Kaieteur News

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May 02, 2015 - Vol. 9 No. 17 - Price $80 kaieteurnews@yahoo.com Website:http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Architects of agreement between Govt and Dax should face the court

- Dr. Clive Thomas

Pres. Ramotar’s appeal for votes meets with heckling at FITUG Labour Day Rally

Majorettes leading the way during yesterday’s Labour Day parade

13-yr-old gives birth to twins

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Pres. Ramotar’s appeal for votes meets with heckling at FITUG Labour Day Rally

By Sunita Samaroo Placards bearing calls for unity, duty free allowances and a reduction in the Value Added Tax (VAT) were among those brandished yesterday as hundreds of workers tramped through the city wards in celebration of Labour Day. Dressed primarily in red, the workers marched through the city streets in droves as various trade unions led their respective processions to two main meeting points of the umbrella trade union bodies, Federation of Independent Trade Union of Guyana (FITUG) and the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC).

As is customary, the unions that fall under GTUC marched from downtown Georgetown led by Opposition Leader, David Granger, to the GTUC headquarters at Woolford Avenue and Albert Street, Georgetown.

The FITUG march culminated at the National Park and the activity was being observed under the

Part of yesterday’s Labour Day parade theme “United for Continued Progress and Development.”

That event was graced by former trade unionist and current President, Donald Ramotar who delivered the feature address.

Soon after the arrival of the President following which the National Anthem was sung, one of the men in the crowd shouted “Moses and Granger forever” to a resounding round of

applause. The heckling intensified throughout the activity. Though he was greeted with calls by workers for “change” and on quite a few occasions called out on his “lies”, President Ramotar yesterday made a pitch to garner votes from the hundreds of workers gathered.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate sought to outline just what

his administration has done for workers and what they could have done had it not been for the combined opposition which dominated the tenth parliament.

Though Ramotar announced his running mate, Elisabeth Harper as Guyana’s next Prime Minister with much enthusiasm, the crowd did not stir. He told those gathered that the PPP/C is a working class government

Jagdeo is back from the ‘dead’ to haunt Guyana - Roopnarine As A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition launched its manifesto on Thursday last, it used the opportunity to appeal to voters not to allow the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to return to Administrative office.

Speakers who addressed those gathered at Stabroek Square, warned that a return of PPP to office means a return of former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, “who has already put Guyana through a lot.”

Setting the stage was APNU+AFC Presidential Candidate, David Granger who asked, “Do who want PPP to rule for the next five years?” The response was a resounding “No.” Granger proceeded to point out all the “good things” that the coalition has in store for Guyana including a salary hike for public servants. He then pointed out reasons why the PPP should not be given the chance to return to office.

Granger said that the PPP

APNU candidate Dr. Rupert Roopnarine

Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo

has harboured corruption for too long “and that must change.” The Presidential hopeful also told supporters and curious onlookers, that the PPP/C is a dictatorship regime “it is time for Guyana to move away from that as well…never again are you going to have a President who prorogues Parliament or dissolve it, you will not have a President who obeys the will of the legislative

which is elected by the people.” Further, Granger criticized PPP rulers for indulgence in cronyism and other traits that does not coincide with good governance.

However, what took the cake in getting the audience all riled up was APNU+AFC c a n d i d a t e D r. R u p e r t Roopnarine’s bid to remind them of the “hell” they endured under Dr. Jagdeo’s rule.

Dr. Roopnarine said that Jagdeo took Guyana to a new form of hell. Alluding to Dr. Jagdeo’s absence from the political scene over the last three years, Roopnarine said that Jagdeo has risen from the dead with an agenda to “haunt Guyana.” “But we had enough, so we must now tell Jagdeo that he will haunt us no more. We must resist.”

The politician then called on those gathered to vote wisely and encourage their friends and family to do the same “so that Jagdeo will no longer be able to haunt us.”

Further, Dr. Roopnarine said, “After independence, the British knew that the only way to keep us under their control was to divide us...the PPP learnt too well from the British.”

With that being said, Roopnarine called on all right thinking Guyanese to send a strong message to the PPP to the effect that the time to divide and conquer is over “no longer will we allow ourselves to live divided.

The time for healing is here, the time for unity is here.”

which from inception has worked to improve the conditions of workers.

The PPP/C, he said, has implemented numerous legislations designed to strengthen workers’ rights and offer great protection to the working people. The President boasted that they had signed more International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions than any other Caribbean country and over the years had constantly worked to improve the income of workers, directly and indirectly.

He highlighted that even when the economy grew by 4.5 percent annually, the PPP/C administration ensured that workers were still given at least five percent increase in wages and salaries.

“We have also extended the tax threshold to allow you to keep more money in your pockets,” he said.

Ramotar, the President whose salary rivals that of world leaders, told the workers that his party had moved them from being workers who received payments of $6000 when they assumed office in 1992, to workers who now benefit from $50,000 a month “that would allow you to have far greater money… to spend as you so wish”.

The President promised that as long as the economy continued growing, they will increase the minimum wage

in the country.”

He said that they had also delivered heavily on nonwage benefits so that they “could keep more money in your pockets,” but some members of the audience made no qualms about asking “wha money?”

“Our housing programme is legendary and every house lot you get is heavily subsidized by government of Guyana,” was the statement by Ramotar which met with collective grunts from the crowd and one woman even hurling an expletive.

He said too that his administration improved pension from $300 and a means test to now having pensioners benefit from $13,200 monthly with their only “qualification being to reach 65.” “ We a r e r e a d y t o continue these tasks to put out more services to ensure that working people have a better life …we are focusing on trying to create more employment.”

He spoke about the infrastructural projects that would create more and higher paying employment such as the Amaila Falls Hydro project. He said (Continued on page 25)

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You hold the power to change the direction of an entire nation Quoting the popular phrase of renowned, American labour activist Ralph Chaplin, Head of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, (GTUC) advisory committee, Karen Van Sluytman- Corbin, noted that women hold the power to change the nation in their hands.

“Let us know that as women, in our hands is placed a power greater than they that hoarded gold, greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand fold. We can bring forth the birth of a new world from the ashes of the old…

“Van Sluytman- Corbin told the attendees of the annual Labour Day rally, yesterday at Critchlow Labour College.

The event attracted a wide cross section of Guyanese, particularly those who work as public servants.

A significant number of women also attended the rally.

Speaking specifically to the issues affecting women in the public service, the GTUC representative cited

- GTUC representative tells women the problems facing nurses at Linden,(Region Ten) and the union itself in acquiring the much needed government subvention.

As she weighed in on issues of victimization and d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , Va n Sluytman-Corbin detailed that nurses attached to the hospital in Linden still have problems collecting their gratuity after they would have proceeded on maternity leave.

“And as far I understand this problem is specific to nurses in Linden alone, now that‘s discrimination! The women’s committee of the GTUC has stopped receiving g o v e r n m e n t ’s a n n u a l subvention for about eight years now… the money would have been used for training female workers but it was withheld, that’s victimization,” the female union representative asserted.

Van Sluytman- Corbin also echoed the calls of several women rights groups

and stakeholder organizations that more can be done to address matters of domestic violence, sexual abuse and sexual harassment in their work environments and communities as a whole.

Underlining her personal plight, Van SluytmanCorbin, a Senior Labour Safety/Health Officer, noted that for 26 years, she was not able to secure a promotion in her field of work even after applying for the position three times.

To that end, she noted that women need to seriously recognize the power of their vote in determining the direction of their country.

“The power is in your vote workers… your role is important to society…Do we want it to remain on the same path we are on or see development and progress for all Guyanese? Van Sluytman-Corbin asked, adding that “in casting our votes, we guarantee that as women we will be respected.”

“Our rights will not continue to be violated…All those issues affecting women will be addressed and importance will be placed on our stratum of society,” she added.

GTUC’s Advisory Committee Chairperson, Karen Van Sluytman-Corbin

APNU+AFC promises return of pro-labour Government

L

abour Day 2015 activities saw candidates from A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) slate, lambast the government for its years of failure towards the public sector.

They were also critical of its refusals to adhere to public servants’ concerns.

APNU+AFC will bring G u y a n a ’s f i r s t l a b o u r government in years, they pledged.

The annual Labour Day rally saw public servants from different sectors piling into the Critchlow Labour College auditorium, to hear the addresses of their union leaders. With General and Regional elections only 10 days away, close attention was paid to the political candidates and what they intended for Guyana.

Declaring that an APNU+AFC Government would be one of National Unity, Prime Ministerial candidate Moses Nagamootoo also promised to return subvention to the Critchlow Labour College,

as well as the right to collective bargaining which had been removed by former President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The removal of subvention from the College by former President Bharrat Jagdeo had a disastrous effect on the institution. It was forced to close its doors for several months at one point, due to the lack of funds. The Government’s explanation at the time was that, the subventions being granted to the institution were not being accounted for.

Nagamootoo also promised a return to the days of genuine partnership between his party and the trade unions. He expounded on the many ‘injustices’ committed by the Government towards the working class of Guyana.

He spoke of the need for the work force and Guyanese at large, to vote for a government that truly has the plight of the working class at heart.

“Historians must write that these were the 10 days that shook Guyana. That these were the ten days that

made those, who denied you justice, tremble. They must feel your power and they m u s t f e e l y o u r disappointment at their betrayal of all the lofty ideals that (Hubert) Critchlow, (Cheddi) Jagan and (Forbes) Burnham had for a united and prosperous Guyana.”

Presidential candidate of the APNU+AFC Brigadier (R’td) David Granger also lashed out at the government.

He accused it of turning a deaf ear to the cries of the working class, while doling out ‘measly’ increases each year.

“After that brilliant strike of 1999, they never sat down with the unions. Every year they say to the working class; tek this freck…tek this freck.

Every year you complain and the next year they do the same thing.”

He promised to stand behind the unions and ensure the restoration of collective bargaining, to ensure that Public servants could get a livable wage.

President of the Guyana Trade Union Congress (Continued on page 13)

APNU+AFC accuses PPP/C of sponsoring terror

A

Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition yesterday said that it is in receipt of information to the effect that the incumbent People’s Progressive Party is sponsoring terror. The coalition said that it knows of “persons who have been paid by the PPP/C to pose as APNU+AFC supporters and to intimidate Indo-Guyanese.”

The political coalition forthrightly condemned what it described as a “vile and utterly reprehensible tactic by the desperate PPP/C to engender ethnic mistrust amongst our people.”

APNU+AFC sought to make it clear that such provocation and intimidation are intended to benefit the PPP/C. The Coalition stands to derive no benefit whatsoever from it. “The Coalition will never engage in these

gutter tactics, which are synonymous with the fear mongering and hate campaign being run by the PPP/C.” Further, the coalition stated, “In addition, in one isolated case, APNU+AFC condemns the acts of some supporters who have been over-exuberant in their rejection of the PPP/C during one of their public meetings.

“APNU+AFC further understands that some communities have been so marginalized and victimized by the PPP/C regime that the residents do not wish to be subjected to the vitriol and lies of the shamelessly partisan PPP/C campaign.

“The Coalition further believes that the PPP/C is very cognizant of this and is deliberately going into some of these communities, such as Warlock, to incite the residents and cause confrontation for cheap political mileage.”

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

Trinidad nurses call for Health Minister to go PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Nurses are protesting new measures that took effect in public hospitals in the twin-island republic yesterday, and are calling for Minister of Health Dr Fuad Khan to be fired.

The measures announced earlier this week include: allowing relatives to stay with children or elderly patients on a 24-hour basis, extended visitors’ hours, and allowing fathers to be present in the delivery room during their children’s birth.

The nurses protested outside the Mt Hope Medical Sciences Complex with the blessing of their representative – the Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) – which has objected to the new measures.

TTRNA president Gwendolyn Loobie-Snaggs told the Trinidad Express that the measures were unrealistic and could not be implemented in the way Minister Khan wanted.

“The minister did not properly think this out,” she said.

Today’s BIG Question: Do you agree with the Health Minister’s new rules relating

to patient care at the hospitals?

Apart from there being no space to accommodate relatives on the wards 24 hours a day, Loobie-Snaggs told the newspaper that starting visiting hours at 7 a.m. was not feasible, as that was the time nurses changed shifts and housekeeping was done and visitors on the wards at that time would therefore obstruct staff from performing their duties.

As for the plan to allow fathers in the delivery room, the association head said there was no privacy in delivery rooms and men would therefore be able to hear and see other women giving birth.

Loobie-Snaggs issued an open letter to the Health Minister and the chairpersons and chief executive officers of all Regional Health Authorities (RHAs), in which she put the association’s disapproval of the measures on record and charged that “the Minister continues to usurp the responsibility of the Boards and Executive Management of the RHAs”.

“Moreover, there is clear evidence of little appreciation of the challenges and real

Dr Fuad Khan dangers associated with any attempt to implement these superficial, politically motivated measures,” she wrote.

“TTRNA objects to the decision to impose these measures. Our members must not be made collateral damage that would inevitably accrue from these proposed measures. Nursing personnel would not continue to be victims of a mismanaged and poorly resourced public health care system.”

T&T Parliament approves motion of no confidence against Opposition Leader PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The coalition People’s Partnership Government yesterday voted, as expected, in support of a motion of no confidence against Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, with government legislators saying they had made out a “strong case” for the action against the opposition legislator.

Only one opposition legislator voted on the matter, with the members of the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) having walked out of the debate when

Dr Keith Rowley

it was first moved by the Leader of Government Business Dr Roodial Moonilal on March 25.

Government legislators voted by a margin of 23-1 to ensure that the Parliament expressed its lack of confidence in Rowley as Opposition Leader and as a Member of Parliament for the Die g o M a r t i n We s t c o n stituency.

In winding up the debate, Moonilal said that by walking out of the Parliament Rowley had “failed the litmus test of leadership”.

Castro, Venezuelan leader at May Day rally in Havana Havana (AFP) Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro joined President Raul Castro at a huge May Day rally in Havana yesterday in a show of socialist unity minus the usual anti-imperialist rhetoric.

Amid a tropical rain shower, Castro saluted thousands of people as they passed the reviewing stand at the Plaza of the Revolution in the Cuban capital. Castro and Maduro, the leader of Cuba’s closest ally, ignored the rain as the hour and a half long event unfolded in the heart of Havana.

The annual rally was held this year against a backdrop of a thaw in Cuban relations with the United States and a deepening crisis in oil-rich Venezuela, which has undercut public support for Maduro. “Some steps have already been taken to re-establish diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, but we have a long and difficult road to travel,” said Ulises Guilarte, the head of the Cuban Workers Union, the sole speaker at the rally.

“We will only advance toward the normalization of bi-

lateral relations on a basis of respect for the sovereignty, the independence of Cuba, which includes the lifting of the blockade and the return of territory usurped by the US naval base at Guantanamo,” Guilarte said. But his speech was notable for the absence of the antiAmerican rhetoric of past years.

Negotiations on restoring relations have been underway since Castro and US President Barack Obama’s surprise announcement December 17 that they would work to normalize ties severed for more than 50 years.

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THE MISSING THINGS A manifesto is a distilled document. It presents the main things that a political party promises should it win political office; but a manifesto cannot cover all the things that a political party will do. That would be much too ambitious in scope for a manifesto.

But despite this obvious shortcoming, there are some things that are so politically inconvenient that they will never make the cut in any of the political manifestos that will be presented by the political parties in Guyana.

Today I want to point out to you four things that you are not likely to find in any of the manifestos of the political parties in Guyana.

Squatting: None of the political parties are going to touch this political hot potato.

Squatting is one of the most serious problems in our

country today. Guyana has become the Wild West of Squatting. People see a piece of land and simply go and live on it. This is why for a country which has one of the lowest population densities in the world, people are huddled together in disordered settlements. In some areas in Georgetown, people are squatting on the embankments of major canals.

They defecate into these canals which then overflow during times of flooding.

Guyana is a sitting time bomb for the outbreak of cholera. It is just a matter of time before this happens.

Yet no one wants to touch this issue because it is not a vote grabber. No political party will propose that squatting be made a criminal offence.

Illegal Vending: This is another form of squatting but

is more pernicious. It distorts economic incentives. It promotes the idea that the economic sphere needs not be organized around rules.

Illegal vending represents the hijacking, rather competition for economic space. It is a form of economic pickpocket.

It contravenes the idea of a level playing field. You, as a legitimate business person, are expected to invest in a high cost property in the commercial district with all that this entails including paying higher rates and taxes.

You are required to carry overheads.

You are expected to comply with the statutory regulations concerning working conditions. You pay your taxes.

All of this accrues a cost to the business person. Yet having risked so much, you

wake up one morning to find someone selling in front of your store. That person does not have to bear any of the expenses you have to bear. It makes you wonder why you ever ventured into a formal business in the first place when you could simply become a stationary vendor.

Reduce the size of government: There is a lot of talk about reducing government. The solutions being proposed are about prosecuting those who unlawfully enrich themselves at the public trough. The solutions are also about establishing a Public Procurement Commission.

The solutions invariably are about creating additional layers of governmental bureaucracy.

No one sees the wisdom of as yet proposing that one of the main solutions to

reducing corruption is having less government, not more. It is about shrinking, deregulating, divesting and contracting-out more and more government functions.

When political parties win power, they have to create jobs for their supporters and activists.

Thus what we have is more government rather than less, the very opposite of what is needed to stem corruption.

Retirement for persons over 65: The retirement age for public servants is 55. It is much too low. The retirement age should be 60 at the minimum.

But regardless of what is the retirement age, there is an increasing practice in the country of employing and retaining some workers way beyond age 65. This blocks the upward mobility of young

people within the system. No political party however will propose that so long as you are a non-elected public official or worker, you should retire at the age of 60 or even 65.

There are persons who are beyond this age who are still on their jobs and this is frustrating to the ambitions of young people in the system.

But this will not make the cut because amongst the ranks of those vying for election to public office are many of those who should have been by now happily retired to their rocking chairs.

US helping to tackle gender based violence to improve global health - but insists HIV/AIDS still needs keen attention

The goal of improving global health is not limited to fighting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency (HIV/AIDS). This assertion was earlier this week made by Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy, Peter Anthes.

Anthes who was at the time speaking at the relaunch of the Guyana Business Coalition on Health Awareness (GBCHA) at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown, said that the US

Mission to Guyana is committed to improving the lives of all citizens.

And this has materialised in many ways, Anthes noted.

These include working with and granting monies to organisations dealing with gender based violence and women’s and children’s issues among other causes.

Anthes in directing specific attention to the issue of gender based violence dubbed it a challenge that not only plagues Guyana but people all over the world. And

according to him too, “gender based violence is a human rights violation, abuse, a public health challenge and an obstacle to civic, social, political and economic participation. It is a wedge that divides people and leads to dangerous physical and mental health outcomes.”

Anthes said that gender based violence is one that can also limit access to education and increase medical and legal costs. He underscored that “gender based violence not

Dem boys seh...

Bulldozer carrying Jagdeo mansion to State House All government does thief. Anybody who think that no governments don’t thief are fools. Dem boys seh suh.

Dem boys travel this world and had a chance to see that every government thief; de only setback is that all; who dem see and touch, now deh in jail.

Some others waiting to go there like Rajapaksha, de one from Nigeria, de one from Belize, we very good neighbor and Jagdeo buddy friend in Trinidad, Panday and couple others.

Anil know that nuff of dem government people in Guyana deh in de waiting room.

Yesterday he start fuh holler when he hear that de opposition seh that dem gun question dem bout how dem come by de vast amount of wealth.

His exact words were, “Oh Gawd, dem going after private property. Look, dem seh suh in dem manifesto.”

De way how de man come over, he want to mek people believe that de opposition gun go after honest people fuh dem house and wha li’l dem got. That is not what de manifesto seh. That is de total opposite.

De opposition seh that dem gun after dem wid all dem private property dem got all over,

hiding in different people name. Wha nah deh in cousin name, deh in uncle name or aunty or aaji or ajah name.

Dem is de private people who got to seh how dem get all dem property. De manifesto also seh dem going after de government people especially. Anil among dem.

He gun got to explain and Jagdeo will have he day too, fuh explain his mansion and dem other properties dem hiding in different companies. All gun come to light and that is wha Anil and de entire government frighten, even Donald because he nah gun able cook and walk wid food fuh all of dem in jail.

Rob de Earth, Irfaat, Brazzy and he buddy Keith, and Ashni got nuff explaining to do.

Dem boys hear that dem tek half de treasury and Jagdeo tek de other half.

While de opposition and all Guyana, down to de children, seh that this is a corrupt government, Donald de Dumb seh here is no corruption, “Bring de evidence.”

One man go wid a bulldozer to carry Jagdeo mansion to State House. Another go fuh fetch Irfaat swimming pool and carry it deh too.

Talk half and watch how people gun run and lef everything behind.

only threatens the safety, dignity and human rights of millions of individuals of experience, but also the public health, economic stability and security of nations.”

He said that for the period 2014/2015 the US Embassy has granted over US$600,000 in grants to nongovernmental organisations in order to enable them to expand their existing grassroots work to prevent such violence and to assist its victims.

GBCHA has expanded its focus from merely HIV/AIDS to general health awareness.

According to GBCHA Executive Director, Suzanne French, the expanded work of the non-profit organisation will continue with the Ministries of Health, Human Services and Social Security as well as Help and Shelter and other organisations to address domestic violence and changing gender roles and norms.

Efforts will also be directed at raising awareness of cancer, diabetes, mental health and other issues, French added, pointing out that the successful strategies used in the HIV prevention programmes will be adapted where applicable.

Nevertheless, HIV/AIDS must remain a major focus, Anthes noted.

He said that because of the efforts that the US has plugged into helping to tackle this health challenge “an AIDS free generation is in sight.”

He said that globally, HIV infection rates have declined by 38 per cent over the past decade and AIDS related mortality has decreased by 35 per cent since it peaked in 2005.

Turning attention to the Caribbean Region, he said

Deputy Chief of Mission, Peter Anthes that new infections have declined by 40 per cent from 2005 to 2013 while Guyana’s HIV prevalence has steadily reduced from 2.4 per cent in 2004 to 1.4 per cent in 2013.

But according to him, “despite tremendous progress the HIV/AIDS epidemic is not yet controlled.

To get to an AIDS free generation we must deliver the right thing in the right place and at the right time.”

The right thing, Anthes said, means focusing on the highest impacting interventions. He insisted that “when we focus on these interventions and bring them to scale we see tremendous results, when we fail to focus and/or to meet scale, progress is slow or stalls.”

In the continuing quest to attain an AIDS free generation, Anthes said that targeting the “right place” would mean focusing resources on key geographic areas including, at the sub-

national level and reaching the most vulnerable populations.

And the “right time” he added, would translate to getting ahead of and ultimately controlling the epidemic. “We can’t afford to continually fight an expanding epidemic; it is not programmatically or financially sustainable,” said Anthes as he asserted that Guyana can position itself to get ahead of the epidemic.

Guyana is one of 13 countries, globally, that are at the tipping point of the epidemic.

“When a country begins to put more people on treatment that are newly infected, a crucial tipping point has reached...right now we are in a winning position and this momentum must be maintained,” asserted Anthes.

He recommitted the efforts of the US to fighting this cause.

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Saturday May 02, 2015

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

Here is how you can tell a country is dead The People Progressive Party is asking voters to elect them a sixth consecutive time.

This party was first elected in 1992. From 1992 to April 2015, Guyana has seen venalities, depravities, immoralities and degradation of sacred values never before seen in the British West Indies, will never be tolerated in any other Caricom state and which are hardly replicated in today’s world.

Yet, save for this columnist, when he was at UG, there has not been even one published paper on the nature of power and its attendant abominations from any academic at the University of Guyana.

There has been not even one seminar at the UG or outside of UG on the nature of governance in this country.

Such an atrocity is simply unbelievable. In which other

country, university academics refuse to hold public seminars or have lunch-time debates on politics in their country.

I was at UG for twenty-six years and one day you may see a notice of a seminar on “the use of mercury in the mining industry,” “the hibernation of rabbits,” “the life-span of donkeys,” but never a paper on power and politics.

In Guyana, unaccountable power has virtually reduced this country to a failed state.

Uncontrolled power has chased away scores of thousands since 1999 with 14 persons leaving daily for the US alone. Unrestrained power continues to engender racial divisions.

Excessive power has extirpated our human resources. Immoral exercise of power has fed the flames of

unprecedented corruption that has put Guyana in the league of the most corrupt states in the world.

Yet, there hasn’t been a single academic paper that a high school student or young boy or girl can take off the shelf and read an interpretation of why these tragedies have happened.

The Guyana Historical and Research Society in June, every year, holds a four-hour academic conference at the National Library. Except for this writer, there has never been even one paper from someone else on the exercise of power by the PPP government.

M r. J a g d e o w a s t h e president for twelve years.

That is equivalent to three American presidential t e r m s . M r. J a g d e o h a s single-handedly remolded t h e political history of Guyana. Every mockery of politics existed during his tenure.

After the hegemonic debaucheries of Bharrat Jagdeo people feel it is unfair to talk about Mr. Burnham’s authoritarian style.

Mr. Burnham’s style of governorship is gone from our lips and minds after twelve years of Jagdeo’s unprecedented presiding over a country where corruption, drug trafficking, money-laundering, hit-men culture, police bestiality, extra-judicial rampage, human

rights atrocities, infrastructural collapse and the deepening of poverty have become the norm.

Yet one cannot find an academic essay that offers some kind of analysis as to why Mr. Jagdeo became the demonic god that people quietly accused him of being.

I contend that there isn’t another country you will find this sad omission.

In Iran or Cuba or Saudi Arabia, the academics there may be fearful of holding a public discussion on the nature of power but in the universities it is done in the form of seminars and lunchtime debates. How can Guyana become so barren?

How can a nation in the 21st century allow itself to be so divorced from the mainstream thoughts of life?

Of course we have the letter pages of the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News.

Here is where people vent

their feelings. Here is where academically inclined individuals write on the tyranny of power in Guyana.

Here is where you will find an episodic interpretation of Jagdeo’s abuse of power or Ramotar ’s colossal mediocrity.

If you take a professional poll where you ask people where they get their understanding on how ruling politicians misbehave they will point to the letter pages of these two papers.

The late David De Caires, founder of the Stabroek News, said that the letter columns of his paper were one of the most popular sections and he took on the task of being the letters editor.

Come June, the Guyana Historical and Research Society will have its annual conference.

I have a copy of the draft programme. There isn’t a section on power in today’s

Guyana; there isn’t a presentation on Mr. Jagdeo’s tenure.

There is no presentation assessing the three years of Ramotar in office.

There isn’t a paper on the twenty three years of the PPP in office.

When a society is riveted by the use of hegemonic power and nowhere one can find a scholarly essay on the origin and nature of such hegemony, it is a sad but gigantic indication that such a country is dead.

A New Amsterdam man was on Thursday remanded to prison by Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus when he appeared before her on a charge of felonious wounding.

The man, Hubert Thomas, called, ‘Fabulous’ 35 of Angoy’s Avenue; New Amsterdam, Berbice is

accused of on Sunday December 28, 2014 at Main Street, New Amsterdam, unlawfully and maliciously wounding Audrey Briggs with intent to maim disfigure, disable or to cause her grievous body harm.

According to information, the accused and the victim were known to each other for about six months prior to the incident.

About 21:10 hrs on the day in question, the two were among a number of people imbibing at the Lim Khan

Restaurant. Subsequently it is understand that a misunderstanding developed between the accused and the victim.

Thomas subsequently took a Guinness bottle and pelted Briggs, striking her in her face and causing her to receive injuries. The woman was subsequently hospitalised.

The accused subsequently escaped and was only recently caught.

He was remanded to jail until May 28.

Frederick Kissoon

‘Fabulous’ remanded after bashing woman’s face with bottle

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Tourism health and safety Architects of agreement between Govt and Dax should building sessions conclude face the court – Dr. Clive Thomas Economist, Dr. Clive Thomas, believes that Government’s latest “sweetheart” deal which allows a local contractor some exclusive shares in a state cable is not only disrespectful to the Guyanese people, but highly illegal.

He said, too, that given the details of the contract the architects of the agreement should be made to face the court.

On March 16, last, Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon on behalf of the government, negotiated with and signed a special agreement with Dax Contracting Services Ltd. That firm is owned by Faisal Mohamed.

Under the agreement, Dax will undertake, at no cost to the government, the repair, use and maintenance of the fibre optic cable from Brazil. This contract is for an initial 25 years with an option to renew it for a further 15 years. This gives Dax a total of 40 years of cable rights.

Government has also undertaken to provide Mohamed with the necessary support to receive and transmit data by way of the cable after granting the company an operating licence.

And for free, Mohamed will be able to use some of the Government-owned fibre optic cables and structures including, roads, the poles, access to repeater stations and other things. Dax Contracting Services would also be provided with tax exemptions and incentives, including but not limited to tax holidays, remissions, tax waivers and duty free concessions on equipment, spares, tools and vehicles. The vehicles would be two SUVs, and three four-door pick-ups, renewable three years for the next 40 years. The government insists that it will retain possession and use of the bandwidth, as agreed to between Dax and the government.

As the owner of the cable, Mohamed can invite and sign with any company or entity to use the cable to transmit and receive data and information from any part of the world in the same way that today’s telephone companies operate.

Dax Contracting Services Ltd. owner Faisal Mohamed.

To add insult to injury, the government has agreed to pay Dax for specific emergency maintenance. In exchange for the operating licence, Mohamed will accept the risks involved in accepting and using the operating licence even before the legislation is passed.

This same contracting service owned by Mohamed, was one of the five contractors hired to lay the cable from Lethem to Georgetown.

Considering the arrangements of this special deal between the two parties, Dr. Thomas said that it is a typical example of the “Jagdeo syndrome.”

“This sort of behaviour is characteristic of former President Bharrat Jagdeo who made a lot of giveaways before demitting office, as he did with the radio frequencies. Now you have President Donald Ramotar continuing along this line. His administration is showing clear symptoms of suffering from the Jagdeo syndrome,” Dr. Thomas said. The economist said that he finds the magnitude of the tax concessions and the value of the gifts to Mohamed to be “absurd”. He said that it needs to be investigated, halted and made the subject of intense legal action.

He said that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration has concocted yet again, another contract that

represents a betrayal to the Guyanese people and continued loyalty to enriching just a few through the abuse of the electorate.

“This contract between the two parties is perhaps worse than the Marriott Hotel. It is illegal and needs to be stopped. The (government) is entrusted with the nation’s resources to protect it and govern it wisely.

“The clauses of that contract show that the government has disregarded its responsibility to the people and no attention was paid to due diligence. It gifted billions of dollars’ worth in tax concessions to this contracting company without any proper process being carried out in a transparent and accountable manner.

“It is negligence and disrespect of the highest order and they should be prosecuted,” Dr. Thomas stated.

Since the disclosure of the most generous contract agreement, it has attracted scorching criticisms from the political opposition, particularly from the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) financial point man, Carl Greenidge.

Earlier this week, the WPA articulated that it is appalled at Government’s recent gifting of a 40-year monopoly licence to Mohamed. Dr Roger Luncheon, the Cabinet Secretary, has since said that there is no 40-year contract.

Since then the Opposition party has threatened to ensure that the maintenance contract is cancelled.

The WPA described it as the “theft of state resources in the last days of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/ C).” The party said, too, that those responsible for the gift to Dax Engineering will not escape prosecution.

When contacted by this newspaper on Thursday for a comment, the contractor, Faisal Dax Mohamed said, “Hey, Hey, listen. You go and f**k youself.”

He hanged up the phone immediately after.

Explore Worldwide’s, Yvonne Ramsay (second from right) flanked by stakeholder in Guyana’s Tourism Industry In an effort to develop the capacity of Guyanese, tour guides and operators in the field of “health and safety” from the international group” Explore Worldwide”, recently concluded their capacity building sessions at the Ministry of Tourism, earlier this week.

The sessions were organised in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Tourism and Hospitality Authority of Guyana (THAG), and Wilderness Explorers.

Training tourism personnel on the necessary procedures with regard to health and safety was Explorer Worldwide’s, Yvonne Ramsay.

Ramsay trained about 49 individuals from 14 tourism agencies, and will be continuing the training sessions with various tourist resorts throughout the week.

Speaking to the media, Ramsay said that she “wanted to make sure that

everyone was prepared for the degrees of safety that are now expected throughout the world.”

She noted that in her 22 years of working in the tourism industry across the world, she has seen a significant increase in the attention tourists pay towards health and safety.

“Customers want to go somewhere and they want to know that that somewhere is safe,” said the British tour expert. Ramsay also remarked that it is easy for travellers to become complacent and not realise the dangers they face.

Furthermore, Ramsay explained that the recent training sessions required two to three days of “intense training” with stakeholders, while the training at the lodges will be directed more so towards the staff.

President of THAG, Shaun McGrath, also commented on the importance health and safety plays in Guyana as the industry continues to grow.

He pointed to a recent survey

conducted by the Association of the British Travel Agents and Consumers, which found that 89 percent of customers regarded health and safety as either “important” or “very important” when travelling.

“Health and safety are an important part in tourism and if it is not received and handled in an appropriate way it can cause serious damage, not only to businesses but to the industry across the board,” said McGrath. Moreover, he said that stakeholders can expect more similar sessions, as THAG is looking to collaborate with other groups outside of Explore Worldwide.

Meanwhile, Caribbean Airlines’ Sales Executive, Dion Inniss, said that his company, as a stakeholder in Guyana’s tourism industry, will continue to help facilitate similar training programmes to optimise the country’s capacity for health and safety.

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Saturday May 02, 2015

PANCAP launches regional Bagotville murder… Victim’s friend gets capacity building project death threat from alleged killer As efforts continue to reduce overall HIV transmission rates in the region, the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) launched a three-year project to build capacities in regional organisations.

The project, known as the Local Capacity Initiative Project (LCI), was recently launched in Trinidad and Tobago during a two-day meeting. It is funded by both President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to PANCAP, the project seeks to build the capacity of one regional organisation and several local Community Service Organisations (CSOs) that specifically focus their efforts on key populations affected

by HIV/AIDS, including men who have sex with men (MSM) and sex workers.

Furthermore, the LCI Project will enable the organisations to become more sustainable as their works continue in reducing the transmission of HIV in the Caribbean.

Through the new project, local CSOs will receive grants for activities including policy and advocacy, programme implementation and the building of a financially diverse organisation.

Additionally, PANCAP will facilitate the identification and provision of technical assistance to the CSOs along with other regional bodies in need of assistance.

A number of regional organisations were brought together in the twin-island country to foster the development of their groups.

Throughout the meeting, the importance of tackling key populations through advocacy and policy was emphasised.

Further, during the meeting, participants developed capacity building initiatives and plans to create cohesion between the LCI Project and PANCAP’s Justice for All Programme. The CSOs also agreed on target countries for the project.

The meeting also identified the gaps in CSOs’ capacities which hinder achievement of their mandates, examined the content, mechanisms and processes for capacity building and identified key requirements for optimizing the outcomes of the LCI project.

The LCI project was informed by the epidemiology of HIV in the Caribbean, which has an HIV prevalence rate of one percent among adults, and is the second-hardest hit region in the world after sub-Saharan Africa.

Recent data coming out of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS show that Caribbean men who have sex with men (MSM) are five to 10 times more likely than the general population to be living with HIV. Of note, prevalence among MSM may be as much as 10 times higher than the rest of the population in Jamaica. In 2012, the prevalence of HIV in MSM was at 32 per cent in Jamaica.

Similarly in the Dominican Republic, prevalence is 11 per cent among MSM in contrast to less than one per cent for the general population.

Further, prevalence among MSM is similarly high in Trinidad and Tobago at 19 percent and Haiti at 18 percent.

Despite major strides in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, stigma and discrimination still remain a major issue.

During a recent forum, Director of the Pan Caribbean against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) Dereck Springer explained that PANCAP developed the Justice for All programme and is working with its member countries and partners to address the elimination of stigma and discrimination. The programme also addresses the need for modification and repeal of discriminatory laws “that prevent people from accessing prevention, care and treatment services”.

The programme also identified 15 actionable items, including the repeal of the buggery laws along with the improvement of services for persons with disabilities.

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Joseph Hamilton, had also indicated the need for the removal of taboos traditionally held by Guyanese, particularly in dealing with persons from the LGBT community.

“While we may be doing good in the general population, we have the key population to address that we were neglecting to focus on,” Hamilton said.

He continued, “For us to be successful in dealing with that population, we have to leave our religion at home...we would not be able to be successful if we carry our religion with us when we engage key persons.”

Springer further said that efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination are ongoing at the country level by both governmental and nongovernmental bodies. “We need to recognize that we live in a diverse world and we therefore need to get to the point where we can respect differences,” Springer said.

A close friend of murder victim Donessa Barker says that Barker’s alleged killer contacted her yesterday and warned that she would be his next victim.

The friend, Sheniza Clarke, had tried to save Barker, after the 28-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times at Clarke’s Bagotville, West Bank Demerara home on Thursday.

The prime suspect is Barker ’s husband, Alan Barker, who is still at large.

But Clarke believes that the fugitive contacted her by phone yesterday morning.

The woman said that at around 07.00 hrs, a man, who did not identify himself, called from a blocked number.

According to Clarke, the caller first “give me sympathy”, before enquiring about Donessa. “I say Donessa dead, and he say ‘wha?’ and I say (again) that Donessa dead.

He say that I is the cause for Donessa’s death and that I better look out or I would be next.”

Clarke alleged that it was only after she had hung up the phone that she realised that the caller was Donessa’s husband.

The woman said that she made a report to the police.

Expressing fear for her safety, Clarke believes that the fugitive sneaked into her home and stole some food on Thursday night while she was giving a statement at La Grange Police Station pertaining to her friend’s death.

The alleged killer is believed to have made off with the slain woman’s cell phone. There are reports that he was seen purchasing a phone card in Bagotville, some hours after the murder.

Barker, also called ‘Nabine’, collapsed on the front stairs of Clarke’s Lot 21, Inner Bagotville home at around 16.30 hrs on Thursday after sustaining at least eight stab wounds to her neck, left side and other parts of her body.

Alan Barker and his slain spouse, Donessa Barker Clarke had said that Donessa went inside for her phone and shortly after, she heard her friend scream “Oh God…Sheniza, come fast.”

Clarke said that Donessa then ran outside and collapsed on the front steps.

Clarke recalled seeing blood gushing from a wound near her friend’s left shoulder.

She immediately tried to staunch the blood, but her friend eventually lapsed into unconsciousness and succumbed, despite efforts to revive her and get her to a hospital.

The woman alleged that Donessa Barker’s husband, who had sneaked into the house, escaped through a window after attacking his spouse.

She claimed that the man was angry because Donessa

wanted to end the relationship. He had reportedly threatened to kill his wife on Wednesday. A report was made at La Grange Police Station.

The couple was married last year and they have a daughter who would be two years-old in June.

Relatives said that Donessa had lived at Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, but moved with her husband to Bagotville about a month ago.

A cousin, Dumisa Thomas, described the suspect as an abusive husband who had once doused his wife with hot water.

She said that Donessa had however denied that her husband had inflicted the injury.

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

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New India Assurance re-enters Guyana’s business community ...promises “innovative” approach to insurance industry After decades of absence from the Guyana business community, the New India Assurance Company (Trinidad and Tobago) Limited (NIATT) has reentered the local insurance industry with its local branch office at 58B Brickdam, Georgetown.

The official welcoming of the company commenced at the Marriott Hotel, Kingston, where regional and international representatives of the company expressed their anticipation to enter the Guyanese market, Thursday evening.

The NIATT is a subsidiary of the New India Assurance Company Limited of Mumbai, India, and has been operational in the Caribbean region with its Trinidadian branch for over 60 years. The company had previously operated in Guyana through its “agency model” up to the 1980s when it lost its local agent and decided to discontinue business in the country.

With their current local branch, the company will be able to provide services in a more direct manner to citizens.

NIATT Marketing Manager, Peter Jacob, said

that his company feels “comfortable” with the economy and other parts of Guyana to set up a branch in Guyana.

“Research has shown that by and large Guyana’s economy is much more vibrant than those of a lot of the Eastern Caribbean territories at this point in time, and we are quite comfortable to set our footprint back in Guyana.”

He related that he has been back and forth between Guyana and Trinidad since early last year, researching the viability of the local market.

“We offer a wide range of general insurance products.

All the known general items like motor, property, fire, commercial lines and that type of thing. Of course, there would be extensions of those lines which we intend to introduce to Guyana,” explained Jacob.

Delivering the feature address was Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, who regarded the NIATT as a venture that will truly bring a “global brand” to the country’s business sector. “I can assure you on behalf of the Government, that the work we have done over the

New India Assurance Company (Trinidad and Tobago) Limited representatives at welcoming ceremony years will continue to build and further enhance the conditions that are appropriate to businesses,” said the Minister, speaking to a room full of business men and women.

While the Minister was grateful in welcoming the insurance company to Guyana’s shores, he

Another home alone woman raped in E’bo A Richmond Housing Scheme woman has lodged a report with the police at Anna Regina Police station indicating that she was raped.

The police have so far been conducting investigations into the matter.

One suspect was pulled in for questioning but has since been released.

According to reports, the victim who is in her sixties was at her Richmond Housing Scheme home Tuesday night, when someone apparently

invaded her house and proceeded to rape her. The woman was left with a scratch on her neck during a fight she had with her aggressor.

A report regarding the recent incident was lodged with the police, at the Anna Regina Police station. They are currently pursuing the alleged incident.

During last year and earlier this year, a number of women complained of being attacked by an intruder, who preys on women who live

alone.

A peaceful protest was organized by several women in Henrietta Village. They appealed to the police to exercise vigilance in an attempt to curb the distasteful issue where women were deprived of sleeping in their homes for fear of being attacked and raped.

One La Belle Alliance man has since been charged for rape. He was on remand and has reportedly confessed to at least 20 incidences of rape.

contended that the insurance industry has been plagued by problems. He said that companies like Clico, which suffered during the 2008 Global Recession Crisis, have become “bad words” in the region.

Minister Singh regarded the reintroduction of NIATT as a promising sign for Guyana’s insurance industry.

“The insurance industry in Guyana has grown rapidly, whether it is growth in total assets, whether it is growth in total revenue, whether it is growth in total insurance premium income. By every measure (the industry) has been growing at rates of almost 10 percent a year,” said the Finance Minister.

Minister Singh said that he expects that NIATT will bring significant innovations to the insurance industry and increased competition for traditional service providers.

Managing Director of the NIATT, Jyoti Kumar Garg, related further details of the company’s success on the international market and hope

that its local branch will see client from as early as this month. With the company’s introduction to the Guyanese market, Garg said that NIATT will be implementing software that will provide “real time” benefits to citizens.

“We (NIATT) are working at the implementation of new Information Technology software that will provide real time benefits to our clients.

This software will facilitate

‘live’ transactions with our Port-of-Spain office. Once it is rolled out in Guyana we shall be introducing some innovative changes to the way business is done,” said the Managing Director.

He also revealed that Guyana operations will be under the management of Branch Manager, Saraswatie Basdeo, and Assistant Branch Manager, Selma Rahman.

APNU+AFC promises return ...

From page 6 (GTUC) Lincoln Lewis also issued a strong warning to the Guyanese public, reminding them that the ordinary people are the government’s bosses and that they hold the power to get rid of the Government if they have done a poor job.

Lewis stated that, instead of working for the people of Guyana, the PPP/C has rather worked for its own ends. Lewis emphasized that the Government has not performed according to their job descrip-

tion “We are the PPP/C’s employers and they do not qualify for re-employment.

They have failed. We do it all the time with our workers. If they do a poor job, they are sent away to improve their skills.”

Stating that the PPP/C has not only practiced corruption for monetary gain, but has practiced corruption of history, he condemned the perceived ‘distortions’ of Guyana’s political past emanating from the PPP/C’s camp.

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Kaieteur News

The Electoral Corner With just about a week to the May 11, 2015 General and Regional Elections, the Guyana Elections Commission would like to urge all registered electors to vote for the party of your choice on Elections Day. The voting process is a simple one that involves a few easy steps that when followed correctly by the elector ensures that he or she votes correctly.

Please note carefully that before leaving home on Election Day to vote, ensure that you have proper identification.

Check the Official List of Electors (OLE) at the Polling Station to see if your name is on the List. (a) Upon arrival at the Polling Station the elector must carefully check the Official List of Electors (OLE)

Saturday May 02, 2015

The Voting Process

posted at that particular Polling Station, to ensure that his or her name is on the OLE. (b) Upon confirmation that his or her name is on the OLE, the elector joins the queue (if there is one) at the entrance of the Polling Station.

Please note, carefully, that if there is more than one Polling Station in the same compound, an Information

Poll Clerk, stationed at a convenient location, will give directions to electors to proceed to their respective stations where they are required to vote.

Below are the simple steps an elector whose name is on the OLE must follow upon entering the Polling Station (the room with the Elections Officers).

1. Upon entering the Polling Station, the elector presents his or her National ID card to the Poll Clerk.

2. Poll Clerk checks the List of Electors to ensure that the elector’s name appears thereon.

3. Poll Clerk announces loudly the elector’s serial number and name as they appear on the list.

4. Poll Clerk places a tick next to the serial number on the list.

5. Poll Clerk instructs the elector to take his or her National ID card to the Assistant Presiding Officer who makes a comparison to verify the elector’s identity.

6. Assistant Presiding Officer inspects the elector’s finger for Electoral Ink (stain), and once satisfied, displays the National ID card to Polling Agents.

7. Assistant Presiding Officer returns the National ID card to the elector.

8. Assistant Presiding Officer writes the elector’s serial number on the counterfoil (stub) of the ballot paper to be issued – at the top for General and at the bottom for Regional Elections.

9. Assistant Presiding

Officer detaches ballot paper from the counterfoil by tearing along the perforation.

10. Assistant Presiding Officer stamps the six-digit number (official mark) on the back of the ballot paper – at the top for General and at the bottom for Regional Elections.

11. Assistant Presiding Officer then displays to the Polling Agents that the ballot paper is correctly stamped (top half and bottom half) with the six-digit stamp (official mark).

12. Using Form A4 and Form 10, the Assistant Presiding Officer directs the elector in the proper method of marking the ballot paper.

13. Assistant Presiding Officer shows the elector how the ballot paper should be folded when he or she would have marked their ballot.

14. Assistant Presiding Officer places a tick to the left of the elector’s serial number to indicate that a ballot was issued.

15. Assistant Presiding Officer directs elector to the private voting compartment to vote.

16. The elector then marks his or her ballot in the voting compartment, then proceeds to the Ballot Clerk.

17. The Ballot Clerk must be satisfied that: i.

The ballot is the same ballot issued to the elector, by the elector displaying the Official Mark (six-digit number) on both sides of the folded Ballot Paper. ii. The ballot is folded correctly by the elector. If the

ballot is not folded correctly, the Ballot Clerk shall direct the elector to return to the voting compartment to fold the ballot as directed by the Assistant Presiding Officer. iii. The elector has shown the Party Agents that his or her folded ballot paper has the Official Stamp on both the top and bottom halves of the ballot paper.

18. Having seen the Official Mark on both sides of the folded ballot, the Ballot Clerk directs the elector to immerse his or her right index finger into the container with the electoral ink.

The ink must reach beneath the fingernail and cover the first phalanx (segment) of the finger. The elector then drops his or her ballot into the ballot box.

NOTE: Where the elector is suffering from an injury to that finger and it cannot be stained with ink, the Ballot Clerk will require the elector to stain any other finger on a priority basis.

19. The Ballot Clerk directs the elector to the exit of the Polling Station.

NB: The Electors can further educate themselves about the voting process, by looking at the TV advertisements and the videos on Facebook about the subject.

It is the right of every eligible elector to go out on May 11, 2015 and vote as early as possible. All of GECOM’s Polling Stations throughout the country will be open from 06:00h to 18:00h.

Political parties urge supporters to remain peaceful as E-day nears

As preparations for elections intensify, youth candidates from the two major parties contesting this year’s elections are calling on their supporters to remain calm, since there is no place for vile behaviour.

Opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) candidates, James Bond and People Progressive Party/Civic Candidate (PPP/C) candidate Clinton Urling have urged their supporters to keep the peace. During an interview on the radio programme ‘Hard Talk’ recently, Bond strongly condemned any action, racially or politically motivated that seeks to disrupt the society. Bond stated that he is calling on supporters of the coalition to act with discipline. The Attorney at Law recalled that his party has been disciplined for a number of years under the leadership of Brigadier David Granger.

He affirmed that the

PPP/C candidate: Clinton Urling coalition is ready for victory and urged supporters to make the transition into government smooth.

Former President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce (GCCI) Clinton Urling agreed with Bond.

Urling pointed out that leaders from both parties need to talk to their supporters. He emphasized that politicians need to ensure that they preach a language of reconciliation, love and trust,

while moving forward instead of issuing divisive statements.

Urling, who recently appeared on the PPP/C‘s list of candidates, said that he has been receiving degrading comments via social media since the announcement.

However, the former GCCI President has indicated that he decided to join the party because its list reflects a lot of youths and the party has the country’s interest at heart.

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Saturday May 02, 2015

13-yr-old gives birth to twins …aunt wants rapist prosecuted

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orma James, the aunt of the 13y e a r - o l d Wakapoa teenager, who gave birth just over three weeks ago to premature twin babies, wants the man who impregnated her niece to be prosecuted.

James said that ever since her niece revealed the name of the man who raped her to the family, the girl’s older sister has since distanced herself from the family. She said phone calls to this older sister who lives at Timehri go unanswered.

The man who was fingered in impregnating James’ niece was an occupant of the house in which the older sister lives.

James said she has since lodged a report on the allegations made by her niece with the police at the Charity Outpost.

An officer of that Outpost has since informed James that the report has been forwarded to the Timehri police.

The teenager is currently at the Suddie Public Hospital with her babies who were born prematurely and are in an incubator. They are being fed from a tube.

James, 50, said that she would have to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of her niece and her twin babies whenever she is discharged from the hospital.

She, however, would like her niece to continue her education at the Wakapoa Secondary School, since she said she was doing well in School.

The teenager was left in James’ care for almost five years, after her mother along with her husband and Henry’s brother-in-law, Trevor Abrams, were all charged with the murder of 54-year-old Wilfred Williams, a/k”Willo”, of Grant Friendship Canal. The trio is currently on remand awaiting trial.

James explained that she was only made aware of her niece’s pregnancy when the

child was seven months.

According to James, her niece was visiting her older sister, at Timehri last July and during February she noticed that the teenager’s stomach was unusually large. She said that she proceeded to question her.

James said that she immediately called the Deputy Toshao who then questioned the teenager. That was how she learnt of the pregnancy. The Headmaster of the Secondary School was also informed as well as a Welfare Officer.

James said that she was told that the older sister’s brother-in-law had raped her niece. She noted that she accompanied her niece to the Health Center, at Wakapoa where she was registered and attended clinics.

“I used to buy sanitary pads every month for this girl but she used to hide them.”

The 13-year-old is the last child of eight children for Josephine and Frankie Henry.

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Saturday May 02, 2015

Legal battle over $32.16 M IDB loan Finance Minister misdirected management of consolidated fund - Greenidge responds

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inister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, may have been misdirected as it regards the nature and operations of the Consolidated Fund consequentially breaching the Constitution and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act. This view was expressed in an affidavit filed by Attorney-at-Law Roysdale Forde, who is representing former Finance Minister, Carl Greenidge, in the court action, which seeks to block Government from making any disbursement from the recently acquired US$32.16M Inter-American Development Bank Loan.

Given concerns over misuse of the sums, Greenidge, filed the action a few weeks ago in a bid to prevent the government from spending the monies.

Greenidge had requested that the proceeds from the loan agreement be paid into the Consolidated Fund and an order be granted blocking

Finance Minister, Ashni Singh the government from making any withdrawal until the hearing and determination of the case.

The temporary order was subsequently granted by Chief Justice Ian Chang.

But, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who is also named as a defendant in the case, had argued essentially that disbursements once paid into the Consolidated Fund, form part of a general indistinguishable pool of resources.

Nandlall had said that

Former Finance Minister, Carl Greenidge

given Government ‘s view on the matter, any one month of funds are withdrawn and spent from the Consolidated Fund to meet the operations of Government, without any identification being made of the original source of those funds.

However, Greenidge’s attorney challenged this notion when the matter came up for hearing before the court, last Wednesday.

In an affidavit in response, the attorney noted

while the Constitution speaks of a single Fund, that Fund is made up of subparts including the Contingencies Fund, Extra-Budgetary Fund, drawn monies, money in several bank accounts and money in a Deposit Account.

The court document outlined that while Section 61 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act requires that the proceeds of the Loans be deposited into the Consolidated Fund, Section 3.02, applies to

special conditions prior to all the disbursements of the Loan Agreement, between the Government of Guyana and the I.D.B. According to the document, under the aforementioned circumstances, the disbursement of financing will be subject to conditions stipulated in Articles 4:01 and 4:03 of the general conditions for compliance by the borrower.

One such condition is that, the borrower maintains open the special bank account which the bank shall only initiate the disbursement of the resources after the borrower has complied, with its satisfaction.

The written response further outlined that Section 5.01, Records, Inspections and Reports of the SPECIAL CONDITIONS, stipulates that “resources of the Financing will be deposited in the special account or accounts exclusively designated for the Program.

“The Borrower agrees to maintain separate

accounting records, and an adequate internal control system, in accordance with Article 6.01 of the General Conditions…The Borrower or the Executing Agency, as the case may be, shall maintain appropriate systems of internal accounting and administrative controls.

The accounting system shall be organized so as to provide the necessary documentation to permit the verification of transactions and facilitate the timely preparation of financial statements and reports.”

Given the fundamental misunderstanding of the provisions of the Loan Agreement, the document stated the applicant fears that the public purse would be irreparably harmed if the Conservatory Order and the Order sought in the Endorsement of Claim are not granted.

O w i n g t o t h e submissions, the defendants have asked for time to respond. The matter will continue before the Chief Justice on May 8.

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Doctor sent on administrative leave as probe continues Death of woman at Berbice clinic...

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he doctor at the centre of a reported botched abortion that claimed the life of 22-yearold Kamili Arjune, on Good Friday, has been sent on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

At least, this is according to Chief Medical Officer ( C M O ) , D r. S h a m d e o Persaud, who revealed that the matter is one that is currently gaining the attention of the Guyana Medical Council.

The woman, who was a m o t h e r o f f o u r, w a s pronounced dead after she was attended to at a privately operated clinic in Port Mourant, Berbice.

“I passed this case on immediately to the Medical Council because there were several breaches,” said Dr. Persaud when asked to comment on the matter this week. He said that among the breaches is the fact that the doctor in question was not licenced to perform the abortion, neither was his private clinic certified to conduct the medical termination of pregnancy.

Another breach, he disclosed was the fact that the doctor had not reported the woman’s death within

Dead: Kamili Arjune the stipulated 24 hours.

Dr. Persaud had told this publication that it is required by law that once a pregnancy-related death occurs, it should be reported to his office. “Any woman who dies during any stage of pregnancy or up to 42 days after delivery, must be reported to the relevant a u t h o r i t y ( t h e C M O ’s office),” said Dr. Persaud.

He said that it is expected that such deaths within Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10 must be reported within 24 hours.

While those that occur in the hinterland Regions, must be reported within 72 hours.

But, according to Dr.

Persaud, he first learnt of the matter after it was reported in this newspaper.

While the doctor in question operates his own private clinic, he is also employed at the Port Mourant Hospital, according to Dr. Persaud. “I understand from the Regional Health Administration they have already placed him on administrative leave.”

But according to the CMO, the doctor’s fate is in the hand of the Guyana Medical Council. “I will obviously await directions from the Council because his licence is critical. They will decide what they will do and then we will move from there onwards.”

Without certification, the actions of the doctor could be classified as misconduct or malpractice, which will attract disciplinary measures from the Guyana Medical Council. Should the doctor be found guilty of causing the woman’s death, the Council, according to Dr. Persaud, could mete out sanctions such as a letter of reprimand, suspension of licence (determined by both the Council and the Minister of Health) or he could be struck off the Council’s list of doctors eligible to practice

in Guyana altogether.

A post mortem examination conducted on Arjune was inconclusive and the pathologist has sent samples for further testing.

But, according to one of the dead woman’s relatives yesterday, the family had not received any further information on Arjune’s death. “We called just yesterday and they say that they ain’t get no word yet,” a relative told this publication.

T h e d e a d w o m a n ’s

mother, Kowsilla Arjune, during a meeting with the CMO and then Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, was assured that a thorough investigation into her daughter’s death will be conducted.

According to the woman, her daughter, a Surinamese national, was the eldest of her three children. And she disclosed, too, that the health officials were particularly concerned that the doctor who attended

to her daughter did not do sufficient tests, if any, to determine whether her daughter was strong enough for the intended procedure.

“They said that he had no nurse assisting him,” the woman related to this publication.

As such, the woman said that the Minister promised that the matter will be investigated thoroughly. “I need justice for my daughter…that is all I want right now,” said the woman.

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CXC Visual Arts Exhibition returns to Guyana T

he Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) hosted the annual showcase of Caribbean secondary school students’ best visual arts works at the Castellani House, for one week.

The opening ceremony was held at the Castellani house on Monday. It came eleven years after the council hosted the first exhibition here in Guyana.

A small contingent gathered in the Castellani House’s compound for the ceremony.

Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam, extended gratitude to CXC for bringing the exhibition back to local grounds, allowing Guyana to host the event. He urged students to go on to greater levels of achievement in the area of visual art by using the exhibition as an inspiration.

The CXC Assistant Registrar, Cleveland Sam, emphasized the significance of Visual arts being a part of the secondary school curriculum, as CXC continues to promote the

Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam leading spectators to view the arts on display as Ms. Gaafari Torrington briefly explains the concepts. subject.

Following a moving, “thoughtful” poetic piece by little Ms. Mariel Barrow, a student of the North Georgetown Primary School, those gathered were blown away by the steel pan duet orchestrated by two male students of the North Ruimveldt Secondary School.

“The objectives of the Visual Arts Exhibition are to highlight the creative works

of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Visual Arts students to the public; to expose students in the host country to what examiners consider to be part of a high standard; to promote the visual arts as a feasible career choice; and to promote CSEC Visual Arts as a subject.”

There are over 250 pieces of art including regional top award pieces on display. The types of art on

display varied from graphic and communication designs, painting and mixed media, drawing, design and manipulation, leather craft to fibre and decorative arts.

Those present were wooed by the creativity displayed in art. There was work by students’ right here in Guyana. The visitors were taken on a tour by Ms. Gaafari Torrington and Chief Education Officer of Guyana, Mr. Olato Sam.

Some of the artwork on exhibition The Visual Arts students of President’s College were commended for the hard work they put in, with the inspiration of their visual arts Teacher Ms. Gaafari Torrington, to make their displays possible.

“The CXC Visual Art Exhibition has become an annual feature on the calendar of CXC. Participating countries look forward to hosting the exhibition as it gives their

students and the public the opportunity to view the very best art produced by former students,” explained Mr. Glenroy Cumberbatch, Registrar of CXC. “The creative industries continue to receive significant attention from regional governments and CXC wants to make its contribution to this area. The art exhibition is a great start to expose the works of budding artists.”

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Saturday May 02, 2015

Labour Day scenes

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Pres. Ramotar’s appeal for votes meets...

From page 3 despite the opposition’s budget cuts they continued and, “In the future, once we win the elections again we will build the Amaila falls project. That will help to drive our country into being a manufacturing country and we will be able to create 1000 more jobs,” he said.

He pledged that his project will create high paying jobs for the economy which was met by a resounding “Yuh lie!” from sections of the crowd.

Ramotar spoke of the support given to the bauxite industry in the past.

Likewise, he told the crowd which comprised sugar workers, that a Ramotar-led government will plug billions into the sugar industry to

keep it alive.Ramotar assured that the government has no intention of privatizing the sugar industry. He spoke of plans for GuySuCo to dabble in producing ethanol, alcohol, specialty sugar and be able to refine sugar.

“That is why it is important for you to understand what is at stake at these elections, to not put our country in danger,” he said as he rolled off projects that the Opposition blocked in the tenth parliament.

He urged the workers to not put the country “backwards.” He asked workers to “give us your solidarity so that we can take your country forward and make it one of the best countries in the world.”

If any of those gathered

clapped it was drowned out by the “No” that a large percent of the crowd responded with to the President’s pitch for their votes.

Addressing the crowd, President of the Guyana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand spoke of the advocates who over the years sought to have the working class operate under better conditions and salaries.

Chand spoke at length of world challenges and particularly those facing workers internationally.

Clearly focusing on the upcoming elections, the GAWU president reminded workers of the cuts made in the tenth parliament.

He said that the government as well as

development projects were affected. He went on to state that jobs were denied because of “non-judicial budget cuts.”

He expressed hope that the experience of the past three years will “guide” them.

He urged workers to ensure that they vote on May 11 to sustain democracy which was “returned in 1992” and must not be undermined.

The GAWU head noted that the sugar industry has attracted significant political attention. He emphasised that politicians have been saying that the industry is too big and important to fail.

He said that his union welcomes the plans of a Ramotar-led administration to inject $20B into the industry.

He noted that it was May Day and despite assistance from two Caribbean trade unionists, unity among local trade union umbrella bodies is yet to be attained. He described unity as critical to success.

Also speaking on the need for unity in the union fraternity was Carvil Duncan who posited that while there is unemployment there are figures that show that Guyana is doing better than other regions. He argued that the unemployment issued is not an act of the administration but rather of those who cut the budgets.

Duncan insisted that “they denied you your jobs.”

He was adamant that the cut projects would have created employment for

hundreds of Guyanese, as the recently opened taxpayerfunded Marriott hotel has done. But his remark earned him a sound retort from the crowd which said clearly, “We can’t afford to go there.”

But Duncan persevered; pointing out that elections were days away and it was not “about me or you” but rather about “your children and grandchildren.” He told workers that whatever decision they made would impact those dearest to them “therefore, think what you do, consider where you mark your x.”

He expressed optimism that one day there will be a joint rally and “all workers would be sitting in one place, listening to one message.” He said that a united trade union movement was one of better gain than the divided situation which exists in Guyana.

Duncan said the division was one caused by leaders.

“Examine from where we came, where we are and where we need to be. If we don’t do that we will be failing ourselves, children, family and history. The future is in your hands. The time is right when you have to make a choice,” he said.

The FITUG President went on to say that “We know what you got. It is said a bird in your hand is worth more than 1000 in the bush. Make a good choice; make a choice for the future and history will guide you. Long live the trade union movement,” he ended to a crowd that shouted “Change!”

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Saturday May 02, 2015

Saturday May 02, 2015

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Page 28

Kaieteur News

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Saturday May 02, 2015

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TOURS Suriname Tour Trip Return, Independence Weekend (May 23-May26) Book Early –Call: 644-0185; 639-2663; 665-5171 Continued on page 29

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 29

Letters... Where your views make the news

Today, Buxtonions will say their final farewell to a matriarch of the village DEAR EDITOR, Guyana has produced many outstanding citizens who have dedicated their lives to lifting up their fellow human beings both as individuals and as communities. These people quietly, without fanfare, just do their thing. One such person was Ms. Elaine Greene.

Last weekend Guyanese in the Washington DC metropolitan area and further afield bid farewell to this outstanding Guyanese of Buxton extraction—Miss Greene, as she was fondly called by at least four generations of Buxtonions.

Today, Buxtonions in Buxton will say their final farewell to this matriarch of the village at home and abroad.

Miss Greene was the quintessential Community Servant-Leader. She served selflessly in numerous

organizations—from the Girl Guides and The Mothers Union to the Women’s Auxiliary and the PNC to the Committee for the Improvement of Buxton (Cimbux) in the USA where she spent the last decades of her life of nine decades and more.

As another Buxton-bred Community Servant-Leader, Eusi Kwayana observed: “There was nothing important going on in BuxtonFriendship that Mrs. Greene was not involved. She was part of everything positive in the village.”

As I moved around Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean, I realized that every village and ward has had a Miss Greene. This is what makes this one from Buxton more important; she was part of a noble tradition.

Miss Greene was a nation builder long before that term

became popular. She had a peculiar instinct for organization both as process and institution. She was one of the most able organizers.

Her philosophy was that leadership was also followership.

As a leader she planned and participated; she partook in planning the Souse Party and cooked the Fishcake for the party which was held in her yard. Servant-Leader to the end.

As a political activist, she was an early builder of the PNC’s Women’s Auxillary which later became the WRSM and now the NCW. She served the party and the village in the Buxton Village Council. What I admired about her as a political person was the fact she was a loyal party member but not a partisan. When some PNC members took sides after the Burnham-Kwayana split in

1971, Miss Greene shunned that road.

My own personal attachment to Miss Greene goes back to when I was seven years old. She cast me as a lead actor in a play she directed. At the end of the successful run of the play she told my aunt that I would become a politician or a dramatist. That I have participated in both politics and drama was due in large part to Miss Greene’s constant encouragement which never waned. I am eternally grateful to her for that early confidence. I end with something that many people did not pay attention to about Miss Greene—she was never afraid to be led by people who were generations younger than her. That alone elevates her to a different category. I salute you Ms. Greene.

David Hinds

From page 5 economic plan ready to implement but promised to have one ready in the first 100 days? I don’t think so.

This is no time for ‘on-thejob’ training.

The PPP/C Administration has done tremendously well when one considers that the combined opposition APNU and AFC misused their oneseat majority in Parliament to cut $21B from the national budget in 2012; $31B in 2013 and $37.4B in 2014, a total of $89.4 billion during President Ramotar’s term in office.

Among the casualties of the Joint Opposition budget cuts were: The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project; the Specialty Hospital; upgrading of Regional and District Hospitals, including those in Port Kaituma, Kwakwani, Linden and Bartica, and the Eye Surgery Operating Room at Linden.

They cut the Amerindian Development Fund and other Amerindian Programmes such as ATVs, tractors and solar

panels. They cut the funding for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) modernisation project; Civil Aviation; and money to improve Hinterland Airstrips.

The cutting of $89.4 billion was unconscionable and clearly anti-development.

Have you any idea how much more Guyana could have developed had the APNU-AFC not used you as collateral damage to spite the PPP/C Administration?

Ask yourself just one question: What has David Granger or Khemraj Ramjattan done to improve the quality of your life, or those in your community that voted APNU-AFC last election? And please don’t use the lame excuse that they’re not in government.

Politics is mastering the art of compromise... Either could have gone to the President and offer to support one of his pet projects in return for the government building one of their pet projects in their constituency. It would have been

a win-win situation for both the government and the opposition. But Granger and Ramjattan are both determined not to support development of any kind under the PPP/C, even if it means cutting projects from the budget that would provide jobs; reduce your electricity bills; modernize our country; and provide opportunities that would have made life a lot easier for all of us.

By their own admission, the APNU-AFC has no plan, no vision, and they certainly have no hope of defeating the PPP/C at the p o l l s . B u t w e need you onboard if we’re to build our beloved Guyana as one nation, one people.

With so much at stake, I urge you again to put Guyana first. Let us put an end to racial politics and send a strong message to the APNU and AFC Members of Parliament, that the next time you put them there, you expect them to find common ground with their colleagues in government to

advance progress and development for all Guyanese.

Our nation simply cannot afford another obstructionist ‘do-nothing’ opposition in Parliament that is determined to impede progress. I therefore urge you to return the PPP/C with a clear mandate to govern and implement those projects that were torpedoed by the 10th Parliament.

Guyana needs the Amaila Falls Hydropower; the Specialty Hospital; a new international airport; a surfaced road to Brazil; a new bridge across the Demerara River; a deep water harbour in Berbice and a bridge linking us to Suriname.

These are some of the advancing transformational infrastructure planned to benefit our entire nation.

You must agree that under the PPP/C, Guyana has progressed by leaps and bounds.

On May 11, I simply ask that you vote for progress to continue. May God continue to bless Guyana!

HARRY GILL

DEAR EDITOR, Your columnist Freddie Kissoon on April 30, 2015 wrote: “One has to go back to ancient Hindu scripts and what those documents say about dark-skinned people, Africans and the framework of the caste system.”

It is obvious that Mr. Kissoon does not write like a professor.

His article makes claims without giving name of the

scripts, the authors, and in what original language they were written; also the authenticity of the script.

And, if he is not a scholar of the original language, can he say if the translation thereof that he uses is accurate?

Where can “one” find copies of the scripts, in order to go back to them? What are the verbal descriptions in the scripts/documents to indicate

dark-skinned people and Africans? What words of the scripts/documents point out the caste system to be a “system?”

PPP is not Indian or Hindu, not even Guyanese.

How can others, besides Mr. Kissoon, be enlightened that the caste system the PPP practices is the exact one from the scripts/documents and how can he prove that?

Vidhyanand Jaikarran

Open Letter to APNU-AFC Supporters

Can Mr. Kissoon prove this?

(From page 28)

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Kaieteur News

Saturday May 02, 2015

GDF Officer Cadet appointed to United States Military Academy

for six months.

Adams noted that to end the list of activities for the Town Week is the Colours Party on Friday night at the Christianburg Ground under the theme ‘Neon b r i g h t ’ w i t h the slogan ‘Flashing light, what a sight, Rip the one way with your Neon bright.’

Cadet Officer Britany Van Lange, of the Guyana Defence Force, was recently presented with a certificate of appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Officer Candidate Van Lange received her appointment from U.S. Embassy Georgetown’s Senior Defense Official, LCDR Robert Novotny.

Ms. Van Lange will join her older brother Errol, who is currently enrolled at West Point in the Class of 2016.

The ceremony which took place at Base Camp Stephenson, was presided over by the Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff, Brigadier Mark Phillips.

He remarked that he and many of his officers and enlisted ranks have benefitted from training in the United States over the years, but an appointment to West Point is “at the top of the list”.

This academy which was established in 1808 with an average of over 4500 cadets to date, serves to prepare students for service in the United States Army.

This four-year coeducational federal service grants a Bachelor of Science degree with a curriculum that grades cadets’ performances upon a broad academic programme.

The mission of West Point is to educate, train and

Alicia Mc Pherson

Davykumarie Ramadar

Alicia Ali

At least 54 people have been slain since the start of the year.

This is according to statistics compiled by Kaieteur News. The facts also show that 11 women are among the victims.

Three of them were minors, while two of them were elderly women who lived alone. They include Sophia arson victim Tabola Abrams, 39; businesswoman Patricia Sanasie; 19-year-old Shazina Mahamad; Ramdai Mohabir, 67; Suroogpattie Ramlakan, 73; Quineza Patricia Benn; Alicia Ali, 14; Samantha

Benjamin, 40; 17-year-old Davykumarie Ramadar and Alicia Mc Pherson, 17 and Donessa Barker, 28.

Barker was stabbed to death on Thursday in Bagotville, East Bank Demerara, allegedly by her husband who was still at large yesterday.

The Force’s Public Relations Department had reported that there were 47 murders between January and April 13, 2015, in comparison to 41 for the similar period last year. This is a 15 percent increase in homicides.

Police also recorded a four percent increase in serious crimes between January and April 13, 2015, in comparison to the same period in 2014.

Among the serious crimes listed by the Force are murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape and kidnapping.

But police said that for that same period, robbery under arms overall had decreased by 19 percent in comparison to the same period in 2014.

GDF and US Embassy officials at the appointment ceremony.

Linden Dream Team celebrates 10 years of Community service The Linden Dream Team, the youth arm of the Linden Fund USA, will be staging 10 spontaneous activities in addition to their regular ones as they celebrate ten years of service to the community of Linden.

According to Chairperson, Donette Adams, the Dream team had at one time merged with the parent body, Linden Fund USA, but separated from it four years ago.

Adams said that preparations for the Linden Town Week begin in November with an Essay competition for all public Secondary Schools in Linden.

In April the winners are awarded.

Adams noted that the essay competition is to get students active in writing and

to help prepare them for their CXC. The first place winner received a laptop, the second place received a tablet and the third place received a bicycle.

Each participant received a certificate and a gift bag. She also mentioned that in August of every year there is a free book fair for the whole community of Linden.

On Thursday the Dream Team will be hosting a Day of Sports for the Disabled at the Christianburg ground so that they can be confident in themselves. One family will also receive a food hamper.

Last Monday, 22 hampers were given away to less fortunate families.

Vice Chairperson, Samantha Austin, said that they have also decided to sponsor the CXC fees for five

students next year, and those students names were pulled from a bag.

The Dream Team also will be hosting a senior C i t i z e n ’s l u n c h e o n f o r 250 citizens and each will be receiving a gift bag and two hampers will be given away to two lucky senior citizen.

On the list of 10 spontaneous activities is the donation of two baby kits to the first two babies born at the Linden Hospital Complex on Friday.

The last two of the ten spontaneous activities are 1) they have sponsored the Linden Track Club and 2) they have chosen a family in Wismar who is without electricity and they have restored electricity to the home and will be paying for it

inspire the Corps so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character, committed to the values of Duty, Honour and Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to their nation. Ethical and moral development is emphasized as is selfless service to one’s country.

The academic programme grants a Bachelor of Science degree with a curriculum that grades cadets’ performance upon a broad academic programme, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics.

Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that “a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do.”

As West Point is universally regarded as one of the finest universities in the United States, selection for admission is incredibly difficult.

Each year only 1200 of over 13,000 applicants are offered appointments to join the incoming class, an acceptance rate of just nine per cent.

West Point alumni include two Presidents of the United States, Presidents of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and The Philippines, numerous famous generals, and seventy-five Medal of Honor recipients.

Eleven women among 54 slain in four months

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Thousands still missing Six Baltimore officers charged in after Nepal quake death of Gray, one with murder (Reuters) - Thousands of people were still missing in Nepal yesterday as food and help began to trickle through to those stranded in remote areas after last week’s earthquake which killed 6,250.

The death toll could rise further. Bodies are still being pulled from the debris of ruined buildings, while rescue workers have not been able to reach some remote areas.

The government put the number of injured at more than 14,350.

In the capital Kathmandu, many unclaimed bodies were being quickly cremated because of the need to avert disease and reduce the stench of corpses in areas where buildings had collapsed.

“Morgues are full beyond capacity and we have been given instructions to incinerate bodies immediately after they are pulled out,” said Raman Lal, an Indian paramilitary force official working in coordination with Nepali forces.

Many of the dead could be migrant workers from neighbouring India, local officials said.

The head of the European Union delegation in Nepal said up to 1,000 Europeans were still unaccounted for, mostly around popular trekking routes.

Officials said it was hard to trace the missing because many backpackers do not register with their embassies.

“It does not mean that they are buried. They could have left the country without telling anyone before the earthquake struck,” Ambassador Rensje Teerink told reporters.

Another EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “A number of EU citizens are not accounted for, but this could be for many reasons. It is fast moving and very fluid and estimated numbers are only estimates.”

The number of people unaccounted for from France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands is 371, according to checks Reuters made with these governments, while all Irish citizens, Croatians and Romanians have been traced.

Other European nations have yet to provide an updated figure for how many of their citizens are unaccounted for.

Aid was slowly reaching remote towns and villages nestled in the Himalayan mountains and foothills of the impoverished nation. But government officials said efforts to step up the pace of delivery were frustrated by a shortage of supply trucks and

Bodies are still being pulled from the debris of ruined buildings drivers, many of whom had returned to their villages to help their families.

“Our granaries are full and we have ample food stock, but we are not able to transport supplies at a faster pace,” said Shrimani Raj Khanal, a manager at the Nepal Food Corp.

Army helicopters have air-dropped instant noodles and biscuits to remote communities but people need rice and other ingredients to cook a proper meal, he said.

Many Nepalis have been sleeping in the open since the 7.8 magnitude quake, with survivors afraid to return to their homes because of powerful aftershocks. According to the United Nations, 600,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged.

Information Minister Minendra Rijal said the government would provide $1,000 in immediate assistance to the families of those killed, as well as $400 for cremation or burial.

The U.N. said 8 million of Nepal’s 28 million people were affected, with at least 2 million needing tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.

UNPRECEDENTED DAMAGE Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said Nepal would need at least $2 billion to rebuild homes, hospitals, government offices and historic buildings and appealed for international backing.

“This is just an initial estimate and it will take time to assess the extent of damage and calculate the cost of rebuilding,” Mahat told Reuters.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told Reuters earlier this week the death toll from the quake could reach 10,000.

That would surpass the 8,500 who died in a 1934 earthquake, the last disaster on this scale to hit the nation sand-

wiched between India and China.

Home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said that though the 1934 quake was more powerful, fewer people lived in the Kathmandu valley then.

“The scale of reconstruction will be unprecedented,” Dhakal said.

While international aid has poured in, some Nepalis have accused the government of being too slow to distribute it.

“There have been cases where villages have pelted stones on trucks carrying aid and food supplies. They must have been really hungry and angry to do so,” said Purna Shanker, who works at the government’s commodity trading office.

In Sundarkhula, a village close to the quake’s epicentre west of Kathmandu, villagers said they were searching their destroyed homes for food.

Bharat Regmi, 28, said he jumped out of the first floor as the quake lifted his house from its foundations. When he went back a few days later, he and two of his friends found a bag of potatoes in the rubble. “We are living on water and whatever we can dig out from the house,” he said, standing under steady rain near the highway to Kathmandu. Later, he crept back under a thin orange sheet, shared with about a dozen other villagers.

Tensions have also flared between foreigners and Nepalis desperate to be evacuated.

In the Himalayas, climbing is set to reopen on Mount Everest next week after damage caused by avalanches is repaired, although many have abandoned their ascents. An avalanche killed 18 climbers and sherpa mountain guides at the Everest base camp.

(Reuters) - Baltimore’s chief prosecutor charged one police officer with murder yesterday and five others with lesser crimes in the death of a young black man who suffered a critical neck injury in the back of a police van, a case that fueled new anger over police treatment of minorities.

The swift decision by Marilyn Mosby, who has been in the position only since January, to charge the six officers in the death of Freddie Gray caught many by surprise in a city hit Monday night by its worst civil unrest in decades.

Mosby made her announcement hours after the Maryland state medical examiner had ruled the death a homicide and a day after police handed her office the findings of its internal review of Gray’s April 12 arrest.

The officer who drove the police vehicle in which Gray was taken after his arrest was charged with second-degree murder. All six officers were under arrest on Friday and have been suspended without pay, while the police officers’ union said they were not responsible for Gray’s death.

“We are disappointed in the apparent rush to judgment given the fact the investigation into this matter has not been concluded,” said Gene Ryan, president of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police.

Mosby, who also rejected the union’s call for a special prosecutor, earned praise from protesters and Gray’s family.

“We were shocked, and it was a good shock that justice had been approached in this forthright and courageous manner by this prosecutor,” said family attorney William H. “Billy” Murphy.

Rioters burned buildings and looted stores in Baltimore on the night after Gray’s funeral on Monday, and protests spread to other major cities in a reprise of demonstrations set off by police killings last year of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and elsewhere.

Gray, 25, sustained his fatal injury while riding in a police van, the prosecutor said, citing the autopsy report.

Gray succumbed to his spi-

Freddie Gray nal injuries in hospital on April 19.

“To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America, I heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace.’

Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man,” Mosby, a 35-year-old African-American, said at a news conference.

JUBILATION ON STREETS Officers cuffed Gray’s hands behind his back and shackled his legs but did not secure him with a seatbelt while the van was moving, a violation of police department policy. Then, with “depraved indifference,” officers ignored Gray’s repeated pleas for medical attention, Mosby said.

The charges brought jubilation and relief to the streets of Baltimore after nearly two weeks of peaceful protests, punctuated by Monday’s rioting.

“It was the people, it was the people out in the streets that made this happen,” said Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, a civil rights activist, as he joined a march on Friday evening. “It is up to us to stay out here, to keep up the pressure.”

In Ferguson and New York last year, grand juries decided against charging officers who were involved in the deaths of two unarmed black men. The news triggered rioting in the St. Louis suburb and days of protest marches in New York and other cities.

Charges against the six police officers range from second-degree murder to manslaughter to assault and misconduct in office.

Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., the driver of the police vehicle, faces a maximum penalty of 30 years if convicted on the second-degree murder

count. Other offenses carry prison terms of between three years to 10 years.

Goodson also faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, as are three others: Sgt. Alicia D. White, Officer William G. Porter and Lt. Brian Rice. All six face lesser charges, including Officer Edward M. Nero and Officer Garrett E. Miller.

President Barack Obama took the unusual step of commenting on charges in an open case, highlighting the importance that the issue of police conduct toward minority groups has assumed over the past year.

“It is absolutely vital that the truth comes out in what happened to Freddie Gray,” Obama said. “I think what the people in Baltimore want more than anything else is the truth.

That’s what people in our country expect.”

The incident that has commanded national attention began on April 12, when officers on bicycles made eye contact with Gray in a highcrime neighborhood, police said. The man immediately fled with the officers in pursuit.

When they caught up to him, Gray was handcuffed behind his back and dragged by the arms, screaming, into a waiting van, a bystander’s video footage shows.

The prosecutor said Gray’s arrest was illegal. Officers had said that he was carrying a switchblade knife in violation of the law, but she said it was in fact a folding knife that was legal to carry.

Mosby said the fatal injury occurred after the van stopped to allow officers to shackle Gray’s legs and put him back inside, one of four stops between the arrest and the van’s arrival at the a booking center. Officers failed to secure Gray in seat restraints at every stage of the ride, she said.

“Mr. Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside of the BPD wagon,” said Mosby, whose family includes generations of law enforcement officers.

Gray was no longer breathing when he was finally removed from the van, Mosby said.

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Saturday May 02, 2015

Doctors plan strike action The Gleaner - A possible crisis is looming in the health sector as medical doctors plan to strike as they demand that the government scrap its proposal to introduce flexi-work arrangements in the health sector.

The new work arrangements are expected to come into effect on July 1.

However, President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) Dr Alfred Dawes says doctors do not

agree with the changes.

A task force comprising health sector workers was established to look at the flexiwork agreement and submit a proposal.

However, Dawes says the recommendations of the JMDA were ignored.

Dawes says if the government does not reconsider, doctors will now stay away from regular duties and will only provide emergency care.

He is appealing to mem-

Dr Alfred Dawes bers of the public for patience over the coming days.

Chile’s Calbuco volcano erupts for third time Chile’s Calbuco volcano has erupted for the third time in eight days, leading the government to order the evacuation of 2,500 people.

Some of those residents had only just returned to their homes after last week’s eruptions.

The latest eruption was less powerful, but sent a large plume of dark grey smoke and ash rising from the crater.

Calbuco surprised residents of the Los Lagos region last week by bursting into life after 54 years of inactivity.

The National Geology and Mines Service issued a red alert after Thursday’s eruption, warning that the volcano remained unstable.

Yesterday, residents were warned that heavy rain could mix with ash and rock to produce deadly volcanic mudflows.

These “lahars” can slide down volcanoes like avalanches.

The BBC’s Gideon Long in Santiago says that whereas the ash last week was blown in a north-easterly direction,

this time it is drifting southeast over the town of Cochamo.

The town has been blanketed in a cloud of smoke and ash.

Calbuco is one of the most active volcanoes in Chile, having erupted in 1961 and 1972, and many times before that.

Last week’s eruptions caused the cancellation of flights to and within Chile, and forced farmers in the area to evacuate their livestock.

(BBC NEWS)

Brazil ruling party fined $1.6M Brasília (AFP) - Brazil’s electoral tribunal on Thursday fined the ruling Workers Party (PT) of President Dilma Rousseff $1.6 million for accounting irregularities dating back to 2009.

It comes with the party already reeling from the fallout of a giant graft scandal at state-owned oil firm Petrobras which has seen some three dozen politicians, in cluding the PT’s former treasurer, fingered by a police investigation into alleged kickbacks on fat Petrobras contracts.

Thursday’s ruling locks the PT out of access to state party funding for three months and the organization will have to pay back the cash concerned, the tribunal said in a statement.

The investigation found irregularities surrounding the payment of outstanding inter-

Dilma Rousseff est as well as incomplete documentation on tax and income obtained from unidentified sources.

Rousseff was re-elected last October despite the growing controversy over the Petrobras scandal, which has rocked the political establish-

ment and seen her personal poll standings slump.

Joao Vaccari Neto, the PT treasurer, was forced to stand down following his arrest on charges linking him to the kickbacks affair, which Petrobras estimates cost the company $2 billion.

VAT lifeline Daily Nation - A lifeline designed to ease the cash flow problems of small and medium-sized businesses has been set up.

And a Government minister is suggesting the move could help these businesses hire more staff and make a

more meaningful contribution to Barbados’ challenged economy.

The Central Bank has started a receivables liquidity facility, guaranteeing small businesses prompt value added tax (VAT) refunds owed by the Barbados Rev-

enue Authority (BRA).

Under this new scheme, which became effective April 13, the bank will provide a guarantee to financial intermediaries for outstanding VAT returns between $3 000 and $50 000 for any one VAT refund.

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 33

NBA roundup: Bulls down Bucks, Clippers top Spurs MILWAUKEE (AP) The Chicago Bulls finally delivered a knockout blow to the Milwaukee Bucks - not literally, although it sure seemed to come close at times. And for all of Chicago’s star power, it was Mike Dunleavy in the middle of it all.

Dunleavy scored 20 points and the Bulls came close to an NBA playoff record, finally putting away the Bucks with a 120-66 victory in Game 6 to clinch their first-round series Thursday night.

Dunleavy seemed to have his biggest impact away from the ball, getting under the young Bucks skins with physical play that drew retaliation.

The Bulls, who move on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, finished four points from the

NBA playoff record for largest margin of victory. Minnesota beat St. Louis 133-75 on March 19, 1956.

The game was over early, but it still featured plenty of the intensity and bad blood that marked the first five games of the series. Dunleavy drew the foul that led to the ejection of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo for a flagrant 2 foul just before halftime.

Pau Gasol scored 19 points and Jimmy Butler added 16 for the Bulls, who started the series with a 3-0 lead before two straight wins by the defensive-minded Bucks put them back in position to tie it. Derrick Rose scored 15 points and all five Chicago starters were in double figures.

In an indication of Milwaukee’s misery on of-

fense, no Bucks starter scored more than ZaZa Pachulia’s eight points. It was the biggest playoff loss in team history.

The Bucks lost by 36 points at New York in 1970.

The Bucks were 25 of 76 from the field (32.9 percent) while Chicago was 46 of 90 (51.1 percent).

Antetokounmpo was ejected after a hard foul on Dunleavy during a 3-point attempt that sent him crashing into the front row of fans with 1:34 left in the second quarter. After a review, officials ruled it a flagrant 2. It may have been a reaction to a hand to the face that Dunleavy gave Antetokounmpo a little earlier in the game - an incident similar to contact between Dunleavy’s arm and Michael Carter-Williams’ face near the

Saturday May 02, 2015 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Career changes may be on the horizon, Aries. Although positive in the long run, the events leading up to the change may seem catastrophic.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Premonitions today might be rather disturbing, Taurus, and you might actually feel some fear because of them. Don't panic! Your intuitive abilities aren't quite as sharp as usual.

What you feel could be distorted or untrue.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Today you might find that some of your more ambitious plans finally seem to be paying off, Libra. You should be happy about this, but you might panic a bit, fearing that everything could crash at the last minute.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) If you've been doing some creative or job-related writing, today you might be tired, blocked, and unable to muster the energy to turn on the computer.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Changes within a group you're affiliated with might profoundly affect you today, Gemini. Perhaps the group is veering in a new direction that doesn't particularly interest you.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) A project of some kind you've been working on could be going well, Sagittarius, but today you might experience a sudden rush of inspiration that makes it a lot better than you originally envisioned.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) A scandal concerning a celebrity you admire could be in the news today, Cancer.

This might throw you for a loop.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) A family member could be experiencing business difficulties, Capricorn. Your sensitivity could cause you to feel their anxieties, too.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Some rather shocking news could come to you from a friend who lives far away, Leo.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) A friend or relative could be ill, out of work, or otherwise beset by problems. You may want to do whatever you can to help out.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) A dip in the stock market might cause you to worry about your own financial future, Virgo.

You may have some investments that could be temporarily negatively affected.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) An unexpected expense, perhaps requiring repairs to the house or car, might take a chunk out of your bank account, Pisces. This may be disheartening.

beginning of the game.

Bucks coach Jason Kidd called it a learning experience for Antetokounmpo, adding that ‘’it wasn’t very smart.’’

Dunleavy and Carter-Williams tangled again in the third quarter.

Dunleavy bumped Carter-Williams, and CarterWilliams retaliated by swinging his left arm and sending Dunleavy to the court.

Dunleavy was called for an offensive foul, and CarterWilliams earned a technical.

Dunleavy played for the Bucks for two seasons before joining the Bulls in 2013-14.

It was a rough end to a successful season for the Bucks, who were the league’s worst team in 2013-14 but turned it around to earn the No. 6 playoff season under Kidd.

The Bucks were never really in this one, though, trailing 34-16 at the end of the first quarter and 65-33 at the half.

CLIPPERS 102, SPURS 96 SAN ANTONIO (AP) Blake Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Chris Paul had 19 points and 15 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers held on for a 102-96 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, forcing a Game 7 in their first-round series.

Marco Belinelli hit two 3pointers in the final 80 seconds, including one with 14 seconds remaining, to cut the Clippers lead to 98-96. But Jamal Crawford hit two free throws to preserve the win.

The Clippers, who won for the second time in San Antonio, forced a Game 7 on Saturday in Los Angeles. No other first-round series has gone the distance.

J.J. Redick added 19 points and DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Los Angeles.

Belinelli led San Antonio with 23 points, including going 7 for 11 from 3-point range. Boris Diaw had 17 points, Tim Duncan added 12 points and 13 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard had 12 points for the defending champions.

The Spurs’ bench outscored the Clippers’ 48-15, but Los Angeles’ starting five had an 87-48 advantage.

Paul was 7 for 21 from the field, but he helped steady the Clippers when they needed it.

He hit a fadeaway jumper and a 3-pointer to give Los Angeles an 85-78 lead with 7 minutes left, snapping a 3minute drought by both teams at the start of the fourth quarter. The Clippers would hold

Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose drives against the Milwaukee Bucks’ Jared Dudley, right, as the Bucks’ Michael Carter-Williams and the Bulls’ Mike Dunleavy (Jeffrey Phelps /AP) the Spurs without a field goal for just over 4 minutes.

Los Angeles opened the second half on an 11-2 run, with San Antonio failing to score in the first 2 1/2 minutes.

A 12-foot jumper by Paul and a dunk by Glen Davis gave the Clippers a 76-72 lead entering the fourth quarter.

The Spurs employed their hack-a - J o r d a n s t r a t e g y early, intentionally fouling

the Clippers center before the ball was inbounded with 5 minutes left in the first quarter.

J o r d a n responded by making both free throws and then stole the ball on the ensuing possession and sprinted for an emphatic onehanded dunk ahead of Duncan.

Jordan finished the game 7 for 15 from the free throw line.

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Saturday May 02, 2015

Record opening stand stuns Pakistan ESPNcricinfo - The prospect of surviving five sessions under a heavy deficit against a potent bowling attack would have forced most sides into a shell. Ten years ago in Dhaka, Bangladesh had batted out 142 overs against Zimbabwe to force a draw and win their first Test series. Nafees Iqbal had knuckled down to score 121 in almost six hours in that match.

Faced with a daunting deficit of 296, Nafees’ brother Tamim Iqbal, however, chose an alternative approach. He kept all diffidence aside in a blistering century - his third in three Tests, his seventh overall and his first against Pakistan - that helped Bangladesh slice off almost all of Pakistan’s daunting lead in just over two sessions. Along with Imrul Kayes, who was close on Tamim’s heels with his third Test century, he added 273 runs in 61 overs during an unbeaten stand that not only beat the record of Bangladesh’s best opening set by the same pair in the the team’s previous Test, it also was their best stand for any wicket.

If there was any help for the bowlers from the pitch, it remained buried deep under the solidity of the two batsmen. The ball reversed, but often found the middle of the

bat; it turned, too, but was regularly carted away over the boundary ropes. Only twice, Pakistan came close to breaking the stand as Tamim was hit on the pads, but in both instances, the decision stayed with the umpire after Pakistan asked for a review.

It was a riposte Pakistan would have least expected after their continued dominance on the fourth morning.

Even though left-arm spinner Taijul Islam ended with figures of 6 for 163 - his third five-for in sixth Test - as Pakistan lost their last five wickets for 34 runs, the damage had seemingly been done.

Leading by 205 runs at the start of the fourth day, Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq had extended the dominance with a 126-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Both batsmen missed out on centuries but Pakistan’s total propped up to 628, their best against Bangladesh.

The four overs Bangladesh had to play before lunch hid completely the approach they were going to take in the innings. Only six runs were scored after Tamim had narrowly survived an appeal for lbw off the first delivery from Junaid Khan. In the first over after lunch, though, Tamim carved the same bowler stylishly with a back-

Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes punch gloves, Bangladesh v Pakistan, 1st Test, Khulna, 4th day, May 1, 2015 ©AFP foot punch through backward point. In the next over from Wahab Riaz, Tamim picked up two consecutive boundaries with the pull shot.

If one thought it was a brief tactic to score quickly off the faster bowlers on a pitch that was still good for batting, before the arrival of spin, Tamim was to prove it wrong.

He came out of the crease on the second ball bowled by Zulfiqar Babar but was lucky to mistime the lofted shot as it landed only couple of meters short of the fielder at deep midwicket. Had he holed out, his method would have

surely been termed reckless.

A classic cover drive off Yasir Shah in the next over brought the 50 for Bangladesh, in 12.5 overs.

The next 50 was even quicker; it came in 9.1 overs as Kayes joined in as well. Pakistan’s spinners were constantly made to adjust their lengths as both batsmen jumped out of the crease without warning.

A reverse-swept boundary off Zulfiqar brought up Tamim’s first fifty against Pakistan. The next ball disappeared over long-on. When brought on, Hafeez was served the same treatment,

with Tamim smashing him down the ground for his second six in the bowler’s second over and Kayes picking up a six and a four in his third to bring up Bangladesh’s 100 in the 22nd over. When Tamim slowed down, Kayes picked up, reaching his half-century off 80 balls.

The pair tightened up in the third session, keeping the reverse-swing out, before a brace of boundaries off Junaid took Tamim to his fourth second-innings century off 123 balls.

The innings put him ahead of Mohammad Ashraful on the list of

Bangladesh batsmen with most centuries.

Kayes was equally impressive and adventurous.

He had been squatting behind the stumps as a substitute wicketkeeper for more than 100 overs over the last couple of days after Mushfiqur had injured his right hand. Eight overs into the day, Kayes, in an act of self-preservation, passed on the gloves to Mahmudullah. That came in handy as he survived a bout of cramps to reach the century-mark off 153 balls with the help of 11 fours and three sixes. By the end of the day, he had caught up with Tamim.

It was a highly unlikely turn of events. But it was such a day. Earlier, Mahmudullah, who was keeping wickets for the first time in international cricket, was reminded of the job responsibilities by Sarfraz. The batsman blocked in front of the pitch and directed Mahmudullah to pick up the ball, but then went on himself to lob it towards the bowler.

If Pakistan were expecting similar generosity from Bangladesh’s batsmen, it never came.

Scores: Bangladesh 332 and 273 for 0 (Tamim 138*, Kayes 132*) trail Pakistan 628 (Hafeez 224, Azhar 83, Shafiq 83, Sarfraz 82, Taijul 6-163) by 23 runs.

Daredevils revive campaign with crushing win ESPNcricinfo - Delhi Daredevils have not given the Feroz Shah Kotla a lot to crow about in 2015, but in their final home match at this ground in the IPL group stage, they gutted Kings XI Punjab’s top order, then blew past the opposition’s 118 for 8 by nine wickets. Zaheer Khan claimed a wicket in each of his first two overs to kick Daredevil’s most dominant performance of the season into gear, while JP Duminy and Nathan Coulter-Nile chipped in with scalps of their own. After 3.3 overs, Kings XI were 10 for 4 - their chance of rising above last place already on the rocks.

Coulter-Nile returned to terrorise the middle-order later on, finishing with figures of 4 for 20. Daredevils’ openers Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer struck casual half-centuries in the reply, and the hosts raced home inside 14 overs.

Zaheer had not played competitive cricket in almost a year, following the strain sustained in his back at last year’s IPL, but his impact at

Shreyas Iyer and Mayank Agarwal put on 106 for the opening stand, Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2015, Delhi, May 1, 2015 ©BCCI the Kotla was nearly immediate. Virender Sehwag was coming back to the Kings XI side himself, after a one-match

layoff, but could find no end to his poor stretch of form against his former India teammate. Sehwag aimed to push

his second ball from Zaheer through the covers, but as the ball seamed away a touch, could only get a thick outside

edge to it. Mathews took the catch at a close-in point.

Duminy opened the bowling from the other end, and hit Shaun Marsh in front of the stumps with a slider first ball. Manan Vohra tried to blast Kings XI out of the mire, but a Zaheer short ball next over put paid to those ambitions, catching the advancing batsman’s outside edge en route to the keeper. CoulterNile bowled sharp outswing in his first spell. His reward was the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha, who drove loosely at one of those balls, and presented another catch to the keeper.

David Miller and George Bailey threatened a recovery, before Bailey was out missing a sweep off Amit Mishra in the eighth over, to embed Kings XI in misery at 37 for 5.

It wasn’t until Miller and Akshar Patel were joined at the crease that some semblance of a partnership materialised for the visitors.

Those two shelved the more aggressive tenets of their game in the 59-run stand that

gave Kings XI something to bowl at. Coulter-Nile had them both caught in the deep in the 19th over.

From the second over, Delhi’s chase seemed a cakewalk. Shardul Thakur was wayward in his first IPL over, feeding Iyer two short wide balls to be cut over third man off successive deliveries.

When he attempted to correct his line, he went too far the other way, first delivering a leg-side wide, then being clipped to the fence off the pads. There were quiet overs, and a tight spell from Sandeep Sharma, but the batsmen were largely untroubled in pursuit of such a meagre score. Iyer slammed the wayward Thisara Perera to the squareleg fence to reach his halfcentury in 38 balls, but he was caught at deep midwicket next over. Agarwal remained unbeaten with 52 from 40.

Scores: Delhi Daredevils 119 for 1 (Iyer 54, Agarwal 52*) beat Kings XI Punjab 118 for 8 (Miller 42, CoulterNile 4-20, Zaheer 2-17) by nine wickets.

Saturday May 02, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 35

Cook (105) grill Windies attack as English recover after shaky start

By Sean Devers in Barbados In association with Carib Beer & Noble House Seafoods A 98-run fifth wicket stand between Skipper Alastair Cook (105) and Moeem Ali (58) led an England fight back on the opening day of the third and final Test against the West Indies here in Barbados yesterday ending on 240-7 as first-day honors were shared.

When 30-year-old Cook reached a painstaking century from 361 minutes, 259 balls with his 11th four, a clip off his legs off Shannon Gabriel, he had made the 100th century at this venue and the second in successive innings here following his unbeaten 139 in 2009 when England last played in ‘Bim’.

With two fifties in the last game in Grenada, his 26th Test ton put him level with the 26 made by Barbados’ only living national Hero Sir Garfield Sobers and was Cook’s fifth hundred against the West Indies. By the time Cook was caught behind off the day’s final ball from Marlon Samuels he batted 372 minutes and faced 266 balls; reaching the boundary 12 times. Jos Butler, who is yet to score, is the not out batsman.

Jason Holder (2-34),

Gabriel (2-36), left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul (1-86 from 20 overs) and Samuels (1-51 from 26) took the other wickets to fall to bowlers to set up what could an intriguing day today.

On a glorious day for cricket on the sun kissed 166 square mile Island of Barbados, England, urged on by a massive crowd of English supporters who easily outnumbered the home fans, won the toss and elected to bat on a track with some early help for the bowlers and a lush green and immaculately manicured outfield prepared for the 50th Test at the Kensington Oval.

Jonathon Trott and Cook walked to the middle at a venue which hosted the inaugural Test in the West Indies in 1930 and the colorful capacity crowd roared its approval.

But in the second over, Jonathon Trott fended at a lifting delivery from Gabriel before he had scored for Permaul, in his first Test since December 2013, who dived forward from short mid-wicket to hold the catch and silence the English supporters.

Gary Ballance joined fellow left-hander Cook in his 112th Test, with just a single on the board and pair buckled down to orchestrate ‘operation rebuild’ in

Denesh Ramdin has a high five for Veerasammy Permaul after he picked up a wocket, West Indies v England, 3rd Test, Bridgetown, 1st day, May 1, 2015. (AFP) sweltering heat.

Cook got going with two well timed boundaries as Gabriel and Jerome Taylor, back in the side after missing

Ramnaresh Sarwan to lead Demerara, Lower Corentyne name strong team Former West Indies and Guyana Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan will lead Demerara against Berbice in the “Friends of PPP/C” Cricket fundraiser to be played today at the historic Albion Sports Complex. The stylish right handed will have in his team national senior opener Rajendra Chandrika.

Meanwhile, the selectors from the Lower Corentyne area announced their team for the 15 overs inter zone competition which precedes the feature match.

The team is very strong on paper and includes players such as West Indies middle order batsman/all rounder Narsingh Deonarine, T20 star Jonathan Foo, national wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble, former West Indies youth left arm spinner Gudakesh Moti and former national youth opener Kandasammy Surujnarine.

Ramnaresh Sarwan

Rajendra Chandrika

Team 1.Kandasammy S u r u j n a r i n e 2.Joshua Ramsammy 3.Balchand Baldeo 4.Narsingh Deonarine (Capt a i n ) 5.Jonathan Foo 6.Anthony Bramble 7.Rajiv Ivan 8.David Latchaya

9.Gudakesh Motie 10.Yougindra Harrinarine 11.Sharaz Ramchand 12.Troy Gonselves 13.Daniel Lewis 14.Arif Chan Muthuswammi Permaul (Mana g e r ) Patrick Lewis (Assistant M a n a g e r ) Andre Percival (Coach)

the second Test due to injury, bowled a tidy opening spell before Holder, back to full fitness after twisting his ankle in the last match in Grenada replaced Gabriel from Joel Garner end.

Samuels was introduced after the water break before Cook leaned back and smashed Holder square for four and pugnaciously pulled Samuels for another boundary.

Ballance (18) got a beauty from the 6ft 7 inch Holder that came back instead of going away from him and plucked out his middle stump in spectacular fashion at 38-2.

It was soon 38-3 when Ian Bell (0) handed Holder as simple return catch as the home side, needing a win here to draw the series after losing by nine wickets in Grenada, enjoyed the better of the early exchanges.

The 50 was posted in 100 minutes and 12 overs and Permaul was brought into the attack with 20 minutes remaining in the session.

He immediately troubled Cook, who pushed forward and debutant Shai Hope, at short-leg caught the ball on the half volley as was evidenced by the TV replay and Cook responded with a

disdainful sweep for four off the 25-year-old spinner who replaced injured fellow Guyanese Devendra Bishoo in the team.

Joe Root swept Permaul for four before pulling him to the mid-wicket boundary as the Albion spinner, in his fifth Test, bowled too fast and his first two overs cost 15 runs. Cook then clipped Taylor for four and

by Lunch England were 713. The partnership was 33 with Cook was on 31 and Root on 19.

Cook made 94 & 139 not out the last time England played here but Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 291 and a century from Denesh Ramdin helped West Indies to a draw.

Yesterday, Cook and Root extended their partnership with some disciplined batting as pulsating Reggie music blared from the Party stand and British flags adorned almost every available space in the ground, creating a fantastic atmosphere among the sea of Brits in the stands who seemed to have no thoughts of England’s Election, which is set for May 7.

But Permaul got rid of Root, cutting injudiciously at one too close to him and

edged it to Ramdin to leave England on 91-4. Root’s 33 lasted just 35 balls and included five fours and the partnership was worth 53.

Ali joined the well entrenched Cook against an all spin attack and the bearded Ali danced into Permaul and clobbered him for four, while Cook swept him to the boundary to move closer to his 41st Test fifty.

Cook steered Samuels for a couple to post his halfcentury from 196 minutes and 139 balls with seven fours and then celebrated by swiveling and pulling Gabriel authoritatively through square for another boundary.

Ali tucked into Permaul with plenty of relish and hammered him for two boundaries as the Berbician continued to prove expensive in his come-back game.

Ali elegantly caressed Gabriel to the cover boundary and the noise level at Kensington suggested that the Test match was being contested at Kennington in England instead of in the Caribbean.

At Tea the English had recovered to reach 151-4 from 56 overs with Cook on a patient 60 and Ali on 37 and their partnership already worth 60.

After the break, Cook back cut Permaul for four and rotated the strike nicely with the 27-year old Ali, who was beginning to flow.

He reached his first fifty from 117 minutes from 104 balls with an effortless pull off Samuels which scattered the sun drenched English fans in the Greenidge & Haynes stand.

But Ali, when well for his second ton, was run out for 58 after doing the bulk of the scoring in the stand with Cook and England were 189-5 with the new ball nine overs away.

Cook was joined by Ben Stokes as Permaul and Samuels operated in tandem and failed to maintain the type of pressure the hosts would have wanted them to and the new ball was taken as soon as it became available.

Cook and Stokes played without much bother before Stokes (22) was removed by Gabriel at 237-6 and Samuels got the prized scalp of Cook just before the close.

Scores: England 240 for 7 (Cook 105, Buttler 0*. Ali 58; Holder 2034, Gabriel 236) v West Indies.

Page 36

Kaieteur News

Saturday May 02, 2015

Mayweather, Pacquiao fight for boxing’s future LAS VEGAS (Reuters) When Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao enter the ring today the stakes could not be higher, even for a bout already labeled the “Fight of the Century.”

The richest prize fight of all-time will give each fighter a multi-million-dollar payday and smash pay-per-view numbers while eye-popping ticket prices, out of reach for all but the rich and famous, will see the 16,800-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena rival the Super Bowl in gate receipts.

There is a garish championship belt embossed with 3,000 emeralds on the line along with the mythical title of world’s best pound-forpound fighter but more significantly it is a bout that could cement a boxing legacy and a fight on which the future of the sport could hang.

Five-plus years in the making, all the hype and elements are in place to elevate the welterweight showdown into one of those memorable watershed sporting moments.

Or it could be a flop, providing another blow for a sport that is just starting to

lift itself back off the canvas.

“This fight has been talked about for so long the anticipation now people are really looking forward to it and willing to pay any price to watch it,” Oscar De La Hoya, one of the few boxers to fight Mayweather and Pacquiao, told Reuters.

“It this fight is dull, if it’s a dud then that can really affect the overall game but if it is an exciting fight, a fight people want to see again, it can take boxing to new heights.”

With tickets on the resale market commanding over $100,000 for ringside seats and close to 3 million people expected to pay $100 on payper-view, the undefeated Mayweather (47-0) and Filipino southpaw (57-5-2) will be expected to produce a spectacle worthy of such princely price tags. The key pre-fight ritual, the weigh-in yesterday, was a show in itself, with some 10,000 fans paying $10 each to chance to glimpse of the rivals at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. It was said some tickets were resold for as much as $150.

Undefeated WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the U.S. and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines pose during a final news conference at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, April 29, 2015. (Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus) The fight will be a classic matchup of boxing styles.

Considered one of the best defensive fighters of alltime, Mayweather is crafty with a superior ring intelligence that has allowed him to survive nearly two decades in the ring by avoiding danger.

In contrast, Pacquiao brings an all-out attacking style to the showdown, a hard

puncher capable of landing a knockout shot that could hand Mayweather his first professional defeat.

While the fight is the most anticipated in decades, for most boxing experts it comes a half-decade too late with both fighters past their prime.

The 38-year-old American may not be as slick or fast as he was while there are ques-

tions about Pacquiao’s power, the 36-year-old having not scored a knockout win since 2009 when he floored Briton Ricky Hatton in the second round.

“The ingredients are there and it is only because of Pacquiao,” said De La Hoya, who lost to both men. “We know what Mayweather is going to do, we’ve been there, we’ve done that but the one person who can make this fight an exciting one is Pacquiao.

“He has a relentless style; he will be the one pressing the action.

“It all depends on Pacquiao.”

For Mayweather, it will be his 11th consecutive fight at the MGM Grand but it is Pacquiao who will have an entire nation in his corner.

A politician, philanthropist, recording artist and action movie star, Pacquiao is a national hero in his homeland where his image has featured on a postage stamp and video games.

His rags-to-riches story of a young man who once lived on the hard scrabble Manila

streets is inspiring, a source of motivation Pacquiao routinely draws upon, “I can’t imagine the boy who was starving and sleeping on the street has become what I am now,” said the eightdivision world champion known as Pacman. “I have a good feeling for this fight.

“For me, it’s about how we can make the fans happy.

They are paying big money ... so they deserve to have a good fight.”

For Mayweather the fight is one that will define his legacy and place among the pantheon of boxing greats.

Even if Mayweather were to retire with an unbeaten record there would have always be a question mark hanging over his career if he never clashed with his great Filipino rival.

“This fight is about one fighter who is at the top fighting another fighter who is at the top. It’s about giving you guys excitement,” said Mayweather. “We don’t know how this fight is going to play out, but I believe in my skills. I believe I am going to be victorious.

Linden Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Competition

Russians, Wisroc square off on Monday for title Unknowns play Star Boyz for third place The large turnout of fans that descended on the Mackenzie Market Tarmac to witness the semi-finals of the Linden segment of the Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Competition were treated to a spectacle of high drama in the feature clash between Amelia’s Ward Russians and Retrieve Unknowns which ended in the latter’s favour 4-3 in sudden death penalty kicks on Thursday night.

The result came after regulation and extra time concluded in a nil-all stalemate thereby sending the encounter into penalty kicks.

In the other semi-final which was settled in regulation time, Wisroc through a solitary strike off the boots of Omar Archer in the 16th minute of play dashed any hope that Star Boyz harboured of competing for the title.

Following their respective wins, both teams will meet on Monday, at the same venue to decide who will enjoy bragging rights for one year, since both teams have already qualified

Action in the game that featured Wisroc and Star Boyz on Thursday night at the Mackenzie Market Tarmac. for the national playoffs by virtue of their top two finish in the competition.

Just before the final, the third place playoff

between Retrieve Unknowns and Star Boyz will take place.

In the opening encounter between Wisroc and Star

Boyz, both teams started out the match tentatively as they created very little chances of scoring in the first period and the half came with them

deadlocked nil-all.

The second period saw some amount of fireworks, but errant finishing kept the contest even until Archer raced on to a pass delivered on the right flank, before unleashing a powerful strike into the lower left hand corner of the goal to evoke wild celebrations from their supporters.

Wisroc despite being put under pressure from a sustained offensive attack by Star Boyz were able to nullify all the threats and secure their final spot.

In the second semi-final showdown, last year’s beaten finalist Retrieve Unknowns will have no such opportunity to go one better after succumbing to the Russians in a nerve tingling shootout that had the fans sweating with nervousness.

The first round of penalty kicks ended 1-1 after both sides failed to hit the target in their second and third attempts, thus necessitating sudden death kicks.

It was during this process that the fans were truly compensated for their

patience during the goal drought as the teams scored and missed crucial kicks.

The scores stayed leveled as both teams missed in the fourth round of penalty kicks.

It became 2-2 as the respective shooters scored from the distance in the fifth round of penalty kicks.

Amelia’s Ward then took the lead in the seventh round requiring Unknowns to score to keep their hopes alive, but unfortunately the shooter muffed the chance ultimately sending the Russians into the final and the opportunity to play for the top prize of $300,000 and a trophy, while the runner-up is set to collect $150,000.

The third and fourth place finishers will receive $100,000 and $75,000 respectively.

The night’s full results: Game-1 Star Boyz-0 vs Wisroc-1 Omar Archer-16th Game-2 Amelia’s Ward Russians0 vs Retrieve Unknown-0 Amelia’s Ward Russians won 4-3 on sudden death kicks