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Iraqi army presses Tikrit assault as lawmakers scramble to fill posts BAGHDAD (Reuters) Iraq’s army sent tanks and armored vehicles to try to dislodge insurgents from the northern city of Tikrit yesterday, the second day of a pushback against a Sunni militant takeover of large stretches of Iraq. The hardline Sunni group leading the insurgency, until yesterday known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), declared itself a “caliphate” yesterday and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance - a move analysts saw as a direct challenge to al Qaeda, which disowned ISIL in February, and to Gulf Arab rulers. In Baghdad, which is threatened by the rebel advance, top Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers scrambled to agree cabinet nominations before parliament meets tomorrow to try to prevent the rebel advance jeopardizing Iraq’s future as a unitary state. They are racing against time as ISIL, which loathes Prime Minister Nuri alMaliki’s Shi’ite-led government, consolidates its grip on the north and west. Maliki’s political future after eight years in power will be the most contentious issue. Troops backed by helicopter gunships began an
assault on Tikrit, the birthplace of former President Saddam Hussein, on Saturday, to try to take it back from insurgents who have swept to within driving range of Baghdad. The army sent in tanks and helicopters to battle ISIL militants near the University of Tikrit in the city’s north yesterday, security sources said. Two witnesses said they saw a helicopter gunned down over northern Tikrit, reports not possible to immediately verify independently. The offensive was the first major attempt by the army to retake territory after the United States sent up to 300 advisers, mostly special forces, and drones to help the government take on ISIL. Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani, one of Iraq’s most senior politicians, faulted the U.S. for not doing enough to bolster the country’s military, just hours after Russia delivered five Sukhoi jets. “Yes, there has been a delay from the Americans in handing over contracted arms. We told them, ‘You once did an air bridge to send arms to your ally Israel, so why don’t you give us the contracted arms in time?’” he
told al-Hurra television. U.S. officials have disputed similar statements from Iraqi officials in the past and say they have done everything possible to ensure the country is equipped with modern weaponry. The five Russian Sukhoi jets were delivered to Baghdad late on Saturday. State television said they “would be used in the coming days to strike ISIL terrorist groups”. A Reuters photographer saw the jets unloaded from a transport plane at a military airport in Baghdad as Russian and Iraqi soldiers stood on the tarmac. Iraq has relied largely on helicopters to counter militants and has few aircraft that can fire advanced missiles. Iraqi army spokesman Qassim Atta told reporters in Baghdad security forces had killed 142 “terrorists” over the last 24 hours across Iraq, including 70 in Tikrit, and said the armed forces were in control of Tikrit’s university. Both claims were impossible to immediately verify. “Our security forces have taken complete control of the University of Tikrit and they have raised the Iraqi flag on top of the building,” Atta said. Iran has also supported Iraq’s government against the
Members of Iraqi security forces take their positions during a patrol looking for militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) west of Kerbala, June 29, 2014. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed onslaught. An Iranian general said yesterday his country was ready to help Iraq fight the revolt using the same methods it deployed against rebels in Syria. “With Syria, too, we announced we would not allow terrorists in the hire of foreign intelligence services to rule and dictate to Syrian people. We will certainly have the same approach with Iraq,” Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, deputy joint chief of staff of the armed forces and a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps officer, told Iran’s al Alam television. Yesterday, intermittent
clashes broke out from the early morning between militants and government forces in the northeastern outskirts of the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 53 miles(83 km) south of Baghdad. The local government and security commanders have asked for backup from Baghdad to face what they estimate are several hundred ISIL fighters, police sources and the province’s governor said. In a statement distributed on Islamist forums, ISIL, also known as ISIS, said it was renaming itself “Islamic State” and proclaiming its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghadi
“caliph” of the territory it has seized in Iraq and Syria. “He is the imam and khalifah (caliph) for the Muslims everywhere,” the group’s spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in the statement, which was translated into several languages and an Arabic audio speech. ISIL and allied militias have seized funds, equipment and control of border posts, oilfields and swathes of territory including northern Iraq’s largest city Mosul throughout its nearly threeweek-old offensive. ISIL has long vowed to recreate a medieval-style caliphate erasing borders from the Mediterranean to the Gulf and they deem all Shi’ites to be heretics deserving death. In Syria, ISIL fighters crucified eight men in the northern Aleppo province, a monitoring group said. ISIL accused them of being “Sahwa” fighters, a term it uses for rival fighters it says are controlled by Western powers. The men were crucified in the town square of Deir Hafer in eastern Aleppo and would be left there for three days, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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Monday June 30, 2014
Bulkhan warns against moves to dissolve City Council (From page 19)
FOR RENT WANTED Experienced roti/puri Cook, curry cook, handy boys Apply at Hacks Halaal, 5 Commerce Street, Georgetown Over edge, straight stitch, button & button tack operator to work at garment factory – Call:222-2541 Silverballi and Kabakalli logs - Tel: 653-9752 One experienced general domestic. Must know to cook a variety of dishes; pleasant & trustworthy- Tel: 656-6388 Live out domestic babysitter and live in babysitter –Call: 225-0188, 225-6070 (Monday to Saturday ) (8:15am4:15pm) Female worker needed, 3 CXC subjects or sound secondary school education - Call: 612-1595 INTERIOR EXCAVATOR OPERATOR SEEKS EMPLOYMENT WITH 8YRS KNOWLEDGE OF INTERIOR WORK, WELDING MACHINE – CONTACT:681-1605
PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION, WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Furnished new apartments USD$600-$1000 located in Ogle: Pool, parking, hot water, AC, Wi-Fi. Contact Richard: 622-7236 One bedroom furnished apartment, 1-2 bedroom apartment @ Lot 4 Henry Street, Werk-En-Rust – Call Winston: 660-6446 Mining Blocks to rent at Mazaruni and Kwakwani – Tel: 627-4900 Hair & nails station to rent @ Prime Location – Tel: 2254665; 602-0333 Business place to rent, good for Boutique, Gift Shop or Variety Store – Call: 223-8257 GT TOOL RENTALS SPECIALS CONCRETE SAW; JACK HAMMER WELDING MACHINE, PRESSURE WASHER & RANSOM – CALL: 675-0767; 627-5098.
Children feeding program continues, celebrating any occasion or just want to partake? – Call: 696-7467 SERVICES Chef & waitress at Hibiscus COOL TECH : Repairs Restaurant – Call: 231-5857 Services & Installation of all Welder, Gardener, Carpenter types if homes appliances: Air – Call: 265-3586 Condition & Refrigeration units – Tel: 233-2008; 675Live-in experienced domestic 4959 must know to cook & bake $60,000 monthly & live-in waitress 18-25yrs - $50,000 monthly – Tel: 610-3974 One handy boy to work in the interior- Tel:681-6044 Experienced cashiers, counter servers. Apply at Hacks Halaal with written application: 5 Commerce Street. Housekeeper to work at hotel and one handyman – Tel: 602-0945 Couple from country. Wife: Domestic & Husband: Driving; free accommodation, high salary – Tel: 227-1830 Acetylene welder to work no equipment needed – Call:628-1756; 228-5655 FOR RENT Wash bay and snacknette @ Good Hope East Bank Essequibo- Contact:6632882 1 Newly built upper flat to rent @ Diamond EBD – Tel:651-6263; 697-5933
Shadow Local Government Minister Ronald Bulkhan has objected to the government’s interference in the affairs of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC). The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) member charged yesterday that current Local Government Minister Norman Whitaker has hijacked the City Council and has stripped it of its authority and autonomy. He stated therefore, that any move by the government via the Minister to remove the executive or to impose an Interim Management Committee (IMC) on the Council at this stage would be illegal. Bulkhan told Kaieteur News yesterday that Minister Whitaker is behaving like a “lone ranger” calling the shots of the autonomous body. He explained that while the government has failed to uphold the law by calling Local Government elections, they have sought to impose themselves on the Municipal body. Bulkhan said that the Opposition has on several occasions, at several forums called for the holding of Local
- accuses Whittaker of behaving like ‘Lone Ranger’ polls. He stated however that the President has refused to assent to one of the Amendment Bills which allows for the holding of Local Polls by August 1. Bulkhan warned that any move by the government to remove the executive body or to implement an IMC would be illegal at this stage since there is a process to be followed. Minister Norman Whitaker had told Kaieteur News last week that in dealing with the dilemma facing the Council, the government has a few options which also involve the dissolving of the Council. Minister Whittaker had for the first time visited the Council and sat in at one of their statutory meetings. He however walked out after claiming that the members were engaging in semantics. The Minister said that he had attended the meeting in the hope that he would have been engaged and that any queries on any issue would have been asked of him. Instead, he said, they were being counterproductive.
New UGBC Director....
From page 16 Albion Estate as well to do other research. “I love to serve the community in terms of lecturer and Director,” he added. Administrative Officer of UGBC, Mr. David Cort revealed that the campus’s Annual Reading Programme will commence on July 14. This year, Grades 5 and 6 students of the McGowan Primary School will be the beneficiaries. A network meeting with the private sector through the combined Chambers of Commerce is also in the planning. It should be noted that the Cari-Science Conference, General Meeting and Symposium a mega- Science meeting of all Caribbean countries will be held from August 28-29, 2014 at UGBC, where over 25 member states will participate.
Whittaker stated that among the options his Ministry has in dealing with the Council, the more prominent ones are the dissolution of the body, the holding of annual internal elections of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, or the implementation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC). Minister Whittaker had pointed out that under the Municipal and District Council’s Act Chapter 28:01, Section 306, the Minister can declare the Council to be in default and dissolve or suspend it for some time, if it is found among other things that the body failed to observe financial instructions and maintain reasonable standards of efficiency and progress in the discharge of its functions. The Minister said he could also call a day for the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as the case may require and prescribe their terms of office. He said that the same is stated in the Local Authorities Elections Amendment Act. The Minister did indicate, however, that at this time he is engaged in the major cleanup programme organized for Guyana. The Shadow Local
Government Minister charged however that any of these moves suggested by the Minister would see the Opposition party giving total support to the Council which would be expected to take legal action. Bulkhan said that it would be “reprehensible, unjustified and provocative,” for the Minister to take any of the steps he mentioned, especially in the absence of local elections. The Council’s Town Clerk (ag) Carol Sooba was given the position by the government and both the Council and the Opposition parties have accused the Administration of using her to carry out their will. The Council has claimed that the Council Secretary takes orders from the Minister and ignores the decisions of the executive members. They have charged for the longest time that the government has willfully stifled them financially and continues to have a say in the affairs of managing the city. Many have also called for the holding of local polls, but the government has claimed several reasons why local elections cannot be called. The government is yet to hint or give a date for the holding of local elections.
Guyana’s reliance on... From page 16 such as the Chikungunya virus require laboratory based methods. It is for this reason, he said, that moves have already been engaged to acquire the necessary training for local personnel to take advantage of the equipment housed at the National Reference Laboratory. Minister Ramsaran disclosed that the Health Ministry is poised to take advantage of an upcoming Pan American Health Organisation/Centres for Disease Control (PAHO/ CDC) collaboration, which is expected to see at least one local health worker travelling to Atlanta, Georgia in the United States for training shortly. “We had deliberately, knowing that training was coming up, asked the authorities (PAHO and CDC) to extend that person’s stay to possibly get training to test for Chikungunya...so we are awaiting a reply; that will be our best option,” intimated the Health Minister.
Monday June 30, 2014
Kaieteur News
VACANCY Cut Style Nah barber Shop hiring barbers to fill complete barber stations – Contact: 643-5177; 648-0123 One welder/fabricator – Tel: 642-7898 FOR SALE
LEARN TO DRIVE
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, Crab Wood etc Call: 688-6579 Spares for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call: 225-9032, 647-2943 One Water Dredge; 14" Missile, in excellent condition, situated in upper Mazaruni River – Contact: 685-7193
Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj BuildingTel: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997
Pure breed Rottweiler puppies for sale – Contact Natasha: 653-5132 Fluffy Dachshund pups – Call: 670-2653; 618-1706 Three caterpillar engines: Model 3406-$1,6M, 3116 $1,1M, 3208- $1,1M. Contact 650-0402; Serious Inquiries Only Now In Stock Whole plucked chicken at BM Ent. Inc. contact: 227-8175/8176 delivery available One lady-driven new model RAV 4J ‘KK’ series - $2.5M negotiable – Tel: 609-8425 15 cu ft. Frigidaire Gallery Freezer and one Ultra Chef 13 cu ft. cooler/chiller - Call 622-2899 HP Printer Ink - $2,000; Cannon printer ink - $2,500. Phone: 650-7699 Used pedicure chair, hair dryer and salon chair – Tel: 668-9583, 698-5272 One Tata Truck GEE 9962 in good working condition – Tel: 629-9286 One Toyota Hiace 2RZ minibus – Price: $1.5M negotiable, good condition – Contact: 677-9107 One Double stall with overhead storage at a prime location in Stabroek Market – Call: 619-7925 can be inspected One fruit dryer machine (new) 2 compressors, distilled water machine, 4 mag rims – Call: 231-5171 or 619-7134 Two 3 months old male Rottweiler, parents are imported – Contact: 264-2870; 672-6402 or 665-9140 after 6PM. 1-18 Nissan outboard Engine & 1-4.5 Evinrude & 1 omega compressor Call: 220-7664; 6127206 Ask for Barman One slate pools table 8’X4’ $360,000–Tel:601-8083,689-2658
24 Hour East Coast Guyoil needs night pump attendants, salesgirl, office assistant & handyman- Call: 670-8893/684-2838 Cashiers @ Shell Service Station Providence, EBD, Must be able to work shift (5am-3pm & 3pm-12pm) – Tel: 265-7305
FOR SALE One Grocery stall & one snackette – Call:679-1157 (7:00am -6:00pm only) Lots of Original PS2, PS3, 3Ds XBOX360 systems – Game & game parts – Call: 683-8386 5000 gas fuel tank – Call: 601-3194 One Nissan X-trail 2004 Model PRR Series – Call: 6470016 Working fridge from $25,000 – Tel:223-4207
One female clerk – Tel: 2256481 Office clerk senior/junior CXC: English, Mathematics & computer knowledge an asset- Call: 225-0188/225-6070 Experienced News Reporter - $150,000 -$200,000; Hours: Midnight – 8AM; 6 days per week - Tel: 673-5475
DRESSMAKING Jean offers courses in dressmaking, designing curtains, floral decoration & cake decoration – Tel: 6181706; 670-2653.
LAND FOR SALE Land for sale at Better Hope South – Price $6,350,000, negotiable – Tel: 642-7898 Land for sale 110X60 at 5th Avenue Diamond, EBD. For quick sale - $7M. Contact: 652-5601 One transported lot @ Zeelught E.B.E – Tel: 6174439
CATERING Roxy’s Snackette & Catering Services: Any occasion, daily breakfast, lunch, snacks, fruit juices, power porridge – Call: 2230092; 223-0095
Diamond, Grove, Land 40X80 feet $3.3M, Hadfield Street $14M, $12M, Kitty Railway 96X89X20X50ft – Contact GME Realty: 231-2209; 6187483
CAR RENTAL Dolly’s Car Rental - Call: 2257126/ 226-3693 dollys autorental@yahoo.com/ www.dolly sautorental.com
Fab’s Car Rental- Call:6716051
Diamond: Avenue A - Three bedrooms, two-storey concrete house & 1st Bridge - Flat concrete & high house. Have property for sale? Contact: 643-7633 Lot 1064/65 Aubrey Barker Street, South Ruimveldt Park, Gauling St . – Serious Offers only- Call:619-7299 House & land for sale at Good-Hope, E.C.D – Tel:6211722 1-3 storey business – Opposite GPHC, Middle Street, 2 business property @ Whim Public Road Corentyne, Price Negotiable – Contact:619-7134; 225-6481 3rd Avenue Diamond 95X30feet, flat concrete house (nice deal) – Contact GME Realty: 231-2199; 2312200; 618-7483 Robb Street - $25M, Nandy Park - $22M, Eccles $21M$55M, Kitty - $35M – Call Diana: 227-2256; 626-9382
EDUCATION: I.A.E is registering students for its secondary school, Forms1-5; CXC classes for adults – Repeaters and beginners – Call: 223-0604; 683-5742 Now Enrolling for a Diploma in computers (9 courses) Special discount for 2014 CXC students @ MicroGraphics, Vreed-EnHoop –Tel: 264-3057 Study in Canada micro.gtek@yahoo.com – Micrographics Technology
MASSAGE Happy Touch Day Spa: Come & Experienced heaven’s touch, visit us today! – 6684554
ProgressiveAuto Rental: Cars & SUV for rental- $4,000 & up per day- Call: 643-5122, 628-2284 ,Email:pro_ autorental @yahoo.com
PROPERTY FOR SALE 1-2 storey wooden & concrete house with 5 bedrooms, upper flat & lower flat 4 apartments located@ Shell Road, kitty - $38.9M Tel: 642-7898
TO LET 1 Bedroom apartments at Prashad Nagar – Fully furnished with internet, hot & cold water, air condition etc – Call: 611- 8584 for further information
Now Enrolling for summer computer classes – Ages: 514yrs, certificate course @ MicroGraphics Technology – Vreed-En- Hoop –Tel: 2643057 I.A.S : 2nd Street Alberttown, CXC Adults Classes, $1200 per subject, summer classes for children – 4-17yrs old $5,000 (6 weeks) – Tel: 2237906; 690-5008 Summer Classes: Phonics, Language, Mathematics, Art & Craft, fun day (4-12yrs) July 15th – August 15th @ Roxanne Burnham – Call: 6194355; 218-2076 VACANCY GUARD for Land of Canaan, accommodation available, LORRY DRIVER living on E.B.D. 266 4427
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SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 647-1773 Earn a certificate in cosmetology, wig designs or nails alone, limited spaces Call Abby: 619-7603, 666-5241
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.–CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Guyana Passport & Visa Forms Application, USA, Canada and England. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. Permanent & Visitors Vi s a Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call Sabita: 2256496, 662-6045 Repairs, sales & spares, air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call: 225-9032,647-2943 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 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer Call Omar: 2310655,683-8734 Meditation: Learn transcendental meditation, gain deep rest, and eliminate stress. Call Ashoke:6093701; 233-6921 for introductory lecture Regassing fridge - $8,000 & repairs – Tel:223-4207 HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING AND ESTIMATES FOR ONLY $10,000- CALL:6949843/227-2766 VEHICLE FOR SALE
VEHICLE FOR SALE Cheapest – New model, fully loaded Spacio, VVTI Manual & Automatic buses, one Vizio 42" High Definition Television – Tel: 616-7635 2006 Blue Nissan Titan. Fully Loaded GSS Series. Contact: 604-6108. 1 Honda CRV, Toyota AT192, AT212, AE110 Corolla, Raum, Funcargo, Ep-71 Starlet, Nissan Pathfinder – Tel: 644-5096, 697-1453 Smart Choice Auto: Unregistered 212, Allex, old & new model Spacio, 05 & 03 Allion, Voxy- Call:6523820/ 665-4529 One Leyland Daf dump truck $2,5M, One S130 Bobcat $2,1M -Contact 6500402; Serious Inquiries Only One BZ – Touring Corolla Wagon: AC, CD, 17" mags all wheels, Disk Brake, PPP series, never worked here – $1,050,000 -Tel: 619-1047. One newly registered Toyota Premio, PSS Series – Contact: 670-4484 One RZ minibus BKK Series – Tel: 684-0990 New model Toyota RAV 4 $2.5M negotiable – Tel: 2255034, 639-5577 Toyota Avensis, Corolla 110, Tundra – Tel: 645-0078; 6030078 Toyota Sietna, 7 Seater $2.1M, Toyota Voxy bus both fully loaded - $1.8M negotiable, financing available – Tel: 629-2314 One 2003 unregistered Premio – 55000KM, excellent condition - $2.5M negotiable – Contact: 657-2790; 2256810 New Toyota Noah: TV, Camera, 15" Rim – Tel:6632700, 629-2619 One Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, PMM Series Call: 2250188, 223-7500, Mon-Fri 8:15-4:15pm, Sat – 8:151:15PM
One Leyland truck – Call: 6561067 One Starlet (EP82) -Tel: 6435161
Ford F150; 2009 year, excellent condition – GRR 7452 – Tel: 227-3728; 6183712 One NZE Toyota Corolla, 1 Toyota Sienta – Contact: 621-5407; 226-0041 Diamond Auto Show: Blue Nissan, Blue Bird 2007, fully loaded, 2/4 wheel drive – Tel: 682-1822
TO LET
One Toyota Marina 1992, Red, mag rim, DVD Player, AC. Price- $800,000 negotiable – Contact: 6735475 To y o t a 4 R u n n e r g r e a t condition -$1.7M negotiable – Tel:223-9719; 227-1028
1 New Noah Bus – PSS series – Call:651-6263; 697-5933
Kitty (business) - $65,000, Queenstown - $US650, Lamaha Garden - $US1000, Eccles- $US1200 – Contact Diana: 227-2256; 629-9382
(Continued on page 18)
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Kaieteur News
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Deadline for trade pact with More layoffs coming - Opposition MP Canada will be missed Jamaica Observer CARICOM won’t meet today’s deadline for wrapping up negotiations over a trade pact with Canada, which would continue to provide Jamaica with dutyfree access to the North American market. “Will we meet the deadline? I think it’s highly unlikely,” said Brian Pengelley, recently re-elected president of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association. “Canada could accept duties on our exports if they choose to go down that road, but I highly doubt that Canada will, given the relationship between the two countries.” Caricom and Canadian officials entered talks for a deal to replace the CaribbeanCanada Trade Agreement (CARIBCAN), a preferential arrangement under which most regional items enjoy duty-free access to the Canadian market. The trade pact had been deemed unfair by the The World Trade Organisation (WTO) and it expired at the end of 2013. Negotiations broke down last year due to a confluence of sticking points, including issues around market access late last year. As a result, the parties received a short-term extension of the existing arrangement until the trading partners became WTO compliant. The extension comes to an end today. “It is a negotiation, which means that there are many issues that both countries will take hard lines on,” said Pengelley. “However the
Brian Pengelley commitment must be there to conclude a free trade agreement which is mutually beneficial to both our economies and people. “With that being said, we ask that as the negotiation process continues in good faith, Jamaican goods continue to be granted duty- free entry into the market.” Jamaica enjoys a trade surplus with Canada, having exported US$200 million worth of goods there compared to the US$120 million it imported from the North American market in 2013. Exports from Jamaica largely consist of alumina (US$150 million) followed by rum and beer (US$25 million), according to statistics from the International Trade Centre, while imports from Canada are mostly food items. But for the rest of Caricom, grave concern surrounds the future of regional exports of rum, sauces and other food items, according to the JMA head. “We will have no choice if Canada decides not to extend the date and starts
applying duties and I know some companies will not continue to sell or trade into that market,” Pengelley told the Caribbean Business Report. A new trade agreement with Canada will thus have to consider market access for goods, cross-border trade in services, investment, temporary entry, labour, rules of origin, information and communications technologies, customs procedures, competition, monopolies and state enterprises for the countries involved. In the meantime, Jamaican manufacturers are looking at capitalising on the trade compensation mechanism under the PetroCaribe arrangement with Venezuela. Under the deal, through which Jamaica has borrowed over US$2.4 billion, exports can be used to service the loan. That is, the Government can opt to pay manufacturers for goods supplied to Venezuela instead of paying the cash over to Caraca, once a trade deal is met. Presently, that debt service figure totals US$100 million annually, and it is growing as the debt accumulated from the conversion of 50-60 per cent of oil imports from the South American country continues to rise. “It’s a large market so it’s worth going to after if you have the right products and what they are looking for,” said Pengelley. “It certainly is good because it helps to reduce the foreign exchange that Jamaica owes Venezuela.”
Students must chip in Barbados Nation - The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde has poured cold water on the idea that university education in Barbados – and elsewhere in the Caribbean – should be free. Lagarde said weekend that she personally supported the idea of scholarships and free tertiary education for students whose family could not afford it. However, her view was that students “above a certain threshold” should be asked to make a contribution to the financing badly needed by all universities. Nevertheless, she underscored the importance of countries investing heavily in education. She said education was probably one
Christine Lagarde of the best ways to reduce inequality in the society and a development that gave young people the required skills sets for the job market and for being part of the fabric of society. She made the comments at the Mona Campus of the
University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, responding to questions from students – including one from Barbados – about the wisdom of governments’ moves to trim funding to the UWI and making students pay something for their education. In the question-andanswer segment that followed a lecture streamed live on the Internet, Lagarde also admitted a preference for establishing quotas across the globe for women, with a view to reducing the large advantage men have in areas including employment. She said she had changed her position because in some organisations it was clear that it would take women centuries to make headway on gender balance.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - CMC – As government struggles to cut cost through financial structural adjustment programme, an Opposition Member of Parliament has revealed that another 100plus workers may be added to a list of public workers being sent home. “On the 16th of April, the Chief Executive Officer of the (state-owned) Port Authority wrote to (Barbados Workers Union General Secretary) Sir Roy Trotman, giving him notice that the Port Authority plans to lay off 100-odd out of the 392 workers, 25 per cent of the Port workers are propositioned to lose their jobs,” MP Edmund Hinckson revealed on Saturday. The Barbados Labour Party politician’s statement comes against a backdrop of the Finance Minister, Chris Sinckler, announcing in December that government will lay off some 3,000 public workers, beginning
January as part of a programme aimed at reducing current costs. There are no official figures on the total number of workers the administration has sent home to date, but the figure is believed to be in excess of 2,000. Following a consultation visit, the IMF – on whose advice it is suspected government is cutting staff – announced in February that 1,800 were so far severed. Since then a number of state entities have announced job cuts, many of which are being disputed by labour unions. Hinckson said, “Under the Employment Rights Act, notice was given to the main union of the workers of the
Edmund Hinckson port. And they were to enter negotiations on how best this (retrenchment) could be done.” Last September, Barbados began a 19-month fiscal adjustment programme to reduce operating costs, and one plank of that strategy has been a reduction in Government payroll.
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Monday June 30, 2014
Economic reform programme must be completed - Phillips KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Minister of Finance and Planning Peter Phillips says the economy has seen a number of recent gains such as the finalization of US$3 billion in investments; increased employment; below target inflation; and a narrowing of current account balance of payments. Dr Phillips outlined the achievements while addressing a luncheon with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, and business leaders, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in St. Andrew, on Friday, June 27. He provided an update on the government’s economic reform programme noting that, the sacrifices that have been made, “require that we complete the programme…it makes no sense to give up before the gain can be realised”. “During my recent meetings with investors in the United Sates, and across Europe, there was consistent positive feed-back and recognition of Jamaica’s progress,” the Minister said, noting that the investments
Dr. Peter Phillips committed, some of which have been completed “relate to new projects, and will be undertaken primarily by foreign investors over the next 12 to18 months.” Meanwhile, the IMF Managing Director praised the work of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), which was established by the government. She noted that in EPOC’s reviews “nothing was missed, criteria were met, conditions were satisfied, there was no delay, and that is changing the course of
history”. Lagarde stated that the Fund have never “seen something like EPOC”. She further stressed that, “You have made an exceptional contribution to the programme, by taking ownership, by applying private sector methods to the follow-up, to the accountability process; by collaborating with the public sector. This is really impressive”. Lagarde told the audience that while all the economic indicators are headed in the right direction, Jamaica must stick with the process of reform so that citizens reap the successes that the country has the potential to achieve. The Head of the Fund also urged the country’s leaders not “to lose the benefits of the hard decisions that have been made. You are off to a very strong start, something that we have rarely seen, EPOC is contributing massively to that, please stay the course. Don’t let electoral process get into the way of the efforts that you are undertaking,” she urged.
Ramesh to take Clico fight to Privy Council Trinidad Express Attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC said weekend that he will be taking his fight to the Privy Council to reverse the decision by the Court of Appeal in the case of CLICO policyholders. Maharaj, who represents the United Policyholders Group (UPG), said the appeal would be filed within the next 21 days. And a request will be made for the matter to be expedited by the Privy Council. The policyholders were invited to a meeting to discuss the latest move at the Plaza de Montrose Building, Chaguanas. On Monday, the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment of the High Court which had ruled that CLICO policyholders of the UPG were entitled to be paid the full sums of their policies. Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, at a news conference at Cabildo Chambers in Port of Spain following the ruling, said the Court of Appeal judgment was a landmark one because had the High Court ruling been upheld, the State would have to find over a billion dollars to pay the policyholders. Maharaj advised policyholders on the grounds of
appeal identified in the Court of Appeal judgment. He said, “You have an answerable appeal. It is our view that the Court of Appeal’s decision will be reversed and the judgement of the High Court will be restored.” Maharaj said the issues of law which arise in the policyholders’ appeal were already decided by the highest authority. “So it is merely an application of the question of law in respect to the concession made by the State that there was a promise. It is very difficult for that concession to have been withdrawn in law and if it can be withdrawn on the fact of this case there was clearly an ambiguous promise for you to be paid and for the money to be guaranteed.” Maharaj said there was clearly a breach of the legitimate expectation as it cannot be disputed that the Government in the Parliament made an offer, not giving policy holders the full amount. He said: “Any overriding public interest does not arise because the state had to adduce evidence of an overriding public interest. That evidence would have had to show that CLICO did not have sufficient funds to
Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj pay you. It also had to show that there was not sufficient money which were available for the Statutory Fund deficit to be made good and we produced evidence from the respondent record of the Central Bank and from the respondent evidence to show they had sufficient funds.” Maharaj said payments to the CLICO policyholders had nothing to do with macro economic policy. “This has nothing to do with building a road. It is a debt which is owed, the Government accepted the debt. It is a statutory debt, so macro economic policy consideration do not apply,” he said. Maharaj informed the policyholders that the CLICO assets far exceeded the debt owed to them.
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Saudi king slams religious extremists as Muslims mark Ramadan Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi King Abdullah yesterday sharply criticised religious extremists, vowing not to let “a handful of terrorists... terrify Muslims”, in a speech marking the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. Islam is “religion of unity, fraternity and mutual support” but some people “lured in by false calls... are confusing reform with terrorism”, the monarch said, in comments carried by state news agency SPA. “Their goal is to sow discord among Muslims,” he said in an apparent reference to insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The powerful jihadist group has spearheaded an offensive by Sunni militants in Iraq since June 9, wresting control of northern cities and capturing vast swathes of territory. ISIL operates in both Syria and Iraq and aims to establish an Islamic state straddling the border of those two countries, but their lightning advance in Iraq also poses a threat to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The ultra-conservative Sunni Gulf kingdom — home to Mecca and Medina, Islam’s holiest sites — shares an 814kilometre (505-mile) border
Saudi King Abdullah with Iraq. “We will not allow a handful of terrorists, using Islam for personal aims, to terrify Muslims or undermine our country and its inhabitants,” Abdullah said. “We are continuing, with God’s help, to face and tackle this scourge,” he said. The Saudi monarch also wished Muslims “security, prosperity and stability” over Ramadan, which began in most countries yesterday. During Ramadan, which is sacred to Muslims because it is during that month that tradition says the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed, believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn until sunset.
UK’s Labour look to shed ‘anti-business’ label with tax proposals (Reuters) - Britain’s opposition Labour party will today attempt to cast off accusations that its leftleaning policies have made it ‘anti-business’ by proposing tax changes designed to increase long-term investment and foster greater competition. Since Labour announced plans to force energy firms to freeze their prices last September, businesses have become increasingly concerned about how much political intervention they would face if, as a narrow lead in opinion polls currently suggests, the party wins an election next May. Economy spokesman Ed Balls will promise an approach to tax and the economy that is “pro-business, but not business-as-usual”. “If we are to maintain public support for an open market economy, we need to address public concerns, promote competition and long-term investment and make sure markets like energy
Monday June 30, 2014
Ukraine president talks to Putin, Merkel, Hollande KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tried to keep his peace plan to settle the conflict with pro-Russian separatists on track in a fourway phone call yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of France and Germany. The two-hour conversation came ahead of today’s deadline that European Union leaders set for Russia and the separatists to take steps to ease the violence, warning that otherwise they were ready “at any time” to impose further punitive measures. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande encouraged the Ukrainian and Russian presidents to work on meeting the EU conditions, Hollande’s office said in a statement. The EU’s demands included the return of three border checkpoints to Ukrainian control, verification of the cease-fire by monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and talks to put Poroshenko’s peace plan in place. The call was the latest in a series of discussions the four leaders have held in recent weeks in an effort to stop the fighting that has killed more than 400 people since April. A cease-fire in place since June 20 has been shaky, with each side accusing the other of numerous violations. A statement issued by Poroshenko’s office said he
underlined Ukraine’s willingness to maintain the cease-fire at least until this evening, but expressed concern about the situation, noting what he said were multiple violations of the truce by separatist fighters. He called on Putin to strengthen border controls from the Russian side to stop what Ukraine says is the flow of weapons, fighters and mercenaries. The sides agreed that more talks among representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the separatists would convene “very soon,” Poroshenko’s office said. A Kremlin statement said the four leaders discussed having OSCE monitors
stationed at the border crossing points. They also discussed issues resulting from Ukraine’s signing of a broad trade deal with the EU on Friday despite Russia’s objections. Russian officials have said Ukraine’s tariff-free trade arrangement with Russia may be withdrawn, but no trade sanctions have yet been announced. In another indication that tensions remain high, several hundred Ukrainian soldiers and activists gathered outside the presidential administration in Kiev on Sunday to demand that Poroshenko lift the cease-fire and allow them to resume their fight.
A presidential administration official, Henadiy Zubko, promised to pass on their demands to the president, but told them that the cease-fire order would remain in effect until 10 p.m. today (1900GMT). Soldiers also addressed several thousand people who turned out for the traditional Sunday rally on Independence Square in central Kiev. Another EU condition was fulfilled late Saturday, when pro-Russia separatists released a second team of four OSCE observers who had been held captive in eastern Ukraine since the end of May. The first team of four was freed last week.
MAIDUGURI Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants killed dozens of people yesterday in an attack on three Nigerian villages, including one targeting worshippers at a church, a few kilometres (three miles) from Chibok, the scene of an abduction of more than 200 school girls. Violence in Nigeria’s northeast has been relentless in the past year and has gained in intensity since April, when more than 200 schoolgirls were snatched by Boko Haram rebels from Chibok. Efforts to free them, which have attracted Western support, have so far not succeeded. In a separate assault on Friday evening insurgents killed seven soldiers in the
village of Goniri, in Yobe state, a security source and witnesses said. The attackers yesterday made simultaneous strikes on three villages in the Chibok community, in Borno state. Boko Haram, which is fighting for an Islamic state in largely Muslim northern Nigeria, has killed thousands since launching an uprising on 2009, and many hundreds in the past three months. It is by far the biggest security threat to Africa’s largest economy and top oil producer, and has overshadowed government efforts to project an image of Nigeria to foreign investors as a prospective economic giant. Samuel Chibok, a survivor of the attack on Kautikiri village, about five km from
where the girls were snatched, said that around 20 men in a Toyota pick-up truck and motorcycles rolled into town. They sprayed it with bullets, focusing much of their fire power on panicked worshippers in a local church. “Initially I thought they were military but when I came out, they were firing at people. I saw people fleeing and they burned our houses,” he said, adding that some people had died in the attack, including two of his relatives. A local pro-government vigilante, who declined to be named, said residents had now recovered 15 bodies from the village. He added that many of the deaths occurred when worshippers were locked in a church, which was then sprayed with bullets.
Boko Haram often attacks institutions it sees as against its strict version of Sunni Islam, including churches, bars and non-religious schools that teach Western ideas like science. Another attack on Kwada, eight km (five miles) from Chibok village, left dozens of people dead, a security source operating in the area said, although the precise toll was not yet clear. A senior advisor to Borno state governor Kassim Shettima, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak, said there had also been a third attack on Nguragida, his home village which he visited yesterday. Nine bodies had been recovered from that attack, he said.
Commander of the “Donbass” battalion of Ukraine Semen Sementchenko, center, attends a rally in the Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, yesterday. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)
Nigerian Islamists attack villages, churches near Chibok, dozens killed
Ed Miliband and banking work better for consumers and businesses alike,” he will say, according to advance extracts of his speech. Party leader Ed Miliband has said markets need more rules, and promised regulation to better protect consumers in industries from banking to private housing, prompting concern from business lobby groups and some of the party’s own backers.
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In peril under India’s new PM, a vestige of Soviet-style planning NEW DELHI (Reuters) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi never had a high opinion of the Planning Commission, an institutional vestige of the country’s attempts to mimic the Soviet command economy during the infancy of its independence more than half a century ago. As leader of the industrial powerhouse state of Gujarat, he stunned buttoned-down members of the commission last year by turning up at a meeting with a video that accused them of highhandedness and hobbling states with one-size-fits-all policies. Now, as prime minister of the country, he looks set to clip the central agency’s wings, or perhaps abandon it altogether. It is the starkest symbol yet of Modi’s determination to junk the Fabian socialistleaning economic policies set in train by the first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru. In a signal that the end could be nigh for what has remained a sacred cow of policymaking despite many years of market-oriented economic reforms that began in the 1990s, a governmentbacked report last week suggested dismantling the Planning Commission and
Narendra Modi replacing it with a think tank. “Since the Planning Commission has defied attempts to reform it to bring it in line with the needs of a modern economy and the trend of empowering the states, it is proposed that the Planning Commission be abolished,” the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) said in a report. A month into his premiership, Modi has already sidelined the body whose tome-like five-year plans are always laboriously crafted but rarely adhered to. He has left the post of executive head of the commission vacant, and he has taken away its authority to determine the federal government’s capital expenditure, passing that to
the finance ministry. And, for the first time, the Commission has been excluded from discussions to frame the national budget, which is due to be presented on July 10. A Planning Commission spokesman declined to comment. The IEO’s proposal is likely to amplify voices, many of them in Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that have questioned the relevance today of an agency created in 1950 to optimize scarce resources in a newly born nation. Arun Shourie, an influential BJP member, derides the Planning Commission - set in a hulking New Delhi building with 500600 employees - as a “parking lot” for political cronies and unwanted bureaucrats. The commission’s defenders are no strangers to criticism. In 2012, it was pilloried for spending some $50,000 to renovate two office toilets, and then it was lampooned for suggesting that citizens who consumed goods worth 27 rupees ($0.45) or more a day were not poor - in a country where millions struggle to survive on less than $2 a day. The commission has
North Korea launches two missiles, defies U.N. ban SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into seas east off its coast yesterday, South Korea’s military said, defying a U.N. ban on the isolated country testing such weapons. The launch came days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s scheduled state visit to South Korea. China is the main benefactor of the North, which is also under sanctions for conducting nuclear tests. North Korea is also due hold talks with Japan this week to work out the details of Pyongyang’s plan to reinvestigate the fate of Japanese citizens kidnapped by the reclusive state decades ago. The missiles, which appeared to be Scud class, were launched from an area on the east coast of the peninsula and flew about 500 km (310 miles) before crashing harmlessly into the water, an official for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The test firings yesterday came three days after the
North launched three shortrange projectiles into the waters off its east coast, which flew about 190 km (120 miles) and landed in the sea. Such launches are routine. North Korea frequently testfires short range multi-rocket launchers, which are not prohibited under U.N. sanctions on the isolated country. North Korea’s possession and testing of ballistic missiles such as Soviet-era Scuds, however, breach the sanctions, and are seen to contribute to Pyongyang’s long-range missile programme. North Korea has so far conducted test firing of its ballistic missiles and rockets 11 times this year, including four involving ballistic missiles. The isolated country usually test-fires its shortrange rockets and ballistic missiles amid annual U.S.South Korean military exercises as a form of protest, observers say. Pyongyang routinely denounces the joint military
exercises as preparation for war. Yesterday’s launch came less than a week before Xi’s July 3-4 visit to South Korea. Xi and South Korea’s Park Geun-hye are expected to discuss North Korea’s nuclear programme in a summit meeting next Thursday. North Korea said the launch was “part of its routine military exercise” and that there should be no affect on planned governmental talks between North Korea and Japan next Tuesday, a North Korean foreign ministry official was quoted as saying by Japanese media. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Japan wanted to raise the the issue during the talks. “We think this issue needs to be addressed properly at the government talks,” he told reporters. “We must make a firm demand toward North Korea that they follow the U.N. Security council resolution and other agreements.”
remained resilient, however, largely because over the decades it emerged as a parallel cabinet with the prime minister of the day formally its head. It also took on responsibility for allocating federal funds to states and sanctioning capital spending of the central government, which was deeply resented by states and various government departments.
“The states want a system which gives them a much greater flexibility to use these funds in a manner which suits their development (and) addresses their development challenges,” Ajay Chhibber, the author of the IEO report, told Reuters. Chhibber said the panel should be turned into a body of experts that functions as a repository of knowledge and
new research, offering longterm solutions for problems like climate change and coastal management. Previous proposals to revamp the agency have made little headway, but Chhibber’s report is likely to hit the sweet spot for a prime minister who is busy overhauling government departments to improve efficiency and speed up decision-making.
Al-Qaeda breakaway formally declares Islamic State BAGHDAD (AP) — The al-Qaeda breakaway group that has seized much of northern Syria and huge tracks of neighboring Iraq formally declared the creation of an Islamic state yesterday in the territory under its control. The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, made the announcement in an audio statement posted online. Islamic extremists have long dreamed of recreating the Islamic state, or caliphate, that ruled over the Middle East for hundreds of years. Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said the group’s chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is the new leader, or caliph, of the Islamic state. He
called on those living in the areas under the organization’s control to swear allegiance to al-Baghdadi and support him. “The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph’s authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas,” al-Adnani said. He said that with the creation of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to just the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq and the Levant. It was unclear what immediate practical impact the declaration would have on the ground in Syria and Iraq, or among the wider global jihadi community.