces have taken advantage of the collapse of government control to advance into the city of Kirkuk and rural areas with oil deposits.

ISIL fighters aim to establish a Caliphate on both sides of the Syria-Iraqi frontier based on strict medieval Sunni Muslim precepts. Their

advance has been assisted by other Sunni Muslim armed groups.

The advance has alarmed Prime Minister Nuri alMaliki’s Shi’ite supporters in Iran as well as the United States, which helped bring Maliki to power after its 2003 invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he is reviewing military options, short of sending troops, to combat the insurgency, and Iran has held out the prospect of working with its longtime U.S. arch-enemy to help restore security in Iraq.

Washington said yesterday it was beefing up security at its embassy in Baghdad and moving some staff out.

The vast mission is the largest and most expensive embassy ever built anywhere in the world, a vestige of the days when the United States had 170,000 troops in Iraq battling to put down a sectarian civil war that followed its invasion.

Iraq now faces the prospect of similarly vicious warfare, but this time with no

Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants who have taken over Mosul and other Northern provinces, travel in army trucks in Baghdad.

REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani U.S. forces on the ground to intervene. Its million-strong army, trained and armed by Washington at a cost of around $25 billion, has been plagued by corruption, poor morale and a perception it pursues Shi’ite sectarian interests.

Residents in Tal Afar said Shi’ite police and troops rocketed Sunni neighbourhoods before the ISIL forces moved in and finally captured the city. A member of Maliki’s security committee told Reuters government forces had attacked ISIL positions on the outskirts of the city with helicopters.

“The situation is disastrous in Tal Afar. There is crazy fighting and most families are trapped inside houses, they can’t leave town,” a local official said yesterday before the city was overrun. “If the fighting continues, a mass killing among civilians could result.”

Shi’ites, who form the majority in Iraq and are based mainly in the south, have rallied to defend the country, with thousands of volunteers turning out to join the security forces after a

mobilisation call by the top Shi’ite cleric. Maliki’s security forces and allied militias regained some territory on Saturday.

In Baghdad yesterday, a suicide attacker detonated explosives in a vest he was wearing, killing at least nine people and wounding 20 in a crowded street in the centre of the capital, police and medical sources said.

At least six people were killed, including three soldiers and three volunteers, when four mortars landed at a recruiting centre in Khalis, one of the last big towns in government hands north of the capital, 50 km (30 miles) north of Baghdad.

Volunteers were being gathered by the army to join fighting to regain control of the nearby town of Udhaim.

ISIL fought as Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch against U.S. forces during the years of American occupation in Iraq, but broke away from Al Qaeda after joining the civil war in Syria. It now says the group founded by Osama bin Laden is not extreme enough.

In years of fighting on both sides of the frontier, ISIL has gained a reputation for

shocking brutality. It considers Shi’ites to be heretics deserving of death and sends bombers daily to kill hundreds of Iraqi civilians each month.

A series of pictures distributed on a purported ISIL Twitter account appeared to show gunmen from the Islamist group shooting dozens of men, unarmed and lying prone on the ground.

Captions accompanying the pictures said they showed hundreds of army deserters who were captured as they tried to flee the fighting.

They were shown being transported in the back of lorry and led to an open field where they were laid down in rows and shot by several masked gunmen. In several pictures, the black Islamist ISIL flag can be seen.

Most of the captured men were wearing civilian clothes, although one picture showed two men in military camouflage trousers, one of them half covered by a pair of ordinary trousers.

“This is the fate of the Shi’ites which Nuri brought to fight the Sunnis,” a caption to one of the pictures reads.

Others showed ISIL fighters apparently seizing facilities in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, which they captured on Wednesday.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the pictures.

Across the border, a Syrian government air raid hit near ISIL’s headquarters in the eastern city of Raqqa, Syrian activists said.

The only Syrian provincial capital in insurgent hands, Raqqa has been a major base for ISIL since the group evicted rival rebels, including al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, during infighting this year.

UK Minister questions BBC state funding amount, model (Reuters) - A UK government minister yesterday suggested the amount of money British viewers pay to finance the BBC should be reviewed, along with the state-funded broadcaster’s funding model.

Every British household with a television currently pays 145.50 pounds ($240) a year to the BBC, but that will end in 2016 and the corporation will be negotiating a new 10-year deal with the government at a time of austerity.

Sajid Javid, Britain’s minister for culture and a member of the ruling Conservative party, suggested the current amount was too high in comments likely to raise fears that funding for the world’s largest state-funded broadcaster could be cut.

“I think it’s a large amount and I think this needs to be looked at,” Javid told BBC TV. Changes in the way people are watching television in the Internet age would also have to be taken into account, he said. “I don’t think anything should be ruled out and nothing should be ruled in,” he said.

Sajid Javid

Monday June 16, 2014

Kaieteur News

Ukraine minister under fire for swearing about Putin KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Senior Russian parliamentarians urged Ukraine yesterday to sack its foreign minister for calling President Vladimir Putin a “dickhead” during a violent protest outside Russia’s embassy in Kiev.

Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia tried to persuade protesters not to use violence at the rally on Saturday evening, during which the Russian flag was ripped up, vehicles overturned and stones and eggs thrown at the embassy.

“We must fulfill our international obligations, including defending the right of Russia to have an embassy in Ukraine,” he told the protesters, angered by proRussian separatists shooting down a military cargo plane in east Ukraine, killing 49 people.

But challenged by the protesters, he added: “Did I say that I am against you protesting? I am for you protesting. I am ready to be here with you and say ‘Russia, get out of Ukraine’.”

“Yes, Putin is a dickhead, yes,” he went on to say and the protesters responded by chanting the phrase.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a telephone call with his french counterpart yesterday, “expressed outrage over the

Andriy Deshchytsia inaction of the Kiev authorities who allowed the rioting outside the Russian embassy,” the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov has protested to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about the violent rally at the embassy and the United States and the European Union have condemned it.

Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian lower house of parliament’s international affairs committee, said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko should dismiss Deshchytsia.

“Poroshenko should change his foreign minister.

He doesn’t control himself very well,” Pushkov said on Twitter, and went on to

suggest in televised comments that Moscow should halt all dialogue with Kiev and cut off gas supplies to Ukraine.

Leonid Kalashnikov, Pushkov’s deputy on the same committee, told Ekho Moskvy radio station in Moscow that Deshchystia came from the protest movement that toppled Ukraine’s previous, Moscowleaning president and did not know his “craft”.

“I can’t really imagine how anyone, especially a Russian representative, can sit down at the negotiating table with him after such an outburst,” Kalashnikov said.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said arrests had been made after the rally, during which windows were smashed and a gate damaged, and that stabilising the situation in Ukraine depended on Moscow’s “readiness to stop supporting terrorists” in east Ukraine.

Defending his actions, Deshchytsia told Ekho Moskvy that he had told the demonstrators they could protest peacefully but should not resort to violence.

Asked about his comment on Putin, he said: “I have told you what I want to say. You asked for my comments (on the rally), I’ve made my comments.”

Iran warns against military intervention in Iraq Tehran (AFP) - Iran warned yesterday that “any foreign military intervention in Iraq” would only complicate the crisis, after the United States said it was deploying a warship in the Gulf.

“Iraq has the capacity and necessary preparations for the fight against terrorism and extremism,” foreign ministry spokesman Marzieh Afkham was yesterday quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

“Any action that complicates the situation in Iraq is not in the interests of the country nor of the region,” Afkham said, adding: “The people and government of Iraq will be able to neutralise this conspiracy.”

Iraq is battling an offensive by Sunni militants who have advanced to within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of Baghdad’s city limits after seizing a swathe of the country’s north.

Responding to the crisis, the Pentagon said on Saturday the United States

Hassan Rouhani had ordered an aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, into the Gulf.

Afkham’s comments come a day after President Hassan Rouhani said he believed the Iraqis have the capacity to “repel terrorism” and that Iran had not been asked for help by its neighbour.

But in surprise comments, he added that Iran may consider cooperating with its arch-foe the United States to fight the Sunni extremist

militants in Iraq.

“If we see that the United States takes action against terrorist groups in Iraq, then one can think about it,” he said, despite the lack of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington for more than three decades.

“We have said that all countries must unite in combating terrorism. But right now regarding Iraq... we have not seen the Americans taking a decision,” Rouhani added. However, National Supreme Security Council chief Ali Shamkhani dismissed any US-Iran cooperation over Iraq.

“That is part of a psychological war, and is totally unreal,” Shamkhani said, denouncing “information published in the West’s media”.

“As we have already said, if there is an official Iraqi request we will be ready to study it under the framework of international rules, and this concerns no other country,” added Shamkhani, a Rouhani appointee.

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NATO says not to blame for planes vanishing from radar (Reuters) - NATO said yesterday it was not to blame for recent incidents in which dozens of aircraft briefly vanished from air traffic control radar screens in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Slovak state Air Traffic Services company said on Friday that the brief disappearance of planes from radar screens on June 5 and 10 was connected to a military exercise whose goal was “the interruption of radio communication frequencies.”

It did not identify the military force organising the exercise, but Austrian media said it was NATO. The military alliance, in response to a request for comment, said it did carry out some training that involved “localised and low-power jamming” in the skies over Hungary during the June 2-6 period and that it was currently conducting similar training in southern Italy from June 9-20.

However, it said no

jamming was conducted on June 5.

“Our assessment is that NATO did not cause any interference with civilian air traffic control frequencies.

When NATO conducts such exercises, we coordinate our activities with relevant civilian authorities and only use frequencies provided to us by the host nation,” a NATO military officer said.

NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft that have been flying regular missions over Europe to monitor Russian activities near Ukraine could not have

caused the interference because they did not have a jamming capability, the officer said.

The European air navigation safety o r g a n i s a t i o n EUROCONTROL and the European Air Safety Agency are investigating the incidents.

“We will cooperate with these authorities in order to be absolutely sure that there is no connection between our exercises and the frequency interference issues that have been reported,” the NATO officer said.

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Kaieteur News

Monday June 16, 2014

UK’s Cameron signals tougher line on home-grown Islamist radicalism LONDON (Reuters) Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday Britain had been too tolerant of Islamist radicalism in the past and allowed violent rhetoric to flourish, pledging a “muscular” approach to combat the problem.

Facing re-election next year, Cameron’s tougher line comes days after the chief schools inspector said a culture of “fear and intimidation” existed in some schools due to what parts of the media called a Muslim extremist plot.

The findings, which included evidence of faith and gender segregation and funding misuse, caused tensions in Cameron’s coalition government, with two of his most prominent ministers in a public spat about the authorities’ response to the issue.

Questions about British identity have shot up the political agenda, with immigration joining the economy at the top of voter concerns for the first time in years. The UK Independence Party (UKIP), which has promised to sharply restrict it, won European elections last month, pushing Cameron’s Conservatives into third place.

Writing in the right-wing Mail yesterday newspaper, Cameron suggested that Britain had sometimes

David Cameron allowed unacceptable views to go unchallenged, in the name of liberalism.

“In recent years we have been in danger of sending out a worrying message: that if you don’t want to believe in democracy, that’s fine; that if equality isn’t your bag, don’t worry about it; that if you’re completely intolerant of others, we will still tolerate you,” he wrote.

“This has not just led to division, it has also allowed extremism – of both the violent and non-violent kind – to flourish.”

In February, a court sentenced two British Muslim converts to life in prison for hacking a soldier to death on a London street, a killing that provoked an

anti-Islamic backlash.

Government sources say hundreds of young British Muslim men are also fighting in Syria, a worry for the security services who fear they will return home to spread extremism and possibly violence.

Cameron said it was time for Britain to take a more “muscular” line on what he termed extremism and to push “British values” such as tolerance and the rule of law more assertively, especially in schools.

The government was making sure new immigrants spoke English, said Cameron, and was returning to what he called “narrative history” to teach children about democracy and government.

His office said he had all kinds of extremism in mind not just Islamist radicalism.

Some British Muslims have rejected the inspector’s report about several schools in the city of Birmingham which found evidence of a drive to impose Muslim cultural norms.

The Muslim Council of Britain, an advocacy group that aims to represent the interests of the 2.7 millionstrong community, questioned the criteria used to inspect the schools and said: “There is a strong fear that these reports will be considered the results of a witch-hunt.”

Monday June 16, 2014

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Defending champs in action today as Digicel Schools Football commences Defending champions Christianburg/ Wismar will be in action in one of three matches planned to kick-off the Fourth Digicel Schools Football Competition which gets underway today, at three venues.

The two-time champions will engage Linden Foundation in one of the fixtures in the Region 10 Zone at the Wisburg ground, starting from 15:30 hrs.

In Georgetown, Queenstown take on Freeburg at the Ministry of Education ground and this game is scheduled to commence at 15:30 hrs, while over at the Timehri Red ground, Supply and Xenon Academy square off from 16:00 hrs.

Meanwhile, Head Coach of the reigning champions Christianburg/Wismar Anthony Stephens speaking with Kaieteur Sport at the Launch of the Tournament in Linden had stated that the players were in preparations for the commencement of the competition and even expressed optimism of reproducing the quality of players that the fans saw last year.

He added that with the community and the Teaching Staff urging them to win the trophy outright, the students are highly motivated to do so.

“We have already begun our preparations

and while we will not be taking any team lightly I am confident that we could duplicate last year’s performance.”

In the final last year, Christianburg/Wismar successfully defended their title with a 1-0 triumph over nemesis Waramadong who succumbed 1-0 in sudden death penalties after regulation time ended in a thrilling 3-3 stalemate forcing penalty shootout which also finished without a clear winner.

Waramadong will also be returning and the early discussions have centred on whether the two outstanding schools have been able to produce players the quality of what was seen from the inception of the tournament.

The competition which opens today is tentatively set to conclude on July 27, at a venue to be announced later.

Meanwhile, the Company has significantly improved the incentives for this year’s competition which will see the winning team carting off $1million, runner-up- $600,000, 3rd place-$400,000 and 4th place-$250,000.

These prizes are expected to go towards projects to benefit the schools, while regional winners will receive $100,000 and schools making it to the national quarter-finals will see teachers, coaches and students receive smartphones.

Monday June 16, 2014

Messi scores stunner in Argentina win BBC Sport - Lionel Messi scored a superb goal as Argentina began their World Cup campaign with a win over World Cup debutants Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Argentina went ahead when Messi’s free-kick was put into his own net by defender Sead Kolasinac.

Messi then played a one-two with Gonzalo Higuain, jinked past two defenders and rifled in to make it 2-0. The goal lifted Argentina and, despite Vedad Ibisevic slotting in late on for Bosnia-Hercegovina, they held on.

All eyes were on Messi in the first game of the tournament at the famous Maracana stadium in Rio and, even though the four-time World Player of the Year took time to get going, he announced his arrival in sparkling style with his goal.

The strike was his second World Cup goal in nine games and provided the one piece of mesmerising magic Messi managed in a game in which he and Argentina improved the longer it progressed.

The blue and white of Argentina fans was prominent at the spiritual home of fierce rivals and hosts Brazil, although they had to watch on as a disciplined

Bosnia stifled their side for most of the first half.

There was huge hype around Messi and Argentina getting their campaign under way, and the forward helped his side take an early lead with his first meaningful touch. He supplied the left wing free-kick which was flicked on by team-mate Rojo before the ball came off defender Kolasinac and went into his own net.

However, Argentina rarely looked like adding to the goal as they lacked pace and invention, while regularly giving the ball away.

Bosnia slowly settled into the match and created sporadic chances, starting with a Miralem Pjanic shot being punched away by

keeper Sergio Romero. Pjanic also opened up Argentina when he clipped a ball over the top of their defence, which Izet Hajrovic brought down only for Romero to quickly come out and save.

Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano had a powerful low shot blocked away by Bosnia keeper Asmir Begovic before Bosnia again went close to equalising.

Senad Lulic managed to steal in and get on the end of a corner but his low header was palmed away by Romero.

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella brought on Higuain and Fernando Gago after the break and the move worked as La Albiceleste had more urgency about them after the reshuffle.

The improvement culminated in Messi’s eyecatching goal. He played a one-two with Higuain before his balance, poise and pace helped him to evade two Bosnia defenders before he arrowed in an 18-yard shot off the inside of the post.

Bosnia gave Argentina some late concern when Lulic slipped a pass through for Vedad Ibisevic to angle in a low shot with six minutes left, but Sabella’s side avoided any more scares.

Windies looking to rebound in T&T...

From page 31 100th Test but only managed 10 in the second innings, when off-spinner Shane Shillingford scored the fastest Test fifty batting at number 11, as the West Indies slumped to an embarrassing 183-run defeat with an entire day to spare.

The West Indies batting will have to show tremendous improvement as only Chanderpaul, the glue which hold the innings together, looked capable of defying the steady New Zealand attack.

Pacer Jerome Taylor bowled well in his return to International cricket for the first time in four and a half years, while Kemar Roach lacked consistency leaving most of the work to Shillingford and Benn.

The 22-year-old Thomas Latham, scored two fifties in Jamaica in only his second test match while 23-year-old James Neesham followed up his debut ton against India with another century in his second match at this level in the opening Test last week.

Kane Williamson is only 23 but has already made six centuries including his last one in the first Test in Jamaica, while Bradley Watling and

Ross Taylor, who pounded the West Indies attack in the last series between the two sides, also got half-centuries in Jamaica.

New Zealand, who piled up 508-7 declared in their first innings, have dropped out of form Peter Fulton and replaced him with Hamish Rutherford.

On an unresponsive surface at Sabina Park, where he dismissed Chris Gayle twice on the way to match figures of 6 for 51, Tim Southee has jumped three places to fifth in the ICC Test bowling rankings.

Dale Steyn, Ryan Harris, Vernon Philander and Mitchell Johnson are the only bowlers above Southee, who has shown the consistency over the last three years to suggest he belongs in that company, having taken 78 wickets in 17 Test matches at an average of 22.78 since the start of 2012.

But it was off-spinner Mark Craig, with two fourwicket hauls on debut, who captured the most wickets for New Zealand after getting his chance when off-spinner Jeetan Patel declined to tour West Indies and committed himself to his English County Warwickshire.

At 21, Inderbir Singh Sodhi, the India-born legspinner, also bowled impressively but the track here should be livelier than the one used at Sabina Park and the Black Caps are toying with the idea of playing an extra fast bowler today.

This is the first time that a Test match will start here on a Monday and work and the high interest in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil are highly likely to distract fans here from coming to see a Test series in which the poor showing of the Regional batsmen continues to be depressing.

West Indies squad: Denesh Ramdin (capt), Chris Gayle, Kraigg Brathwaite, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Jermaine Blackwood, Leon Johnson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Shane Shillingford, Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel.

New Zealand Squad: (Probable) Tom Latham, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum (capt), Jimmy Neesham, BJ Watling (wk), Neil Wagner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Mark Craig, Trent Boult.