Kaieteur News

Thursday Edition May 17, 2012 - Vol. 5 No. 19

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Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Luncheon ‘completely unaware’ of study for national airline

Pg 3

Despite no formal announcement, Marriott Hotel gets underway

Schoolboy fatally stabbed

Pg 3

- assailant in custody

GRA not renting “NICIL is the CLICO building for $10.5M government's Pg 16

a month Dead: Shane George

… Dr Luncheon says he made a blunder

El Dorado”

Pg 13

- Nagamootoo

Jagdeo decided on sale of all ‘state assets’ in last decade Pg 6

Page 02

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Schoolgirls injured as Sophia bridge collapses Two schoolgirls were injured when a bridge connecting Guyhoc Park to ‘A’ Field, Sophia collapsed yesterday morning, once again sparking concerns over dilapidated public infrastructure.

Kaieteur News understands that one of the girls suffered a fractured foot, while the other received cuts and bruises.

The wooden bridge which was built over 10 years ago facilitates pedestrian and motorcycle use from ‘A’ Field, Sophia to Guyhoc Park where residents have easier access to public transportation.

According to reports, the two girls, who were on their way to school, were almost in the middle of the bridge when one of the beams collapsed, sending them into the Lamaha Canal or the Blacka, which is more than five feet deep.

Thankfully some male residents who were standing near the bridge saw their

Rescuers assist one of the schoolgirls out of the trench.

plight and quickly went to their assistance.

“One ah dem get blackout and we had to hoist she out. If we didn’t hold she, she would’ a float away,” a resident who did not give his name told Kaieteur News.

According to residents, the bridge was a disaster waiting to happen and they all agreed that yesterday’s incident could have been worse. They claimed that for several years, they have been “propping up” the bridge without any assistance from the government agency that is responsible for such matters.

They claimed that the last time a section of the facility collapsed, there were some children on it but as fate would have it they had made it to safety.

“Since we living here, is we build this bridge and we does be propping it up every time it damage,” one resident said.

Their anger over the lack

of concern for them is rooted in the fact that just a few yards away, Government constructed a six million dollar bridge to facilitate residents of the neighbouring community of Plum Park, Sophia.

“They should do all de bridges and not wait for something tragic to happen before they do something,” a resident stated.

Two weeks ago residents of North East La Penitence condemned a bridge on Cemetery Road after a 16-yearold perished when trapped for several minutes in a car that careened off the structure and landed in the trench beneath.

Their actions forced the Ministry of Public Works to immediately commence reconstruction works to the bridge.

Residents of ‘A’ Field Sophia are hoping that they will not have to take similar action in order to have their need for a proper bridge fulfilled.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Luncheon ‘completely unaware’ of study for national airline Government’s chief spokesperson, Dr Roger Luncheon, yesterday said that he was “totally unaware” that the government had commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of setting up a national airline.

A series of paid advertisements in the Kaieteur News last week claimed that the government had paid for a study that was conducted by UNIMAC out of Canada.

Dr Luncheon said that the advertisements were brought to his attention and as far as the Office of the President was concerned, there was no study.

“I could without any hesitation say I am totally unaware.”

Dr. Luncheon said that the Office of the President is not responsible for civil aviation.

“Indeed a study could have been done by the civil aviation Ministry.” Dr Luncheon said that he would have to await the results of his “investigation.”

In the Kaieteur News advertisements, it was claimed that the government ordered that a company called Air Guyana be incorporated,

but that was subjected to a legal challenged by an aviation company that uses the said name.

Further, it was claimed that under the Bharrat Jagdeo government, UNIMAC out of Canada - under the names Leon Hui and Francis Chung Ko - was paid a hefty sum to conduct the feasibility study.

The study, the advertisement stated, spoke about an airline that would be the sole designated national carrier of Guyana.

It was further claimed that the study stated that for a national airline to be set up there would be the need for a Category 1 Airport and that shortly before President Jagdeo left office it was revealed that the government had signed a US$138 million secret deal to build a new airport at Timehri.

While that secret deal was being negotiated, the new charter service, EZjet, began flying to Guyana and the purported owner, Sonny Ramdeo, said the company wanted to become the national flag carrier of Guyana, the advertisement stated.

In the final advertisement

on Sunday, it was asked whether the administration under Bharrat Jagdeo being truthful when it initiated the new airport project and whether Minister Benn was really being honest when he said that a Chinese Vice Premier was passing through the Caribbean, waving billions of dollars and Guyana had to grab on to some to build a new airport.

The advertisement further stated that it was revealed that Ms. Rosalinda Rasul is the Country Manager of the new charter service EZjet.

Just prior to this, Rasul, the advertisement stated, was the Personal Executive Assistant to the CEO of the Sanata Complex, owned by Dr Ranjisinghi (Bobby) Ramroop, the best friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The advertisements ended with the question of whether the Guyanese people were being plunged into the massive debt of US$150 million, the second largest investment in Guyana, for their benefit or whether the investment is to enrich a specific clique.

Insurance manager’s heart and lungs were punctured Insurance Company Manager Bert Whyte died from perforation of the heart and lungs due to stab wounds he received last Monday night.

This is according to a post mortem examination performed on his body yesterday by Dr. Nehaul Singh. Whyte of Phoenix Park, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara was stabbed twice by a lone assailant, in the vicinity of Tiger Bay. He ran a short distance before collapsing in Main Street outside a popular Restaurant and Bar. Whyte died before receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he was rushed. His car, a Toyota Sprinter, which was stolen during the incident has not yet been recovered.

Investigators are still trying to locate a mystery individual who was reportedly the last person seen with Whyte before he was killed.

An eyewitness said that he saw Whyte, a former Personnel Manager at the GPHC, who was later employed in the insurance industry, scuffling with a man before breaking away and running towards Main Street.

Before collapsing in front of the popular Main Street nightspot, Whyte gave his cellular phone to the security personnel at the establishment who subsequently contacted

Dead: Bert Whyte relatives.

According to a source close to the investigation, Whyte was last seen with a dark-complexioned man with ‘wavy’ hair in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market.

This newspaper learnt that Whyte had made the customary pick up of his niece

from a private school in the city hours before his death.

The child told detectives that there was another male who is unfamiliar to her in Whyte’s car when she was picked up.

What was strange though, instead of taking her home himself, Whyte reportedly dropped off his niece at the Stabroek Speed boat Stelling for her to make her way home to Pouderoyen on the West Bank of Demerara.

So far the mystery person in Whyte’s car has not come forward. Detectives are hoping that they will find Whyte’s car soon so that they can narrow down their investigation.

Page 3

Schoolboy fatally stabbed - assailant in custody

A 17-year-old St. George’s Community High student was stabbed to death shortly after 17:00 hrs yesterday during a bitter confrontation with another teenager from the private lessons they both attended.

Shane George, of lot 144 Jasmine Lane, Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Georgetown, was stabbed multiple times about the body by another teenager in front of the Morgan Learning Centre in John Street and Stone Avenue, Campbellville.

George, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The young suspect was nabbed at the scene by police. He is currently at the Kitty Police Station assisting with information. Police sources have told Kaieteur News that he was being questioned by investigators in the presence of an aunt.

However there are reports that he is not cooperating fully claiming that he would only do so in the presence of an attorney.

Kaieteur News understands that George, who was sitting this year’s Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), and his assailant, were seen arguing.

Eyewitnesses said that the two teenagers were arguing over “brand name” clothes. A scuffle ensued and George was stabbed.

Meanwhile, other students from the private lessons said that the two were arguing over a female student who also attends classes there. It was unclear what was said, but the suspect became angry, pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim several times.

Persons who claimed to

Dead: Shane George

be eyewitnesses said that the suspect attempted to run but was nabbed by other students and was handed over to the police, who arrived shortly after the incident occurred.

Yesterday, George’s relatives and his classmates were inconsolable at GPHC. One relative who was outside of the Kitty Police Station told this publication that they received the message shortly after 17:00hrs.

The relative said that he rushed down to the hospital only to be confronted by the news.

Kaieteur News was told that the two boys never had a problem with each other, which could have resulted in something so dreadful.

This is the second

schoolboy murder for the year.

In February last, 17-yearold Anfernee Bowman was fatally stabbed by an 18-yearold in a row over a girl. It was reported that both teens attended the ‘Mr. Patterson Lessons’, in Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt.

Bowman collapsed a short distance away, near the Festival City Entrance, while pursuing his assailant.

He was prono u n c e d dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation after being taken there in a car.

His attacker was caught several hours later. He was subsequently charged with the murder and the preliminary inquiry is continuing.

Page 4

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 17, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

We can make a change Monday was a most horrific day in the history of this country. It certainly was not the day when the most murders were committed nor was it the day when the most people died on the roads. But for some time now there have not been as many deaths in a single day. Monday was therefore a large blip on the national calendar.

Indeed there were the massacres by the gang that terrorized Guyana during the crime wave. In one fell swoop eleven people died, some in their beds, when gunmen, many no older than sixteen, and armed with high powered rifles, killed because one megalomaniac wanted to teach the nation a lesson.

Then a few days later, the very group with assistance from people in the community, launched a most murderous campaign on Bartica. Policemen manning their desks in the Bartica Police Station were slain, as were watchmen and ordinary people going about their business.

When it came to road accidents, there was one accident that claimed eight lives. The occupants of the minibus were returning home from the Mashramani event in Berbice when they crashed. The nation groaned and the authorities vowed to do everything to avoid a recurrence. There were similar utterances when the criminals actually made life a nightmare in the country.

On Monday two people were murdered, one of them a watchman who stayed out of his home each night because he was a breadwinner. The other was an insurance manager whose killing defies logic. To make it worse, his car has been taken and remains hidden.

A woman who decided to spend Mother’s Day amidst friends ended up dead on a porch; a young man entrusted with a car crashed and died. His passengers were seriously injured. To this day they remain hospitalized.

Then there was the nurse who took her own life because of a soured love affair and the demented woman who disappeared from home and ended up dead in a desolate area.

For a country with such a small population there are simply too many unnatural deaths. Some of these result from what seems to be a growing impatience among members of the population. Reasoning seems to have gone through the window leaving behind, brute force and ignorance. With the proliferation of guns there are now a growing number of shootings.

It is not unusual for people to blame the police for inaction. It is as if the police are the people who must contain every crime wave. We do stop to consider that the wider society must be the first line of defence. The criminals come from the cinema and they can only do what they are now doing because people stand idly by and let them.

In the Wednesday May 15 issue of Kaieteur News, a letter writer, a T. Jadunauth, said that the situation in Enmore that has seen two men killed and their bound bodies left by some public place, is the result of society failing to take action to protect itself by monitoring the very people who live there. In the first instance, parents should be instilling in their children a sense of morality.

This is not the case. Women could be heard proclaiming that they are mothers and fathers and that they simply cannot cope. Under such conditions the wider community should help because, as the saying goes, it takes a community to bring up a child.

But there may be an overriding influence, something that caused President Donald Ramotar to jolt the memory of the Organisation of American States that poverty is one of the factors inhibiting the orderly growth of a society.

As we have seen most of the violent criminals come from the depressed section of the society.

They are the poor of the poor whose parents simply ignored them in a cat-eat-cat dog-eat-dog world. Under such conditions one can see that life has lost its value but those of us who care, behave like Pontius Pilate as Jadunauth notes. “The security of a community is in the hands of the residents,” Jadunauth writes. By extension the security of a nation rests with the citizens.

If only we become involved we could see an end to what sent shockwaves through the society on Monday.

It’s not an electricity issue. It’s economic genocide!

DEAR EDITOR, Reference is made to Prime Minister Sam Hinds’ letter “A Reply to Mr. Lincoln Lewis” (KN 11th May).

The commitment to principles embedded in universal declarations, international conventions and the Guyana Constitution will be discomforting to violators. If leaders desire silence or acceptance of their behavior, it behooves them to uphold the instruments they have taken the Oath to respect and protect. When they fail to do so they must hear from us.

The claim by Hinds of an agreement between him and APNU leaders for an increase in Linden’s electricity tariff has no merit.

Any leader who disregards their constitutional duty to consult with the people and have them involved in decision-making that affects their well being, as per Article 13 of the Guyana Constitution, must hear the voices of resistance.

Leaders are elected to represent their supporters’ interest, not dictate to them; moreso the power they have is not theirs, it belongs to the people who are duty-bound to ensure it is used consistent with their legitimate demands.

At the 1992 GAWU Delegates’ Conference, in conversation with Hinds as Prime Ministerial candidate, he said when the PPP wins the elections he will give leadership to a revival of the bauxite fortune by: 1) applying Alcan’s study to have LINMINE produce 700,000 metric tonnes of RASC and increase production of MAZ; and 2) he will seek joint venture partners to produce in commercial quantities GUYCOR 93 and GUYMOL, two products that customers would have purchased.

The following is the ‘leadership’ Hinds delivered for bauxite as the responsible minister.

The Australian company MINPROC was given a contract to manage LINMINE in June 1992 and in November 1992, PM Hinds in his first engagement with Charles Sampson and me, informed the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) that LINMINE will reduce production from over 4000 tonnes to 2500 tonnes and workers will be sent home.

The union advised against the decision and pointed out that the company will lose its share in the international market place and Guyana will be deemed an unreliable supplier. This information was revealed to Stabroek News.

Hinds and MINPROC’s CEO, Australian Brian Maher, denied the intent to

downscale production and lay off workers. In February 1993, the unions in bauxite (GB&GWU and GMWU) were invited by LINMINE to discuss making the jobs of 1700 employees redundant.

Hinds is being untruthful that “in 1983…nearly 2000 workers – about one-third of the workforce in Linden then – were retrenched...”

The company in its advisory to the unions, addressed to Christopher James, General Secretary of the Guyana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) and me, advised that 1287 workers would be retrenched.

At the conclusion of this exercise, 992 were retrenched.

What Hinds has not told the nation is that in 1993, under his leadership, 1700 workers were sent home and before privatization of the company in 2005, the entire workforce was terminated.

The PM has corroborated my statement that the diesel engines were removed from Linden when he says, “yes, two of the abandoned engines were transferred to GPL in 2009 and were totally rebuilt and installed at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice and Versailles, West Bank Demerara.” While he calls them ‘abandoned’ to justify their removal, suffice to say we now know the engines were not only taken to Berbice, but are in two regions the PPP won.

Hinds needs to come clean and tell this nation where is the steam turbine that was removed from Linden, which was bought when Dunstan Barrow was CEO of GUYMINE. Sam is again being dishonest in saying the “steam power station became one of the most costly generators of electricity.” In fact, this was the station that was taken over and manned

by Texas Ohio.

Linden always had independent electricity generation, even unto today.

Electricity and water were always elements in the production cost of bauxite, and the unions, which have been in the industry since the 1940s, factored these into negotiations with the company.

Water and electricity were part of the negotiated conditions of service for the workers and fall in the category of deferred wages/ salary. Water and electricity were never free.

It is the PPP who gave away the workers’ sweat equity, non-renewable resources and sold the company for US$1.

They ignored the unions’ effort to discuss and secure the nation’s mineral rights and the workers’ sweat equity.

The issue of the bauxite pension plan is not one of collection - I have not uplifted mine - it is about the government’s refusal to entertain advice to save the plan to ensure economic continuity for the retired.

The GB&GWU’s advice to convert at least a portion of the plan into an investment fund to ensure continuity of income on retirement, by having bauxite workers and their families borrow from the Fund towards their economic sustenance and empowerment, was ignored

by Hinds and Winston Brassington.

Contrary to Hinds’ claim, moneys were paid to NIS and the pension fund in the 1970s and 1980s. His claim is also untrue that “…the 69KV line joining Garden of Eden and Linden, by the end of the 1980s, neither GEC nor the Linden Bauxite Company was in a position to send power to the other.” The national

grid was receiving electricity from Linden when the PPP took office in 1992 and the lines could not have been vandalised.

Under Hinds’ stewardship a fully functioning mill to produce GUYCOR 93 was sold by MINPROC as scrap metal, bringing a halt to production.

Under the leadership of Horace James LINMINE submitted a plan to the PPP government requesting US$14M to rehabilitate the company. This was denied, even at the same time the government injected in excess of US$200M for sugar expansion at Skeldon.

The tax-free overtime fought for by the bauxite workers and extended to the sugar workers by the PNC government, the PPP government took away this benefit from bauxite workers but keeps it in sugar.

The more than $2.5 billion bauxite workers’ contributory pension plan was destroyed by the PPP, even as they injected millions to save the sugar workers’ pension plan.

The bauxite workers’ selfcontributory Thrift Plan which provided soft loans for the construction and purchasing of houses was broken up by the PPP. Also, the bauxite workers’ trade school was taken away even as the government allows sugar to maintain control of their trade school.

The People of Guyana are asked, would they sit silent or support similar attacks by any government on sugar workers (a sister production sector), the way the PPP relentlessly attacks bauxite workers and their unions?

I ask the PPP supporters, allies, sugar workers and sugar unions, if the PNC government had dared try this with sugar, would they have (Continued on page 7)

UG students are being treated with contempt

DEAR EDITOR, On behalf of the students of the University of Guyana (UG), I write to highlight the level of disdain and contempt with which the students are customarily treated. In doing so, I will use one example, out of the myriad instances available.

Since last semester, sometime around October/November 2011, the air-conditioning system in the UG Library has ceased working.

Upon inquiry, I was informed that the UG Library roof was under repair, consequently, the air-conditioning system could not work – maybe because of some opening spaces in the roof through which the cold air could escape.

The students who used the library throughout the semester and, even more so, around exam periods were inconvenienced.

After much protestation by the students, an inadequate number of fans were provided to minimize the discomforting heat resulting from the poorly ventilated building. Being

understandable human beings, we endured the slightly ameliorated discomfort during our study periods in the library, thinking that in a couple of months or so the roof would have been completed and the air-conditioning system would have been ‘up and running’.

Approximately eight months have since elapsed, another exam period is upon us, and the roof seems to be nowhere near completion.

As a matter of fact, the work on the roof has been stalled for some months now.

And, from the look of things, we will be forced to endure the same discomforting conditions we endured last semester.

It might be necessary here to point out that the Ministry of Education assumes the responsibility for capital works at the University of Guyana, therefore, the contractor working on the roof of the UG Library is directly contracted by that Ministry.

Duane Edwards President University of Guyana Students’ Society

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 5

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

Fighting poverty: The PPP/C has consistently embraced the progressive approach to development

DEAR EDITOR, Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar made a passionate appeal in Washington for governments to do more to reduce the incidence of poverty and inequity in the region.

Those remarks were made during an address to the Permanent Council of the OAS at its Headquarters.

The poverty level in the region, with the possible exception of Haiti, though not considered to be the highest in the world, continues to be of major concern to politicians and policymakers.

The President took note of the critical importance of democracy to development and for overall peace and security in the region.

As he correctly pointed out, there cannot be any debate on democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean outside the context of our intolerable levels of poverty, when 57 million people or some 11 percent of our population live on less than one dollar a day and 23 percent exist daily on less than two dollars.

The call could not have been more relevant, given the high stagnation levels experienced by several countries in the region following the economic and financial crisis which engulfed some of the leading economies including the United States, a key player on hemispheric issues.

That country had been particularly hit by a stinging financial and economic crisis, which has had a rippling effect on peripheral economies in terms of foreign exchange inflows and trade imbalances.

One consequence of this has been a significant realignment of aid and trade from traditional partners to other economic players on the world stage, most notably China, which over the years has been showing enhanced attention to the region by way of trade and aid, including financial assistance to some of the countries that are experiencing severe financial difficulties.

Historically, the United States has regarded Latin

America and the Caribbean as its “backyard’ and viewed any attempt by foreign powers to penetrate the region economically or ideologically as an “interference” in its domestic affairs. This was particularly so during the days of the Cold War, when a number of countries in the region, including Guyana, saw a subversion of their democracy out of fear of ‘communism.’

Jamaica is perhaps the most affected country in the English-speaking Caribbean, with a high debt burden which is consuming the bulk of its revenues by way of debt repayments and interest payments.

The situation is not dissimilar to what obtained during the days of the former PNC administration, when the servicing of our debt burden was consuming over 90% of our revenues.

Due to prudent financial management and good governance, the country managed to reduce the debt burden to manageable proportions, thanks to

The people’s money belongs to the Consolidated Fund, not NICIL DEAR EDITOR, For the longest while I have argued that the PPP/C government feels justified in treating Guyanese the way they do because they view us in very limited terms.

In the minds of the PPP/C government, we are considered a bunch of docile homo-sapiens incapable of applying the most basic and logical kind of reasoning.

So deeply held is this negative view of the people by the regime that they have taken to making bold statements and engaging in certain actions, which undoubtedly call into question the constitutionality of those actions.

If my opinion of the PPP/ C government’s views of Guyanese is flawed, how else do you justify the blatant act of holding the people’s money in NICIL and not in the Consolidated Fund?

How else do you explain President Ramotar’s dismissive pronouncement on this matter, as he claims that the government is doing nothing wrong by holding the people’s money in NICIL? Any government that respects its people would not only have concern for the legal ramifications of its actions, but would also have serious regard for its moral and ethical responsibility to the nation. So, assuming for

one minute that Ramotar is right that there was no legal wrong committed with the PPP/C ‘stashing away’ the people’s money in NICIL, where is the moral and ethical consideration to respond in a manner which takes care of the reasonable expectation of the people?

Clearly, these considerations and responsibilities continue to be absent from the words and actions of members of the

government, and my argument is that this can only be possible because the government has no regard for the people.

Over the years the actions of senior members of the PPP/ C, including the president, have been most contemptuous towards the people, whom they seem to believe to be just a naïve bunch. They seem to fear not, whether the people find their (Continued on page 7)

generous debt write- offs and rescheduling of payments by international financial institutions and friendly countries.

With the end of the Cold War and disintegration of the Socialist Bloc, communism was no longer seen as an enemy to be confronted diplomatically or, if needed, militarily. This however does not mean that the region has been relegated to the political backwater as far as the United States is concerned.

There is still Cuba to contend with, which until today, the United States has vehemently opposed membership to the OAS, despite calls from the vast majority of member states for Cuba’s admission. The United States continues with its decades-old trade embargo against that country, despite opposition from most countries in the hemisphere and beyond.

The economic and political clout enjoyed by the United States has diminished to a significant degree, due to a combination of its own domestic financial woes and the rise of other economic powers most notably China which, as mentioned earlier, is becoming an increasingly important player in the economic and diplomatic arena of the region.

Indeed, were it not for the

high demand for raw materials and other commodities to fuel its high economic growth rates and the relatively cheap exports of a wide range of consumer goods from China, many developing countries would have found themselves in a far worse situation.

Then there is Brazil, now considered an economic powerhouse having recently overtaken Britain as the sixth largest economy in the world.

Brazil, along with China, India, Russia, South Africa and Turkey are now creating economic waves globally, which poses a serious threat to United States hegemony not only in the region, but in the world at large.

Politically, Venezuela under Chavez is regarded as a “rogue” state in Latin America, a situation made even worse by the left-wing tendencies of some other member states, in particular

Ecuador, under current President Correa.

The world has become a global village. In other words, no country is isolated from the economic shocks emanating from any of the key economic players.

The current crisis being experienced in the Eurozone economies is playing out not only at the economic level but politically as well, as manifested in the poor showing of rightist and proausterity parties in several countries.

There is now a new mode of thinking which says that there can be no real development which fails to put people at the centre of the entire process.

The PPP/C has consistently embraced this approach to development, one that has found resonance with progressive humanity throughout the world.

Hydar Ally

Page 6

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 17, 2012

Jagdeo decided on sale of all ‘state assets’ in last decade

By Gary Eleazar Executive Director of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington, appeared on State Television this past Sunday to clear the air on the government holding company.

He said that it was Cabinet, headed by the President, which ultimately has the final say in the disposal of state assets.

He said that the Board of Directors on the Privatization Unit which is the body that falls under NICIL evaluates proposals and makes recommendations to the Cabinet which has the final say.

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo, would have been the Head of Cabinet from 2001 to 2011 when he demitted office and de facto, would have had the final say on each of the sale of state assets according to Brassington.

Shadow Finance Minister, Carl Greenidge, has already signaled that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) will be paying special attention to all NICIL transactions.

Greenidge told Kaieteur News, recently, that while it is ultimately for the Government to decide where the money is invested; it is also for “the Legislature to know and to give its view on the matter.”

PARLIAMENT’S EXCLUSION He was speaking to the fact that monies garnered from the sale of state assets

by NICIL are utilized to the exclusion of the Parliament.

Greenidge said that ultimately, “it is for the government to decide on how state assets are used, but it does not exercise that power in a vacuum.”

He also argues that it is illegal for the government to make transfers of state lands to NICIL “free of cost,” which in turn sells it at the behest of Cabinet and the entire sum not turned over to the Consolidated Fund.

“If NICIL is a private company over which the Government has no control, then what is it doing receiving free land from the Government,” asks Greenidge.

Greenidge suggests that if NICIL is a private company over which the government does not have control, then it is illegal to be transferring lands to NICIL “free of cost.”

State land is transferred to NICIL which in turn disposes of it in some cases to Ministers, “which as far as I am concerned is illegal, especially to (Bharrat) Jagdeo,” said Greenidge.

Speaking to what NICIL is supposed to be doing with its money, the former Finance Minister insists that the Constitution of Guyana supersedes any law and the Constitution demands that the monies be turned over to the Consolidated Fund.

The former Finance Minister said that “it is not an absolute monarchy here in which the King wakes up one morning and decides that I am going to give all this money to somebody and nobody must ask me anything…This is not part of the mechanism

of a democratic government.”

Greenidge reminded that the money in question is very substantial amounts and “whilst the government is taxing people and telling them that they cannot reduce taxes, the government has taken revenues from the sale of land and property, has it essentially in a slush fund and they just facilitate friends, cronies, and businesses associated with government and other things.”

He said that what Government must now do, is establish that the monies are being disposed of in a way that is defensible and, “the idea of putting it in the Consolidated Fund is in the Constitution…The default position as it relates Government monies is to put it into the Consolidated Fund.”

TRACKING BILLIONS Turning to his Motion that is before Parliament and slated for debate at the end of this month, Greenidge says that it is meant to assist in the tracking of the billions invested by NICIL for which there has been no public accounting recently.

He reminded that several of the large transactions for which NICIL would have come under fire would have occurred a long time after the 2004 audited accounts.

He says that the motion before the House, is aimed at compelling the Government Minister responsible for NICIL which in this case is the Substantive Minister (Dr Ashni Singh) “to explain what has been done with the funds…The question has to be answered.”

During the last quarter of 2011, it disposed of at least 16 plots of land to several individuals in Mackenzie/ Linden Industrial Site.

The sale of land minus the amount of money received for the various plots, each less than an acre, has been documented in the Official Gazette dated March, 2012

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo NICIL’s Executive, Winston Brassington and points to agreements for the sale which were effected in August 2011 but made final

in February. According to the information published in the Gazette, the Order was made by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Singh.

The previous year NICIL handled an estimated 30

APNU’s Carl Greenidge properties but no sale prices have been disclosed or monies transferred to Government’s Consolidated Fund. One property was transferred from the Guyana (continued on page 17)

AFC commends NCN initiative to host weekly debate - Nagamootoo - Notes panel was selected arbitrarily and disproportionally The Alliance For Change (AFC) has welcomed the initiative from National Communications Network (NCN) to host a weekly discussion on the television station on topical issues, according to executive member of AFC and Parliamentarian Moses Nagamootoo.

According to the time table and notice dispatched to the party, the programme was to have commenced since last Sunday at 11:00hrs. The programme is as follows:

“The selection of the panel was arbitrary and disproportionate. AFC notes that it’s a wakeup call for NCN to democratize its programme and to reflect the plurality in society. This has not gone unheeded,” Nagamootoo noted.

However, he said NCN has narrowed the panel to a Government opposition engagement rather than one that involves the three parliamentary parties.

He explained that NCN has also arbitrarily selected the AFC, APNU and Government representatives. And in the case of the AFC the party reserves the right to select its own representatives.

“NCN has contemptuously allocated to the AFC in a disproportionate way only one representative out of 14 to feature on the panel…and NCN has unilaterally set a time table for the weekly discussion without any prior consultation with the AFC which raises the reasonable suspicion that this can all be another propaganda show.”

Nagamootoo, on a lighter note, said that it is indeed a step in the right direction for national development.

According to APNU’s point man on finance, Carl Greenidge, who is listed as being one of the first persons on the Parliamentary Opposition Representative list, he did not personally receive a notice from NCN pertaining to the discussions on the TV Station.

A Partnership for National Unity Executive, Lance Carberry, says NCN has a responsibility to ensure that opposition members are thoroughly informed about the debates.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 7

Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news The people’s money belongs to the Consolidated...

From page 5 actions to be outrageous.

However, I wish to remind everyone that it was Thomas Jefferson who posited that, “When governments fear the people there is liberty. When people fear the government there is tyranny”. The question now being, is there liberty in Guyana or tyranny?

The recent budget debates were another classic example of where the people’s intelligence came under attack.

I listened to a few of the budget debate presentations and was appalled to hear the PPP/C M.P, Madam Gail Teixeira, a woman whom I respect for her role in Guyanese politics, intimate that people are living in Guyana longer today, because of the PPP/C. I cringed when I heard the deliberate comment, but what was worse, was that similar comments were made by successive government M.Ps. How can people feel so confident to make these massively arrogant statements, when they ought to know better? My belief is that they can only do so because they believe us to be a society of mindless beings.

What utter disrespect!

It is no secret that countries, the world over, for the past two decades or so, have been experiencing a rise

in life expectancy, owing to a number of international and other efforts. Take for instance, Somalia, a country plagued by ongoing civil wars, had a life expectancy rate of 56 years in 2011 as compared to 46 years in 1991.

So the fact that Guyanese are living longer is not owing to the PPP/C ‘power’ to breathe ‘long life’ into us, and for which we must be ever grateful to them, but it is rather, a reality symptomatic of a wider global trend.

There are numerous examples of the PPP/C government’s ‘talking down’ to the Guyanese people, disrespecting us and smacking at our intelligence, and these uncivilized types of behaviour and actions must stop.

Several Guyanese, both in the parliamentary opposition and members of civil society, have sounded their voices on the NICIL issue. It baffles my mind why the government continues to be in denial and refuses to turn the people’s money over to the Consolidated Fund, where it belongs. Why this stubborn posture on an issue which is as clear cut as can possibly be, except of course, there is something sinister in this NICIL arrangement.

It is time for the government to fear the people!

Lurlene Nestor

It’s not an electricity issue. It’s economic...

From page 4 supported it or remained silent? Hinds should know the people are not fools.

An electricity hike is pending and the government is hoping to mask it by pitting groups against each other and making Linden the issue when Linden is not tied to the national grid, and the mismanaged GPL continues to lose approximately 40 percent in electricity, the burden of which this government wants to pass on to the consumers.

I stand by my statement that the President is misrepresenting issues and

using coded language in a strategy of divide and rule.

The exposure of Hinds’ untruths confirms my position.

The Linden issue is not about electricity. It is about a continuous attack on the economic self-determination of a people. It is about the PPP wanting to impose its management and will on the people. It is about the PPP engaging in acts to destroy a group because of their resoluteness in ensuring their rights to freedom of association and selfdetermination are respected.

The electricity issue is another relentless act of transgressing persons’ rights, compromising their quality of life, their dignity and selfworth, and putting them in conditions of life not of their making. Consistent with the right to name reality and make sense of one’s existence, the PPP’s 20-year policies towards this community is called economic genocide, which falls within the purview of the United Nations Convention on Genocide, accordingly defined as, “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a

national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”

Lindeners are working on a plan to ensure their economic survival/empowerment, consistent with their right to selfdetermination.

The representative national leaders must respect the people’s right and give support to the efforts of a proud people. The national leaders must also bring to the nation’s attention the electricity financial relationship in Linden with NICIL, Linden Electricity Company Incorporated (LECI) and BOSAI Bauxite Company.

Lincoln Lewis

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Kaieteur News

Thursday May 17, 2012

Greece gets caretaker PM Groups against Jack acting as PM until next vote in June ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A senior judge was sworn in yesterday to head Greece’s caretaker government for a month as the debt-crippled country lurches through a political crisis that threatens its membership in the 17nation eurozone.

The political uncertainty is worrying Greece’s international creditors as well as Greeks themselves, who have withdrawn hundreds of

millions of euros from banks since the May 6 election.

Council of State head Panagiotis Pikrammenos, 67, was appointed earlier yesterday to head a government that will lack the mandate to make any binding commitments until a new election, which is expected June 17.

About •700 million ($898 million) in deposits have left Greek banks since May 7, the

day after the election, President Karolos Papoulias told party leaders after being briefed by central bank governor George Provopoulos.

“The situation in the banks is very difficult,” Papoulias said according to a transcript of the meeting’s minutes released Tuesday night. “Mr. Provopoulos told me that of course there is no panic, but there is great fear which could turn into panic.”

There were no queues at banks in Athens after the May 6 election, but Greeks have been gradually withdrawing their savings over the past two years as the

Port of Spain - Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute, an independent non-profit group, has slammed the appointment of former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner as the country’s acting prime minister, saying serious allegations against him in the football organisation remain unresolved.

Warner, who is the country’s Works and Transport Minister, was appointed acting prime minister on Tuesday in the absence of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who is out of the country for a week attending meetings in Belize, Barbados and the United States.

“We do not believe that this appointment sends a positive message about the standards of behaviour and integrity that we expect from our leaders,” the institute said.

“We call on the government to demonstrate its commitment to the highest standards of governance by ensuring that the conduct and behaviour of those who are given leadership responsibilities are beyond reproach,” it added.

Transparency Trinidad is part of the global Transparency International, an independent anticorruption group that describes itself as a “global civil society organization leading the fight against

corruption.”

Warner, 68, who was CONCACAF president for 21 years, resigned from his soccer positions in June last year after he was suspended

by FIFA in a cash-for-votes scandal that rocked soccer’s governing body.

The allegations stem from a campaign by Mohammed Bin Hammam of Qatar to win the presidency of FIFA. He and Warner were accused of attempting to bribe members of the Caribbean Football Union to support to Bin Hammam’s candidacy during a meeting the two organised in Trinidad. Both men have repeatedly denied the allegations and both were suspended by FIFA. – Reuters

Govt. pumps $81 billion into deportee rehabilitation programme THE government will pump $81.2 billion into a programme geared at decreasing the rate of reoffending by local offenders and deportees.

The move is made possible through financial assistance from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is aiming to improve the rehabilitation and reintegration of deportees and offenders in Jamaica and establish emergency safety nets to receive deportees immediately on return to

Jamaica. The programme will provide services to help the reintegration of deportees and local offenders and contribute to the strengthening of the Jamaican government’s policy framework through a collaborative effort between government departments and civil society.The programme is being implemented by the Ministry of National Security.

It came on stream in November 2008, and is scheduled to end in March 2014. (Jamaica Observer)

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 9

THE UNKINDEST CUT Anyone who has worked on a factory floor for an extended period inevitably develops empathy for his fellow workers. Even if he makes it to the managerial level, that concern for the man working the floor is never lost.

The longer you stay on the floor the more you begin to understand what a job means to your fellow worker.

For most of the guys who work on the floor the job is what they do day in day out.

It is their life.

It is also their life’s bread.

This is how they take care of their family. They take pride in what they do. They value their jobs because this is what pays the bills each month.

These workers do not need for the accountant to tell them when sales are falling.

They see the signs, even before management notices the dip in the numbers. They know that from the guys who load the trucks when things are slowing down. They know from the activity on the conveyor lines when production is falling off in

response to reduced demand.

When the work slows down is when the anxieties increase. Everyone begins to worry whether he or she will be laid off or whether the company will close.

In harsh economic times, a job is like a goldmine. When there is a recession, there is always an increase in jobrelated stress because so many workers are worried whether the company will fold and whether they will be placed on the breadline.

This is why when the economy dips there is so much concern about the loss of jobs. In harsh economic times, the first causalities are usually the floor level workers, not the indispensable accountants and management team.

When the economy is booming those concerns about jobs losses disappear.

There is greater job security.

The fears go away because no one expects that once a company is making a profit that it will lay off workers.

In Guyana, the economy

has been doing great. You do not therefore expect that in such circumstances, jobs are going to be cut.

After all, once the employers, in this case the government, can afford to keep the workers on roll, why not. Why cut jobs when there is no need to do so.

Yet this is exactly what the opposition inspired Budget cuts have created. It has led to a situation where jobs will have to go. This is despite the fact that the economy has been growing for the past six years.

The opposition of course is not taking any responsibility.

Their explanation is that they are interested in cutting super cats and not the ordinary workers. Well which world are they living in?

Once you slice up

employment costs somebody is going to feel the squeeze.

Once you reduce an agency to a $1 agency, then you have effectively prescribed the closure of that agency.

Reforms are needed in the state media and the only way the opposition believes that it can create those reforms is by shutting down the government information agency.

There is also a need for reform in the private media, but you do not see the opposition calling for this reform. You do not hear them recommending cuts so as to create change.

The workers of Guyana, especially those who will soon be on the breadline as a result of the Budget cuts must understand the level of irresponsibility that they are dealing with. The opposition

has shown no empathy for the workers. They do not understand that it is not just numbers they are dealing with.

It is the lives of real individuals who are now being punished in good economic times simply because the opposition wants to exercise leverage.

If this is how the opposition hopes to exercise leverage, if cutting employment costs and forcing agencies to lay off staff is the opposition’s idea of exercising leverage, then this is as sick as it can get.

Opposition parties have to be concerned about the ordinary man. Why when the government is awash in revenue was it necessary to cut employment costs knowing very well that those cuts could not be used to force

the super cats to let go.

The opposition parties are only using the small man as pawns for his vote. If they cared one iota about the small man, those cuts would have been directed elsewhere.

Behind the numbers are real individuals and a job is what keeps them alive, puts food on their table and allows them to feel that they are doing something worthwhile.

When politicians forget these things, then they become irrelevant to those who elected them to maintain and create jobs, not to put workers on the breadline.

Mining crackdown…

Undocumented Brazilians ordered to cease work - GGMC Head in trouble over questionable permit

Dem boys seh ...

Brazzy still trying fuh pull cobweb over people eye Brazzy looking fuh an easy way out of de story wha all Guyana talking bout these days. He buy a cast net and now he tangle heself in that same net. He announce how he want debate. He pick pun Prakash and Moses and Carl and everybody.

De Waterfalls boss man was de first person who challenge he to explain de rationale behind de Marriott. De man want to know wha benefit he, de Boss man and de whole country, would get fuh dem tax dollars in de hotel. Brazzy promise to meet couple days later to explain. He build up people hope, and not de Hope canal from wha de Rob Bert thief out all de money.

De day before de meeting, in a thin voice, Brazzy seh that he nah want nutten to do wid de Boss man.

That is why dem boys smile when dem hear Prakash tell he, “Debate? I want interrogate you, de Rat and all de Bees.

You must answer question. You mustn’t be allowed to ask question. You damn eyes pass people in this country fuh tell dem you ready fuh debate. “ Dem boys seh, debate what? You got to show de books. In short you got to show de nation wheh you hide de billions.

Brazzy put out a statement but de statement only confirm he state of mind and that is confused.

In de statement he talk when de company form and who appoint director and who got to do wha and who got to guh wheh. He also seh in de statement how he pay in some money.

Dem boys want tell he dem don’t want to know how de company form and who form it. That is fuh school debate.

Dem boys don’t want to hear how he push one penny here and a dollar to de government. Dem boys want fuh know wha you, Brazzy, don’t understand?

What de nation want fuh know is how much money you collect from de other state agencies, how much state properties you sell, to who and fuh how much, and wha you do wid all de money. Dem want fuh know how much you bury and wheh you bury am.

If is in de cemetery dem boys plan fuh wait till you guh fuh dig it up and bury you right deh wid you head down.

Talk half and read de other half.

By Leonard Gildarie In what was described as a major offensive against illegal mining in Guyana, Government yesterday announced sweeping measures that could see the ejection of foreign nationals operating without work permits.

The meeting between Government, Brazilians and other stakeholders at Celina Restaurant and Club, Kitty, was stormy at times. It also saw revelations about widespread corruption in the mining sector, with collusion with government workers.

Organized by Government, the session took a surprising twist with Karen Livan, Commissioner of the regulatory body, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), coming under fire from the administration over her role in allowing mining in state reserves.

She is likely to answer today to the mining Minister, Robert Persaud, for the alleged breach which occurred earlier this year and in which she signed a permit for Brazilians to mine in that restricted area at Kamarang.

With unofficial estimates, of over 15,000 Brazilians living and operating in Guyana, and mainly in the gold bush, the cease order by government has raised worry in that community.

Brazilians yesterday say that they have been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to agents and

middlemen in a major racket that may have involved officials of Government agencies.

A few weeks ago, the newly established Ministry of Natural Resources announced a major crackdown on illegal mining with several camps in mining areas being raided.

Jeeploads of mainly Brazilians who had filtered through Lethem, Guyana’s border point with Brazil, were arrested for being undocumented. Authorities said that widespread violations were found. These included illegal guns, poorly kept records and environmental breaches and diversion of waterways. The raids are continuing.

The mining situation would have worsened in recent months as gold prices remain high on the world market.

There were numerous reports of murders, trafficking in persons, widespread prostitution and general lawlessness.

NO MIDDLEMEN ALLOWED Yesterday, Minister Persaud insisted that while the Brazilian contributions to gold mining in terms of technology and capital have been invaluable, the reality is that the Guyana Government has to control its natural resources.

He made it clear that work permit application could only be made by the foreign national or the outfit hiring.

The officials yesterday named the Guyana/Brazil

Under fire: GGMC Head, Karen Livan Development Institute as the only recognized body to officially handle applications for Brazilians miners.

Foreign nationals will no longer be able to move freely between mining operations unless they reapply for a new work permit. The permit is specific to mining districts and to a particular mining operation, officials explained yesterday. Roving miners will not be allowed.

Failure to be in possession of the permit and a Certificate of Registration will result in expulsion of that person, the officials said.

At the meeting also were GGMC’s Chairman, Major General (rtd) Joe Singh, Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee; Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur and President of the Guyana/

Brazil Development Institute, Yucatan Reis.

Also, there were representatives of the police and Immigration and other stake holders.

“Today, I want to make it clear that there will be zero tolerance for breaches of the regulations… as these pertain to those who operate in the mining sector,” Persaud said.

Under regulations, only Guyanese are allowed to own claims but there was evidence of agreements being made to illegally allow foreigners and especially Brazilians to mine in areas allotted for prospecting. These licences will be seized and the guilty parties could be declared “persona non grata”, the official said.

It is a fact that foreigners going to any country have to abide by the laws of that country, he said. $800,000 PERMITS According to Persaud, GGMC which regulates the mining industry has immediately ceased processing applications brought in by middlemen or agents who have been accused of milking Brazilians of up to $800,000 for a work permit.

Rather, GGMC will allow a grace period for miners.

Brazilian miners without permits and who are applying were warned not to work during the application period.

There were complaints (continued on page 18)

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Kaieteur News

Thursday May 17, 2012

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

I am not singing my own praise but let the record speak Here we go again. Freddie Kissoon saying, “I told you so.” I was the only person until Sunday who opined that the Private Sector Commission (PSC) under Ramesh Dookhoo of Banks DIH was not a stakeholder interested in social stability but was content to be politically supportive of the PPP Government.

My constant analysis of the PSC’s political positions led me to highlight the political role of Dookhoo with my call for his resignation. I sat in the University of Guyana Council with Mr. Dookhoo.

He is more a PPP aficionado than the dyed in the wool PPP supporter. Mr. Dookhoo’s politics is so openly biased that he cannot lead an important nationally respected stakeholder like the

business community and should not be allowed to lead it.

Now read this. Writing on the PPP attempt to successfully execute its propaganda against the budget, last Sunday editorial of the Stabroek News had this to say: “More recently, the PPP attempted i t ( i t s strategy) through a surrogate in the form of the Private Sector Commission, some of whose executives are not above behaving as i f t hey represent the Government, rather than the business community.” These are not the words of Freddie Kissoon but the Stabroek News.

Some nasty facts about the PSC have remained uncommented on. First, the PSC’s representative on the Ethnic Relations

Commission, Mr. John Willems, together with Juan Edghill formed a two-man operation in the ERC. For five years these two persons formed the ERC Commission.

For those five years that I attended stakeholders’ meetings with the ERC, only Willems and Edghill appeared.

In 2010, the duo became a trio when Mr. Carvil Duncan joined them. In all these years of ERC controversies, the PSC said nothing about the manipulation of the ERC which was reduced to a farce under this arrangement.

It was the PSC delegate to the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting, Mr. Norman McLean along with its Government appointed Chairman that voted in favour of the six months suspension of channel 6.

Mr. Ramesh Dookhoo penned a letter in the Stabroek News in suppo r t o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’s action against the Stabroek Market Square vendors.

But guess who open their mouths and are the first to cry when social disruption visits Guyana when political dialogue fails – our business community.

Now we have the nonsense of the PSC anger over the budget cuts. But here are some interesting facts for Ramesh Dookhoo. Let’s see how the PSC deals with these revelations. If you take away the $18 billion for the LCDS because it was a projection not an actual sum, the cuts, according to Christopher Ram, amounts to 0.25 percent of the total budget.

The PSC wants to talk to Opposition Leader Granger because it is contending that those cuts will impact adversely on business prospects.

But the budget for Region Four was cut by the Minister of Finance by 76 percent. The

Regional Chairman told me this in his office two weeks ago. Region Four is a huge place in comparison with the rest of Guyana’s other nine regions.

By what logic, the cuts of 0.25 percent to the national budget will undermine the business climate in Guyana and not the gigantic shaving off of three quarters of the Region Four budget? Yet we have heard not a word, not a whisper from the PSC. Could it be that the silence is because Region Four is an APNU constituency and therefore it is not in the PSC’s political interest to denounce what Dr Ashni Singh did?

But some players in the PSC want to please their political masters at Freedom House so they demand a meeting with the Opposition Leader. And as I showed in my last Sunday column, some surrogates (to use Stabroek News’s description) in the PSC have barefacedly asked the Opposition Leader as to why cuts were made to NCN

Frederick Kissoon when, if the opposition have problems with the way NCN is run, why not dialogue with the Government about it.

But why the PSC don’t dialogue with President Ramotar over NCN? Mr. David Granger, the Opposition Leader should reject the invitation on the condition that the PSC behave as a responsible national institution.

Mr. Granger should demand that the PSC take a position on the PPP dominated Council of the University of Guyana, the gutter nature of the Chronicle, the state of NCN’s operations, the immediate resuscitation of the Ombusman, the dastardly explanation that NCN and NICIL are private companies among other depravities perpetrated on t h i s n a t i o n b y t h e PPP Government.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Ministry blames reckless driving, carelessness for spate of road deaths

The wreck from last Monday's accident which claimed the life of one and left five critically injured.

Despite the fact that fewer persons have lost their lives as a result of traffic accidents, the Ministry of Home Affairs says that enough attention is not being paid by road users.

The Ministry has taken note of the recent statistics that were released by the Guyana Police Force which have indicated that 31 persons lost their lives to Traffic Accidents as at May 9, 2012 as against 40 for a similar period in 2011.

Since the release of the figures, two more persons have lost their lives on the roads, including a man who is so far unidentified.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees the Guyana Police Force and other traffic agencies, said that while it can take some comfort from the declining statistics on traffic deaths for a specific period, “we are saddened by the reports of lives lost on our roads through reckless driving by some drivers and the careless use of our roads by some motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.”

The Ministry is reminding all road users that safety is a shared responsibility and as such the Ministry of Home Affairs encourages all categories of road users to exercise utmost caution when using the roads.

“While the Government of Guyana has been working assiduously to enhance the quality of our roads; improve t r a ff i c l e g i s l a t i o n a n d management; provide traffic education to persons of all ages, it is imperative that road users adopt safer road use practices to avoid road accidents.”

The Ministry said that traffic accidents invariably result in the loss of lives, serious injuries and damage to property. They also have a financial impact on victims, their relatives and the national economy.

As such the Ministry is

urging all categories of road users to support the Guyana Police Force in its efforts to reduce Traffic Accidents.

And the Guyana National Road Safety Council has noted that pedestrians and cyclists are also to be blamed for their carefree and sloppy attitudes when using the roadways.

“These behaviours should be discontinued immediately to put an end to some of these 'Needless Road Crashes and Deaths…The GNRSC is pleading to all road users and responsible Guyanese to join the campaign to help stop the road carnages by correcting the careless ways we use our roads and adhering to the road safety and traffic laws to make our streets and roads safer.”

It was further noted by GRSC that recently, there was an increase in the number of serious road accidents in and around the city, in outlying areas and in other regions, mainly due to speeding, recklessness and driving under the influence (DUI), which all reflect total neglect to our traffic laws.

According to GRSC, major accidents resulted in loss of lives and serious disability to persons involved. In addition, all accidents impacted financially on the economy and have distressed all parties involved; emotionally and physically.

Also, serious accidents have significantly disturbed the social welfare of all the affected families.

The organisation further underscored that habitual blunders by many vehicular drivers and motorcyclists are speeding, driving under the influence (DUI), total neglect for our traffic laws and total disregard for the five Cs; Care, Courtesy, Consideration, Caution and Common Sense when using the roads.

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Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

“NICIL is the government's El Dorado” - Nagamootoo Alliance For Change (AFC) executive member, Moses Nagamootoo, says, “National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) is the lost city of El Dorado” since many are trying to hoodwink Guyanese into believing that there is nothing abnormal about monies under the control of the privatization unit of the Government.

“Brassington and company must be held accountable and we will not be distracted.”

Commenting on an article in another section of the media under the caption “Christopher Ram, Moses Nagamootoo beneficiaries of NICIL monies” that was printed on, May 13, last which stated that Christopher Ram and Moses Nagamootoo benefited from NICIL funds, Nagamootoo said he is an arbitrator in a matter engaging National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and GNIC (Laparkan). The action was initiated by NICIL to claim in excess of $600M owed to the company by GNIC as rent for the large Lombard Street Complex that is managed by NICIL. “When I see Mr (Winston) Brassington going public to talk about fees being paid to attorneys, I believe this is an attack on all professionals. Because we question how an entity operates and because we question what we consider to be mismanagement of a stateowned entity do we have no right to a view in public once we receive any fees for professional work done for NICIL?” Nagamootoo questioned.

Nagamootoo added that he finds it reprehensible, since Brassington also resorted to spewing untruths.

One of them is that he, Nagamootoo, works for NICIL in several other projects.

“This is not true.

Government has been very selective particularly under the Jadgeo administration…The two major projects I worked on were the removal of homeowners for the construction of the Berbice Bridge on both sides of the river, and the removal of farmers for excavation for the Hope Canal.”

Chairman of the Alliance for Change, Khemraj Ramjattan, said although Brassington disclosed recently that NICIL had $700 million in its coffers, it leaves room for more questions than answers on the activities of the entity.

“If in 2003 NICIL had $33 billion in revenues, and then you proceeded from that year to sell so many other things and to have other things divested into NICIL for which it had to collect dividends and rentals. When all this addition is done it comes up to $50 plus billion.

“Why is it that they are not coming clean with their books?” Ramjattan questioned. “We want him (Brassington) to answer questions on, where has the money been invested? Who are the beneficiaries of the investment and actual intermediaries through which the investments were made?

The sale of assets, to whom and for what price? Were these the best prices?…We want to know the entirety of the transactions over the last 10 years from NICIL.” Noting that after Queens Atlantic bought the Sanata Complex the value immediately skyrocketed, Ramjattan said that it must also be investigated if the complex was sold at a very low price, then suddenly its value rapidly climbed annually.

“Is it possible that the genuine market prices were then applied after it was sold which was then exhibited in the financial statements of Queens Atlantic?”

Ramjattan further questioned.

He added that since NICIL is controlled by the Government, it should also reflect the dividends of the varieties of companies and all its revenue; since the National Assembly has the final say on where the monies should be channeled and invested.

“Government has placed NICIL Executive Director Winston Brassington to be the scapegoat in relation to the NICIL issues. The persons that have caused all of this include Dr Luncheon, former Ministers of Finance, the present Minister of Finance so it would seem as if they would want to shift and distract us from the activities of the Ministers and Roger Luncheon.

“It is not Brassington alone that should be blamed,” Ramjattan emphatically said.

He said the economic service committee should be set up and transactions of companies made under the umbrella of NICIL should be known and information scrutinized.

“We will be prosecuting certain claims against directors of NICIL because we are absolutely certain that wrongs have been committed.”

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Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Luncheon calls for evidence in corruption allegations against NICIL - Says NICIL most open among government entities O p p o s i t i o n Parliamentarians who have been clamouring for NICIL to come clean on its accounts should put on paper their evidence that the entity has not been in compliance with the law.

This is the charge from Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, who sits as one of the Directors of NICIL (National Industrial Commercial Investments Limited), the government’s investment arm.

O p p o s i t i o n Parliamentarians want NICIL’s head, Winston Brassington, to provide evidence to show how much money it has and to say also where NICIL has been investing its money.

As far as Luncheon is concerned, NICIL is clean.

“I don’t believe that the Auditor General has drawn to the board’s attention much l e s s t o t h e p u b l i c ’s attention…that we have indeed violently or in any other way been administering and having NICIL operate inconsistent with the company act (or) inconsistent with the laws of Guyana,” Luncheon stated yesterday.

Dr Luncheon feels that a lot of the “haranguing” coming from the opposition could easily be resolved if they were to look to have a fairly adequate understanding of what NICIL is set up to do and what it is doing.

Even if NICIL is not familiar with the laws under which it functions, Dr Luncheon contended that surely the Auditor General must know. He said that notwithstanding some delays with audited financial statements of recent, the Auditor General has not had cause to cite NICIL for illegality.

“I can only say today where there continues to be contentions, let’s have it on paper - put it out,” Luncheon declared.

Dr Luncheon asserted that every single accusation and every single “misinformation” and “every bit of the hype by the opposition” has been countered by NICIL. He said that there are

very few government entities that have been so open in discussing with the public and the private sector its business.

Dr Luncheon feels that the opposition’s accusations against NICIL are “part of the cut and thrust of the game being played out now” by an opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Khemraj Ramjattan, Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC) has questioned Brassington’s statement that NICIL’s coffers only contain $700M. Ramjattan is sticking to his story that NICIL has billions of dollars and these are not paid over into the Consolidated Fund, or what is in the government’s main bank account?

“Where are the billions invested?” asked Ramjattan.

He called on the NICIL Director to not only make verbal pronouncements but also to produce tangible documentation.

He said that the NICIL Executive Director must not only make oral statements that NICIL only has $700M and the rest has been invested.

Ramjattan said that Brassington must immediately provide documents detailing all of NICIL investments so that there can be a determination of where the money is.

While Ramjattan is in full support of his colleague Parliamentarian, Carl G r e e n i d g e ’s c a l l f o r taxpayers to take private action against NICIL, he is opposed to the proposed method.

T h e v e t e r a n parliamentarian says that should a private lawsuit be filed against NICIL then the ‘sub judice’ regulations would apply and the matter cannot be deliberated in the House until its determination in the Courts.

As such he is advocating that the matter be fully ventilated in the House before private action is taken.

Until such time, Ramjattan says that he is eagerly awaiting the documents from NICIL, detailing where and how N I C I L’s b i l l i o n s a r e invested.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

PROPERTY FOR SALE 20 X 40 two flat concrete building @ Kitty. All amenities. Price $28 M Call: 668 – 9512, 223- 2570 WANTED

WANTED

One cook, must know to cook Roti & Puri. Call 6477432

East Coast Guyoil pump attendants wanted (day and night), wash man, office assistant & sales girls. 6842838, 602-5031

Tailors. Contact Paul’s Tailoring, 14 Lombard St. G/ Town. Tel# 223-8266/6808046

1 male or female to look after layer birds in the interior.

Tele# 688-4905

Counter servers, roti/curry cooks, pastry makers & handy boys. Apply Hack’s Halaal, 5 Commerce St.

Contract cars. Must be in Hire & Yellow. Base free. $3500 weekly. Call 660-9977

Live-in domestic must know to cook and 1 waitress, salary 50,000 monthly.

Call:610-5043

Taboo Employment Agency.

Jobs available. Tele Communications Field. Call: 233-6517, 233-6523, 622-1957

Persons/family to live & take care of farm @ E.C.D, attractive salary offered.

Contact: 690-1943, 691-8021

45 plus years driver for week end duties. Tel: 22-71830

Two male shop assistants to work in Georgetown & the interior, serious enquiries only. Call: 225-2940, 225-0305 Urgently: chainsaw operator to work in the interior. Call: 626-0006, 231-3159 1 Tutor to teach Form 1, apply Bissan’s Trading, 94 King Street. Call: 227-7306 1 driver to drive in the interior. Must have bus and canter license. Tel# 688-0197 Manager’s Assistant general duties including Custom and Bond, Security Guards, accommodation available. Call: 676-6700 1 Diesel Mechanic, to work in the interior. Tel# 688-4905 Honest/Experienced sales clerk. Apply with written application Nanda’s Boutique, 223 Camp St. Tel 226-1621 Taxi Drivers at Princess Hotel. Contact 616-5419, 2657075 Sales Girls & Porters. Apply with written application at Best Buys Food Supplies, 1E Dennis & Middleton Streets, Campbellville.

Waitresses @ Diamond Gate Liquor Restaurant and Bar, Lot 18 Belmont Mahaica.

Tel# 228-5013, 622-5599

25 acre farm land with 4 bedroom concrete house.

Located Parika Backdam. Tel: 615-8046 Enterprise Gardens. 3 bedroom concrete, EBD $15M, $30M Riverside, North $18.5M. Call: 231-2199, 231-2200, 618-7483 East Bank $12M. East Coast $20M. Linden $20M. Newtown $19M. Hotel $130M. Diana 227-2256, 6269382.

Lot 9 Johns St., Port Mourant, Berbice house with 12 rooms, on 16 Acres Land.

Call: 337-1500.

DATING SERVICE Immediate link-Singles 1880yrs. Confidential: Tel: 2238237,648-6098. (No -text) 8:30am-5:00pm Mon-Sun (Both phones same hours).

Carpenter with own tools.

Apply at Guyana Variety Store, 68 Robb Street. Tel no.

225-4631 One live-in or out maid & experienced sales girl. Call: 264-3356, 253-3149, 668-3985 1 Lorry Driver. Call: 687-6595 Bright, well spoken sales assistant for small store. 5 subjects CXC. Send written application to PO Box 101599 1 General Domestic. Must know to cook, from East Bank Dem. Area. Tel# 614-4358 Sales boy and girl. 615-3090 Drivers with lorry license.

Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd. Girls to work as waitress , age 18 to25 in Bar. Call: 256-4096

2x2x1.5MM, Hollow section $4500 VAT inclusive. Call: 220-6100, 680-5900 Peking ducks, call: 266-2711 / 609-4594 1 Mitsubishi Fuso truck, 4 ton enclosed, 20 feet, new $5.2M. Call Salim 641-5075, 622-6746 Roofing shingles. Call: Mr. Skepmire . 227-5195 (8am to 5pm) Going cheap, foreign used Perkins Engines. 661-3043 15ft Fiber glass boat $170,000 call: 260-0301, 685-1233

1 four wheel Utility Trailer, 1 16" Bore irrigator pump on trailer. Tel: 227-1830

Now in stock, solar panel, 180 watts, at Trophy Stall, Bourda Market. 225-9230

Yamaha outboard engine parts for 115HP-200HP, crankshaft fat & fine top, pistons, bearings. Call: Terry665-9405

Brand new Blackberry Torch 9800, under $100,000. Call: 676-7443

Massage Leather table, brand new, heavy duty & hot stone kit with electric warmer. Call: 665-9405. $99,000

1 240 Massey Ferguson Tractor. 687-6174

10 KVA voltage stabilizer single phase 200 amp fuse switch, 300 amp bust bar. #627-7835

Experienced sewing machine operators. Tele no.: 220-4337

1 experienced hauler/truck driver. 1 able bodied male cleaner/gardener. Apply to Alabama Trading.

CRV PMM, DVD, TV, CD. Good condition. 226-7915, 668-6586

Taxi Drivers and Carpenter.

Call: 225-3234

Experienced Graphic Artist.

Tel# 233-2725, 233-2439

Lyvan Motor Cycle. Good condition. 226-7915, 6686586, 600-5130

Labourers and Porters.

Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd.

Experienced House Keeper.

To work on the E.C.D (parttime). Tel: 648-3151

Lenovo laptops brandnew $60,000 Call: 681-2111

Factory worker. Apply in person with written application @ Comfortsleep, 49 Eccles Industrial Estate, E.B.D.

15-15-15 fertilizer. Call: 2662711, 609-4594

FOR SALE One Massey Ferguson 399 Tractor. Call: 619-6093

Assistant Manager. To work at an out of town hotel.

Contact 226-9768, 682-4387

Labourers to work at Jettoo’s lumberyard & Sawmill @ Coverden Public Road, East Bank Demerara. Call: 2615041, 261-5042, 226-2756

NARS lipgloss, eyeshadow & Clinique Chubby Stick. Tel: 669-8374.

Spares for washer, microwaves, fridges, stovetimers, gear boxes, pumps, etc. Contact 225-9032, 6472943

20 flat screen TVs, cheap 19"-50" : Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung; LG. Need repairs. Call: 665-9405

Sales girls: please send written application to: Naudia’s City Mall, Ground Floor, 111-112, Camp Street, Georgetown.

Toyota Starlet 2 E Turbo engine with gearbox and ECU: Call: 624-7155.

Sale Sale Sale on all zinc sheets 40% off. All lumber 30% off. All pine lumber 8% off. Tel: 226-7054

Bulldozer operators, Excavator operators, Service men. To work in interior.

Previous experience an asset.

Contact: 226-9768, 629-0037

Intelligent live in to look after (1) female elderly & (1) middle aged person. Person Health Certificate required.

Tel Maria: 226-8094

FOR SALE One Hilux Vigo (new) GNN series 231-5171, 619-7134

Brand new American made Crosely 10.5 cu ft Refrigerator for sale $75,000. 626-4452/ 697-5677 Blu Ray DVDs. Perfume Dazzle 231-9485 Bag Neck Seal Tape. 231-8819 One Caterpillar D6 Bulldozer.

Call: 622-1957

Page 15

SERVICES Permanent &Visitors Visa Applications Professional Immigration Consultant Room E-4 Maraj Building 225-6496/223-8115/ 662-6045.

Supreme Repairs. All wiring, fridge, washer (AC), freezers, dryer, ect. Tel: 629-8136, 6532719 US & Canada VISA application services. Call 643-6630. Family discounts available.

VEHICLES FOR SALE Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 6221610 Leading Auto. Unregistered Allion, Premio, Allex, Runx, Verossa, Avensis, 2 ton Canter, 212. Tel: 677-7666, 610-7666 Verossa PNN. Call:665-3067, 228-2609 2005 H2 Hummer, 38,500 mileage fully loaded, chrome kit etc. Call: 639-3100, 6195400

Now open KDRS Pharmacy at Mon Repos Mall 220-8675 nutritionist available every Saturday

Hilux 4x4 solid def pick-up, diesel, long base, excellent condition Call: 623-0243

We refill HP cartridges for $1,800. Call:650-7699

1 special edition Toyota Runx PNN. 2 Nissan Wingroad Wagon. Tel: 6122522

Visa and Immigration forms prepared for Canada, USA and UK. Also Passport forms. Call 626-9857 Repairs, sales & spares, air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & Stoves.

Ultra Cool: 225-9032, 6472943 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer. Call: 231-0655, 683-8734 Omar.

Get your VISA or get refunded. Call: 233-2338 House plan drafting for only $10,000. Building estimate for only $10,000. Call: 6949843.

Corolla Fielder just registered, AT 170 Carina.

Price negotiable. Call 6149623 One Toyota RZ Longbase EFI, hardly used BKK series $1.6M. Call: Rocky 621-5902 2004 Mazda RX8, body kit, black, unregistered, $3M. 617-2891 One EP71 and 82 Starlet, 1Toyota Ceres and RZ Minibus,1Nissan Pathfinder, PMM Call: 6445096,697-1453 One RZ Minibus, BMM 1420 $2.5M Call: 615-7825

ONLINE SHOPPING NO COMMISSION, WEEKLY S H I P M E N T S , AFFORDABLE RATES, FREE PRIVATE MAILBOX. TEL: 231-5789.

FREIGHTLINKEXPRESS@ GMAIL.COM

1 Premio PNN series, TV, camera. # 616-6000

1 Kawasaki Ninja Bike model 2009, 600 cc. C.G. 2468.

Contact # 677-1218, 216-0317

WE FILL OUT PASSPORT & VISA FORMS: USA, UK & CANADA. TEL: 2315789

2 & 3 ton enclosed canter, unregistered. 617-2891

Original slimming green coffee 800 $1300 W/sale and original slimming green coffee 1000 $2300 w/sale Call:681-2111

Blackberry Unlock $2,000.

Also PC games starting from $1,500. Call Vickram at: 6527560

1 dragline 10RB. 687-6174

(1) New Model 212 Carina & RZ minibus in private & (1) 3Y foreign use engine Call” 678-0109,220-1693,658-7034

Exercise Bike new Schwinn 131 Digital info screen with Heart Rate Monitor, $79,000.

665-9405 Two 8ft Slate American pool tables, one Nissan Titan & variety of restaurant equipment. Call: 622-1957 1 Tundra, 1 Perkins engine & Welder 400 amps. Call: 6605462, 611-5114

2000 Ford Economy Club Wagon. Heavy duty, power steering, V8 50400CC. 7715388, 771-5387, 680-1198

One Toyota Short Base, enclosed canter, GMM series, hardly used $1.8M. Credit can be arranged. Tel: 673-6660 Lexus LS400/Luxury, BMW 740IL/Luxury, BMW 635CSI/Sports. Bring mechanic, make offer. Call: 612-1486, 646-8326

True Shattaz fashion, closing down sale #6893860

Games for PS2 $900, XBox 360 $2600, PS3 $2600. Call Junior 672-2566, 265-3232

Unregistered Allion and Spacio. Tel# 697-0294

1 Carina 192. No. HB 8358.

Call: 663-2882 SALON Make up courses, artist trained & certified in Trinidad: 660-5257,647-1773

Toyota Prado, 2004 Prado, 2005 Mark II, GX110, 2005 Tundra. All fully loaded, excellent condition. Call: 600-5759

Qualify yourself in Cosmetology or nails, make up, Register, Limited spaces.

Call Abby: 216-1950, 6197603, 666-5241

One 2 ton, enclosed Canter, price $1.2M neg. One Tapir, price $160,000 neg.

Contact# 253-3349, 693-8830

Seeta & Soma Salon.

Specialists in perming, relaxing, styling, manicure, pedicure, etc. Tel: 618-6346/ 644-7142

2005 BMW 320i (new shape), just arrived. Tel: 6154114. www.facebook.com/ rashanautosales (Continued on page 20)

Page 16

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 17, 2012

GRA not renting CLICO building for $10.5M a month …Dr Luncheon says he made a blunder The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is not paying $10.5 million a month to rent the building on Camp Street, Georgetown for its headquarters. The building was constructed as the headquarters of the failed insurance giant CLICO. The building was acquired for $600M by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) when CLICO was liquated.

Dr Luncheon yesterday said that the rental fee has not yet been decided on although a rental agreement has been drawn up. The Head of the Presidential Secretariat indicated that the rental could be 10 per cent of the acquisition cost of the building. This adds up to $60 million annually, but Dr Luncheon did not want to get into a discussion about the actual numbers.

The GRA, Dr Luncheon stated, is spending $200M to customize the building for its use.

NIS had invested some $6B in CLICO. That money was all but lost when CLICO collapsed.

The local CLICO went into liquidation. The purchase of the Camp Street building is part of the liquidation

process.

Cabinet has since approved $227.1M for the completion and modification of the CLICO building on Camp Street.

“Indeed that $600M is used to offset some of the $5B that is still outstanding for NIS. The funding that has been identified in the award when Cabinet granted its no objections, those funds are being invested by the new tenant (GRA) to reconfigure the building and particularly its electrical, clean power and a suitable environment for the conduct of GRA business as opposed to what it was before for insurance business,” Dr Luncheon stated last week.

Asked if the decision by GRA not to pay the $10.5M per month meant that the rental arrangement was off, Dr Luncheon said that it is a done deal. He said that his announcement of the inflated rent might have torpedoed the agreement. However, he said that the rental arrangement was a done deal.

The property at lots 200 and 201 Camp Street with a size of 36,863 square feet was valued between $1.7B and $1.8B by the valuator contracted by the insurance

Port Kaituma man remanded for murder … victim sought to fight “baddest” man Ignatius France, 24, appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, yesterday on a charge of murder and was remanded.

He was not required to plead.

The court heard that on May 11, at Canal Bank Port Kaituma, France murdered Mark Ashby. It is alleged that on the day of the incident, the accused and his brother were out drinking when they got into an argument.

Both brothers were reportedly intoxicated and during the argument they began to fight.

While they fought the now dead Ashby reportedly came up to the brothers, allegedly drunk himself, and ordered the brothers to stop fighting.

He reportedly told the brothers that he is the only bad man around the place and challenged the “baddest” of the brothers to a fight.

According to the source,

Ignatius France the accused was eventually deemed the “baddest” of the two bothers and he and the deceased began to fight.

The accused however broke loose from the fight, allegedly went to his home and retrieved a cutlass with which he chopped the deceased.

The deceased succumbed at the hospital and the accused was taken to the nearby police station where he reportedly admitted to the offence before telling officers the whole story.

The building to be rented by the GRA

company, while the government valuator placed it at $1.316B, a difference of $400M. Liabilities for CLICO were in entities such as the NIS,

GFC, GuyOil, and the Dependants’ Pension Fund.

NIS had acquired the CLICO building in Camp Street and holds it as a long term investment.

The Bank of Guyana has been appointed liquidator and is seeking to increase the liability of the failed insurance company by raising more money from

activities such as the sale of the company’s assets as well as from taking legal action against BOSAI, CLICO (Bahamas) and Caribbean Resources Limited.

PAHO, OAS join forces to reduce demand for drugs in the Americas The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Organization of American States (OAS) have signed an agreement under which the two organizations will work together to reduce demand for illicit drugs in the countries of the Americas.

They are going to work through coordinated technical cooperation based on human rights, public health and scientific evidence.

“There is no single solution to the problem of drugs. Our organizations recognize that in order to make real progress, we need to balance policies to reduce both supply and demand, consistent with national needs and conditions and protecting and promoting public health,” said PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago.

Her comments came after she had signed the document during the opening of the 51st regular session of the OAS’s Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), on May 9.

“Health is a basic right that should be at the center of all public policies, including public policies on illegal drugs.”

The new agreement commits PAHO and the OAS to “work together in the area of health, which is key for reducing demand,” said OAS Secretary-General José

Miguel Insulza. He noted that during the Sixth Summit of the Americas, held in Cartagena, Colombia, in April, the region’s heads of state asked the OAS to prepare a report on the results of existing drug policies in the Americas and options for the future.

“We want to share this work with all the agencies of the Inter-American system,” he said.

Also present for the signing of the MOU was Minister of Health of Costa Rica Dr. Daisy María Corrales, who was in Washington for a working visit at PAHO. Under the agreement, PAHO and the OAS will establish a Joint Regional Cooperation Programme for the Reduction of Drug Demand, which will carry out activities for institution building, training and technical assistance in the countries of the Americas.

The programme will support the development of public health policies to reduce demand for drugs in the region, facilitate the integration of national public health networks and information systems on drugs, and strengthen early detection in primary health care.

The programme will also promote research on demand reduction and capacitybuilding in the areas of services management and

human resources.

Success in these joint efforts “is not guaranteed at the outset,” noted Dr. Roses.

“The interest shown by Governments, cooperating partners, and representatives of different sectors of society involved in these issues must translate into strong political and financial support for the Joint Regional Program if it is going to be able to achieve its goals.”

Dr. Roses noted that current drug policies “are being reviewed” in the region and that PAHO and the OAS both have a mandate to provide up-to-date scientific information to help governments make decisions on “a more solid basis.”

“Only through an open and informed debate can we generate ideas that are innovative and that can be evaluated,” she said.

PAHO’s work in the areas of tobacco control and harmful use of alcohol provides a basis for addressing the issue of illicit drugs from a public health perspective.

“They are all interrelated, with common risk factors, and the same public health principles apply in addressing them,” said Dr. Roses. “No doubt, by working more closely, our organizations can facilitate an integrated approach to these issues, which is already being done

in a number of countries.”

She added that the agreement with CICAD/OAS reaffirms “PAHO’s commitment to protecting the right to health and other rights of people affected by substance use disorders, and we are ready to provide support for countries’ efforts in this area.”

CICAD President, Rafael Bielsa, called for a more effective approach and a more “reflective and open spirit” in addressing the problem of illegal drugs. He said CICAD will examine the current situation of drug trafficking in the Americas and its impact on regional safety.

In 2010, PAHO’s 50th Directing Council approved a regional public health strategy to respond to health problems associated with the use of psychoactive substances in the Americas.

In 2011, the 51st PAHO Directing Council approved an action plan that includes substance use as a public health priority in countries’ national health plans.

PAHO, which celebrates its 110th anniversary this year, is the oldest public health organization in the world. It works with its member countries to improve the health and the quality of life of the people of the Americas. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of WHO.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 17

Hypertension killed Mother’s Another witness takes the stand Day party victim - PM Jagdeo libel suit continues…

Executed businessman Errol Butcher’s son, Jason Abdulla, was the latest person called to give evidence in the Jagdeo libel suit yesterday as the matter continued before Justice Brassington Reynolds.

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo filed the motion against Kissoon, Kaieteur News’ Editor Adam Harris and the newspaper’s Publisher, Glenn Lall, for $10 million in damages. The former President in his statement of claim said that the article ‘King Kong sent his goons to disrupt the Conference’ libeled him.

Attorney at law Sase Gunraj informed the court that they could not have continued with the previous witness Raul Kissoon, since he was no longer employed at the Office of the President.

According to Gunraj, Abdulla worked at OP in the same department as Kissoon.

He said that they will attempt to get the exhibits tendered through Abdulla.

There was no objection by any of the requisite parties and Gunraj proceeded to lead his examination of the witness.

According to the witness he was employed at the Office of the President, as a media officer. He said that his duties include monitoring the print and electronic media. Abdulla said that he also has to compile articles and stories relating to the government and President.

He told the court that the stories are then referred to the relevant personnel for proper response and record keeping.

The witness was asked if he was asked to do anything for the case.

According to Abdulla

prior to the last court date he was asked to examine the articles written by Kaieteur News columnist, Freddie Kissoon, which contained words such as “dictatorship, King Kong, Fascism” with reference to the former president.

At this point Justice Reynolds interjected and said that he could not allow the witness to use those words and that he had a discomfort with them. That line of questioning was aborted by the lawyer. The witness was then asked various questions about where the articles could be found, and where they were kept.

However, Attorney at law Nigel Hughes said that he saw no relevance in the question and that they should look at the statement of claim.

Gunraj proceeded with his questions and several copies of Kaieteur News were tendered into evidence. Hughes cross examined Abdulla. Abdulla denied allegations yesterday that he was part of a group which is behind the “liveinguyana.blogspot”.

He was then asked if he ever visited that website.

Abdulla replied in the negative.

Hughes then proceeded to ask the witness if he was aware of the contributors to the website and Abdulla again replied in the negative.

The question was then put to the witness, that if he would agree that he was one of the principle contributors of the website. Abdulla strongly denied this. He was then asked if he was the son of executed businessman Errol Butcher.

At this point Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos made an objection to the line of questioning. According to

the lawyer the court should not allow Hughes to besmirch the witness’s name.

He said that Hughes should show relevance because Errol Butcher is long dead.

The objection was overruled and Hughes continued to ask the witness where he was employed.

Abdulla claimed to be employed by the Government of Guyana. He was then asked if there was a specific agency to which he was attached. He replied that he was employed by the Government Information Agency (GINA).

He was then asked if he was on a contract. Again Senior counsel Bernard De Santos objected and said that the court must not allow Mr. Hughes to go on fishing trip.

And again his objection was overruled by the judge.

Hughes further questioned the witness about the persons to whom he had to report. According to Abdulla he reported to “everyone”. He was then asked to list four names of persons he would report to.

The witness said that he would report to Neaz Subban, Kwame McKoy, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon.

The witness was then asked about “Fascism”. Even though he did not know what the word meant, Abdulla surely knew how to spell it.

He was then asked if he knew what “Fascism manifestation” meant. In his own words the witness said that it probably meant some display of dictatorial behaviour.

The matter has been adjourned to a later date, when Abdulla is expected to continue his cross examination.

Visually Impaired Association pleads for funding In recognition of Blindness Awareness Month this year, the Guyana Association for the Visually Impaired (GAVI) is focusing on the advocacy of the prevention of blindness, preservation of sight and the sensitization on awareness policy.

Blindness Awareness Month kicked off with a church service on April 29 and will continue throughout this month with a number of activities.

Andrew Green, member of GAVI’s management team told Kaieteur News that during this month his organisation will participate in health workshops, which include diabetes and hypertension testing, and host talks on being visually impaired and more.

“We want to have interaction with schools and

sensitize kids about taking care of their eyes and also sensitize the business community with reference to the Disabilities Act of 2010.

We aim to expand our membership and make others aware that not because we have disabilities or are visually impaired means we cannot function.”

Kaieteur News understands that GAVI was formed on November 22, last year, and its formation was intended to care for the needs of people who are affected by blindness or have a vision problem.

At present, the organisation remains “cash strapped” and depends on fundraising events to execute its goals.

“We have attempted to garner subventions from the Government since our formation but to no avail. We

are cash strapped; we don’t have our own building.

We had to vacate our old building a short while ago because we didn’t have money to pay our rent but the Beharry Group of Companies has come to our rescue and has helped us get a building we can use.”

This publication was told that the members of GAVI had approached former President Bharrat Jagdeo for a subvention from Government but it was refused on the grounds that there cannot be two separate organisations with the same function.

Green added that his organisation would work towards scheduling a meeting with President Donald Ramotar in the near future to lobby for a subvention so that they can continue to make positive contributions in society.

A post mortem examination performed on the body of 56-year old Judy Joseph, yesterday, revealed that she died of hypertension, ending speculation that she was a victim of foul play.

Joseph called ‘Auntie Judy’, who lived at Waiakabra, Soesdyke-Linden Highway was found dead on Monday morning, lying under the shed of a shop where she and other relatives and friends had been imbibing the day before.

Initially, investigators were reluctant to rule out foul play especially since Joseph was found with her pants and underwear partly down, giving rise to suspicion that she had been sexually assaulted and slain.

The partly nude body of the mother of five was found around 4:00 hrs on Monday outside a Swan, Soesdyke/ Linden Highway shop.

Residents were puzzled that the woman was found near the shop, especially since the shopkeeper is adamant that she had seen

Judy Joseph called ‘Auntie Judy’ Ms. Joseph heading for home.

Police had detained two men after learning that they were among the last persons with whom the victim was drinking.

Eileen Joseph, one of the victim’s daughters, told Kaieteur News that she was among the family members and friends who accompanied her mother on

Sunday for a ‘get-together’ at a shop, located a short distance from their home.

The daughter, who is pregnant, said she left around 23:00 hrs on Sunday. She recalled that at the time, her mother had fallen asleep at one of the tables. According to her, the shopkeeper, Felicia Pierre and the two men, who were subsequently detained, were also there.

“She (the shopkeeper) asked if I could carry her (the mother) home, and I said ‘no’, because of my condition,” and she said that my mother could sleep upstairs at her,” the daughter said.

The daughter said that around 04:15 hrs yesterday, another sister informed her that something had happened to their mother. The siblings then went over to the shop where they saw their mother’s body.

Asked if her mother had any serious medical problems, the daughter said that she suffered from low blood pressure but was otherwise healthy.

Cabinet decided on sale ...

From page 6 Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to Prime Minister Samuel A.A Hinds and Yvonne Z. Hinds jointly.

Another property was transferred from NICIL to Queens Atlantic Investment Inc. (QAII) headed by Dr Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop. There was no known advertisement of this transfer nor was there a tender.

DANGEROUSROLE Christopher Ram, whose company, Ram and McRae has been conducting reviews of Guyana’s budget for the last few years, believes that NICIL has become the vehicle of choice and a “convenience for diverting public funds for all kinds of unusual expenses.

“As it has succeeded in that unlawful and dangerous role it has become more brazen and less concerned about public criticisms.”

NICIL was established under the former Companies Act and the Public Corporations Act to subscribe for, take or otherwise acquire and hold the government shares, stocks, debentures or other securities of any company, co-operatives societies or body corporate.

“It has been doing much more than that. It was involved in the sale of land at Pradoville II; the sale of properties to politically-connected business persons and to others; and it was involved in the controversial and contested award of the Amaila Falls Road contract to Synergy Inc. It is a government favourite that acts as though it too enjoys

immunity from action.”

Among the most notable of the questionable transactions done in 2010 by NICIL was the transfer of government land at Liliendaal and Pattensen, East Coast Demerara, to NICIL. This land, 103.88 acres, was in turn sold to National Hardware Guyana Limited for $600M. According to Ram in analysis, there is nothing that would have prevented the government from selling the property to National Hardware and placing the money directly into the Consolidated Fund.

“Instead, the land is first vested in NICIL which then sells the land, holding the money which it can then spend as it pleases and pay into the Consolidated Fund whatever dividends its directors – all politicians – choose to pay.”

This is in direct violation to the Constitution and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act which state

that monies should be placed in the Consolidated Fund, from which it can only be withdrawn with parliamentary approval.

Another questionable transaction was the dealing with the property, 6.88 acres at the north western side of the Kingston seawall, which is slated for a Marriott Hotel.

This land is earmarked for the Kingston Atlantic Hotel Inc which is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of NICIL and whose sole director is the CEO of NICIL. “It would be hard to find a more improperly interconnected relationship even in a private setting. NICIL is 100 per cent state-owned.

There is no indication that NICIL will become compliant with the Companies Act 1991 or the Public Corporations Act or have its annual reports laid in the National Assembly by its subject Minister who is the Minister of Finance,” the accountant argued.

Page 18

Kaieteur News

Gunmen shoot, rob US-based Guyanese

Thursday May 17, 2012

Corentyne man to face Judge and Jury over forgery Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo sitting in the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday ruled that a prima Facie case be made out against Ganesh Baldeo of Williamsburg Village, Corentyne, for forgery. As such he has been committed to stand trial in the next sitting of the Berbice High Court.

The man who was on trial before her on a charge of forgery is accused of conspiring with others to forge the date on

a Guyana Police Force (GPF) immigration entry stamp in his Republic of Guyana passport.

The case for the prosecution as presented by Police Inspector Jairam Ramlakhan was that on February 19, 2012 Baldeo was an outgoing passenger on a Caribbean Airlines flight bound for Trinidad and Tobago.

However during the process of checking in it was noticed by an immigration officer that the man’s travel document was tampered with.

The last entry date was written over to read April 25, 2008. Checks were made and it was revealed that the man had in fact entered Guyana on January 25, 2011.

Baldeo had first appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry in the Georgetown, Magistrates’ Court. The matter was subsequently transferred to New Amsterdam Magistr a t e court. He was put on $100,000 bail.

Grandmother on trial for manslaughter Police have held a number of persons for questioning following the brutal robbery of three persons, including a United States-based Guyanese, on Wednesday around 02:00 hrs.

Jafar Mohamed, 49, who only returned to the country on Sunday was shot, chopped and robbed along with friends, Narvindra “Vicky” Seepaul, 24, a businessman of Lot 4 section B Bloomfield Public Road, Corentyne, who was robbed of $50,000 and a cellular phone, and Jainarine Singh, 48, a cane harvester who was robbed of $40,000 and a cellular phone.

The incident occurred as the men were about to enter Seepaul’s home.

According to neighbours, Mohamed, who is staying at

Seepaul’s h o m e w o u l d return to Guyana on a regular basis.

The three men had just returned from an outing and were about to enter Seepaul’s yard which houses an Ainlim Distribution Centre and an Internet and Cell phone top up business below, when they were pounced upon by three men.

Two of the bandits wore masks. One had a gun while the others were armed with a cutlass and a piece of wood.

The bandits who apparently knew of the men’s movements were hiding in the yard.

The men put up a resistance, but Mohamed was shot in his left thigh and chopped on his right hand before being relieved of all his cash and jewelry.

He was also relieved of all

his documents. The men also attacked and brutalized Seepaul who was broadsided on his right shoulder. Singh was also beaten.

According to neighbours, the thieves tried to enter the house, but were unable to do so as the house was well grilled. They said that the ordeal lasted for about five minutes.

Neighbours were alerted to the incident by the gunshot and the commotion, but were reluctant to come out at first.

However, as they eventually came out the men fled via a dam not too far away.

Mohamed was picked up and rush to the New Amsterdam Hospital for medical attention and was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. His condition is regarded as serious.

Persons who forgot to wear their seatbelts got a rude awakening Tuesday when traffic officers pulled over numerous vehicles and charged persons for breaching the traffic law that provides for seatbelts to be worn.

About 60 persons filled the traffic section of the Brickdam Police Station, pending charges for not complying with seatbelt stipulations. Kaieteur News understands that most of those detained by the police were passengers.

Police Traffic Chief Brian Joseph said that the traffic department is currently heightening on the already existing ‘Operation Safeway’ initiative.

The traffic head said that the police are currently looking out for passengers who take calmly the seatbelt law. He said that in light of the abrupt rise in accidents for

the month, the police believe that more should be done to enforce the traffic laws.

Last August, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee had mentioned that the government was seeking to amend the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act to make it compulsory for all passengers occupying especially the front seats of minibuses to wear seatbelts.

That was said in connection to the rise in accidents occurring in that period of last year.

On Tuesday, the Traffic Chief attributed the clamp down to the continuous rise in accidents from the start of May. The police said if the scenario continues, then t h e a c c i d e nt and death numbers of this year will soon surpass that of last year.

So far, from January to April of this year, 27 accidents have occurred with 28 deaths.

Last year for that same period, the country experienced 34 accidents with 34 deaths. As of Tuesday, there were 32 accidents and 34 deaths.

In 2009, the Police Traffic Department embarked on a campaign to reduce the carnage on Guyana’s roadways.

The result was zero tolerance traffic enforcement ‘Operation Safeway’. As a result, a number of exercises were put in place to educate citizens about the necessity of heeding road laws.

The Traffic Chief said that Tuesday’s exercise was just the continuation of that campaign, to keep the country’s roads safe. He added that passengers play a significant role in their own safety and they too should take note of measures put in place for them.

Persons who were arrested will appear in court on May 28.

The manslaughter trial of Thakurmani, 64, the West Berbice woman who is accused of killing her husband, began on Tuesday in the Berbice High Court before Justice James BovellDrakes and a mixed jury.

However, after the swearing in of the jury the matter was put down to May 29 because the accused does not have a lawyer and may have to be provided with one by the state.

The woman, of Bennett Dam, Rosignol, West Berbice, is alleged to have killed her husband, Yodha, called ‘Ramsook Maikhoo,’ a fish

vendor on April 27, 2008 following a misunderstanding at their home.

Thakurmani was initially charged with the capital offence, but was committed on the lesser charge at the completion of a Preliminary Inquiry held at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court by Magistrate Nigel Hawke. She was subsequently granted bail in the sum of $200,000.

The matter is being prosecuted by state prosecutor Attorney at law Rhondell Weaver.

Reports were that the couple had a

misunderstanding at their Bennett Street home on the day in question and he was dealt a blow on his left hand.

He subsequently succumbed.

The woman had claimed that she was asleep and when she got up she discovered his lifeless body under the house and raised an alarm.

A post-mortem examination performed on the body showed that Yodha, died from shock and internal haemorrhage.

Police Inspector Donna Grant Fraser had prosecuted the matter during the Preliminary Inquiry.

Undocumented Brazilians ...

Passengers arrested for not wearing seatbelts

Brazilians gathered at Celina’s yesterday to hear of new mining measures.

From page 9 there that some permits took more than a year in some instances…a fact that Rohee found unbelievable. He also denied that his Ministry may be involved in any corruption as is being reported.

Meanwhile, Persaud also warned that mining companies that have not complied with requirements including NIS will not have their applications processed.

SHAKEDOWN The Brazilians have complained of being stopped and harassed for money by police and of others being told that big bucks will have to be paid to get permits that are

worth no more than $5,000.

There were also allegations of claims and dredge owners taking monies from Brazilians to apply for them. In many cases, the applications are left stuck with GGMC after it was found that mining outfit was over its quota of workers.

The Brazilians would have no recourse and many of them, desperate to work, would end up paying thousands more, in oftentimes a lost cause.

According to Rohee yesterday, his staffers have been warned against taking bribes.

The government yesterday also said that it was willing to pay printing of a translation of the procedures for applying for work

permits since it is clear that many foreigners are not familiar with the procedures.

They were also warned that it is against the law to smuggle out the gold or not to declare them officially.

President of Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, Patrick Harding, yesterday called for an amnesty period for the Brazilians. However, the officials were not budging.

On Tuesday, authorities disclosed that there is widespread smuggling and under-declaration of gold produced with the country.

The latter was causing the country to lose billions of dollars in revenue.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

The Abigail Column Daughter can’t move past loser ex

DEARABIGAIL, My daughter has been through some hard times. She left an abusive husband and is raising her child alone, far from family.

Her ex-husband is still in the picture and sees the kid regularly, so he is still in her life - and causing her a great deal of stress.

He has stopped paying child support, which doesn’t help. My frustration is this: Even though her husband

was abusive, and they’ve been divorced for two years, my daughter can’t seem to move on.

She is constantly broke, usually upset by something he has done and tells us we don’t understand what it’s like to be always “off-balance” - he is always threatening a custody battle. It’s clear to her family that he is too big of a loser to ever succeed in that.

We’ve all supported her emotionally - and financially, at times - but she still seems unable or unwilling to stand up to this man, focus on her child and her goals in life and not let herself be defined by this experience.

I don’t have the financial or emotional resources to keep this up.

What can we do to help her move on?

Concerned Mom Dear Concerned Mom, If your daughter’s exhusband is able to pay child support but doesn’t, he is a deadbeat. She can seek to collect child support payments through the courts.

Collecting overdue payments will solve some problems, but it won’t fix the issues at your daughter’s core. Her description of being off-balance perfectly conveys her emotional state.

Thursday May 17, 2012 ARIES (MAR 21 - APR 19): Finding people who share your interests seems imperative now. For the past few weeks, you may have felt as though you were an alien who just landed on planet Earth. Nobody seemed to understand you, and hardly anyone tried to connect with you. ********************************** TAURUS (APR 20 - MAY 20): A role model may inspire you to take charge of an important creative project.

Normally, you’re content to follow somebody else’s lead.

This time, though, you have a unique vision that can only be realised by you. ********************************** GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUN 20): The lure of an exotic destination may be too powerful to resist. Book tickets to a place you’ve never visited before. Do it now, while you’re feeling inspired. Otherwise, practical considerations will undermine your enthusiasm. ********************************** CANCER (JUN 21 - JUL 22): You’re feeling sexy and sultry, and not at all like the respectable person others believe you to be. It’s time to play up your animal magnetism. ********************************** LEO (JUL 23 - AUG 22): Making a spiritual connection with a friend, lover or business associate is possible. You’re tired of relationships that only skim the surface. It’s time to go deeper. ********************************** VIRGO (AUG 23 - SEP 22): Finding ways to integrate your mind, body and spirit can be challenging. These days, it seems like everyone puts all the emphasis on one aspect at the expense of the other two.

LIBRA (SEP 23 - OCT 22): Becoming more spontaneous is a goal worth pursuing.

You’ve been blessed with marvellous intellectual and creative gifts. You’ll have a hard time developing these talents if you carry out the same routine day after day. ********************************** SCORPIO (OCT 23 NOV 21): Uncovering secrets about your past takes courage, which you’ve got in spades. You’re no longer willing to accept evasive answers to questions. Doing some research into personal documents and news stories can also help you assemble the pieces to this puzzle. ********************************** Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21): Developing your writing talent is a labour of love.

You’ve always been convinced that you could write poems, stories and plays.

Now is the time to put this suspicion to the test. ********************************** CAPRICORN (DEC 22 JAN 19): Reading up on the ins and outs of money can be instructive. Many books have been written about creating a prosperity consciousness as a means to attract wealth. ********************************** AQUARIUS (JAN 20 FEB 18): Deep down inside, you’ve always suspected that you possess enormous artistic talent. Creativity doesn’t have to be limited to one medium. ********************************** PISCES (FEB 19 - MAR 20): You’re inspired to spend more time on solitary pleasures, even at the expense of cutting people off. Certain friends and relatives have come to rely on you to do their dirty work.

NCN CHANNEL 11 02:00 – NCN Late Edition (R/B) 02:30 – Late Nite with GINA 03:00 – Movie 05:00 – The Path of Forgetting Part 1 05:30 – Newtown Gospel 06:00 – NCN Late Edition News(R/B) 06:30 – Feature 07:00 – Guyana Today 08:00 – Cricket Info & Quiz 08:40 – 1st Test West Indies VS England –DAY 1 14:00 – NCN Newsbreak 14:05 – Revelation & Power 14:30 – Feature 15:00 – Bollywood 60 Mins (R/B) 16:00 – Stop the Suffering 16:30 – Cartoons 17:00 – Anderson 18:00 – NCN News Magazine – Live 18:30 – Farming Today 19:00 – Al Jazeera 19:30 – NIS & YOU 20:00 – 3d/daily millions/ play de dream/lotto draw 20:05 – Changing Course 21:05 – Ravi D Show Essequibo 22:05 – NCN News Late Edition 22:30 – IPL#65 Kings XI Punjab VS Chennai Super Kings(Delayed) IPL#66 Delhi Daredevils VS Royal Challengers (Delayed) DTV CHANNEL 8 08:55hrs. Sign On 09:00hrs. Live! With Kelly 10:00hrs. Spice Goddess 10:30hrs. Everyday Exotic 11:00hrs. The View 12:00hrs. Prime News 12:30hrs. The Young and the Restless 13:30hrs. The Bold and the Beautiful 14:00hrs. The Talk 15:00hrs. Boy Meets World 16:00hrs. Beverly Hills, 90210 17:00hrs. The Wayans Brothers 18:00hrs. World News 18:30hrs. Nightly News 19:00hrs. Greetings and Announcements 21:00hrs. Person of Interest (Season Finale) 22:00hrs. The Mentalist (Season Finale) 23:00hrs. Sign Off

Page 19

Page 20

Kaieteur News

VEHICLES FOR SALE AE81, driving condition, for parts, neg. Tel: 676-2719 2007 Toyota Axio & 2003 Toyota Premio & 2005 Toyota Belta W/TV/CD. Tel: 6 1 5 - 4 1 1 4 . w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / rashanautosales 2004 Toyota Avensis’s with TV/CD, Oz racing Rims, silver & green. Tel: 615-4114. w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / rashanautosales 2005-2007 Toyota Allions, with TV/DVD, back-up camera. Tel: 615-4114. w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / rashanautosales One 19 seater Pitbul in excellent condition, original seats, A.C., TV, mag rims, BPP series. Tel: 621-8957

EDUCATIONAL Princeton College Forms 15, CXC adults’ classes’; $1500 a subject S.A.T/Phonics etc.

Call: 690-5008, 611-3793 Imperial College – CXC Jan/ June 2013 exam. Day/ Evening classes, flexible hours. Contact 227-7627, 6835742 Private tutor – homeschooling CXC/GCE English A&B. Call: 649-4247 Advanced Diploma in Computer Studies for CSEC students 2012. $15,000 discount. MicroGraphics Technology. Vreed-En-Hoop 264-3057

(From page 15) MASSAGE American Style Massage Service. Call 609-4036

ACCOMMODATION Signature Inn Luxury Suites & Apartments 83 Laluni Street, Queenstown. Call for reservations 226-2145, 2275037

DRESS MAKING

VACANCY

Hilton Hotel: Receptionist & Maids. Henry St. 223-6284.

Phatz Style Boutique: Sales girl. Durban St. 227-0501 Experienced Hair Dresser at Nalline Beauty Salon, Vreeden-Hoop Junction (Raymond Building).

Attractive salary. Contact: 687-3341, 639-9884 Be part of our world class customer care team. Join us now! Phone: 220-0401-3 Hire car drivers & dispatchers wanted from East Coast. Contact 220-1000 Accountant.

ACCA qualified, 5 years experience.

Application sent to: info@mahdiagold.com, Mahdia Gold Corp, 72 Barrack St. Kingston, Georgetown.

Male Sales Clerk. Hand written application. Perfume Dazzle, 137 Regent St., Lacytown, G/Town.

Fish cleaners. Eccles. 2332546, 675-5467

TO LET Harmony inn fully furnished self contained a/c apartments, Short term& long term Parfaite Harmony WBD Tel:694-7817 Four (4) bedroom apartment.

Contact: 682-8875 1 2 bedroom house, 1 1 bedroom house, Good Hope, Essequibo. Call: 680-4990, 277-3033

Apartment to Rent, 67 Garnet St., Newtown Kitty. Call: 2223435 Business place to rent, very spacious. Call: 226-2674/6846360,223-1301,682-6822 Short term apartments, Eccles. Call: 679-7139

24 yrs old female looking for male friends, 35-up. Tel# 673-5997.

Female, age 24, seeking both female & male friendship.

Tele: 614-6813

B&C Driving School. Pickup & drop off. Contact 2250150, 680-6826, 229-7258

LAND FOR SALE Land V/Hoop 2 acre: school, housing, factory, etc. call: 658-0115 Bazaar St., Parika. No agents. 661-3043 West Coast $3.5M. North Road $45M. Continental Park $10M. Diana 227-2256, 6269382.

West Coast $35,000. South $100,000. Nandy Park US$2000, Accommodation, Hotel. Diana 227-2256, 6269382 2 bedroom apartment. Self contained, for visitors @ Santa Cruise, Trinidad. Call: 0011-868-483-2495, 672-8771

PEN PAL

LEARN TO DRIVE

Short term apartments. Tel: 667-1549 (2) bedroom furnished house @ 31 Second Street, Liliandall Pump Road. Tel: 222-3838, 617-9004

South Ruimveldt .

Unfurnished Lower flat independent 1 bedroom Apartment with en suite, kitchen and full amenities.

Call 227-1218 LIBRARY Closing down sale; text, university, novels & others from-$100 up. Call: 223-8237

Esparza 1st US female boxer to qualify for London NEW YORK (AP) Flyweight Marlen Esparza has become the first American female boxer to qualify for the London Olympics.

Esparza secured her birth by beating Luu Thi Duyen of Vietnam in the second round of the Women’s World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, on Tuesday. The boxer from Houston took a 28-13 decision in the three-round bout.

U.S. lightweight Quanitta Underwood’s hopes of qualifying for the Olympics at the tournament ended when she lost 26-25 to Norway’s Ingrid Egner in a third-round bout Tuesday.

The Seattle fighter’s hopes of competing in London now depend on an international commission that will select the additional lightweight from the Americas to compete in the games.

Int’l Women’s 1500m...

Special Computer Classes for 2012 CSEC students.

MicroGraphics Technology, Parika (Bollywood building) Tel: 670-5734

6 weeks designing/sewing classes. Sharmela 225-2598, 641-0784 Kitchen assistant @ Charlestown- ages 18-35.

Call: 614-1020

Thursday May 17, 2012

CAR RENTAL Progressive auto rental, cars from $4,000 per day. Call: 6435122, 656-0087, www.progressiveautorental.com First Choice Car Rental cars $5,000-7,000 per day 6680306, 225-6337 Al’s Car & Pick-up Rental.

Call: 698-7807 Premio, 110 Corolla. Call: 679-7139

From back page heats before a break for the Opening Ceremony at 2pm.

Pascal is quite familiar with Guyanese opposition after competed for a number of years against Morgan and Euleen Josiah-Tanner around the Caribbean. Josiah-Tanner defeated her last year in St. Kitts and Nevis with Morgan finishing third on that occasion. Meanwhile, the 23-yearold Nero, who is on a US scholarship, has given a peak of her recent form at the

Wichita Herm Wilson Invitational, with a modest 4:52.01 in the 1500m, which fell just six seconds short of her personal best, and can be called an impressive time.

These athletes among the local contenders that Burnett will spearhead will make for interesting competition at the MSC Ground in Linden on Sunday.

Burnett has thrown down the gauntlet and one can expect an impressive race in the established Mecca of athletics.

Adams, Vantull guide MetenMeer-Zorg...

From page 21 Jitendra (only name given) scoring 49 and 37 respectively. Kowlessar then returned to capture 3-15 and N. Hamid took 2-8 as Uitvlugt only managed to score 48 before they were bowled out in 15 overs.

At Vergenoegen (2pm), the host got the better of Tuschen by 75 runs. In a match which was reduced to 15 overs due to rain, Vergenoegen batted first and managed 109-7 off their allotment of overs. Lennox Andrews scored 35, while Kevon Boodie made 28.

Tuschen in their turn at the crease were skittled out for 43 in 11.3 overs. Hemchand Persaud was the main destroyer with 4-6 while Michael Goberdhan had 3-18 for the winners.

The competition continues on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Competition Committee, Bhawan Mc Coon is calling on all clubs to submit their match reports on time as well as the list of players. He is also asking that the reports bear the full names of all the players. (Zaheer Mohamed)

Lara feels Shiv should bat...

From page 22 great similarities and that is something we smile and talk about whenever we speak.

The fact that we have a close relationship means he seeks me out if he needs any advice.

It is something I enjoy.”

Bravo’s record at this early stage of his Test career is almost keeping pace with Lara. After 25 innings they were remarkably similar – Bravo had 1,206 runs at 52.43, Lara 1,253 at 50.12, though Lara pulled ahead by making 375 in his 26th, the innings that changed his life forever.

After 30, the number Bravo has now played, their respective averages are 49.59 and 56.50. Lara is convinced that Bravo, who was 23 in February, can cope with the attention.

“He has the potential to go the full way. As a former cricketer you quickly accept the fact that as you get to the international level, the talent and potential that you have is a very small part of making it. He has the desire and the mental approach, which is by far more important than the ability, to do so.

I believe he has the ability but speaking to him I believe that he has the mental strength and dedication needed too. I am sure he will be a world-class player.”

That description already

applies to Chanderpaul, who is now once more ranked as the world’s No 1 batsman.

Since Lara retired, Chanderpaul has carried West Indies’ batting on his shoulders. And yet Lara clearly thinks he could do more for the team by moving up the order from the comparatively safe haven of No 5.

“It beats me,” he said. “It is something that I’ve not talked in public about but I would want to know why. If he can be so consistent, why he wouldn’t say ‘let me bat with some more experienced, talented players up the order’? That’s not only going to benefit him but it would help the team.

“Your best batter is going to be at No3 – he is the one who is going to lay the foundations to win a match.

If your best batter is coming in five, repairing damage, I don’t understand the logic in it.

“If I was going to be a little critical of the batting lineup at the moment it would be that the top four lack experience. I would like to see Chanderpaul or Marlon Samuels – two guys who have 10 years of experience – maybe jump up to No 3. The younger players, very talented, batting around him would enable them to learn.

Not a lot of experience in

English conditions is not a good thing.”

Gibson said yesterday that Chanderpaul would continue to bat at five but would be happily prepared to move up if such a decision was believed to be in the team’s best interests. But all of this hardly matters while the game in the Caribbean is so indifferently administered with board and players too often at each other’s throats.

“Of course it is not a happy situation but that’s been the case for 20something years,” said Lara.

“Even when I started we had friction between the board and the players and that has not been solved.

Unfortunately, we are still in that situation and the squad is light of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine. They are all plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.”

Lara, like too many of the past generation, has virtually been frozen out of West Indian cricket. He would clearly relish an opportunity to put something back now.

“The WICB have their way of doing things,” he said. “At any point in time, though, my phone number is available to all those young players.” If that is so, he ought to have his phone with him at all times in the next month.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Gardner preparing for Independence Day ½ Marathon

Gardner collects his first prize after winning the Masters Category in the Mexican/Guyana ½ mile Road Race in March.

Fifty-six year old veteran Marathon runner Llewellyn Gardner has stepped up preparations for the planned Independence Day half Marathon on May 26.

Gardner told Kaieteur Sport yesterday that he is confident of achieving his third consecutive win in the Masters Category for the year and disclosed that he trains at the Camptown Football ground in the mornings before running in the national Park and doing strengthening work at the Gym there in the afternoons.

The Rising Star Track and Field runner feels his main challenge on Independence Day in the Masters division is Maurice Fagundes and wants to also make an impression in the overall category.

After winning the Masters division in the Cross country 10K in January, Gardner again crossed the line first in the Masters category and seventh overall in the Mexican/ Guyana 20k Road Race on March 11 in a time of 1hr, 23 minutes and 11 seconds. Mexican Jose Luis Macias was the guest runner in that race.

“President of the Athletic Association of Guyana Keith Boyce along with (Director of Sports) Neil Kumar and (Sports Minister) Dr Frank Anthony informed us that the last race in March was a trial for the 13-mile Independence Day race and I am looking forward to continue doing well for the year,” Gardner said.

Canadian softball cricketers wrap up tour with Berbice matches Fans, still basking in the victory of local softball cricketers in the just concluded GT&T 10/ten International Cup match at the National Stadium Providence may get another chance to see the Canadians in action when the North American team opposes two teams out of the Ancient County at the Port Mourant Ground starting at 10.00hrs today.

There will also be another encounter where a selected XI from Berbice will play a trial match before selecting the team to compete against the Canadians. This match gets underway at 13:00hrs and aims to give the players a perfect opportunity to test their mettle against teams of international standards.

The shortlisted players were drawn from the just concluded GT&T 10/10 tournament and will be under the guidance of Randolph Latcha. The other players are: Khemraj Sookram, Govinda Raj (D’Edward SC); Universal

Solutions Tigers fields Rajiv Ivan and Rambarrat, while Anchorville Young Achievers will be represented by Nand Singh and Sasenarine Earnest, From Corriverton All Stars will be Loei Faroose while Guysuco is represented

by Karamchand Mahabali.

The Unstoppable team has in its squad Surrendranauth Sookdeo and Vinod Nandkishore while the Peter Lewis XI will be represented by Chandreshekhar Arjune, Pooran Debidyal, Karibee Boyz, Kalyandass Khaimlall, Altaf Yakim, Imran Khan and Shazim Ragasammy. Celebrity Times fields David Lukenauth, Balram Samaroo and Farook Hussain.

The Canadians will be banking on top batsmen, Troy Gonsalves and Ejaz Mohamed for support while Skipper Mitch Bacchu will prove useful in the batting and bowling department.

Those matches will be preceded by a female encounter between Karibee

Girls and Albion Tigers. The Canadians will also be up against an all star XI which includes Troy Kippins, skipper of Regal, Balram Balgobin, Jonathan Foo, Seunarine Chattergoon, Davendra Bishoo and several others.

Universal Solutions Tigers will also feature against Karibee Boyz in a battle for bragging rights.

The day’s activities will be sponsored by Nand Persaud, Peter Lewis Construction and administrators of region six.

Trophies will be presented to the respective winners and the proceedings will be declared open by the Regional Chairman.

Meanwhile the Canadians travelled to Essequibo yesterday and challenged a female team comprising the best out of the region.

Additionally, the overseas players will take on East Bank XI and a Georgetown XI on Friday and one day later, they will tackle Wolf Warriors at Cornelia Ida before wrapping up their schedule.

Heat look vulnerable, Spurs still...

From page 23 the final two minutes and 41 seconds of the game and their last chance to tie the score ended with Mario Chalmers’ three-point effort hit the rim.

NOTHING TO CELEBRATE

James led Miami with 28 points and nine rebounds and Wade put up 24 points and made six rebounds.

David West top scored for the Pacers with 16 points but was quick to put the victory in context. The series moves

to Indianapolis for Game Three on Thursday.

In San Antonio, the Spurs ended their week-long break with a 108-92 rout of the Clippers. Tim Duncan looked fresh, the 36-year-old recording 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Spurs took advantage of a weary Los Angeles team who just concluded a physical seven-game series against Memphis.

The Clippers, playing in the second round for the first

time since 2006, were still in the picture until a 14-3 run in the third quarter put San Antonio up by 19.

Blake Griffin had 15 points and nine rebounds and looked to have shaken off the effects of a knee injury suffered in the first round. Chris Paul made just three of 13 shots for the Clippers and had six points and 10 assists.

Manu Ginobili added 22 for the Spurs.

Page 21

Narine fells Mumbai, spins Kolkata into play-offs ‘Mystery’ spinner picks up four wickets in 32-run win Yahoo!

Cricket – MUMBAI: Kolkata Knight Riders entrapped Mumbai Indians in a web of deceit as ‘mystery’ spinner Sunil Narine weaved for them a 32run win at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

Kolkata were sent in to bat and struggled to 140-7 in their allocated quota, after which they scuppered Mumbai’s chase with regular wickets.

The star performer for Shahrukh Khan’s franchise was young Narine, who proved impossible to read even for the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, and ended with match figures of four for 15.

He was supported admirably, for once, by Lakshmipathy Balaji, who took two for 11 from four tight overs.

The win lifted KKR to the second spot on the table with 19 points - one behind league leaders Delhi Daredevils, a place in the play-offs now written in stone. For this most pleasing result, KKR should thank their bowlers.

Chasing an apparently innocuous 141, Mumbai lost Herschelle Gibbs early – legbefore to Iqbal Abdullah - and were stupefied when Narine got a searing off-break to clatter into Tendulkar’s stumps. Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu, victims of frank indiscretion, followed soon after, and when Kieron Pollard was caught behind off a short Jacques Kallis delivery, Mumbai were in freefall.

They lost their last six wickets for 12 runs, as Narine lured Harbhajan Singh with a delivery that spun away, and Rohit Sharma with one that straightened.

Nobody displayed the stomach to hang around, and KKR

Sunil Narine was outstanding yet again romped home when R.P. Singh hoicked Narine to deep mid-wicket, where he was caught by Abdullah, as Mumbai folded for 108 in the 20th over.

Kolkata, however, had begun the match disastrously. They were jolted by an abominable legbefore decision and an R.P. Singh ripper as they lost two key batsmen in the second over of the first innings, after Mumbai elected to field.

On a wicket not quite conducive to shot-making, the visitors were pegged back by the early double blow, and although Manoj Tiwary attempted a restructuring of the innings, Kolkata had to satisfy themselves with a total – their lowest of the season - that seemed insufficient against the might of Mumbai’s batting.

R.P. Singh made early inroads and his first success was more fortuitous that anything else. Opener Brendon McCullum charged down the pitch and was struck on the pads. The ball had pitched outside leg, the

batsman too was a mile out of the crease, yet umpire Subroto Das raised his finger for a horrendous decision, sending the disappointed New Zealander on his way.

On the next ball, R.P. knocked back Kallis’ off stump, putting Kolkata in a right spot with two wickets down in the second over.

Gautam Gambhir, the man in form, also struggled for runs.

He was handed two reprieves - by the wicketkeeper and by Tendulkar - and was finally bowled by Kieron Pollard on 27.

Manoj Tiwary hung around, interspersing a rash of singles with a couple of fours and sixes, and was out after scoring 41. Yusuf Pathan did precious little to salvage his poor season. The burly hitter was handed a quasi ‘life’ when he was caught off an R.P. Singh no-ball, but could not build on it, finishing with a laborious unbeaten 21.

Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 140 for 7 (Tiwary 41) beat Mumbai Indians 108 (Narine 4-15, Balaji 2-11) by 32 runs.

Adams, Vantull guide Meten-MeerZorg East Uprising Star to victory National U-19 player Ricardo Adams slammed a fine half century and left arm spinner Damien Vantull grabbed 3 wickets as MetenMeer-Zorg East Uprising Star defeated Vergenoegen by 14 runs as the West Coast Demerara United Cricket League President’s twenty \20 competition commenced recently with a number of matches.

At Vergenoegen (10 am ), Meten-Meer-Zorg East Uprising Star scored 112 all out off their allotted overs after taking first turn at the crease. Adams was their

leading run scorer with 56 as D. Singh claimed 6-11.

Vergenoegen in reply were restricted to 98 in 18 overs.

National U-19 wicketkeeper\batsman Kevon Boodie top scored with 19 as Vantull, who bowled with good control and variation, captured 3-25, while Imran Khan took 2-14 and Wazeer Mohamed 2-12 for the winners.

At Tuschen (10 am ), the host overcame Windsor Forest by 6 wickets in a low scoring affair. Windsor Forest batted first and were bowled out for 45 in 11.2 overs.

Naveed Alli 11 and J. Williams 10 were the only batsmen that reached double figures as V. Roopchand picked up 3-7 for Tuschen who responded with 47-4 in 10 overs. W. Cornelius led with 13, while R. Baksh supported with 10 as M. Chetram and Williams grabbed two wickets each in a losing cause for the Windsor Forest.

At Cornelia Ida (10 am), Leonora trashed Uitvlugt by a massive 102 runs. Leonora took first strike and posted a respectable 150-7 in 20 overs with H. Kowlessar and (Continued on page 20)

Page 22

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 17, 2012

Courts (Guyana) breaks new ground, supports President’s / Jefford Track & Field Classic This year’s President’s / Jefford Track & Field Classic continues to break new ground after Courts (Guyana) became the most recent corporate citizen to guarantee its support to the event during a simple presentation ceremony which was conducted, at the entity’s Head Office on Main Street yesterday.

Marketing Manager Tamara Rodney-Clarke speaking at the occasion said that Courts is certainly delighted to be associated with the event, adding that the Company do believe that sports and youth development is very important in our society.

Rodney-Clarke then took the opportunity to wish all the participants a good day whether they win or lose, adding that they are all leaders and winners in their own right.

Marketing Officer Kester Abrams, who made the presentation of the cheque worth $100,000 to Coorganiser Edison Jefford in his remarks stated that even though Courts are coming on board for the first time they are happy to do so since they believe that the event apart from providing an avenue to promote healthy lifestyles and sporting entertainment also provides an opportunity for the athletes to better their lives. He said he trust that the weather is good and the

Courts Marketing Officer- Kester Abrams (second right) hands over the cheque to President’s / Jefford Track & Field Classic co-organiser Edison Jefford in the presence of Marketing Manager- Tamara Rodney-Clarke yesterday. competition is fierce, but friendly and the day is an enjoyable one for both the participants and the fans.

“I would like to hear that there were some exciting performances, but most of all because there is a Courts outlet in the community we are extremely proud to be able to give back to the community through the support for sports,” Abrams commented.

In his response, Jefford said, “it is gestures like these that demonstrate that corporate citizens such as Courts are serious about the development of sports.

Courts is perhaps the best furniture and appliance store in Guyana and here they are partnering with the best track

and field competition in Guyana. We welcome them on board this year and it signals that the best is willing to work with the best.”

The Classic will be staged on Sunday, May 20, at the Mackenzie Sport Club and among those anticipated top participate are Guyana’s middle distance star Marian Burnett and athletes from Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Barbados in the international segment, while over 30 races are carded for the locals.

The winning club is set to take home $500,000, runnerup $300,000 and 3rd place $100,000, while there will be gate prizes specifically intended to give back to the

fans, especially those from the community.

The international races also have special prizes on offer for the top three finishers.

Among the top locals expected to participate in the Classic are women’s 100 metres champion Alisha Fortune, Chavez Ageday, Stephan James, Tevin Garraway, Kevin Bayley, Elton Bollers, Jevina Straker, Juanita Hooper, Neisa Allen, Tiffany Carto, Shauna Thornhill, Natasha Alder,, Alita Moore, Alika Morgan, Janella Jonas, while the Mining Town will be represented by Winston Caesar, Nathaniel Giddings, Bevon Noble and Parish Cadogan.

Marian Academy beat QC in Badminton tourney

Players of the two schools (Marian at left) along with Marian Sports Coordinator, Chris Bowman (centre) take time out for a photo.

The Marian Academy Badminton Team got the better of their counterparts from Queens College 3-2 to win the Friendly Team Tournament played off at the Marian Academy Badminton Courts on Tuesday.

The Queens College Team were welcomed by Mr. Chris Bowman, Sports Coordinator of Marian Academy.

The results of the Team Tournament were: Boys Singles: Narayan Ramdhani of Marian Academy defeated Cecil Abrams of Queens College: 21-4 Girls Singles: Priyanna Ramdhani of Marian Academy defeated Varsha Boodram of Queens College: 21-17

Boys Doubles: Cecil Abrams/Omari Joseph of Queens College defeated Jonathan Mangra/Ronald Chang Yuen of Marian Academy: 21-11 Girls Doubles: Ambika Ramraj/Nadine Jairam of Queens College defeated Meshonn Persaud/Angelica DaSilva of Marian Academy: 21-14

Mixed Doubles: Narayan & Priyanna Ramdhani of Marian Academy defeated Omari Joseph/Ambika Ramraj: 21-12 The next matches are schedule next week at the Queens College Badminton Courts where the two side will clash again and the QC side will hope to change the results on home court.

Lara feels Shiv should bat higher Part of the difficulty for any West Indies side in England is the past. It is inescapable, from the pioneer tourists of the roaring Twenties, through the first calypso cricketers of the less roaring Fifties, the bravura stylists of the Swinging Sixties and the brilliantly clinical exponents of the Seventies and Eighties when the world was at their feet.

The common conclusion is that a legacy has been wasted and that the 2012 tourists will suffer the fate of their four most recent predecessors in 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2009 and be swept aside. Yet in Ottis Gibson they have a calm, observant and highly qualified coach, who has made brave calls and appears to be in it for the long haul.

West Indies’ most illustrious player of the last 20 years can sense, if not quite yet see, the green shoots of recovery. As Brian Lara said when assessing the chances of this team in the next two months: “We have always had very talented young cricketers and that has never disappeared from West Indian cricket. How that talent is taken forward either personally or by the cricket board is another different story.

“This team is full of talent.

We have some very good young players in both departments. For this particular tour I think it is going to be very tough for them especially with the weather conditions and the lack of preparation. We are fighting, though. It is a pretty young team but it is one that has something in it that could go forward.”

Lara is one of those in whose shadow the present bunch must play. Perhaps he looms larger than all of the other great players from the Caribbean simply because he was so recent and set unprecedented statistical and aesthetic standards. He straddled the last of the great years and the beginning of the steep, inexorable decline.

It is six years since Lara played his 131st and final Test match, still at his peak, making three hundreds in his last 10 innings. Aloof from the team though he was by the end, he was and still is irreplaceable.

But there are two batsmen of this vintage who do not wilt by comparison. Lara spoke in different tones of Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Watching Bravo perform at Northampton last week against England Lions was to

Brian Lara

Shiv Chanderpaul

Darren Bravo think that Lara himself had been reincarnated at the crease. The high backlift, the languid execution of shot, the breathtaking timing, the equally daunting gift for playing the ball as early or as late as he wished, were all present and correct.

The two men are related – Lara’s mother is the sister of Bravo’s grandfather – and the link between the batting styles was forged at an early stage. It could hardly have been otherwise.

“Driving through the village in Santa Cruz [Trinidad] I would stop and see him with one hand holding his shorts up and the other with a bat in it.

“A lot of older people would be bowling at him – something I did in the past.

He is a bit more powerful than I was at his age. He can stand in his crease and toss the spinners over mid-on and -off for six. “I believe there are (Continued on page 20)

Thursday May 17, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 23

NCBL looks to create signature event for basketball - as event officially launched

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, Director of Sport, Neil Kumar among members of the NCBL launch the historical event yesterday in Ministry’s boardroom.

T h e N a t i o n a l Community Basketball League (NCBL) hopes to become a signature calendar event in Guyana. That was revealed yesterday at the official launch of the event in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport board room on Main Street.

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony said that he and the

Coordinators of the NCBL, Kwame Mentore and Robert Cadogan had several discussions leading up to the launch of the communitybased competition and he believes it can be a signature event.

“We must admit that there are not many signature events for basketball in Guyana. I don’t want to see this as a one-off thing, but we

must know that at this time of the year, on an annual basis, this event will be here,” Anthony told the media yesterday.

The minister said that he has a lot of confidence in Mentore because he sticks to his word when he undertakes a task. According to Anthony, whenever Mentore says that he will get something done, he often

does, which is why the ministry has supported him.

“We are very pleased to support this initiative. As I said we must look at this in a broader context of basketball for grassroots level,” Anthony said, adding that we must picture the event growing to include hundreds of teams coming out to participate from communities.

Mentore accepted the challenge and indicated that the tournament presents an opportunity for the development of new talent as well as the development of new infrastructure. He believes that the event can even generate a NBA star because of growing interest.

“We basically took what Bobby (Cadogan) and the other guys were doing and

upgraded it to the level of marketing, branding and media. We are adding aspects such as the All-Star dancers, who will be performing on game nights,” Mentore told the gathering.

Link-Up Media, Guyenterprise, GT&T, Gizmos and Gadgets, Churches Chicken, Banks DIH, Giftland OfficeMax and the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports are the main partners of the NCBL that bounces off on May 19, at the corporate Level.

The NCBL is organised primarily to promote and revive the sport in Guyana.

It’s set as a vehicle to reenergise basketball players, while at the same time discover new talents from the competing communities around Guyana.

GDA meets Sports Minister

T

he Georgetown Dominoes Association (GDA) held its annual general meeting last March with a record forty-seven teams attending the meeting.

Elected to the Presidency was Orin Joseph with Michael Persaud as his deputy. Derick Collymore is the Secretary, Ronald Beharry has been returned as Treasurer and Sonia Goodluck is the new Assistant Secretary /Treasurer. Basil Bradshaw is again the PRO with Mark Wiltshire the Organizing Secretary and the two Organizing Secretaries being William Sargeant and Yonnette Christmas.

The committee members are Faye Joseph, Kevin Boston, Erwin Chapman and Rudy Collins.According the Bradshaw, the new executive has mandated itself to take Dominoes to a higher level and attempt to have itevolveintoasportandnotjusta‘game’.

The members of the new executive met with Guyana’s Sports Minister Dr Frank Anthony along with Parliamentary Secretary within the ministry Steve Ninvalle to discuss their proposals and have his blessing in their effort to make Dominoes a truly national event by attracting more interested persons and teams form a wider cross section of the society.

GDA members meet Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony (right) and Parliamentary Secretary Steve Ninvalle (2nd right) at the Minister’s Main Street Office yesterday.

Heat look vulnerable, Spurs still sharp (Reuters) - Without Chris Bosh, championship favorites Miami suddenly looked vulnerable as they suffered an upset defeat to the Indiana Pacers, while the West’s top seeds San Antonio look to have hit

peak form with a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in their secondround opener on Tuesday.

In Miami, the Heat’s 7875 loss left their Eastern Conference semi-final series tied at 1-1. Bosh has been

ruled him out “indefinitely” after picking up an abdominal strain in Game One on Sunday and questions are being asked about how effective the Heat can be without one of their key components.

With the Heat holding a 38-33 lead at halftime, however, there was little indication of the turnaround that was to put last year’s runners-up in trouble.

Indiana dominated the third quarter, outscoring Miami

28-14 and grabbing a ninepoint advantage heading into the fourth.

Wi t h B o s h o n t h e sidelines it was left to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to carry the Heat. The duo came up with 21 of

Miami’s 23 fourth-quarter points but James missed two free throws and Wade came up short with Miami three down and less than 10 seconds on the clock.

Miami failed to score in (Continued on page 21)

t r o Sp England v West Indies, 1st Test, Lord’s

T

he days when a West Indies series began with the expectation they would inflict a blackwash are long gone. Now they begin a series with many expecting they will be whitewashed.

Unless weather intervenes, anything other than an England cleansweep is likely to be viewed as a missed opportunity.

There are valid reasons for that. England are at home in early season conditions against a West Indies team that have been hindered by rain and late arrivals during their preparation.

D e s p i t e a d i ff i c u l t winter, where they lost four out of five Tests, England remain a formidable team with arguably the strongest pace-bowling resources in the world.

Yet, perhaps West Indies are not being given their due.

Between the politics and

Low expectations for West Indies batting collapses there have been a few signs that this team are starting to gel under the leadership of Darren Sammy.

The 2-0 defeat against Australia looked comfortable for the visitors last month but they were tested on many occasions.

In Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul, West Indies have a strong trio of pace bowlers. If only they could put consistent runs on the board.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, despite being the No. 1 Test batsman, should not have to do it all on his own.

For England’s standing in Test cricket - where they remain No. 1 by the skin of their teeth - they need to dominate this series. Not all the players have hit the ground running in the County Championship this season, notably the openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair

Cook, and that could provide an opening for West Indies.

Ultimately, though, the depth of the home side should prevail.

James Anderson was named England’s Player of the Year on Monday and is now rivalling Dale Steyn as the leading pace bowler in the world. If he stays fit, Ian Botham’s England record of 383 wickets is within his sights and he will expect to boost his tally against a flaky West Indies top order.

Darren Bravo has a huge part to play alongside Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the middle order. His twin fifties against England Lions in Northampton gave an English audience the first glimpse of his huge talent, but West Indies need him to convert into three figures on the Test stage - a skill he has already shown at the top level.

Unless the hosts decide

Captains Andrew Strauss and Darren Sammy pose with the series trophy ahead of the first Test between England and West Indies. to be really bold and select five frontline bowlers, Jonny Bairstow will make his Test debut at No. 6 to become the

13th father-son combination to play Tests for England.

Then the only decision is who supports Anderson and

Stuart Broad. Tim Bresnan may just be leading the race ahead of Steven Finn and Graham Onions.

Int’l Women’s 1500m to be scorcher Sunday - Burnett pays courtesy call on Digicel

G

uyana and Linden’s International m i d d l e distance track star, Marian Burnett yesterday paid a courtesy call on Digicel at its Kingston headquarters ahead of competing at the third edition of the President’s/Jefford Track and Field Classic in Linden on Sunday.

Burnett will compete in the Women’s 800m and 1500m with the latter race being dubbed one of the two international races expected at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground. The eminent Guyanese athlete said that she is looking to be impressive.

“I want to make an impression and put on a show. I am taking this very seriously because I want to qualify for the 2012 Olympics and this is all part

Kenisha Pascal of my preparation. I am going out there to be the best I can be,” the two-time Olympian told the media.

During her visit to Digicel, Burnett met with Chief Executive Officer, Gregory Dean, and Head of Marketing, Jacqueline James. The local telecommunications giant is the primary sponsor of the President’s/Jefford Track

Digicel’s Head of Marketing, Jacqueline James (left) presents Marian Burnett with a gift while CEO, Gregory Dean shares the moment yesterday.

Tonya Nero and Field Classic for the third consecutive year.

Burnett said that she hopes to compete on the synthetic track here before she calls it quits, stating that she has no problem with the grass surface in Linden because it is where she began her career several years ago.

She informed that she trains on grass in the United States.

The two-time Olympian

a n d t h r e e - t i m e ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ will face off against local and regional rivals when she laces her running shoes in the Mining Town on Sunday.

She exhumed confidence that she will be victorious at the brief media forum.

Burnett, a former NCAA Indoor Champion, Central American and Caribbean medallist and local record

holder, will be competing against two of the Caribbean’s leading middle distance athletes, who will both be here to represent their respective countries at the event.

Kenisha Pascal will be representing Grenada with Tonya Nero representing Trinidad and Tobago in the International Women’s 1500m. Those athletes will

face off against Burnett, and Guyanese, Alika Morgan, Jevina Straker among others in the signature race.

Pascal, her male counterpart, Kimon Henry along with her coach will arrive in Guyana Saturday morning while Nero and team arrive early Sunday morning for the meet that starts at 10am with the sprint (Continued on page 20)

Lara feels Shiv should bat higher

Pg. 22

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