Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
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I need the IDB to answer some questions A song for Guyana’s DEAR EDITOR, I refer to Carl Lucas’s letter on the apparent lack of transparency in IDB procurement for forensic auditors. I wish to express my disappointment in the IDB’s involvement in this process. Previous letter writers have also express concerns of the UNDP’s handling and involvement in the Amerindian land titling project. I wish to join Lucas in requesting the IDB to make public the process that was employed for hiring of these firms to conduct the forensic audits and the cost.
International financial Institutions like the IDB & UNDP have a duty to be impartial and maintain a high degree of integrity beyond reasonable doubt. Regrettably this is what is unfolding at the IDB’s local office. I am informed as well that the IDB bypassed transparent procurement process for the hiring and payment of current staff at the Office of Climate Change (OCC) from proceeds of the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) for which the IDB is managing. I am also asking IDB to make public the names of the
staff at OCC that was hired post May 2015 and are currently being paid by the GRIF funds and the process that was used to hire these personnel. Note, I am not asking for their salary so this should not be confidential data but rather an opportunity for IDB to come clean on its procurement process. Again, I have not seen one public advertisement for any of these posts so let’s get the information from IDB. I was shocked to hear in the budget debate that one of IDB’s former staff Ms. Jonell Christain Leich is now head of OCC and is one of four top
paid persons at the Ministry of the Presidency. The question in one’s mind is that there seems to be some cohort relationship between IDB and the Government with the IDB facilitating dubious financial payments to the Government like the forensic audit payments. I am calling on the IDB board to investigate the handling of these matters by the local office and its Head, Ms. McKonnon. I am also calling on transparency international (Guyana) to investigate these matters at the IDB’s Guyana Office. James Conellius
Don’t blame GECOM, blame the candidates DEAR EDITOR, The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been focused and resolute in preparations for the Local Government Elections. The Local Authorities (Elections) Law stipulates clearly what GECOM is responsible for, that is, the conduct of elections. This encompasses Voter Registration, the compilation of the Official Voters’ List, the procurement, production and management of Ballot Sheets and other sensitive and nonsensitive material for Elections, the management of Polls and E- day staff and the declaration of results. Notwithstanding the above and its legally based mandate, GECOM has proactively and actively engaged itself in Civic Voter Education undertakings since the last quarter, shortly after the May 2015 General and Regional Elections. Yet we are daily confronted by the accusations of those who will not recognize our efforts, but even unabashedly posture that they are doing GECOM’s work. The fact is that we are doing their work, since many of the candidates seem to have abrogated their responsibilities. After all, those who are making the negative and deleterious comments about GECOM, are the ones who want to be elected. If the turnout was lower than expected, it is not because GECOM did not offer education to the voting public, but it may be because the candidates did not do enough work on their own behalf.
Or it could be that the voters are sick and tired of the posturing and the blame throwing, not lastly at one another. There are surely several other elements and considerations which can be factored into the debate about the level of turnout. Below, you will find a synopsis of GECOM’s activities pertaining to Civic and Voter Education: 1. Public Announcement messages on the various aspects of the Electoral Process were conceptualized, produced and disseminated. Nine skit types and nine narratives, with the sign language component on Television, for the benefit of the hearing impaired, were produced and aired on radio and television stations. 2. One hundred thousand Flyers and brochures on Local Government Elections were produced and distributed at grass root levels via all Registration Offices, Political Parties and Stakeholders.. 3. Interactive public engagements were held within all of the 71 Local Authority Areas. The schedules for these meetings were publicized in the print media and via Public Address systems and fliers were distributed within the respective communities. 4. Public engagements were held with potential contestants in the run-up to
the deadline for the submission of application, for approval of symbols and requirements for lists submission on Nomination Day, etc. 5. Weekly panel discussion on Local Government Elections, with a call-in feature on NCN. Copies of this programme were shown on television stations in Regions where NCN broadcasts do not reach. 6. Production and distribution of a 100,000 copies of Fliers about “No Contest Areas” and the three different types of ballots. 7. Weekly full page, half page and quarter page advertisements were offered to the public in the four daily Newspapers with information on the Local Government Elections process. These advertisements included information on Proxy Applications, illustrations of the Voting Process, Voting requirements, etc. 8. Invitations to discussions on LGE facilitated by GECOM were dispatched to 96 Civil Society Organizations across the coastland. These organizations were required to invite their respective constituencies to these forums for interactions. 9. Meetings were arranged in Local Authority Areas & Constituencies where there were to be no elections, in order to advise
electors that particular process. 10. Hotlines had been established and are adequately publicized. 11. Pertinent information is published continuously on the GECOM website. 12. GECOM participated meaningfully at Public Events e.g. Essequibo Night & Business Expo. 13. Ballot Officers Meeting were conducted with ranks at strategic Disciplined Forces locations, including the Mazaruni Prison. 14. “ASK GECOM STREET MARKETING CAMPAIGN”, which included Pop Up Booths around the country and a mini caravan sharing information on LGE, were executed. 15. Numerous appearances on TV talk shows. 16. Installation of LAA and Constituency Billboards. 17. “Below the Line Text Messaging” on LGE via GTT and Digicel. 18. Scroll Advertisements and messages on Television Stations. GECOM also acknowledges the organisations that were Continued on page 23
50th Independence Anniversary
DEAR EDITOR, I am a Guyanese, born in the Pomeroon at a place called Grant Unity next to Charity. I served my country for over 28 years as a teacher and school principal at three locations – Charity, Covent Garden, back to Charity, and Siriki. I am living in the USA, presently working on a CD project. One of my hobbies was songwriting. I played the guitar and also sang on the radio on a program called TEENSVILLE. I have made it very easy for anyone to master this
song with an appropriate message by creating a simple but happy rhythmic melody that all can relate to. Hope you like it also. You are the first to receive a copy of this song and I do hope you shall do your best to get it to the Guyanese public through your contacts in the various media. If you need further information from me, do feel free to get in touch with me, please. Hope you enjoy the song. Chris Prashad Austin, Texas 78757 USA
OH HOW HAPPY CAN GUYANA BE! O how happy can Guyana be! One People, One Nation, One Destiny. Oh how happy can Guyana be, If we live and work in unity. It’s another Anniversary Since we have gained our liberty Let’s celebrate with Festivity Singing praise to the Almighty Repeat verse one ( Sung with harmony) Let us all strive to build this country Bury all hatred and enmity Self-reliance is what we need With the help of God we will succeed Repeat verse one..... Many are the battles we have to win Racialism is a national sin Let’s co-operate and eradicate Every evil deed that we contemplate Repeat verse one - with harmony.
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Kaieteur News
Monday March 21, 2016
National Economic Council was figment of Ramotar’s - GTUC imagination - Finance Minister
Same measure used to pay Cabinet must apply to all Govt. workers Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s position that he is guided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the issue of wages and salaries for public sector workers is unacceptable and cannot be taken lightly. That is the position taken by the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC). The body is saying that government has to be consistent and the same measures used to give government members a hefty increase must apply to considerations for increases to all government workers. At his most recent press conference, Jordan said that before the next budget is presented, public servants can expect a top-up. He cautioned, however, that expectations for handsome increases need to be tempered. His warning in this regard comes on the heels of a report by the IMF. This report said that Guyana must be mindful of its increases in wages when one considers the extent of economic challenges facing the Government. The Finance Minister said that he agrees with the IMF position on this matter. “In the good times, paying exaggerated salaries has serious long and short term impacts. Trinidad and Tobago is feeling the effects of paying salaries which at one time seemed sustainable,” said Jordan. In response, GTUC’s President, Lincoln Lewis said that the IMF is a regulatory body and advises, rather than dictates to countries. “To take an advice as a mandate is to abrogate the responsibility to work with stakeholders in chartering a
GTUC President Lincoln Lewis direction indigenous to the people’s needs. The minister can well learn from history.” Lewis said that it would be helpful for Jordan is take heed of lessons that history teaches. In this regard, the trade unionist reminded of what occurred in 1999. He said that at the conclusion of the 57day strike by public sector workers, the PPP/C administration conceded to go to arbitration. “At the conclusion of this exercise the arbiters led by Dr. Aubrey Armstrong awarded a 30 percent wage increase, which was far in excess of what was recommended by the IMF. The PPP/C administration went to the IMF and advised of the need to pay based on an agreement between the government and workers. This was accepted by the IMF, the InterAmerican Bank (IDB) and World Bank, and the workers were paid.” Lewis said that the APNU+AFC administration is on record of saying that it is pursuing a Green Economy, which according to
international standards, is measured on the Human Development Index (HDI). He said that Jordan’s position is not in harmony with the road the government said it was going down. Further, he pointed out that when th i s administration paid Cabinet and Members of Parliament increases in 2015; such payments were justified based on the HDI. The government and its spokespersons in justifying the increases did not make an argument on the strength of the economy to pay. The argument was premised on the social factors in society. “What the government did is use the factor in the HDI to pay themselves, but now the government is conveniently using the GDP as the instrument to determine how rank and file workers will be paid increase in wages and salaries. These double standards must not be allowed to permeate the society.” Lewis said that conscious of government’s argument in defence of the increase it gave to itself 2015, when the GTUC met with the Minister of Finance on the issue of budget consultation for 2016, GTUC deliberately structured its presentation based on the Green Economy and not the GDP. The GTUC said that the body was commended and the Minister referred to the presentation as “thinking outside of the box.” GTUC is an organization of national character and the presentation was made conscious of our role in shaping and influencing the national po l i c i e s , programmes and laws that would redound to the benefit of workers, past, present and potential. The process of collective bargaining is constitutional and legal. Section 23 (1) of the Trade Recognition Act speaks to the responsibility of the employer to negotiate in good faith with the workers’ representatives. In this case, more than ever the Government of Guyana is called upon to respect the law and the workers’ rights and negotiate with the public sector unions in good faith. The HDI index that was used to determine salary increases for Cabinet and Members of Parliament, who are government workers, must also be used as the barometer in determining wages and salaries for the remaining government workers.”
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan made it clear that the coalition administration would not be acknowledging the former regime’s idea of a National Economic Council (NEC). This notion of the council was actually brought to light by former President Donald Ramotar. He had said that Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, would have been appointed to serve on it. But Jordan is adamant that the NEC was a mere figment of Ramotar ’s imagination. In a recent interview with Kaieteur News the politician said, “That was not a legal administrative thing... We would not be going ahead with that but what we are going ahead with is the technical assistance that we have been able to get from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in implementing or reinstituting, rather, planning in Guyana.” The Finance Minister noted that in the previous incarnation of the state planning secretariat, there were three aspects. Jordan said that the State Planning Commission was made up of the State Planning Secretariat, the National Economic and Social Council and the Technical Advisory Panel. When Ramotar first brought the NEC to the attention of the public, it immediately attracted
…Says that it will not be acknowledged by the Granger administration
Former President Donald Ramotar
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan
criticisms from various quarters. Critics saw it as another “gimmick” to place more power into Jagdeo’s hands. A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Carl Greenidge, who now serves as the Foreign Affairs Minister, was one who bashed the former President for even introducing the idea. “The PPP has been in office since 1992, and there has never been such a council. Ramotar has been President since 2011 and never saw the need for such a council. Mr. Jagdeo was president until 2011 and he never saw the need for such a council. It is astonishing now that three years after
demitting office such a proposal would find favour with him.” “I would have to conclude that this (Council) is just a gimmick and the main purpose is to find a formal opening for Jagdeo to continue to control the economic destiny of the country, while sitting in the backseat of Ramotar’s political car, “Greenidge had said. Greenidge had said too that while the former government did not disclose the terms of this Council, it appeared as though it was being designed to afford Jagdeo the opportunity to, “formally have access to privileged information”.
Mother to be charged for attempting to kill toddler A Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) mother is expected to be charged soon for attempting to kill her oneyear-old daughter last Thursday. The woman, of Lot 38 Friendship is currently a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after ingesting a poisonous substance. Her daughter is also being treated at the same medical institution. Both mother and daughter are said to be in a stable condition. Yesterday, a police source said that once the woman is discharged from the hospital, she will be charged for attempted murder. He also said that the ranks were still trying to verify what type of poison was used. “While we have the bottle, it might be some other mixture that was in it so we have to check to verify,” the police source said. According to information
received, the woman left her home and went to the Kingston Seawall where she ingested the substance. She reportedly then poured the same substance on a handkerchief and tried to suffocate the baby. Luckily, the toddler’s father rushed to the location in time and rescued her. He raised an alarm and ranks from the Eve Leary Police Station, which is located just opposite the seawall, rushed to the scene. Kaieteur News was told that the woman has confessed to ingesting the substance, and she has also admitted that she tried to kill her baby. She claimed that she did it because the baby’s father was not providing financial assistance. Leslie Gordon, the baby’s father, said that he was at the Demerara Harbour Bridge, heading to Parika to drop off passengers, when he received a telephone call from
his estranged partner. “She call me and tell me that she is at the seawall and that she going and drink poison and that she gon give the child poison, so I had to ask the passengers to come out the car and hurry to the seawall,” the man claimed. According to Gordon, he panicked when the woman told him what she was about to do. He said that she did not give him any time to ask questions. He added that when he reached to the seawall, he saw his partner lying on the sand, while holding a kerchief over the child’s face. “The baby eye de done start roll up and I grabbed her away and I call out for people and the police de done start running towards the area. The police tell me to take my daughter to the hospital and they gone bring her,” Gordon said. He said that he was informed by doctors that the poison was not so strong.
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
Page 7
Kamla: Family ‘properly employed’ by my office Trinidad Guardian Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar sought to clear the air Saturday over allegations that she employed two relatives at her Siparia constituency office. While she admitted there were two employees who “may fall under the category of relative,” she said they were hired 20 years and 14 years ago, respectively. Persad-Bissessar said there was no breach of the law or any parliamentary guidelines in the employment of the two employees but she has written to the Clerk of the House seeking clarification on new guidelines. She gave assurance that she would take the necessary steps to resolve the matter. Addressing scores of party loyalists Saturday at the Couva South Hall, Camden Road, in Couva, during the United National Congress’ (UNC) national congress, the former prime minister said she wanted to spend a few moments “only” speaking on that issue. Typical modus operandi by the detractors of the People’s National Movement (PNM) was how PersadBissessar described the recent allegations. She said when the PNM was under fire,
it sought to distract the population from the real issues at hand. Almost 20 minutes into her address, Persad-Bissessar said, “And so we saw with the Minister of Housing, issues and serious issues related to the HDC and housing, related to the Calabar Foundation and so on...real issues, and in order to distract those serious issues which led to her firing, they are now raising issues about persons employed in constituency offices.” She said there was no
breach of the law or any parliamentary guidelines regarding those employed at her office. While she did not identify the employees by relation or name, PersadBissessar said, “There are two people at my office—one of whom was hired 20 years ago and continues to work continuously from 20 years ago and the other was hired 14 years ago and continues to work.” She said the Constituency Operations Manual under which she operated clearly stated who
were the people restricted from being employed in constituency offices. Reading from page seven of the manual, she said those people included spouse, children or parents. “I state categorically today, that no spouse of mine, children of mine or parents of mine have ever been employed at the constituency office.” This was received with a loud applause. However, she said, it was brought to her attention that those guidelines were
changed after the elections in 2015. She said in addition to spouse, children and parents, the new guidelines included a category under relatives. Persad-Bissessar said, “There are two persons in my office who may fall as being hired under the category of relatives.” “The question arises whether having been employed by the regulations in place—the guidelines, 20 years ago, 14 years ago, right up until September—whether they (employees) now fall into these restricted categories. “To that end, having been brought to my attention, I have communicated with the Clerk of the House seeking clarification and advice on the changes in the guidelines, as to first state whether these employees should be terminated.” Additionally, PersadBissessar said she wanted to know whether any
renumeration paid to them by the Parliament would have to be reimbursed from September. She also sought to find out what arrangements would be put in place for those who have been employed on a contiguous basis and were properly hired under the guidelines. And what arrangements would be put in place for those who would not have had an opportunity under natural justice or otherwise and who would now find themselves, should they be terminated, on the breadline. “I await the responses from the Clerk of the House and I give the full commitment that I will take all steps necessary to rectify the situation for resolution, should the Clerk so advise,” she said. However, she is questioning when the guidelines were made, by whom and how they were approved.
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Kaieteur News
Syria peace talks grind towards pivotal Assad question Reuters Syrian government negotiators at Geneva peace talks are coming under unaccustomed pressure to discuss something far outside their comfort zone: the fate of President Bashar al-Assad. And they are doing their best to avoid it. U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura describes Syria’s political transition as “the mother of all issues” and, emboldened by the Russian and U.S. muscle that brought the participants to the negotiating table, he refuses to drop the subject. After a week of talks in Geneva, he praised the opposition for the depth of their ideas, but criticised the veteran diplomats on the government side for getting bogged down.
Staffan de Mistura “The government is currently focussing very much on principles, which are necessary in any type of common ground on the transition,” he said. “But I hope next week, and I have been saying so to them, that we will get their opinion, their details on how they see the political transition taking place.” Arguments over Assad’s fate were a major cause of the failure of previous U.N. peace efforts in 2012 and 2014 to end a civil war that has now lasted five years, killed more than 250,000 people and caused a refugee crisis.
The main opposition, along with the United States and other Western nations, has long insisted any peace deal must include his departure from power, while the Syrian government and Russia have said there is no such clause in the international agreements that underwrite the peace process. The Syrian president looked more secure than ever at the start of the latest round of talks, riding high after a Russian-backed military campaign. But Russia’s surprise withdrawal of most of its forces during the week signalled that Moscow expected its Syrian allies to take the Geneva talks seriously. And de Mistura appointed a Russian expert to sit in the negotiations with him and to advise on political issues. Unlike previous rounds, the talks have run for a week without any hint of collapse, forcing the government delegation led by Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari to acknowledge de Mistura’s demands. Ja’afari began by giving de Mistura a document entitled “Basic elements for a political solution”.
Monday March 21, 2016
Trinidad confronting major shock from fall in oil prices — IMF The Gleaner - Trinidad & Tobago is confronting a major shock with the sharp fall in energy prices that accelerated early this year. In a statement following the conclusion of a mission from the International Monetary Fund earlier this year, head of the IMF mission Elie Canetti said that based on available information, including that of job losses and continued supply-side constraints in the energy sector, Trinidad’s economy is expected to contract one per cent this year. The mission also said that declines in energy-based revenues will constrain the government’s ability to act as an engine of growth. Still: “With substantial financial buffers and low, albeit rising levels of public debt, Trinidad and Tobago is not in a crisis. Nonetheless, in recent years, taking into account the size of energy revenue windfalls, the country has under-saved and underinvested in its future,” the IMF said. “As a consequence, the imbalances that are now starting to build up could lead the country to uncomfortable levels of debt and external financial cushions absent further action. The new Government agrees that policy
Elie Canetti adjustments are needed.” The fund noted that in the half-year since they took office, the Keith Rowley-led administration has already taken “some difficult but necessary steps”, such as widening the value tax base, cutting fuel subsidies, and cutting the number of ministries. Despite these measures, the IMF said it projects a 2016 Budget deficit at some 11 per cent of GDP. However, if asset sales were to be counted as revenue rather than financing, the deficit would be equivalent to about five per cent of GDP, it said.
“Continued projected deficits of this size call for further fiscal consolidation, perhaps of around 6 per cent of GDP over the next few years,” said the multilateral agency. Trinidad has agreed to conduct a wide-ranging expenditure review, and will seek the assistance of the World Bank to rationalise and reverse the unsustainable increases in spending on transfers and subsidies over the last several years. “We support the Government’s intent to conduct a national dialogue on fuel subsidies with a view to phasing them out over time,” said the fund. “The country’s external situation has been very challenging. Against a backdrop of foreign exchange shortages that have intensified since the beginning of 2015, the recent sharp falls in energy prices are further reducing the available supply.” During the recent visit, the mission met with government officials, banks, and privatesector representatives to assess the foreign exchange market. The fund noted that the current shortage appears to be driven by business uncertainty but also speculative trades.
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
Page 9
The jails of Guyana will always be filled The sentencing policies of some magistrates and some judges both now and in the past have contributed to the perception that changes in sentencing policy can lead to a reduction in the number of persons on remand and by extension to overcrowding in our jails. A few years ago there was a situation in which consistently there was a
magistrate who would often refuse bail to persons on their first hearing but would grant bail on the second hearing. It seemed strange that bail was denied on the reading of the charges but on a subsequent hearing it would be granted. Yet no one asked what could have interceded in between to have allowed for a reconsideration of the bail
Dem boys seh...
Soulja Bai can solve de prison overcrowding People got a way of watching wha people do. Then dem does find something to talk about. If a man sit down and talk to himself, people does decide that he mad, and dem does end up talking about that. But wha people does do most is keep an eye pun dem who does cuss and mek nuff noise. Dem boys want to tell everybody what dem shouldn’t do is watch dem same cuss birds and noisy people. Instead, people should watch dem who deh quiet. Dem always up to something. When Jadgeo tun president people didn’t know much about him because he never use to talk much. He was a quiet one. But people soon find out that he was always up to something. And it wasn’t good. He was always coming up wid a plan fuh mek money fuh heself and people who close to him. Burnham was a man who use to talk and mek nuff noise. People didn’t have to keep an eye on him because before he do anything he open he mouth. Jagdeo was de opposite. Dem boys use to frighten
when he never call a press conference. Even now he hardly calling press conference and Soulja Bai got to worry. He already got problems wid dem prisoners but dem boys got a solution to de overcrowding. If a man get a six month sentence then he got to go outside and work after he serve two months. If he wuk good then he can go home early. If he get away while he outside then when he get ketch he got to serve de whole six months from scratch plus de sentence fuh getting away. If is a five year sentence then after two years he can go outside and wuk and get a chance to go home early. While he wukking outside de prison population would drop suh de overcrowding thing wouldn’t apply. But if he get away, he got to serve de whole five years from scratch. Whatever he serve scratch out. Of course, that gun keep Jagdeo busy because he got to find something to criticize. Talk half and watch all who deh quiet round you. Dem always up to something.
application. The perception therefore has been embedded in the minds of many people, including now it seems government officials, that if the sentencing and bail policies of the courts are revised it can lead to a reduction in the prison population. This is, however, a misidentification of the problem. It is not the sentencing policy of the courts that are at fault –even though there is some need for revision. The problem is our laws which limit the discretion of magistrates in granting bail. Our narcotics laws for instance make it mandatory for persons to be denied bail for trafficking and on conviction it is mandatory imprisonment. The magistrates are being blamed and criticized for remanding persons charged with certain drug offences and for sentencing persons to three to four years of imprisonment for others. These laws grant very limited discretion to magistrates to offer bail for these offenses. It is therefore not the magistrates or the sentencing
and bail policies of the judiciary that are the problem. The problem is the law and it is for the legislature to take steps to remedy this problem. This does not mean decisions from the bench should not be criticized. There have been instances in which there h a v e b een justifiable criticisms of some decisions to either deny or grant bail as well as some of the harsh sentences imposed on persons found guilty of offenses. But unless there are chan g e s t o o u r l a w s granting magistrates greater discretion and making it less mandatory for persons to be either denied bail to sentence to certain terms of imprisonment, it makes no sense for the government to be having talks with the judiciary on the overcrowding of prisons. In any other country, the mere sight of members of the government having discussions with the judiciary would raise alarm bells about the separation of powers. The laws of Guyana have to be changed if overcrowding of our jails is to be reduced. A member of
the Alliance for Change (AFC) was expected to bring a private Bill to the National Assembly to amend Guyana’s anti- narcotics act so as to reduce mandatory sentencing and denial of bail. This was to have happened in December. It is now approaching April and no such Bill has been laid and does not seem likely to be laid. Law changes however will only provide short-term relief. It will help out for the next five years but overcrowding will continue because we live in a country where there are far too many persons engaged or willing to engage in criminal activities. Guyana is crawling with thief men and bandits. You park your bicycle in front of a store in the busy commercial district. You lock it and go into the store. When you come out it is gone. There are many persons who do not have money in their pockets to buy a soft drink yet they are walking around this country with cellular phones each worth tens of thousands of dollars. People cannot reap what they plant in this country. Persons sit down next to you in a mini bus and pick your
pockets. If you leave your gate open, somebody will come in and rifle through your garbage bins. People steal toilet paper in this country. A great many of these crimes are not reported to the police because there is little chance of catching the culprits. The police are overwhelmed by the crime in the country. If law enforcement improves, more people will be brought to trial and even if the laws are amended to make bail more affordable, many of the petty thieves would be unable to post bail. The answer to our problems therefore has to be to change the culture of dishonesty in our country. People have to stop stealing from others. Crime is an institution in this country. To change that culture will require more than changes to our laws. And once this culture is not changed, the jails will overflow once there is continuous improvement in law enforcement.
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
Page 11
Illegally issued radio, TV, cable licences...
Govt. must have clear agenda on tackling corruption under PPP - Dr. Hinds By Kiana Wilburg The recent support by certain Government officials for the revocation of radio, television and cable licences arbitrarily granted under the Jagdeo regime, is a positive development in the direction of justice and fairness, said University Professor, Dr. David Hinds. He noted however that the endorsement for the revocation as expressed by Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge and Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan is not enough. Dr. Hinds said that the Government must have a clear agenda on tackling this issue and corruption as a whole under the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C). He is also challenging the Government to come forward with a statement to set the record straight. In examining the issue, Dr. Hinds asserted that the legality of the giveaway of those licences by former President Bharrat Jagdeo is much more complex than meets the eye. “Mr. Jagdeo may be deemed to have acted lawfully and within the limits of his authority as President, but that does not make his action politically, morally and even constitutionally correct.” The University Professor said that a Government is expected to balance presidential authority with natural justice. With this principle in mind, he is convinced that Jagdeo did not do that. Dr. Hinds said that the
“Every day we are finding out how Guyana has been divided up among a tiny cabal. For me, this represents a crime against the Guyanese people that should not be left untouched..” - Dr. Hinds
University Professor, Dr. David Hinds giveaway of the licenses is also part of a larger “heist” of Guyana. The political activist asserted that the wholesale transfer of common resources through so-called “lawful” but dubious means had become part and parcel of the mode of governance under the previous government at all levels, from the national government right down to the local authorities. He opined that the scale of transfer of the national patrimony into selected private hands also has negative consequences for the ability of government to carry out its basic functions and responsibilities. Dr. Hinds contended that the government now has direct access to fewer resources. Furthermore, he said that the economy is now at the mercy of those private entities and individuals that disproportionately benefited from the heist of the prime parts of the broadcasting sector. “They can decide, as some have done, to sell the
assets to others for astronomically more than they acquired them for. People have got rich by pilfering from the rest of us. It has to stop.” Dr. Hinds also contended that there are ethnic implications of the giveaway of the licenses and other State assets. He explained that most of those assets were given to the elites of one ethnic group. The University Professor added, “In our fragile ethnic environment, the notion of ethnic injustice is bound to raise its head at some point. Every day we are finding out how Guyana has been divided up among a tiny cabal. For me, this represents a crime against the Guyanese people that should not be left untouched.” Dr. Hinds argued that the number one item of this government’s mandate should be to recover those assets. He said that is why there is a State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU), headed by Professor Clive Thomas. He said that SARU should be handling such matters. “And that is why I found the Prime Minister’s (Moses Nagamootoo) initial comments troubling. You set up an Asset Recovery Unit but then Nagamootoo turns around and urges for the Guyana National Broadcasting Unit (GNBA) to issue more licences instead of urging them to recover what
represents one of the most barefaced instances of misappropriation of State Assets,” expressed Dr. Hinds. He said, “It is against that background that I find the stances of the three senior ministers (Greenidge, Ramjattan and Roopnaraine) to revoke the licences, comforting. It shows that the Prime Minister was not speaking for the government.” Dr. Hinds noted, however that Ramjattan, Roopnaraine and Greenidge are also not speaking for the government, even if their views may represent a majority in the Government. He said what is needed is a clear, unequivocal position by the government not only on this matter of the license, but more importantly on how it intends to deal with the larger issue of what Professor Thomas calls “criminalization” of the State by the former Government. He asserted that Greenidge’s position that corruption must not be left unchecked is absolutely correct. Dr. Hinds said if Government does not confront and root out that
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo
Jagdeo’s best friend, Bobby Ramroop
level of corruption which obtained under the PPP, then it would be signaling to the nation that it is complicit in institutionalizing a new level of corruption in the State for decades to come. He said that the possibility that the Government may have to pay compensation to the beneficiaries of State Plunder should not stand in the way of the course of Justice and the de-criminalization of the State. The University Professor said it is for the aforementioned reason that he is challenging the Government to make a clear statement on the matter. “One continues to get the feeling that the governing parties have not yet hammered out a cohesive vision. There seems to be no clear and consistent sense of
how to approach these big issues. If they are to govern effectively they would have to do that sooner rather than later.” The political activist said that it appears as if the Cabinet is the only real effectively functioning institution of the Coalition. He noted however that vision and general political strategy and tactics cannot be framed in Cabinet; they have to be worked out away from the day to day governance of the country. In fact, Dr. Hinds said that Cabinet deliberations should be informed by this larger vision. He said that the inability to arrive at this cohesive vision is one of the problems of Partnership Government as consensus takes longer to be arrived at. He said that this should not Continued on page 23
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Kaieteur News
Monday March 21, 2016
BULLETS AND BLACK UMBRELLAS - how the crime wave changed us
By Michael Jordan We journalists like to preserve the romantic image of ourselves as being fearless pursuers of the truth, going where lesser mortals dare to tread. We joke and tease each other when we meet at the scenes of gruesome crimes; hardened media operatives laughing in the face of death. But we who have been in the trenches during the 2002 to 2009 period when we saw unbelievably heinous crimes remain haunted, and have been changed by some of the things we have seen. That period was our own 911. It changed us in ways we don’t really care to admit. I remember that midnight in June, 2005, when my cell phone rang and someone told me to rush to Second Street, Agricola. The caller gave no hint as to what lay in store, but I knew that the name Agricola had become synonymous with things unpleasant. A few police ranks were in a yard when I arrived. I saw someone that I knew and that someone whispered to me to go into the house. I hurried up the short front steps into the open house. On the bed, lying facedown, was the bullet-riddled body of a teenage girl. In this job, you don’t stop to let the horror sink in or you will freeze. I aimed my camera and quickly flashed a few photographs. I exited the house, thinking that my work was complete, until I saw the thing on the ground near the front step.
Scenes of chaos in Sophia
Rondell Rawlins It was the body of a man, or rather, part of a man’s body. Nearby, lay something that looked like a bloodied piece of meat, and it took some time for my mind to absorb the fact that the other object was a severed head. The eyes stared at nothing. The mouth gaped open in some sort of mute appeal. Again, I took that photograph and was going out of the yard when my contact whispered: “They got another one under the steps.” Checking under the low step, I saw a third body. The corpse was folded up beneath the step, as if the victim had crawled there in a desperate and futile bid to elude his killers. I took that picture and then hurried in to work to write my story. I learned that the headless man was Agricola resident David Barrow called ‘Gurple’. The girl on the bed was ‘Gurple’s 16-year-old girlfriend, Shamika Boyce, while the dead man under the stairs was Paul Persaud, called ‘Yankee’, a deportee from the US. Some said that ‘Gurple’ was beheaded because he
had ‘cochored’ on the relative of one of the notorious gunmen who had the country under siege. As for Shamika Boyce and Yankee? They were reportedly killed for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was when I downloaded the photographs and had a look at them that the horror of what I had seen sank in. I looked at that bloody head and wondered: What were his last thoughts? What manner of man had committed this crime? I had come face to face with violent death many times in my career as a crime reporter. But now I was seeing barbaric, senseless death that left me with a palpable, suffocating sense of evil hovering around me. Then there was the time in November 22, 2002, that I rushed (in hindsight, foolishly) into Buxton in the dead of night, after hearing that there had been gunplay in the village. We had received word earlier in the day that the military forces were going into the community with orders to “capture, maim and kill”, the gunmen who were said to be hiding out there. Travelling in a little white car, we drove deep into the village. It was almost pitch black, since most of the lights were off. The streets were deserted. An eerie silence enveloped us. The few people
that we saw in their yards refused to tell us what had transpired or to direct us to the scene of the shooting. We drove on, halfexpecting to hear the bark of gunfire at any moment. What am I doing here? I wondered. Eventually, we spotted an army vehicle parked in front of us. A group of soldiers stood on the roadway around something that lay motionless on the ground. But before we could go closer some of the ranks ordered us out of the village. I would eventually learn that the dead man was Sean Spaulding, a Trinidadian ‘mercenary’ who, along with others, had entered Buxton at nightfall to do battle with the gunmen who were hiding in the community. The armed men who had entered Buxton had lost the skirmish and Spaulding had paid with his life. Myself and two colleagues (foolishly again) returned to Buxton in the dead of night a few months later when the Joint Services killed two gunmen. There were also times when I didn’t go looking for danger, but when danger, nevertheless, found me. It was February, 2003, and I was living in Hadfield Street, Lodge. This was not far from where George Bacchus and his brother would later be murdered, and a stone’s throw from the National Cultural Centre, where gunmen would execute a
Roger Khan Buxton youth. A detective constable, Deon Johnson, had been killed in Sophia that day, and it was around 22:45 hrs when I switched off my computer and called a taxi to take me home. I was half-asleep by the time I arrived Hadfield Street, so I failed to notice the man who was walking in front of the taxi in which I was traveling. But I came awake instantly when the man who was in front of us turned around, opened his jacket, and pointed a sub-machine gun at us. He kept the gun trained on my taxi for a few seconds and then muttered: “I did wondering is who slowing down behind me.” With that, he turned away and disappeared into a nearby yard. I would later learn that the man with the sub-machine gun was one of the dreaded members of the so-called ‘death squad’, who were hunting down criminals believed to be responsible for the crime wave. A few months after that, my then five-year-old daughter and my 12-year-old son were in a neighbour’s yard, where a birthday party was being held, when gunshots rang out at a ballfield a short distance away. My son hurriedly picked up his little sister and took her into the neighbour’s house. We were later told that a policeman who was on the ball-field had almost been gunned down by some young men who had been trailing him. There is much more. I have also seen a gunman riddled with bullets as he tried to crawl from beneath a bridge to attack police ranks; I saw the victims of the Lusignan slaughter, and the bodies of my five slaughtered colleagues; I took the photograph of a 15-year-old boy who was kidnapped, beaten to death and dumped so like garbage on the East Coast Demerara Public Road. So how has all this gore and violence affected me? Well, when the crime wave began we journalists were
certain that it would end sooner rather than later. But as the killings continued an aura of depression began to overwhelm us. We went home exhausted and returned to work next day to more horror. Paranoia set in; not just in us, but in every civilian, it seemed. Some terrified police ranks grew beards, let their hair grow and dressed in plainclothes. I remember introducing myself to an old police rank who I hadn’t seen in years. He didn’t remember me, and I still recall the wary look in his eyes when I asked if he was ever in the Force. “But I’m retired now,” he said. I remember hiring a taxi one night outside Demico House, and the driver suddenly telling me, as I sat in the front seat, “I ain’t working anymore.” Something about me had made him uneasy. We all became wary of strange cars driving past us. As for me, black umbrellas or other objects sticking out of a vehicle would momentarily look like assault rifles. Living in Lodge, where some of the executions had occurred, I began to fear for my family. We discussed what we should do if a gunfight broke out near our home or if we came under attack. I thought of building some sort of concrete bunker. I became wary of hanging out in Sheriff Street at nights, for fear that I would be a victim of a senseless drive-by shooting. Sometimes, my colleagues and I would ask each other: Would you risk your life like that again? Most of us give a resounding ‘No.’ But on the Elections night of May 11, 2015, my colleague Dale Andrews and I rushed to Sophia, after hearing of some disturbance there. The first sign of unrest was the sight of horses running loose in the street. We later learned that the paddocks in which they were kept had been set alight. When we arrived, we saw vehicles being set alight. We interviewed a Pastor whose vehicles and home had been vandalized by residents who believed that his residence was an illegal Polling Station. Stones rained on the building as we interviewed the terrified Pastor and his family. We heard intermittent gunfire as persons from a nearby home tried to scare off the mob. That only incensed them more. We hurried away from the community as another vehicle went up in flames. Bullets and black umbrellas all over again.
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
Page 21
ALL GREEK TO ME There are some questions, especially in science and logic, which lead to intense speculation. For example, in the 1970s the biologist Stewart Brand posed the riddle, “What color would a chameleon take when placed on a mirror?” One scientist, Kevin Kelly, actually tried it. This led to speculation about the behavior of a robot chameleon, the second law of thermodynamics, the impact of an observer on a chameleon in a mirrored box, and even Boy George and his 1989 hit “Karma Chameleon”. Explaining the title of his song, Boy George said, “The song is about the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It’s about trying to suck up to everybody. Basically, if you aren’t true, if you don’t act like you feel, then you get Karma-justice, that’s nature’s way of paying you back.” It is believed that in medieval times some of the finest minds were engrossed in questions like, “How many angels can dance on the head
of a pin.” But long before that, the Ancient Greece came up with the idea of being on the horns of a dilemma. Brewer’s Phrase and Fable explains that “Lemma” is something that has been proved and comes from the Greek word lam’bano (I assume or take for granted). Di-lemma is a double lemma, or two-edged sword which strikes either way. The “horns of a dilemma” is a figure of speech taken from a bull, which tosses with either of his horns. In other words, it is when you encounter a difficulty of such a nature that whatever way you attack it you encounter an equal amount of disagreeables. For example, Macbeth, after the murder of Duncan, was in a strait between two evils. If he allowed Banquo to live, he had reason to believe that Banquo would supplant him; if, on the other hand, he resolved to keep the crown for which “he had ’filed his hands,” he must “step further in blood,” and cut Banquo off. Another example of a dilemma comes from World
Wide Words. John Morton was Lord Chancellor to Henry VII, a permanently hard-up monarch. Morton (who was also Archbishop of Canterbury at the time) was a brilliant extractor of forced loans — or benevolences, as they were euphemistically called — through what is known as Morton’s Fork. His ploy was to go to prominent people and ask them for money. If they were big spenders, then they must be rich, and could afford to give money to the King; if they spent little, then they must have a lot of money stashed away, and could well afford to give some to the king. That’s a dilemma with really sharp horns: either way the unwilling donor was forced to cough up. There are simpler examples. Suppose a teacher says to the class, “Okay class, today we are going to play a game. When I say a fruit, you run to the right side of the court. And when I say a color, you run to the left side of the court. Got it?” The students, all excited, shout, “Yes Miss.” The teacher then says,
“Ready. Set. Orange.” Then there is the one which, though politically incorrect now, was often used in the past. Imagine you wake up in a bed with two people next to you. To your left is an incredibly beautiful woman willing to have sex with you, and to your right is a very horny gay man. The dilemma is, on whom do you turn your back? The Greeks were so good at dilemmas that they created one which required Zeus to sort out. There is the creature called the Teumessian Fox (or Cadmean Vixen) an animal so big it could not be caught. But there was also the magical dog Laelaps who could catch everything it chased. Because these two were mutually exclusive concepts or a paradox, Zeus turned the beasts into stone and made them the stars Canis Major and Canis Minor. The riddle comes in other forms. The Chinese have the story of a man who created a spear that could penetrate anything and a shield that nothing could penetrate. The modern
equivalents are the irresistible force and the immovable object. What happens when they meet? The paradox can be expressed in another way. If God is all powerful surely he can create a stone that he cannot lift? What is clear is that the irresistible force and immovable object cannot occur on the same plane, bus or “robot” taxi except here in the Caribbean where the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is taking on the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) over the question of to whom does West Indies Cricket belong and, with it, questions about the present state of affairs and the future prospects of the game that is still the glue which binds the region together. I am writing this early in the morning of Wednesday March 16, 2016. The WICB team will shortly take on England in the T20 World Cup. Even though the West Indies lost its first warm-up
game and then won the second, already its diehard supporters are once more interpreting this as “turning the corner” while some cynics believe that there is a large bus coming from the other direction. The outcome is not simple. It depends on whether all the Heads of Government will be on the same bus or plane. This has never happened before and the odds are it will not happen now. At the same time, if the WICB’s team wins the T20 World Cup as it won the recent Under 19 World Cup, euphoria (significantly of Greek origin) will dominate, the WICB will be both irresistible force and immovable object, and Karma Chameleon, the fear of standing up and the indignity of sucking up, will continue to prevail. *Tony Deyal was last seen asking, “What would you call Boy George if he was petrified by Medusa?” The ultimate rock star.
Valerie Amos: the coolest of cool to handle Soas’s hot potato The new Soas director and first female black head of a UK university has a lifetime of achievement and diplomacy to draw on. In these troubled times, she may need it The curious thing about Valerie Amos is most people have never heard of her and those who have can’t quite put their finger on what she’s done. In fact, her achievements are staggering. When she became international development secretary in 2003, she was the first British cabinet minister from an African-Caribbean background. Now, newly installed at age 61 as director of London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas), she is the first black woman to head a UK university. She has been leader of the House of Lords, high commissioner to Australia and, despite being a Labour life peer, was recommended by David Cameron for a top UN post as undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs. She ought, you feel, to be an inspiration for young black Britons and a prominent spokesperson for their hopes, fears and frustrations. It is not her style, however, to seek the limelight or play to the gallery. She is a doer, not a publicist. She declines to comment directly on David Cameron’s remarks about the failure of universities, particularly
Baroness Amos Oxford, to recruit young black men. Instead, she refers me to the Amos bursary, which she established with her younger sister in 2009 in memory of their parents, both former teachers who died that year. It recruits talented students “who have excelled academically at school and have not allowed personal circumstances, or the pressures of inner-city living, to cloud their vision or hamper their dreams”. It has provided not only financial support but also mentoring for several dozen students. Amos names “financial constraints, lack of understanding of the system, families without a strong tradition of higher education and little knowledge of what is required at degree level” as among the constraints that hold back black students.
Brought by her parents from her native Guyana to the then almost wholly white south-east London suburbs when she was nine, Amos began as an outsider, the only black pupil in her girls’ grammar school. Her subsequent career turned her into an insider. In a decade as a Labour minister – among other things, she was Africa minister, a job that involved visiting Cameroon, Angola and Guinea, then temporary members of the UN security council, to get them to support the invasion of Iraq – she provoked not the smallest ripple of controversy, never rocked the boat, or spoke a word out of place. Everyone who worked with her vouches for her competence, hard work and talent for diplomacy. “Everyone likes Valerie,” noted her fellow minister David Blunkett in his diary. In these troubled times, the directorship of Soas, a university with students and lecturers of various ethnicities from across the world, could be the hottest of hot potatoes. Amos seems unfazed. When I ask her about Cameron’s claim in the autumn that Soas, along with several other universities, allowed “extremist” Muslim preachers to address meetings, she speaks with precision and care. “The prime minister’s comments,” she says, “were made on the basis of
inaccurate data. Only one of the preachers he identified spoke here and that was about Islamic finance. As a university, we have a responsibility to operate within the law. We have robust policies and procedures agreed with our students’ union.” She is clearly sceptical of Prevent, the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, but reluctant to criticise it directly. Ministerial guidance calls on universities to “consider carefully” whether visiting speakers are likely to express views “that risk drawing people into terrorist groups”. Amos says: “It is very important to take our reading from the legislation. That is what parliament has agreed. It is very, very important that universities can have challenging debates and critical inquiry within the boundaries of what is legal.” She continues: “One of the problems with the debate round Prevent is that, although the legislation applies to any kind of extreme behaviour, the whole way it is discussed is in relation to Muslims and Islam. We have to be much, much more sensitive to the broader environment. We have students who have faced harassment, sometimes on their way into the university or leaving it. There’s huge concern among those students that Prevent is
feeding into that. They feel they are being particularly targeted.” I mention another controversy, about whether to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, because he was a racist colonialist. “I am not expressing a view about what’s happened in Oxford.” But what if someone demanded the demolition of Soas’s Brunei gallery, named after the Sultan of Brunei, a substantial donor but hardly a liberal democrat? Or wanted to change the school’s name because “oriental” for some is Eurocentric and offensive? “We would debate it. That’s how we work.” Cool, measured and elegant, Amos speaks the unexciting language of bureaucrats, and asking her questions is like playing a slow game of tennis from the baseline. When I ask if she had ever considered herself very leftwing, she repeats “leftwing” as though it were an unexploded nuclear device, saying she’d admit to being “left of centre”. Amos happily accepts the description of being a bureaucrat. “When you’re running things,” she says, becoming unusually animated, “the operational side of it is often as important as the leadership element. People often look at a politician and don’t think you’re any good at running things. I think I am good at
that.” Her first full-time jobs were in London local government, much of it then controlled by the “loony left”. “I was in advisory positions, first on race, then on gender. I wanted to get into management. I was giving all this advice to people but didn’t know how easy or hard it was to implement. I got a job in training and development, then became head of management services and really got an understanding of how difficult it is to bring about change.” Her big breakthrough came in 1989 when she was appointed chief executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission. The commission’s previous chief executives had been on their last jobs before retirement. Amos transformed it, giving it a far more active and aggressive role. For example, she challenged the government through judicial review on rules that gave part-time workers full employment protection only after five years, but full-timers after two. This, she pointed out, discriminated against women, who accounted for 90% of part-timers. She won the case. “We were wholly funded by the government but were taking it to court on a pretty regular basis.” She wasn’t a member of any political party – or if she (Continued on page 24)
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Kaieteur News
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. – CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyana passport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. Building Construction: house plans & estimates, floor sanding, lacquering & painting, boat for Santa Mission –Call: 650-4362 Repairs & spare, fridge, freezer, A/C, washers, stoves – Contact Nick: 6831312, 627-3206 INNOVATIVE MARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, business cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included.
1 Skilled bobcat operator must have at least 3yrs experienced. Call: 265-3024; 609-0766 Hairdresser/sales representative needed for hair products. Must have a vehicle. Call: 231-4999; 6770480, email:irbcguy@gmail. com One bulldozer operator to work in West Bank area. Call: 694-3978; 627-9909
One salesgirl for shop on E.C.D age 17-24. Text your information to: 617-7823
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One domestic cleaner & must be able to prepare vegetarian meals, apply in person @ Alabama Trading G/Town.
Repairs at low cost: Fridges, air- conditioners, washing machines, TVs, microwaves, freezers- Call:629-4946 or 225-4822
Porters: apply in person on Tuesdays & Thursdays at Survival Shopping Complex, 173 Sheriff St. Must be18yrs old
PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS& SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 6560087 , EMAIL: PRO_ AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO. COM
PROPERTY FOR SALE
FOR SALE
- Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, etc. - Cosmetology Courses: $120,000 - Technician Course: $45,000. Call: 647-1773/660-5257
Flat house in Grove, (corner property) 1 Block from main road, price negotiable. Call: 1905-626-2572
LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754.
FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 House for rent, top flat 3 bedrooms, bottom flat, 3 bedrooms @ First Bridge Diamond.Call:664-1030;613-5212 Gold and Diamond mining land for rent in Ekereku & Siparuni area. Call: 615-8810 or 668-3100
One experienced cook, with knowledge in baking, apply in person @ Bistro, 36 Public Road, La Grange W.B.D-Call: 678-3400
Repairs to LED, Plasma, LCD and all other electronic equipment. Ordering of circuit boards. Abdul Electronics. Call: 225-0391
CAR RENTAL DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM
SALON
WANTED One experience captain to ply from Georgetown to Bartica must be 55 years and over. Contact: 650-0402 1 Live in domestic to work, salary -$60,000. Call: 6741767, 685-8720; 661-5992
1 Male cook (baheir) to cook in the Interior. Call: 678-0565
Housekeeper to cook for an Indian Family in Turkeyen, 6 days @ $15,000 weekly. Police clearance and reference required. Call: 655-6766
SALES PERSONS WITH CAR, WANTED FOR A FOOD DISTRIBUTOR COMPANY. SALARY + C O M M I S S I O N . APPLICATION & POLICE CLEARANCE. CALL: 2318529 Highly skilled person who can fillet fish. $5,000 per day. (2) A computer operator who has a knowledge of Quickbook. Must be able to download accounts and to enter them into a Quickbook programmes. Call 697-5221
Wing’s Car & 4WD Vigo pick up rental- Call: 690-6494
TAXI SERVICES
Aidan’s Car & 4WD Vigo pick up, cheapest rate, low security- Call: 698-7807
GR TAXI SERVICE. CALL: 219-5000; 227-1982 & 225-7878 (24HRS)
Monday March 21, 2016
VACANCY Male security, male desk staff, 30-45yrs old @ 233 South Road Lacytown. Call: 2250198 ACCOUNTS CLERK, MINIMUM qualification CXC Accounts Grades I,II, familiar with QuickBooks POS & Accounts. Email : info@guygas.com Site Engineer/Technician, experienced Human Resource Personnel, good salary and opportunity for personal development. Call: 261-2280; 668-7104 Vacancy exists for a maid; specialize in Indian and English cuisine. Call: 2310734
LAND FOR SALE Land for sale in Eccles, immediate position + transport -$4.9M-Call:624-2857
Transported property @ Grove $16M negotiable. Call: 625-5461 3068 Amelia’s Ward Linden: 4 bedrooms, 1 self-containedCall: 640-4731; 641-6450 House & land fully furnished, 3 self contained rooms, 1 master bedroom, alarm systems, 9 cameras, 7 AC units. Call: 628-0016; 667-2536 2-2 Storey concrete structure 26X58- Call: 644-9552. 26X40Call: 622-9903, Anna Catherina, New Scheme, special deals, serious enquiries only. Transported property, prime, furnished liquor restaurant & bar, 2 freezers, 1 pools table, double lot @ E.C.D$26.5M neg. Call: 600-7228 Diamond: $15M & $14M, Grove: $9.5M, New Road V/ Hoop: $6M, Pouderoyen:$45M, Goed Fortuin : $7M, La Grange $10M. Call: 604-6724 Furnished 6 bedrooms house with attic, 4 self contained bedrooms located @ Anna Catherina, New Housing Scheme. Call: 611-5354; 6154728
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175 DAF dump truck #GNN 5366- Call: 664-1030; 613-5212 Labrottie puppies (jet black) for sale @ $50,000/each; 5 weeks fully de-wormed & vaccinated. Call: 654-7683 Leyland DAF55, Flatbed truck-in, excellent condition. Call to negotiate: 675-4287; 628-0016; 667-2536; 233-2383 Cheap! Cheap! CCTV Security Surveillance Kit, 8 Channels DVR with built in Hard Drive, 8 bullet cameras – Tel: 621-4740; 686-3500 One Toyota Spacio PPP series in excellent condition. Call: 600-2466
Brand new house in Republic Gardens, E.B.D: 3 bedrooms, all self contained, selling as is -$22M negotiable, owner migrating, need quick sale. Call: 639-8182; 233-5117 House & land at Good Hope E.C.D -$32M negotiable. Call: 654-4312 & 629-3344
VEHICLE FOR SALE Toyota Fielder & L-Touring Wagon, AT192, AE100, Funcargo, Tundra, Pickup 4X4 solid DEF, (Ducati 1098cc). Call: 644-5096; 6971453
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PEN PAL VEHICLE FOR SALE Unregistered Bluebird 2006 model, TV, Reverse Camera, Dark interior low mileage $2.3M. Call: 655-3400 Honda CRV (RD5), stick gear, PNN series - $2.1M negotiable. Call: 691-1198 Manual & Automatic super GL pit-bull, VVTI and 1 RZ super GL, extra cab Hilux. Call: 616-7635 Smart choice Auto: 08&06 Premio, 08&06 Allion, 212, Runx, IST, Fielder. Call: 6523820; 665-4529 Prado TZ, Automatic diesel, PHH series -$4.5M, fully loaded-Call: 233-2546; 688-5554 2005 SPACIO -$2.2M NEG, 2006 PREMIO-$2.3M NEG, NOAH & VOXY-$1.7M NEG. ALL VEHICLES FULLY LOADED & UNREGISTERED. CALL: 642-7295 One Toyota Hilux E/Cab pickup M/T 3RZ engine. Call: 676-0931 Toyota Runx Motor Car, No: PRR2733. Call: 628-2876
Indian male is seeking female, age 30-33yrs. Write: M.D, 7475 Goreway DR #47 Mississauga on L4T 3T3 Canada.
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
City Hall demolishes another ‘illegal’ pavement Armed with jack-hammers, a crew from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) yesterday demolished what they said was an illegally constructed pavement in Camp Street. The pavement is at the back of an unfinished building being constructed by businessman Rizwam Khan, who deemed the M&CC’s action as an unfair and spiteful act. But an official from M&CC said that the businessman did not receive permission from the Council to build the structure. Khan, though, is claiming that he did not build the pavement and even if he had wanted to, he would not have needed permission. “We don’t have to get permission to do the pavement. Why didn’t they break City Mall pavement? It is five feet higher than me own. Why didn’t they break down Footsteps pavement? It is nine feet higher than me own.” Khan stated that he bought the plot of land from the owners of Kissoon’s Furniture Store a few years after their establishment was destroyed by fire. The man said that the Council never notified him about having any issues with the pavement. He said that he was only informed that it was being demolished yesterday morning after receiving a call from his security guard. In the meantime, the businessman said that he is going to leave the pavement just as it is. “Who walk there and bruk their foot is they problem,” he exclaimed. Just last week, the council removed an elevated structure in front of the Royal Castle Fast Food outlet on Croal Street, after a businesswoman stumbled on three inclined six-inch platforms. The woman, Bibi Singh
Don’t blame GECOM... From page 5 actively involved in the awareness and the dissemination of information on the Local Government Elections. These include Merundoi Inc. Guyana, The Guyana National Youth Council and Youth Challenge Guyana. Never in the history of Civic and Voter Education in Guyana, has so much positive result- yielding effort been made. We therefore, demand to know, instead of nattering negativities, what the complainers would have done more and better. GECOM carried the Voters to the proverbial water; it was up to the candidates to encourage them to drink. Tamara Rodney (GECOM)
The Govt. has money...
M&CC workers as they demolished the pavement
City Hall crewmen demolishing the pavement outside of the Royal Castle establishment suffered a broken left foot among other injuries. Town Clerk Royston King had told Kaieteur News that Royal Castle got no permission to elevate the pavement. But a Royal Castle official had said that the company was granted permission to modify the pavement in front of the outlet.
Govt. must have... From page 11 be a deterrent. The Buxtonian stressed that it should be an incentive to try harder. “I still believe that President David Granger’s last address to the National Assembly is a good document to begin that conversation. A government without a large vision could survive, but its survival would always be tenuous,” concluded Dr. Hinds. Weeks before leaving office, former President Bharrat Jagdeo awarded his best friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, five radio frequencies; New Guyana
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Company Limited, five, and Telcor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc., another five. Jagdeo also ordered the grant of two cable licences to two of his closest friends, Vishok Persaud and Brian Yong. GNBA Officials revealed recently that Jagdeo’s ad hoc approach has led to prime spots on the spectrum being taken up. All premium spots on the television and cable channel frequencies are gone. There is little space left for new applicants on the radio spectrum.
From page 4 back rise in wages with increased productivity, but when a political promise was made to give the workers a substantial increase on the campaign trail, it is the right thing to do to back up you promise partially and quickly. Every day delayed is one day more in not delivering on your promise to the workers. Whatever value the Lutchman Commission or the Collective Bargaining Process add to the lives of the workers, those processes have their time to deliver which can be months away. The workers should not be made to wait just like the Ministers could not wait for their increases. The punishment is real and alive today in Guyana and those at the bottom of the economic ladder deserve the financial support to take them closer to a living wage and the good life. So I am making a personal appeal to His Excellency the President, Brigadier (retd) David Arthur Granger to please use his full powers to ensure that the people get
their justly deserved payout today. It is provided for, it is legal, it is the right thing to do and irrespective of what the so called experts say – they will never feel the pain of that single Guyanese woman who I personally interviewed. She works as a police constable and she is forced to meet some of her bills by doing legal and illegal side jobs and I mean illegal side jobs. This is not what we worked so hard for over the year I beg of you, Mr. President, please bring immediate relief to the people at the bottom of the economic ladder; yes you can! Sase Singh
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
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Iran’s leader says U.S. still Trump refuses to condemn violence at his U.S. presidential rallies hostile after nuclear deal Reuters - The United States is still fundamentally hostile to Iran and its policies have undermined the benefits of sanctions relief, the Islamic Republic’s hardline leader said yesterday, warning Iranians not to trust their old enemy. Ringing in a new Iranian year at a televised rally in the Shi’ite holy city of Mashhad, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said fear of U.S. regulations was keeping big foreign companies, particularly in the financial sector, away from Iran. The uncompromising stance of Iran’s most senior figure poses a challenge to President Hassan Rouhani, the architect of last year’s nuclear deal who hopes to open Iran’s economy to the world. In keeping with the deal, many international sanctions on Iran were lifted in January. Since then foreign business delegations have flocked to Tehran and billions of dollars of deals have been signed. But European banks and other companies have stayed away, largely due to remaining U.S. sanctions. That, Khamenei said, was a sign that Iran should be economically self-reliant because the U.S. and its allies were not reliable partners. “In Western countries and places which are under U.S. influence, our banking transactions and the repatriation of our funds from
their banks face problems ... because (banks) fear the Americans,” he said. “The U.S. Treasury ... acts in such a way that big corporations, big institutions and big banks do not dare to come and deal with Iran,” Khamenei said. The Central Bank of Iran has also said remaining U.S. sanctions have scared off European firms. To drive the point home, the stage on which Khamenei sat carried a giant banner reading “the year of the Resistance Economy: Action and Implementation”, his chosen slogan for the Iranian year 1395 that began yesterday. In a video message earlier, Rouhani said further engagement with other countries was the key to economic growth, a view that
has put him increasingly at odds with Khamenei, who outranks him. “I am sure that with cooperation and effort inside the country, and constructive engagement with the world, our economy can bloom and develop,” Rouhani said. The president’s allies made gains in parliamentary elections last month that could help him push through reforms in support of a more open economy. But Khamenei and his conservative allies have the power to block new legislation. Khamenei, a 76-year-old cleric, also urged the young men in the crowd not to forget Iran’s revolutionary history, which he said was proof that the Islamic Republic could stand on its own and that foreign powers were not to be trusted. He saw evidence of institutional hostility towards Iran in the U.S. presidential election, saying the candidates had “competed to vilify Iran in their speeches”. He also said the United States had no business trying to stop Iran developing its defensive capabilities, including missiles, or carrying out military drills. “America is thousands of kilometres away from the Persian Gulf and conducts exercises there with regional countries ... but if we have exercises in our own security realm they protest loudly,” he said.
Greece in the past 24 hours at 875 people. Under the European Union deal with Turkey, all migrants and refugees, including Syrians, who cross to Greece illegally by sea from March 20 will be sent back to Turkey once they are registered and their asylum claims have been processed.
That is expected to take effect from April 4, by which time Greece must have in place a fast-track process for assessing asylum claims. The EU has pledged to help Greece set up a task force of some 4,000 staff, including judges, interpreters, border guards and others to manage each case individually.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
EU-Turkey deal fails to stem refugee flight to Greece
Reuters - They waved, cheered and smiled, elated to have made it to Europe at dawn yesterday in a packed blue rubber motor boat. The 50 or so refugees and migrants were among the first to arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos on day one of an EU deal with Turkey designed to close the route by which a million people crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece in 2015. Exhausted but relieved, the new arrivals wrapped their wet feet in thermal blankets as volunteers handed out dry clothes and supplies. Reuters witnesses saw three boats arrive within an hour in darkness in the early hours of yesterday. Two men were pulled out unconscious from one of the boats amid the screams of fellow passengers and were later pronounced dead. Twelve boats had arrived on the shoreline near the airport by 6 a.m. (0400 GMT), a police official said. A government account put the number of arrivals across
Demonstrators protest against U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, outside the Trump Tower building in midtown Manhattan in New York. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Reuters - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that “professional agitators” bore much of the blame for violence at his rallies as video showed a protester being beaten and another apparently being grabbed by Trump’s campaign manager. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Trump defended campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and declined to condemn supporters who have attacked protesters at his increasingly chaotic rallies. Nor did he back down from his warning that there would be riots in the streets if the Republican Party denied him the nomination for the November election, despite his being the most popular candidate among Republican voters. Senior figures in the party
are openly plotting to prevent Trump from becoming the nominee because they view him as insufficiently conservative, and Trump was due to privately meet with some party leaders in Washington today, the Washington Post reported. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I will say this, you’re going to have a lot of unhappy people,” he said on “This Week,” predicting anger at the party’s national convention in July should someone else end up the nominee. “I don’t want to see riots, I don’t want to see problems. But you’re talking about millions of people.” Scenes of mayhem have become increasingly common at the billionaire New York businessman’s rallies, which have been frequently interrupted by protesters, many of them Democrats,
who say Trump’s controversial remarks on immigrants and Muslims are dangerous. The 69-year-old candidate has sometimes encouraged his supporters using violence on protesters, and on at least one occasion said that he would like to punch a protester himself. Television footage from an Arizona rally on Saturday showed a man punching and kicking a protester as he was led out of the event. Another video appeared to show Lewandowski grabbing a protester by the back of his shirt. Trump declined to condemn the violence and said it was often provoked by protesters, who briefly blocked a highway leading to an Arizona rally on Saturday. “These people are very disruptive people. They’re not innocent lambs,” he said.
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Kaieteur News
Monday March 21, 2016
Second medical doctor dies from Swine Flu KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC – Health authorities have confirmed the death of a second medical practitioner as a result of the Swine Flu virus and are urging high risk persons who have contracted the disease to seek urgent medical attention. The Ministry of Health said that Dr. Denise Duncan Goffe, who was in her 60s, had died from H1N1-related issues. In 2010 she had been awarded the special commemorative Diamond jubilee medal for her contribution to the development of health and emergency services. She worked in the public
health sector for over 30 years. She retired from her post as director, Health Service Planning and Integration in the Ministry of Health in 2014. Dr Goffe was later employed to the South East Regional Health Authority as Clinical Quality Assurance Officer. Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, in a condolence message said “this is a difficult time for the entire team at the Ministry of Health. “Dr Goffe was more than a colleague, she was family having spent decades in the public health sector. Her
achievements are many and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her on something that we are all passionate about – impacting the lives of the ordinary man through the provision of quality health care. It is never an easy thing to lose a loved one. We will lean on each other for support as we come to terms with this loss,” Dr Tufton said. Dr Duncan Goffe, who died Saturday at the University Hospital of the West Indies was diagnosed with Influenza A(H1N1), or swine flu, but also had other chronic medical illnesses.
Reuters - More than 600 people have now left France for Syria and Iraq, with about 800 more wanting to leave to join Islamic State (IS), Prime Minister Manuel Valls said
yesterday. The figures show little respite in the number of people joining the jihadist group despite multiple bombing campaigns against
IS strongholds and a crackdown by French authorities to prevent people from leaving the country after two major attacks in France during last year. “We are in a battle on our soil,” Walls said in a speech to Socialist party supporters. “Each day (we) ... trace networks, locate cells, arrest individuals. Today 2029 French citizens or residents are implicated in jihad networks.” European governments have been tightening antiterrorism laws as the Syrian conflict enters its sixth year, agreeing to share more intelligence and taking down radical websites to try to stop their citizens from going to fight in the Middle East and bringing militancy home. Breaking down the figures, Walls said 609 people who are French nationals or have French r e s i d e n t ’s s t a t u s a r e currently among fighters, including 283 women and 18 minors. Almost 170 have been killed while in Syria or Iraq and 300 have returned to France from those countries. “Almost 800 would today like to go to these wars zones, according to intelligence services,” Walls said, adding that 1,000 people are being monitored closely. In February 2015, only weeks after an attack in Paris that killed 17 people, Walls said there were 1,400 French citizens or residents linked to jihadist networks, with 410 present in Syria and Iraq and about 80 killed on the ground.
French prime minister says 600-plus people have left France for Syria or Iraq
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
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Kaieteur News
Monday March 21, 2016
Obama arrives in Havana Fired minister under police for historic visit to Cuba investigation in Trinidad
U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and their daughters Malia and Sasha, exit Air Force One as they arrive at Havana’s international airport for a three-day trip, in Havana yesterday. REUTERS/stringer Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Cuba yesterday on a historic visit, opening a new chapter in U.S. engagement with the island’s Communist government after decades of animosity between the former Cold War foes. Obama landed at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport aboard Air Force One, the presidential jet with “United States of America” emblazoned across its fuselage, a sight almost unimaginable before the detente of December 2014. The three-day trip, the first by a U.S. president to Cuba in 88 years, is the culmination of a diplomatic opening announced by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in December
2014, ending a Cold War-era estrangement that began when the Cuban revolution ousted a pro-American government in 1959. Obama, who abandoned a longtime U.S. policy of trying to isolate Cuba, wants to make his shift irreversible. But major obstacles remain to full normalization of ties, and Obama’s critics at home say the visit is premature. Traveling with first lady Michelle Obama, her mother and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, the president will mostly play tourist on his first night on the Caribbean island, taking in the famous sights of Old Havana. He will hold talks with Raul Castro – but not his brother Fidel, the revolutionary leader - and
Brazil poll shows strong support for President’s impeachment A new poll in Brazil is showing strong support for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. The respected Datafolha agency says 68 percent of people surveyed want to see lawmakers vote to impeach Rousseff. That’s up 8 percentage points since February. The results published in yesterday’s Folha de S. Paulo newspaper come on the heels of a topsy-turvy week in Brazilian politics that saw a Supreme Court judge suspend former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s nomination to a Cabinet post amid corruption investigations, as well as largescale pro- and anti-government demonstrations. The survey was carried out on March 17 and 18, with face-to-face interviews with 2,794 people in171 cities and towns. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. (Associated Press)
speak to entrepreneurs today. He meets privately with dissidents, addresses Cubans live on state-run media and attends an exhibition baseball game tomorrow. The trip carries both symbolism and substance after decades of hostility between Washington and Havana. It makes Obama the first sitting American president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge arrived on a battleship in 1928. It is also another major step in chipping away at remaining barriers to U.S.Cuba trade and travel and developing more normal relations between Washington and Havana. Since rapprochement, the two sides have restored diplomatic ties and signed commercial deals on telecommunications and scheduled airline service. Major differences remain, notably the 54-year-old economic embargo of Cuba. Obama has asked Congress to rescind it, but the move has been blocked by the Republican leadership. Underscoring the ideological divide that persists between Washington and Havana, Cuban police, backed by hundreds of pro-government demonstrators, broke up the regular march of a leading dissident group, the Ladies in White, detaining about 50 people just hours before Obama was due to arrive.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Cabinet minister who last week lost her position over breach of Parliament rules is now the subject of a police investigation. Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams made the disclosure Saturday without giving details about the probe into Marlene McDonald, the MP for Port of Spain South and former Minister of Housing and Urban Development. McDonald was replaced as Health Minister by Randall Mitchell, following reports that she employed her common-law husband, Michael Carew, and his brother, Lennox Carew, at her constituency office, in breach of Parliament rules. Head of the activist group Fixin T&T, Kirk Waithe, had raised the issue about the Carews’ employment and had also written to Commissioner Williams requesting that a criminal investigation be launched into the Calabar Foundation – of which the brothers were directors – which received payments from the Ministry of Community Development in 2010 when McDonald headed that ministry.
Marlene McDonald
Stephen-Williams
McDonald had also been accused of misusing her ministerial power, back in 2008, to get a Housing Development Corporation house for Carew. Speaking after a panel discussion on the state of the economy, Williams confirmed a probe had started but declined to say what allegations were being investigated. Meantime, the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) has dismissed calls from the Opposition for McDonald to step down as the parliamentary representative for Port of Spain South.
Following a meeting of the party’s general council Saturday, PNM chairman Franklin Khan said McDonald would stay on as an MP and deputy political leader. But the PNM called on Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to step down after it surfaced that she also hired two relatives at her constituency office. Persad-Bissessar claimed Saturday that her hiring did not breach any law, but said she has written to the Clerk of the House to seek clarification on the matter. (Caribbean360)
Brazil’s Rousseff lacks Senate votes to defeat impeachment – senator Reuters - Brazil’s ruling coalition lacks the votes in the Senate to defeat a request to remove left-leaning President Dilma Rousseff from office if it is approved by the lower house, a senior senator in the coalition’s largest party said yesterday. The leading member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue, told Reuters the coalition could not rally the one-third of votes needed in the 81-seat Senate to stop Rousseff being dismissed. Yesterday, Estadao newspaper quoted sources close to Senate Speaker Renan Calheiros, also a member of the PMDB, as saying he believed that if the lower house approves the ongoing impeachment process it would create an unstoppable wave of support for removing Rousseff. A spokesman for Calheiros was not immediately available for comment. Congress’ lower house
Dilma Rousseff opened impeachment proceedings last week against the unpopular Rousseff based on opposition allegations that she deliberately manipulated government accounts to boost her chances of reelection to a second term in 2014. Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla who is Brazil’s first female president, has vigorously denied any wrongdoing. The impeachment
process only adds to the crisis that has hit Brazil, shaken to the core by its biggest ever corruption scandal - an investigation into political kickbacks to the ruling coalition from contractors working for state oil company Petrobras. Rousseff’s government is also grappling with the worst recession in decades in Latin America’s largest economy and an epidemic of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, as it scrambles to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August. A survey published on Saturday by polling firm Datafolha showed support for R o u s s e ff ’s impeachment rising to 68 percent, close to the record level of 71 percent reached in August. With opposition parties hurrying along proceedings, a special impeachment committee could present its findings as soon as mid-April. A plenary session of the lower house would then need to vote on whether to send Rousseff for trial in the Senate.
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
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Jaguars charge to consecutive titles Leewards 119 - O. Peters 60, Hamilton 33, Louis 26, Cornwall 17; Wkts: Carter 1, Warrican 4, Stoute 1, Cummins 1, Chase 1 Leewards 224/10 (complete) Taylor 20* Joseph 11. T&T vs Windwards Windwards 289 - Ottley 53, Hope 57; Wkts Sebastien 4, Mayers 1, Edwards 1 Windwards 8/0 (stumps) Smith 4* Theophile 4* (Target 166) T&T 211 - Smith 127, Theophile 73; Khan 4/93, Emrit 3/59, Jagessar 3/74 T&T 243 - Deonarine 91*; Mayers 3/37, Johnson 1/33, L. Edwards 4/77, Sebastien 2/ 62.
SCOREBOARD
The Jaguars top performers (from left) Bramble, Singh, Johnson, Motie & Permaul. From page 35 Motie bowled overnight batsman Devon Thomas after he had added just three to his second day score. Chris Barnwell then bowled Damion Jacobs (19) at 205-7 before Permaul trapped Aldane Thomas at 219-8 after he made 45 from 130 balls, 145 minutes with five fours. Permaul and Bishoo then wrapped up the innings and Guyana promptly enforced the follow-on. Jamaica started their second innings like a house on fire with Shacaya Thomas smashing three fours in 12 before he was taken at midon driving at Barnwell at 14-1. John Campbell was joined by Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood and continued the positive approach before Blackwood was taken at second slip off Refier after making a cameo 16 from just 14 balls with two fours and a six to leave the Hurricanes on 32-2. The left-handed McCarty, watched by
another disappointing crowd which has been the trend throughout the region, danced into Motie and dumped him for six to post the 50 in the 17th over. McCarty went inside out to Permaul and stroked him majestically for four through cover, while Skipper Paul Palmer opened his account with stylish off-driven boundary off Bishoo after taking 28 balls to get off the mark. But McCarty (21) and Palmer (4) were both removed by Permaul in the space of a run to leave the stingless Scorpions on 66-5. Aldane Thomas (7) walked past Permaul and was stumped at 73-6 to give Anthony Bramble his 34th dismissal, the most for the season, and at Tea, Scorpions were retreating into their holes at 87-6. After the break Permaul took three of the last four wickets and ended the one-sided contest when Dennis Bullie (15) lofted him Motie at long-on with just over an hour to
spare on the third day to spark wild celebrations among the Guyanese. Skipper Leon Johnson, the only batsman with 800 runs (807) joined Clive Lloyd and Roger Harper with two titles as Captain and first to lead Guyana to consecutive titles. Vice Captain Vishaul Singh was the third highest run scorer with 712 with only Devon Smith (715) and Roston Chase (710) reaching 700. Permaul and Motie were joint fourth on the list of wicket-takers only behind Nikita Miller (65), Rakeem Cornwall (48) and Imran Khan (43), while Johnson’s 17 catches was second to Orlando Peters’ 18 as the Guyanese dominated in almost every aspect of the game. In other PCL scores: Barbados beat Leewards. Barbados 436 - Dowrich 96, Chase 62, Hamilton 42, Powell 33; Warrican 3, Cornwall 5fer
Heineken UEFA Champions League Promotion kicks off at 704 Lounge, El Latino Bar Heineken’s Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League (UCL) 2016 Promotion continued last weekend at 704 Lounge and EL Latino Bars Friday and Saturday nights respectively with Foosball Competitions. Foosball is a table assimilation of football, and is again a part of Heineken’s UEFA 2016 Series Promotion at selected bars across Guyana. Heineken will continue to support Guyanese passion for football in this Golden Jubilee year. Heineken is a long-standing sponsor of the Champions League, and as such, the brand has kicked off its annual local promotion in Guyana. Customers across Guyana will have the chance to take part in similar Foosball competitions at various bars in the Heineken UCL Series where they will be given the opportunity to enjoy the final stages of the UEFA Champions League. This year’s promotion, like last year’s, will end with a massive final viewing party at a date to be announced. It promises to be biggest one to-date given the special significance of Guyana’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations. The purchase of buckets of Heineken gives participants the chance to win prizes in the Foosball competition.
Jaguars T Chanderpaul LBW b Jacobs 21 R Chandrika c & b Jacobs 76 S Hetymer b Blackwood 107 L Johnson c wkt A Thomas b D Thomas 93 V Singh b Browne 23 D Bishoo c Dawes b Jacobs 3 C Barnwell LBW Jacobs 25 R Reifer LBW b Dawes 11 A Bramble not out 16 V Permaul c Blackwood b Jacobs 21 G Motie b Dawes 4 Extras (w-1, nb-12, lb-13, b-5) 21 Total (for 10 wkts off 128 overs) 420 Fow: 80, 156, 243, 286, 306, 353, 371, 384, 414, 420, Bowling: Dawes 15-3-39-2, Browne 20-3-730, D. Thomas 18-4-48-1, Jacobs 42-6-127-5, Bullie 10-1-52-0, McCarthy 3-0-11-0, Campbell 2-0-8-0 Scorpions 1st innings John Campbell c Permaul b Reifer 1 Shacaya Thomas c wkt Bramble b Motie 32 J Blackwood LBW Reifer 62 A McCarty LBW b Motie 3 P Palmer LBW b Motie 6 D Thomas b Motie 43 A Thomas LBW b Permaul 45 D Jacobs b Barnwell 19 D Bullie c Barnwell b Permaul 2 J Dawes not out 8 G Browne c (sub) Paul b Bishoo 4 Extras (nb4-,lb-2) 6 Total (for 10 wkts off 91.3 overs) 231 Fow: 15, 70, 74, 88, 120, 174, 205, 219, 226, 231 Bowling: Reifer 16-6-42-2, Barnwell 13-4-391, Motie 28.3-8-55-4, Permaul 22-7-43-2, Bishoo 12-3-45-1 Scorpions 2nd innings S Thomas c Permaul b Barnwell 12 J Campbell LBW b Permaul 10 J Blackwood c Barnwell b Reifer 16 A McCarty c wkt Bramble b Permaul 21 P Palmer LBW b Bishoo 4 D Thomas c Chanderpaul b Bishoo 17 A Thomas Stp Bramble b Permaul 7 D Jacobs b Permaul 17 D bullie LBW b Permaul 15 J Dawes LBW b Permaul 6 G Browne not out 6 Extras (nb-1, lb-2) 3 Total (for 10 wkts off 50 overs) 134 Fow: 14, 32, 49, 66, 66, 73, 98, 113, 127, 134
Heineken Models (right) engage a customer in a Foosball game Saturday night at EL Latino Bar on Hadfield Street.
Bowling: Reifer 6-0-16-1, Barnwell 2-1-6-1, Motie 7-1-38-1, Permaul 19-7-36-5, Bishoo 16-2-43-3 Result: Jaguars won by Innings & 54 runs
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Kaieteur News
Hector, De Cunha guide Providence to victory Outstanding performances by Jevon Hector and Terrence De Cunha guided Providence to a comfortable 108-run victory over Ruimveldt when the East Bank Demerara Cricket Association 50-over tournament continued on Saturday. Hector was the mainstay of Providence innings, smashing six fours and eight sixes guiding them to 233 all out in 29.4 overs after they decided to bat at Farm. He shared in useful partnerships with Safraz Alli who made 22 and Dale La Rose 23. Quincy Grimmond chipped in with a run-a-ball 26 as Terrence Mootoo captured 4-51, Eric Sukrah 3-33 and Deonarine Seegobin 2-26. Ruimveldt never recovered from a bad start and were sent packing for 125 in 28.5 overs. Sukrah got 30 (2x4,2x6), Mootoo and Almando Doman 18 each; De Cunha claimed 4-11, Brentnol Ross had 2-15 and Govinda Moniram 2-41. At Laluni, North Soesdyke overcame Silver Bullet by 44 runs. Batting first, North Soesdyke managed 175 all out in 31 overs. Leroy Primo made 52, while Vishal Sarjoo got 22 and Ronald Jaisingh 20; Colin Benjamin took three wickets. Silver Bullet were bowled out for 131 in 35 overs in reply. A. Gomes made 36 as Sunil Sarjoo and Clitus Johnson snared three wickets each and Jaisingh two.
Monday March 21, 2016
GMR&SC National ‘Race of Champions’ Meet
Kristian Jeffrey, Rangasammy, Mohamed light up South Dakota Circuit
Group 4 2-wheel champion Mohan Rangasammy leads Kristian Jeffrey and Andrew King in that order in the combined Group 4 race. Caribbean champion Kristian Jeffrey failed to let the moderate turnout of fans dampen the day, instead he lit it up with a perfect performance which was the highlight of yesterday’s Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) National ‘Race of Champions’ Meet, at the South Dakota Circuit. Jeffrey, who had returned from his home base in Canada, thrilled the fans with another dominating display to relegate the small field to the other places on the podium. He won all three races to crown a solid performance for the day, while other impressive performances came from another Canada-based driver in Paul Vieira, who too raced unbeaten in
Groupo 3, while Mohan Rangasammy did the same in the Group 4 races for two-wheel driven cars. What was disappointing was the fact that there were no races in the Superbike category and Kaieteur Sport tried unsuccessfully to ascertain the reason (s) for the no show. In Group 2, Rameeze Mohamed was in a class of his own and had Chet Singh trailing him for most of the day. Also absent were Mark Vieira and Kevin Jeffrey thereby leaving the veteran Andrew King and Danny Persaud to battle the might of Kristian Jeffrey’s Mitsubishi Evolution VIIII. Kaieteur Sport will publish the full results in a subsequent issue.
Stag Crown Your Community Awareness Competition Jevon Hector
Terrence De Cunha
Terrence Mootoo
Eric Sukrah
Grove Hi Tech take title in Grove leg
Windies beat Sri Lanka... From page 34 team’s charge for a semi-final berth. “We know what we are capable off. We know the strength of our team. If we continue playing the kind of cricket we are accustomed to playing, we are going to lift the cup a second time,” manof-the-match Fletcher said after the game. The win was set up by a strong bowling performance by the Windies, with pace bowler Carlos Brathwaite drawing first blood by getting the in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan out lbw with his first ball of the match in the third over. Dilshan, who scored 83 against Afghanistan on Thursday, had tried to set the tone, hitting his first ball for six and following that up with a boundary, but he was out
for 12. His strike partner Dinesh Chandimal also suffered a soft dismissal, when he was run out on 16 in the fifth over. Spinner Samuel Badree took 3-12 in his four overs to wreak havoc with Sri Lanka’s top order with Lahiru Thirimanne, ChamaraKapugederaand Milinda Siriwardana all falling cheaply. “We just kept losing wickets and by the time we reassessed, it was too late,” Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Matthews said. Mathews and Thisara Perera had a mountain to climb to put a competitive total on the board and managed 44 runs in 46 balls for the sixth wicket but both were caught off deliveries by Dwayne Bravo to give Sri Lanka no chance.
Grove Hi Tech, Stag Crown Your Community Awareness Champs. Grove Hi Tech continued their winning ways when they won the Stag Crown Your Community Awareness 5-aside football competition on Friday night last at the Grove Playfield which was contested under lights. In the final of the six team competition, Grove needled Herstelling Raiders thanks to a Denzil Crawford first half goal. In the semifinals, Kevin Rose scored the winning goal for Herstelling in their 1-0 triumph over Friendship. Grove, on account of goals from Lloyd and Marvin
Squires blanked the young and energetic Soesdyke Falcons 2-0. Meanwhile, in group play, Grove and Friendship defeated Kuru Kururu Warriors and Agricola Red Triangle by similar 3-2 margins from the penalty spot after a 0-0 score at the end of regulation time. Herstelling defeated Kuru Kururu 1-0 thanks to an Eric Williams goal while Soesdyke had gotten past Agricola 2-0 via penalty kicks. Similar tournaments have been held in Bartica #5 Village West Coast Berbice, Golden
Grove East Coast Demerara, Den Amstel and Bartica. Camptown ground in Campbellville and Timehri Red Ground were expected to host last night. The Stag Crown Your Community competition will see the top community among the eleven (11) competing, winning Three Million Dollars towards the enhancement of their ground. The competing areas and grounds vying are the Bartica Community Centre – Bartica, Timehri Red Ground – Timehri, New
A m s t e r d a m Berbice, Monedderlust Ground - #5 Village West Coast Berbice, Golden Grove Ground – East Coast Demerara, Christianburg Ground – Linden, West Ruimveldt Ground – Georgetown, Camptown G r o u n d – Campbellville, Walton Hall Ground – Essequibo, Grove Playfield – Grove East Bank and Den Amstel Community Centre Ground – West Coast Demerara. The promotion will conclude at the end of this month.
Monday March 21, 2016
Kaieteur News
GCA/Noble House Sea Foods second division tourney
Rollins, Mohamed, Persaud slam centuries
Shaheed Mohamed By Zaheer Mohamed Floyd Rollins, Shaheed Mohamed and Akshaya Persaud stroked centuries when the Georgetown Cricket Association/Noble House Sea Foods second division two-day tournament continued on Saturday. Rollins slammed 119 to guide host Malteenoes SC to 369-5 declared in 57.3 overs, batting first against Sophia. Rollins added 249 for the second wicket with Nickosie Barker after they were reduced to 40-2. Barker struck 94 while Steven Sankar made 56 and Orin Forde 48. Malcolm Harris and Stephon Hope claimed two wickets each for Sophia who were 87-8 in reply at stumps. Mario Benjamin made 24; Forde took 3-15 and Sankar 2-23. At Everest, the host grabbed first innings from Diplomats. Everest posted 235-4 declared, taking first strike. Ashkaya Persaud scored 98 while Shaheed Mohamed got 75 and Dwayne Adams 28. K. Augustus took 2-45. Diplomats were skittled for
Akshaya Persaud
Floyd Rollins
Javed Rasheed
Nickosie Barker
53. Javed Rasheed bagged 512 and Mohamed 4-9. Leading by 182, Everest decided not to enforce the follow-on and declared on 235 without loss. Mohamed smashed an unbeaten 107 while Persaud scored 100. Set 418 to win, Diplomats lost six wickets for five runs in reply. Rasheed picked up four wickets without conceding a run. At GNIC SC, Police scored 304-9 declared, taking first knock against the host. Reginald Rodrigues made 63, Stephen Harris 60, Rocky Hutson and Jason Mc Almont
45 each and Troy Benn 37; Andrew Clifford claimed three wickets and Ryan Shun two. GNIC SC were 118-4 at stumps. Shun made 46 and Jevin Collins 36. Gajanand Sukanand is on 21 and Dwayne Dick on 11. Hutson captured two scalps. At Gandhi Youth Organisation, the host took first innings honours from Transport SC. Sunil Singh stroked 69 while Shawn Massiah made 40 not and Azeem Azeez 31 as TSC got 200 all out batting first; Garfield De Roche grabbed 575, while Trevon France and Ryale Melville had two apiece. In response GYO were 285-5 at the close on day one. Alex Ramalho slammed 79, Abilash Dookie 75, Navindra Persaud 25 and Yeudistir Persaud 24. Singh snared three wickets and Kevin Ross two. At Bourda, Georgetown Cricket Club got 170 all out, taking first turn at the crease against Demerara Cricket Club. Martin Pestano Belle led with 40, Joshua Wade contributed 39 and Omesh Budna 35; Carlton Jacques took two wickets. DCC were 77-1 in reply. Sachin Singh made 31 and Romain Muniram 29. At University of Guyana, the host gained a walk over from St. Stanislaus.
National Basketball... From page 32 of the Technical Committee the text of its protest within 1 hour following the end of the game. If the decision of the Technical Committee is in favour of the protesting team, the deposit will be refunded. C.2 The referee shall, within 1 hour following the end of the game, report the incident, which leads to the protest, to the FIBA representative or to the President of the Technical Committee. C.3 Should the national federation of the team or the club in question, or that of the opposing team or club, not be in agreement with the decision of the Technical Committee, it may then address an appeal to the Jury of Appeal. To make this appeal valid, it must be made, in writing, within 20 minutes following the delivery of the decision of the Technical Committee and be accompanied by a deposit equivalent to CHF 3,000, as security. If the decision of the Jury of Appeal is in favour of the appealing team, the deposit will be refunded. C.4 Videos, films, pictures or any equipment, visual, electronic, digital, or otherwise, may be used to determine responsibility in matters of discipline or for educational (training) purposes only after the game has ended.
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2016 New York Business Group U-19 Cricket starts Tuesday The recently Lunched New York Business Group Under-19 One-Day, Two-innings Cricket Competition sponsored by a group of overseas Guyanese businessmen of New York, U.S.A and jointly organised by Albion Community Centre and the Berbice Cricket Board gets cracking tomorrow with first round matches. The group was first approached by Albion, one of the leading cricket clubs in Berbice and Guyana, who convinced them to assist in having young cricketers being involved in two-innings matches to develop their cricket more than just playing limitedover games all the time. The businessmen raised one million Guyana dollars ($1,000,000) among them and recently presented the Cheque to the Albion Club who involved the Berbice Cricket Board to organise and run the competition with the vast experience that it has in running competitions successfully. The Names of Group Sponsors in this businessmen/entities who are partaking in this venture are: Mr. Bhola Ramsundar - Proprietor of Bhola Travel Service, Queens New York. Mr. Dave Narine - Manager of Dave’s West Indian Imports, New York. Mr. Jameel Mohamed - General Manager of City Bias & Binding New York. Mr. Insaf Ali - Owner of 2’A Mechanical Corporation, New York. Mr. Ralph Tamesh - Manager of Information Technology at Coffee Distributing Corporation. Mr. Ajit Mootoo - Ardent Supporter of Cricket in New York. The winning team will receive the first prize of one hundred thousand dollars ($100, 000) and a beautiful trophy; the Runner-up $50, 000 and a trophy; Man of the Match, two Best Batsman and Best Bowler of the final will pick up $15,000, $10,000 and $10,000 respectively as well as trophies. Also receiving trophies will be the cricketers adjudged as Best Bowler, best batsman, best allrounder and best wicket-keeper in the competition. The preliminary matches will be of one
day’s duration and to ensure that each match has a result, the first innings for both teams in all the matches will be limited to fifty (50) Overs. The Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final with no-limitation to the first innings will be two-day matches with a third day set aside for the quarters and semis to ensure that there will at least be first innings decisions. Thirty (30) teams have been registered to play this competition and as such Berbice has been divided up into six (6) geographical zones to ease on excessive travelling costs. Tomorrow’s first round fixtures: Zone A (West Coast Berbice): Achievers vs Weldaad at Lovely Lass. Bush Lot United Sports Club vs Bush Lot United New Generation at Bush Lot. Zone B (West Coast/West Bank Berbice): Cotton Tree Die Hard vs Monedderlust at Cotton Tree. Blairmont Community Centre B vs Hawaiion Arctic at Blairmont. Blairmont Community Centre A Bye. Zone C (East Bank/New Amsterdam/Canje); Young Warriors vs Tucber Park at Cumberland. Sisters vs East Bank at Sisters. Zone D (Lower Corentyne): Kendall’s Union vs Albion Community Centre at No. 19. Toopoo Rising Star vs Chesney/United Warriors at Toopoo Rose Hall Town Pepsi A vs Rose Hall Town Pepsi B at Area “H”. Zone E (Lower/Central Corentyne) Albion Community Centre B vs Rose Hall Town Metro Females at Albion. Port Mourant vs Big Star at Port Mourant. Whim National vs Guysuco Training Centre at Whim Zone F (Upper Corentyne) Bomb Squad vs Scotsburg United at Crabwood Creek. No. 72 Cut and Load vs No. 72 All Stars at No. 72. Skeldon Community Centre Bye
Clinical WI Women knock Bangladesh out ESPNCRICINFO - West Indies Women put in a dominant performance to hand Bangladesh Women a 49-run loss in Chennai, thereby knocking them out of the Women’s World T20. Stafanie Taylor, Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin starred with both bat and ball to lead a strong all-round effort from West Indies, who notched their second win in as many games to move to the top of the Group B table. Bangladesh, by contrast, slumped to a third heavy defeat in the tournament. After electing to bat, West Indies laid a solid platform with openers Matthews and Taylor putting on a stand of 67 in 70 balls, before Matthews was stumped off Nahida Akter.Akter struck twice more in her next two overs, dismissing Britney Cooper and the set Taylor to leave West Indies at 98 for 3 in 15.1 overs. But West Indies finished the innings strongly as Dottin and Stacy-Ann King chipped in with cameos. This ensured that 50 runs were plundered in the last 4.5 overs, lifting West Indies to 148. After a solid opening stand of 24, Bangladesh’s run chase was hampered by the regular fall of wickets. Taylor, Matthews and Dottin were the standout bowlers, taking 7 for 46 in 11 overs between them. Two runouts did not help Bangladesh’s cause either. The result puts West Indies in a strong position to qualify for the semi-finals, while
West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor had a good all-round day. (ICC/Getty Images) Bangladesh will look to put in a better performance in their last group match against Pakistan. Scores: West Indies Women 148 for 4 (Matthews 41, Taylor 40, Akter, 3-27) beat Bangladesh Women 99 (Sultana 27, Taylor 3-13) by 49 runs.
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Kaieteur News
Monday March 21, 2016
National Basketball Championships end in controversy By Edison Jefford The National Basketball Championships: The Road to Mecca III ended in controversy Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall after Linden’s Retrieve Raiders abandoned the game with 9:18 left on the game clock to protest what they believe was biased officiating. Down 51-54 in the national final against Colts, the Linden-based team left the court after referee, Adrian George handed Jason Alonzo double technical fouls for his aggression after George made a previous call. Alonzo was visibly aggrieved. Following the calls, other players from Raiders were incensed with the referees and the team left the court, abandoning the game as a result. Raiders’ supporters then started to throw chairs, bottles and other items on the court, bringing the game into disrepute. After a long lull, President of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), Nigel Hinds, managed to convince Raiders to return to the Court. Hinds then held a mid-court meeting
with all the referees and the video of what transpired was requested. After reviewing the video, Hinds felt that the referees’ calls against Raiders were unwarranted. It vindicated Raiders, but sparked another protest from the opposing Colts, which followed Raiders earlier action and left the court. This ended the game with no result. This drama unfolded as the three-quarter packed Sports Hall waited for a little under one hour for the game to resume. Unfortunately, it never did. An otherwise keen contest became a damp squib after every preceding activity had the set the tone for a good game. Candace Fields had wooed the crowed with her rendition of the National Anthem and performers were setting up a riveting climax to the national tournament. Pacesetters had managed to squeeze pass Ravens 78-76 for the third place prize. And in the feature game, the two teams traded points in first quarter with Colts playing half court defensive press and up-tempo offence
Linden’s Retrieve Raiders (grey and white) leave the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with 9:18 left on the game clock and Colts leading 54-51, returning on the insistence of President of Guyana’s Amateur Basketball Federation, Nigel Hinds. and Raiders ‘bigs’ clogging the paint to balance the contest. Raiders led 18-14 after the first quarter. Shelroy Thomas scored seven straight points,
including a dagger threepoint jumper to put Colts up 23-22. Colts took a 10-point 32-22 lead with Dave Causway three-pointer that capped an 18-4 run. Alonzo finished a put-back that cut Colts lead 31-37 at halftime. Alonzo banged one hard off the glass after Abdulla Hamid nailed a three-pointer for 7-0 run that put Raiders up 38-37 early in third period. The two teams continued to trade points until the issue with the referees and teams developed to bring an unfortunate end to the game. The GABF is affiliated to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). FIBA rules govern the GABF tournaments. Below is the
FIBA rule on protest procedure: FIBA Rule on Protest Procedure If, during a FIBA official competition, a team believes its interests have been adversely affected by a decision of an official [referee or umpire(s)] or by any event that took place during a game, it must proceed in the following manner: C.1 The captain (CAP) of that team shall, immediately at the end of the game, inform the referee that his team is protesting against the result of the game and sign the scoresheet in the space marked ‘Captain’s signature in case of protest’. To make this protest valid,
it is necessary for the official representative of the national federation or the club to give confirmation of this protest in writing. This must be made within 20 minutes following the end of the game. Detailed explanations are not necessary. It is sufficient to write: ‘The national federation (or club) X protests against the result of the game between the teams X and Y’. Then he shall deposit with the FIBA representative or with the President of the Technical Committee, a sum equivalent to CHF 1,500, as security. The national federation of the team or the club in question must submit to the FIBA representative or to the President Continued on page 31
De Villiers and Morris tame Afghans in World T20
MUMBAI (Reuters) AB de Villiers announced himself at the World Twenty20 with a swashbuckling 64 and made Afghanistan pay heavily for dropping him twice as South Africa revived their campaign with a 37-run victory at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Unable to defend a target of 230 runs against England two days ago at the same ground, South Africa chose to bat first after winning the toss and racked up a total of 209 for five in their 20 overs. The plucky Afghans came out all guns blazing in their assault on the target with the diminutive Mohammad Shahzad leading the charge with 44 off 19 balls. Shahzad, who hit five sixes and three fours, tore into paceman Kyle Abbott in the second over and took 22 runs off him as Afghanistan made a strong start. The right-hander took Afghanistan to 47-0 in three overs, reminding South Africa of the onslaught by the English batsmen on Friday, before paceman Chris Morris uprooted his stumps. Afghanistan, who made the Super 10 stage after coming through the qualifiers, were ahead of South Africa’s score at the halfway stage on 103 for two but lost too many wickets
to keep up with the required run rate. The lanky Morris showed good control to finish with four wickets, earning him the player of the match award, while leg-spinner Imran Tahir and fast bowlers Abbott and Kagiso Rabada all picked up two wickets each. South Africa, who were also hampered by the hamstring injury to part-time off-spinner JP Duminy, dropped Dale Steyn from the side that lost against England and drafted in seamer David Wiese, who also had a forgettable outing, conceding 47 off his four overs. Earlier, opener Quinton de Kock (45) continued his impressive show with the bat and added 65 for the second wicket with Du Plessis after South Africa lost Hashim Amla early in their innings. The Proteas, among the favourites to lift the trophy at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on April 3, lost De Kock and Du Plessis (41) in quick succession, which set the stage for De Villiers to explode. Scores: South Africa 209 for 5 (De Villiers 64, De Kock 45, Hamza 1-25) beat Afghanistan 172 (Shahzad 44, Morris 4-27) by 37 runs.