Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Kaieteur News

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CCPA Child Welfare campaign heightened - engineers to test soil as possible fuel source Transport Minister, Robeson Benn, touring the CJIA site with the Chinese contractor last Thursday.

The expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) has begun in earnest with the Chinese firm currently undertaking the runway. Government, according to CJIA, has also ordered tests on soil found in the area. The soil is believed to be peat, which can be mined for fuel. CJIA yesterday said, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is currently tackling a trial section in the Timehri North area, located just beyond the localizer, antennas used for landing the planes. The localizer is situated just north of the main runway. The filling works would have commenced two weeks ago. Minister of Public Works and Transport, Robeson Benn, along with other Ministry and CJIA officials were taken on a site visit last Thursday, where CHEC’s Engineers are removing the soft peat and backfilling the area with sand. “I know we had some hiccups but I am happy to see that works have commenced for this transformational project,” Minister Benn told CHEC technicians. When completed the runway will be able to accommodate BOEING 747400 aircraft, and will be

extended from 7,500 feet to 10,800 feet. The runway extension is part of a US$150M expansion that will also include a brand new terminal building. Currently slated as the second largest public infrastructure project in the country, the initiative has not found favor with the Opposition who voted down over $5B in monies allocated in the budget, earlier this year. The Opposition said they want more clarity on the project as there were not sufficient reasons advanced to justify the spending. Government had been arguing that increased passenger traffic and a short runway have both stifled the growth of CJIA. In addition to sewage problems, the current airport in peak season is unable to handle the crowds. A new airport will coincide with Guyana’s growing tourism and attract new airlines and even traffic from Asia and Africa. Almost US$20M has already been advanced to CHEC. There had been fears

that the blocking of funding for the project would have hurt planned construction which has been pushed back from a mid-year start. CJIA said that Minister Benn has instructed his engineers to carry out tests on peat soil found in the area. According to him, peat is produced as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world. Data has shown that over time, the formation of peat is often the first step in the geological formation of other fossil fuels such as Lignite, which is considered the lowest rank of coal. It is mined in Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Russia, the United States, India, Australia and many other parts of Europe and it is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. Up to 50 percent of Greece’s electricity and 25.7 percent of Germany’s comes from lignite power plants, particularly low grade coal such as lignite

The Child Care and Protection Agency, (CCPA) has heightened its campaign to protect vulnerable, abused and neglected children. Director of the CCPA, Ms Ann Greene, says that the agency is sending a “strong message” to parents and guardians, who are in the habit of leaving their children unattended. “Parents have the responsibility of caring and protecting their children and not leaving them unsupervised or at risk. Parents must ensure that they leave their children in the care of accountable persons. Failing to do so, parents or guardians can face the necessary consequences, and they will be prosecuted. “Ms Greene lauds those persons, who are willing to set an example by reporting cases of neglect and child abuse. “I wish to commend persons, who have stepped up and reported such instances to the agency because the public has a major role to play in assuring the safety of Guyana’s children. If people do not report to us we have no other way of

- public involvement essential to ensure safety, welfare of children knowing, when a child is in danger.” The CCPA Director reiterates that the reports made to the agency are confidential. “All reports to the agency are confidential, the informant can remain anonymous…what is important is that they provide the agency with the name and location of the child or children in danger.” Recently children rescued from unsafe domestic circumstances by officials of CCPA included a two-year-old, who was left alone at a Charlotte Street house for several hours. A newborn was taken into state care after his American mother appeared unfit to care for him. Reports can be made to the agency; via CCPA hotline number 227-0979 or persons can make contact with the regional probation officers as well as visit the nearest police station. The Headquarters of Child Care and Protection

Agency is located at Lot 7 Board Street Charlestown. Reports emanating from the CCPA earlier this year indicate that from a total of 1039 cases of child abuse, 137 are sexual abuse cases with 120 girls being victims.Cases of neglec t i n c l u d e 1 9 5 children, while 18 children were completely abandoned. Physically abused children include 69 boys and 72 girls. T h e C h i l d Care and Protection Agency was launched on July 29, 2009 under the supervision of then Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, after the legislation was passed in Parliament on January 8, 2009. T h e Ag ency has the power to implement the policies and decisions in relation to the laws governing children: the monitoring of childcare facilities; to intervene in cases where a child is abused or neglected.

Family members question a death at Baganara By Ashawna Harris On September 12, last, a 19-year-old lost his life. The conclusion was that he drowned. Ryan Anthony Harris of lot 124 Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt Park was employed as a tour guide at the Baganara Island and resort, Essequibo, for directly three weeks before his death. Ryan’s family is still mourning the loss. He was his mother’s only son. “It’s been almost two months since the death of my only son. The way it seems, since we are not financially able to challenge this case the police

would only work for two days and then get tired. They passed this case off as an accident. But since we know better we are prepared to fight to the finish. “The day Ryan got through with the job we were overwhelmed for him since getting through with job we thought he would have been able to directly support his family financially which was one of his main desires.

“Within the three weeks that Ryan was employed there he never missed one day of calling us, since he would both call to check up on us to see how we are doing and also sharing his daily encounters. His only complaint was that the place was very boring and the food was terrible.” T h e Saturday before Ryan’s death he called requesting us to send our (continued on page 16)

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Kaieteur News

Kaieteur 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

NO MEDIA MONITORING Before the advent of sophisticated electronic gadgets and long before even the radio had become ubiquitous the newspaper was the prime means of information dissemination. This was so all over the world even after television had arrived in those countries that were far more advanced than Guyana. Newspaper circulation was at its highest because everyone wanted to keep abreast of the happenings. All over the world the newspaper kept appearing on the streets, sometimes printing as many as five editions. Guyana had its share of multiple runs of the press and all because the focus was on getting accurate information to the people. Today, the circulation is not as high as it used to be. Perhaps the decline in literacy, the reduction in disposable income and the presence of television have contributed to the drop in readership. For sure in the developed world with people reading from their little electronic gadgets that do not take up as much space and do not have the potential for inconvenience as hard copy newspapers the readership is also declining. However, information is still important and people do not treat the dissemination of information lightly. The various media bodies have put in place regulations that govern the operations of the various media entities. One such regulatory body forced a major media entity to sell a newspaper that actually breached the privacy of a young girl and published a story. Some have been slapped with heavy fines for inaccurate reporting and others have sanctioned for false reporting. Advertising agencies are sanctioned for false advertising and the list goes on. In Guyana there are really no regulatory bodies. In the run up to the last two general elections the Guyana Elections Commission caused to be set up a media monitoring unit with foreign inspectors. The monitoring unit had no legal powers but such were the inspectors that they were able to make errant media houses feel guilty. There were weekly publications of the reports of the performance of the media houses. And the findings were telling. The biggest culprits were the state-owned media houses and those aligned to the ruling party. Not much has changed since then; the same entities are as brutal as they were during the election campaign. More recently, there have been a series of misrepresentations in the print media. There have also been blatant reports that are not only unproven but also palpably false. As fate would have it, most Guyanese are not prone to legal action given the sloth of the courts. There are those who say newspapers in Guyana are the promoters of untruths, that they cannot really be believed. If that is the case among sections of the readership then there is something wrong with what passes for media in Guyana. A situation that has not escaped notice is one involving some aspects of the life of many people. Accusations of theft and dishonest practices without one shred of evidence adorn the pages of newspapers and even the airwaves. Some of these are ignored and scoffed at by the saner souls in the society. Others join in the chorus that some newspapers are trying to grab attention and perhaps gain readership. These are the people who know that no single media house has information on a single topic. Had there been any truth in some of the statements and allegations then other media houses would have been reporting on the very stories. This has not been the case. The allegations continue. In one case the target has refused to even contemplate legal action simply because the victim says that the reading public is not blind and that they know a joke when they see one. He says that legal action would actually serve to give the newspaper a boost because people would suddenly develop an interest. As it stands, very few are aware that there is even a most scurrilous attack taking place in the media. And worse there is no regulatory body to sanction the offending media.

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Letters... Where your views make the news

GECOM, as an important institution, should not be besmirched

DEAR EDITOR, A report in your newspaper (dated 27th October, 2013), entitled “New GECOM Commissioner was allegedly fingered in vote manipulation”, has generated great grief and embarrassment at the Guyana Elections Commission. I cannot understand why the Kaieteur News would recklessly publish such reprehensible falsehood. I have been directed to advise you that Commissioner Mangar never was a computer programmer at GECOM. Further, in 2006, Commissioner

Mangar had no involvement whatsoever, in any way shape or form, with GECOM. I should mention that I have researched the Minutes of GECOM’s Statutory Meetings prior to my arrival at the Commission in September of 2001. There is no documentation relative to any role played by Mr. Mangar to manipulate votes. Moreover, I have spoken to a former Commissioner and Chairman who were integrally involved in GECOM’s activities during the 2001 electoral period. Again, nothing could

be recalled pertaining to an attempted subversion of any electoral process within GECOM. I really do believe that GECOM, in general, and Mr. Mangar, in particular, should be offered an unreserved apology. GECOM, as an important institution, should not be besmirched and its Commissioners should not have to be subjected to trials by gossip. Dr. R.S. Surujbally, A.A. Chairman Guyana Elections Commission

Freedom of movement being advocated by Heads of Govt. DEAR EDITOR, Freedom of movement is being advocated by two heads of government in the region - one from a US territory and the other from an independent OECS and CARICOM state. The Governor of the US Virgin Islands, John de Jongh in a rather surprising and unprecedented move is moving for CARICOM nationals to visit the USVI “without having to go through visa requirements”. De Jongh, who is in his second term in office, said that “we spoke to the Committee in the House and the Senate and we spoke to US Department of Homeland Security to come up with a regime which they would feel comfortable with for countries within CARICOM and they agreed with it”. He added that “we have written the

bill, we have submitted legislation... so are just looking for the right vehicle for it to pass. We recognize…the region represents a tremendous opportunity for the traffic that goes back and forth and we would like to have an opportunity to participate without being overburdened with some of the regulations”. The USVI will be the venue for the next State of the Industry Conference (STOIC) conference in October 2014 and de Jongh said he hoped it would encourage more visitors to his territory that is already on a campaign to lure more visitors. St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, a strong voice in the OECS and CARICOM, wants Martinique to be an associate member of the OECS. He indicated that there are several areas of

functional co-operation between the French territory and the OECS including education, health, trade, and moreso equity participation in LIAT. Dr, Gonsalves, who visited Martinique recently, said that travel arrangement is now enjoyed by citizens of Dominica and St. Lucia to visit Martinique and should be extended to all CARICOM nationals. The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has recently made a ruling for the free movement of CARICOM nationals in keeping with the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Immigration officers in Barbados and to a lesser extent Trinidad and Tobago have been giving nationals from Jamaica and Guyana a difficult time when they seek entry into their countries. Oscar Ramjeet

A faulty decision-making process DEAR EDITOR, There seems to be a regular feature of public communication which exposes the GRA spokesperson’s conviction in his or her own confused state, to the extent that the latter could successfully confuse others. This particular ‘confusion’ must have resulted from the admixture of English and Chinese speak, which equates the concepts of a) corporate social responsibility b) joint venture; and c) paying rental fees One does not have to be a hyperactive thinker to immediately

raise the implication of ‘conflict’ in the GRA’s acceptance of a so-called ‘gift’ of ‘corporate social responsibility’ from any taxpayer. A purported ‘joint venture’ would appear to put the relationship in the same category. What however compounds this particular travesty of terminology is that the recipient partner would appear to have invested ‘rental fees’ for an indefinite period – accumulating to an amount exceeding the finite cost of the project which the ‘corporate’ social partner would have delivered. This argument, at the very minimum, suggests a lack of accounting

balance – a point the GRA would have made forcefully to any other (legitimate) taxpayer who had argued the same scenario. To some observers the above construct reflects a mindset which links to a more general discomfiting preference for the newest brand of corporate interventions. More disturbing however, may be the faulty decision-making process in the first place, which failed to take account of the widespread dislocation of customers, when the GRA’s current siting was agreed. Finally however, it may still not be too late to heed Confucius’teachings on ethics. E.B. John

SMELLS LIKE A CONSPIRACY

DEAR EDITOR, The Ministry of Finance, for the purpose of convenience I’m sure, has placed a loan division on the University of Guyana, Turkeyen campus. However, the services offered there bring the opposite to mind. Every year during the loan period students distress at the thought of just having to deal with the department as it takes a miracle and a prayer to go through the process smoothly. The document that has the most issues is the Guarantor’s Affidavit. You would think that by now a government organization, in light of all technology,

would have drafted a sample copy of how to fill the form and made it available online as well as posted up in the office. Instead, they paste up their lunch and working hours. What is more baffling is that when they send students to do over the affidavit they keep the erred one, and I presume it must only be for one of these two reasons, as it is of no use to the loan: 1. The number of erred copies serves as an internal joke, as to how many times they made one person punish through the process. 2. For students to make another mistake yet again.

Why not give the students the erred form with the highlighted mistakes so they would not make them again. The only fathomable answer is that they are working in collusion with the University of Guyana bursary department to ensure as many students as possible pay the “late fee” on their completion of registration by dragging out the process for as long as possible. Students are in utter disgust of this department. Either they are highly incompetent or it’s a conspiracy. I am sure I speak for all loan students when I say, we need a change. Loan Student

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Kaieteur News

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

The PPP leaders have not done the right thing and are not prepared to do it DEAR EDITOR, The nature of the news making the headlines in Guyana in the past few days/ weeks reveals many unhappy things about the state of the PPP regime. Addressing a small group of only PPP supporters in Richmond Hill, New York, President Ramotar said “The attack on Winston Brassington is obscene. Anyone who works professionally for the government is coming under intense personal attacks.” We strongly disagree. What can the people discern from this callous statement? It is too much to individually explore, but what was most striking is the sense that the PPP regime is imploding in front of our eyes. It is crumbling inwards as its leaders fold over themselves as if the party is experiencing a massive earthquake shaking it to its core. A close scrutiny would probably find the roots of the internal upheaval located in the power struggles between the Jagdeoites and the old PPP guard at Freedom House.

In their quest for grandeur and the illusory trappings of power, the PPP cabal appears like cockroaches in a fowl party, which means that they are in serious political trouble. We believe that it is ludicrous and insulting to Guyanese for President Ramotar to defend the head of NICIL who has been a complete failure in the management of taxpayers’ money. As the overseer of several major projects, he has failed miserably in this regard. In all of these contracts, it is the private companies that are the major beneficiaries. Is the president not aware of these major financial blunders by NICIL’s boss? Or is he in denial? Further, the regime has not done anything to reduce corruption and crime despite Mr. Ramotar’s campaign’s promises. There is still no Procurement Commission, no Integrity Commission, no Ombudsman, no accountability and transparency and no policy to end corruption and the spate of crimes by the PPP regime. We believe that President Ramotar has to be

considered naïve when he says that Mr. Brassington is extremely competent. It is Mr. Brassington who invested more than 51 percent of state funds to build the Berbice Bridge but settled for less that 20 percent of the shares. It is Mr. Brassington who negotiated the contract for the Marriott Hotel that allowed only foreign workers to work on the site. It is Mr. Brassington who approved Sithe Global’s high rate of return of 19% on its

investment when commercial lending interest rates are between 7 percent and 10 percent. Is this being competent, Mr. Ramotar? People are fed up and frustrated with the corrupt PPP cabal and have lost faith in any project that the regime undertakes and Mr. Ramotar’s poor understanding of competency has added to their frustration. Instead of making sure that the taxpayers get value for their money; Guyanese

are faced with a barrage of PPP propaganda, untruths and distortions designed to hide the corrupt practices that are taking place every day. In truth, the society is so overrun by seedy fingers that theft has now become the normal state of affairs. Those who bear the marks of honesty, integrity and decency are deemed enemies of the state and are immediately ostracized, vilified and dismissed. Nowhere is there

evidence that the PPP cabal has upheld the laws of the land and has prosecuted anyone for corruption. When pressed as to why they have not prosecuted anyone, they offer the sad refrain: The opposition talks about corruption but they have not proven that corruption is taking place. There is no integrity and decency left in this regime. In several of the cagey deals made by Jagdeo and his (Continued on page 7)

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Tuesday November 05, 2013

GuySuCo sliding to worst performance in 20 years - Foreign manager at helm of troubled Skeldon factory With less than two months remaining for the year, the country’s sugar industry is slowly grinding its way to its lowest production in two decades and there seems to be no clarity on the way forward. As a matter of fact, it will negatively eclipse last year’s dismal 218,069 tonnes. The 2012 production has been described as the worst in the 20 year reign of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/ C). Production targets have been revised downwards from the 260,000 tonnes set at the beginning of the year to 203,000 now. The year’s first crop fell short of the 70,000 tonnes by an alarming 22,000. Industry officials, over the weekend, admitted that the situation over production has plunged the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) into a point of uncertainty where unless all stops are pulled out, the slide will continue. The administration has been saying that the industry is too big to fail but could find little answers. At the flagship Skeldon factory, production for the year is slated at 34,000, far below the targeted 43,000 tonnes. The strain from Skeldon’s poor showing has been taking a toll on the overall operations of GuySuCo. Since being commissioned in August 2009 by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, the Chinese built US$200M project, which

includes the factory and expanded cultivation, has been bleeding the Corporation. Almost US$15M ($3B) has been sunk to repair several faults. South African-based Bosch Engineering was hired earlier this year to fix some of the problems. These include issues with the co-generation power plant. However, still to be resolved are issues with the cane shredder and the punt dumper. The latter is critical to the efficient transfer of canes from punts in the waterway to the actual factory. Bosch has been paid over US$4M for its work and after two weeks, left around midyear. There are no immediate indications when the shredder cane dumper will be fixed. According to GuySuCo officials, the irony of the situation is that the weather has held up in recent weeks despite threats from sporadic showers. “So what we have is lots of cane in the field at Skeldon but the factory is still unable to take it off the field,” an official confirmed yesterday. While the factory has been built to process 250,000 tonnes per hour, its intake because of technical issues, have been limited to around 180,000, a hugely worrying factor. NEW MANAGER In an attempt to steady Skeldon, Government has reportedly hired Tate and Lyle, its European sugar

buyer, to manage the factory. Richard Orr has been operating as the new estate manager since earlier this year. But while Government had signaled intentions to seek overseas help, there had been no official announcements that management has changed from local hands. Part of the restructuring of GuySuCo has also been the reported hiring of Dr. Raj Singh, its current Chairman, to take over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from Paul Bhim. Bhim, himself the former Chief Financial Officer, was reportedly set to become the Deputy CEO. A few months ago, GuySuCo, in the beginning of what seemed to be a major shakeup in management, give notice to Rajaindra Singh, the Deputy CEO, of its intentions to cut his contract short. Singh left last month. Current Chairman, Dr. Raj Singh, was reportedly set to take up the appointment as the new CEO last Friday, November 1st. However, there have been no movements as yet, union officials confirmed yesterday. Questions had surfaced about whether he was qualified for that position. GuySuCo is reportedly flying him in from his United States residence and paying for his accommodation here. The industry, at one time the biggest earner for Government, has become a major headache for them. Saddled with a phased price cut by Europe, its biggest

GuySuCo’s Chairman, Dr. Raj Singh buyer, GuySuCo has been battling labour shortages as well as poor weather conditions. A $2B investment, using Europe’s cash that was designed to help the sugar dependent countries recover the price cuts, into a packaging plant at Enmore, has failed to change the situation. The reason was simple – there were just not

enough canes to meet the 190,000 tonnes quota that Europe wants. That story has been repeating itself in recent years. This year, as part of assistance to help the ailing industry, Government earmarked $1B for GuySuCo. This was $4B more than last year. Writing about the industry earlier this year, former sugar official and Member of Parliament, Tony Vieira, said that indications were that the industry, in 2012, showed the factories stood idle, out of cane and not grinding, during the first and second crops a total of 10,527 hours. “The actual time the factories worked during the year was 21,623 hours this means that due to an acute shortage of labour to cut the cane the factories were standing idle 50% of the time during the crops waiting for the cane to be delivered, needless to say that during a substantial part of this time the factory’s workers had to be paid for standing by doing

nothing.” Government had said that the European price cuts had seen Guyana losing around $10B annually in revenue. However, the Opposition has accused the Government of contributing to the slide of the industry as the assistance coming from Europe was not used to help GuySuCo cope. Earlier this year, Guyana signed a 23M Euros ($6.4B) financing agreement as part of Europe’s continuing assistance programme for sugar. It would have meant that Guyana drew down 115M Euros since the programme started back in 2006. The measures were developed by the European Union to help Guyana and other sugarproducing nations deal with the fallout from the price cuts. The factory, said to be Guyana’s most expensive project, was constructed with a combination of selfgenerated funds and loans from the Caribbean Development Bank, the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Guyana.

Guyana among C'bean countries with highest teenage pregnancy - UN report Opposition Leader David Granger has blamed the local education system for Guyana being among the Caribbean countries with the highest teenage pregnancy rate. “The State of World Population 2013,” produced by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), lists Guyana among the six countries of the Caribbean with the highest prevalence of teenage pregnancy. The others are Belize, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) leader David Granger Speaking to this revelation at a recently held press briefing, expressed that more value based education is needed, since education is not just a matter of “Social Studies, and Mathematics and English.” “If there is a break down in values and in discipline then the cycle will continue. So , if there is an increase in teenage pregnancies, this will affect the child's' education seriously because in most cases, children drop out of schools and they are unable to re-enter the education system and they end up being unemployed with an unfinished education.” Granger posited. Noting that his party is deeply concerned over the situation, he called on the Ministry of Education to pay more attention to “what is happening to young girls in

- Granger blames education system schools, what's happening with the young men because there is a lot of delinquency in schools.” Also speaking to teenage pregnancy at APNU's press briefing was APNU Member of Parliament (MP) Annette Ferguson who advised the Ministries of Education and Human Services to collaborate to formulate polices to aid young people. “The schools as they currently are, they are lacking social workers and school guidance councilors, so I think the Minister and the People Progressive Party (PPP) government they need to pay more focus where that is concerned.” The UN report released recently, called on Governments to help girls achieve their full potential through education and adequate health services. “Too often, society blames only the girl for getting pregnant,” said UNFPA executive director Babatunde Osotimehin. “The reality is that adolescent pregnancy is most often not the result of a deliberate choice but rather the absence of choices, and of circumstances beyond a girl's control,” he added. “It is a consequence of little or no access to school, employment, quality information and health

care.” It also points out that a country's economy is also affected by teenage pregnancies as adolescent mothers are prevented from entering the workforce. “The State of World Population 2013,” produced by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), notes that out of the 7.3 million births, 2 million are to girls who are 14 or younger, many of whom suffer “grave longterm health and social consequences from pregnancy.” The report says that an estimated 70,000 adolescents in developing countries die each year from complications during pregnancy and childbirth. The report seeks to offer a new perspective on teenage pregnancy, looking not only at girls' behaviour as a cause of early pregnancy but also at the actions of their families, communities and Governments. Besides funding, the report stresses that, in order to tackle teenage pregnancy, “countries must adopt a holistic approach, which does not dwell on changing girls' behaviour but seeks to change attitudes in society so girls are encouraged to stay in school, child marriage is banned, girls have access to sexual and reproductive health including contraception, and young mothers have better support systems.”

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Kaieteur News

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

PERSPECTIVE ON ‘JAGDEONOMICS’ DEAR EDITOR, Sifting through the Kaieteur News’ documentation of Jagdeo’s ‘indiscretions’ in its coverage of the ‘The Heist of Guyana’ recently, it dawned on me with perfect clarity the evolution and machinations of Jagdeo’s ‘Jagdeonomics’, and the seeming mess left behind for parliament to contend with. This I would like to share with my fellow Guyanese so that we can be collectively aware of the challenges we face as a developing nation. When Jagdeo ascended to the presidency, he had already been involved in transforming Guyana’s economy into its present dilemma. Hoyte demitted office with the economy on track to becoming a mainly capitalist society with the privatization of the state-owned corporations and the other attendant measures typical of a free market economy. Without a doubt, Guyana experienced strong growth as a result its return to free market economics, with the investment in Omai by Cambior being significant.

Under Hoyte, Guyana was ‘open for business’, as he recognized that Guyana desperately needed international investment and international investor confidence to kick start the economy and bring it back on track. In short, (as is widely acknowledged) all the other measures adopted by Hoyte under the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Policies (SAP and its successors) in the reversion to free market economics were responsible for the strong growth achieved in the years subsequent to Hoyte’s exit from office. (Admittedly, a number of these, the return to market exchange rates for example, which triggered the severe bouts of inflation in the nineties resulted in intense economic hardships for much of the population. Nevertheless, SIMAP had been established and it did its best to ameliorate the impact of the adjustment policies on the wider society). What happened when the PPP came into government was that it recognized that Guyana had been bound to the Structural Adjustment

Framework policies agreed to with the IMF and realized that there was very little it could do without raising concerns from Guyana’s international financial partners. While parroting capitalism to the international community and the public, the PPP privately clung to its socialist/communist dogma. The PPP did its best to control private sector investment, as evidenced from the poor numbers on international investment and the bureaucratic footdragging of GO-Invest. Instead of being an open channel for investment, GOInvest became a bottleneck and a means of controlling/ limiting foreign/private sector investment in Guyana. Under socialism, private entrepreneurship and ownership is inimical to the wider society. And so Guyana continued for about a decade or so with poor investment from both local and foreign players, with the consequential return of comparatively poor economic growth in the late nineties to about the middle of the last decade.

As a socialist economist, Jagdeo recognized that there was nothing to be done about the private sector he literally grew up with, so he sought to control it and bend it to accomplish his grand ideas. The privatization process, which removed production from state control, opposed to Jagdeo’s socialist economics, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him, since with the creation of NICIL, the money from the sale of all of the state public companies and other assets fell under his control. He surely must have been gleeful about the entire affair, since through Brassington, his perfect stamp, he waved his hand and did whatever he cared to with the state’s, and taxpayers’ money. Of course, this was all ‘for the good of the country’ (Jagdeonomics). The Low Carbon Development Strategy was a fine idea indeed. In fact it was a masterpiece in economics aimed at getting foreign finance while strangling private sector initiative in the background. The gentleman was nevertheless rightly credited with at least one

honorary doctorate for his efforts. Jagdeo had transformed himself into a true autocrat, with complete authority of Guyana’s economic and judicial framework. While there was a law and economics for the general population, there was also Jagdeo’s law and Jagdeo’s economics which superseded everything else. This was characterized by the pardoned atrocities of some of his notorious acolytes, who remain above the law, and on the other hand, powerful men like those who require no identification, who own and control large businesses across various sectors of the economy.

This is the true exercise of Jagdeo’s authority over Guyana. He has established powerful economic players with strong financial relationships and his (and our) more embarrassing public officials are above the law. It is in this context we need to acknowledge the magnitude, dimension and partiality of Jagdeo’s authority and power across Guyana’s judiciary and economy, and recognize that his machinations and ideas are not conducive to real prosperity for ALL Guyanese, but in fact channel wealth into the hands of his select few. Craig Sylvester

The PPP leaders.... From page 5 cohorts, the PPP cabal has adopted a brilliant strategy to hide them from the public until it is expedient to release them. Everything the cabal touches turn into ka ka and everything they say publicly has to be taken with a grain of salt because even if it rings true, one has to wonder what else they are hiding. The PPP

leaders have not done the right thing and are not prepared to do the right thing because they believe that they are wiser than the people and are above the law. In other words, they have become the “untouchables” and have been somehow ordained to be the everlasting rulers of Guyana. Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh

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Kaieteur News

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WHAT IS DONE CANNOT BE UNDONE The Public Accounts Committee is merely responsible for approving of the appointments made by the Auditor General within the Office of the Auditor General. The Public Accounts Committee can either approve of refuse to approve the appointments made by the Auditor General. But once approved the Public Accounts Committee cannot undo what it did. The Public Accounts Committee had approved of certain appointments made within the Audit Office. One such appointment has been said to involve a conflict of interest. The Public Accounts Committee, however, has no powers to revisit that appointment because what has been done cannot be undone. The issue of conflicts of interest within the Office of the Auditor General is a matter for the Auditor General and him alone to address. The Auditor General occupies an office that is an independent

constitutional appointment. Neither he nor his office is subject to the direction or control of anyone or any authority. This is according to the Constitution of Guyana, Article 224. The role given to the Public Accounts Committee to exercise general supervision over the functioning of the Audit Office is not a constitutional mandate. The power of the Public Accounts Committee to approve appointments is provided for under the Audit Act. It does not carry with it an obligation to decide who is appointed or who works where and does what within the Audit Office. If it did, it would be in contravention of the constitutional guarantees of independence of the office of the Auditor General as provided for in Article 224 of the Constitution of Guyana. It is the Audit Act that allows the Public Accounts Committee to approve appointments made by the Auditor General. But the

context of this proviso must be appreciated. The Audit Office has to have a budget and has to have staffing and rules under which it operates. The Auditor General has to determine his staffing needs and the National Assembly has to make provision for such needs without in any way impairing the independence of the public office of the Auditor General. Thus, when it comes to staffing, the auditor general appoints and the Public Accounts Committee approves those appointments. Once someone is appointed and that appointment is met with the approval of the Public Accounts Committee there is no power by the Public Accounts Committee to undo that appointment. Thus, if an issue of a conflict of interest involving a staff member of the Office of the Auditor General arises it is for the Auditor General and the Auditor General

Dem boys seh ...

Christmas coming, and de bees done get fat Christmas coming and up to now some of dem business place ain’t get to bring in goods. And dem know that is Christmas that dem does mek de bulk of dem profit. Couple of dem did place dem order in October but de company notice that Guyana in a position to get sanction suh dem holding back dem goods. But that is not such a bad thing since dem got de crooks who waiting in de wings. Dem boys seh that Barbie deh waiting to mek artificial flowers and paper dolls. He already mek some

decorations. He best friend tell he that he, Barbie, stand to benefit if Guyana never pass de anti-money laundering Bill. Wha he ain’t tell Barbie is that he gun have to bring newsprint from India and China but only if de banks dem approve the money movement. Another thing that causing some worry is sugar. De Skeldon factory doing wuss and wuss. Christmas coming and every year electricity does be in short supply. Skeldon was suppose to provide de extra power but it can’t. One excuse is that it

ain’t got enough cane fuh provide de husk that gun give de electricity. Dem boys seh that de government trying everything to get Skeldon to wuk. Dem knock off nuff people and de factory still ain’t wukking. Three General Manager get send home and now dem bring a White man. Is like tracing luck. If one set of people can’t wuk try another. Dem change couple Board members too. Dem boys seh that dem should change de whole factory. Talk half and help Barbie scramble fuh Christmas

Grove's very own 'Nani' turns 100! From page 2 was sure to mention how peaceful Nani is and just how much she loves cleanliness. Neighbours and relatives play an active role in her life as they support her financial and physical needs. However, she states that she currently suffers from insomnia as she finds it very difficult to sleep. She also had a fall last year as she was pulling a tree branch and slipped her hip. Even though she cannot walk that does not deter her from her daily activities. As often as she can, she would crawl to the front steps to view the activities outdoor, to revel in the beauty of nature and to observe the people passing by. Nani also loves watching television.

This stately centenarian told Kaieteur News that even though her mouth is losing taste she still very much enjoys vermicelli as well as rice and beef curry with dhol. Nani recalls that she learnt to cook by simply watching her mother cook roti with 'Dilvaha' flour and how her mother used

to “stretch” the food for their large family. Kindness truly has been the pillars of which she surrounded her life. Residents were sure to mention that she never thinks twice to share with anyone whether it was food or anything else that she could offer.

alone to deal with this issue. It is for the Auditor General to decide whether any of his officers is in a position whereby their objectivity in auditing accounts of the various branches and departments of government can be called into question. It is not for the Public Accounts Committee or any of its members to be attempting to deal with this issue. They may raise it as a concern but it is ultimately a matter for the Auditor General to address and once he is satisfied that there is no threat to the objectivity of the auditing process, then the matter ends there. The decision of any person or committee to write to professional accounting bodies concerning conflicts of interest of officers of the Office of the Auditor General cannot be the basis for rescinding any appointment

made and approved. It therefore seems to be a fishing excursion for anyone to be writing to professional accounting bodies for their opinions on whether a conflict of interest exists. Professional accounting bodies are often called on to make pronouncements about conflicts of interest involving their members. But in the case of the Audit Office, it is the Auditor General who has exclusive responsibility for the auditing of public accounts and therefore regardless of what conflicts of interest his any of his officers may appear to be in; it is the Auditor General and him alone who is responsible for these accounts. Consequently, it is only him and him alone who can face any sanction from a professional accounting body to which he belongs. Professional accounting

bodies are not likely to address any charges or allegations about conflicts of interest involving officers of the Audit Office. This will not be done as long as the ultimate responsibility for the preparation of the audit reports remains constitutionally and by law that of the Auditor General. Professional accounting bodies cannot sanction any of the officers within the Audit Office for possible or actual conflict of interest because the audit reports are made not in the names of those officers but under the hand of the Auditor General.

Caribbean Trade Ministers meet today over out-of-time Free Trade negotiations Trade Ministers of the Caribbean community (Caricom) are scheduled to meet at the Guyana-based headquarters today to examine favourable resolutions to Caribbean concerns and Canadian demands relating to negotiations on Free Trade agreements ongoing since 2009. Trade Ministers are asking Canadian officials for additional time to wrap up discussions over the trade agreements since they (Canadians) have expressed impatience over the pace of the four-year-old negotiations and indicated willingness to sit with their Caribbean counterparts one more time to deal with the issue. Caricom officials have stated however that Jamaican

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller who heads the community’s Subcommittee for international trade, has written to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper “in the past two weeks” indicating that one more session as demanded by Ottawa would be insufficient to conclude the negotiations, as the region is asking for more time into the New Year. The two sides have been negotiating about Free Trade in a bid to replace the oneway agreement under which goods ranging from gold, ethanol, food and shipments of other products enter Canada duty free under the decades-old CaribCan arrangement. This agreement has been cited however as being mismatched with trade liberalization rules of the

World Trade Organization (WTO). The Jamaican Prime Minister’s letter has not been released, but it was noted that the regional negotiating team is currently unprepared to wrap up the trade talks, while governments are still not ready to sign off on any new arrangement. It has been noticed further the unenthusiastic support for the two way free trade from the smaller island nations of the Eastern Caribbean who say they will hardly benefit from free trade as they have little to export and their markets could be swamped by imported goods from Canada. The negotiations are said to be high on the agenda as the region awaits a response from Canada.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 05, 2013

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Was this woman brutally raped? My August 15 page was captioned, “Tragic death of a woman.” It related the story of a Guyanese who committed suicide by hanging in her cell in a remand centre in Trinidad. The column was not about the circumstances of her death. It focused on the way Guyanese are treated in the CARICOM nations of Trinidad and Barbados. That was it. I moved on with other investigative reports. No one from the women’s movement community or the Guyana Government investigated the

situation. Last week, I received a telephone call in which the number showed up as “private.” The voice was female. She told me the dead woman was a close relative. She indicated that the lady was repeatedly ganged raped in the detention centre and had a sexual objected inserted into her. I requested the authenticity of her “facts” which she said came from one of the woman’s children who live in Trinidad. I was told that the woman cried to one of her children during a visit and only one

visit was allowed. Days after she killed herself. I implored of this person to let me facilitate a meeting with Adam Harris, Julia Johnson, Karen De Souza and a reporter from the Stabroek News. She refused. Pressed why, she said the woman has children that are illegal in Trinidad. She spoke to me without their permission and she doesn’t know if they want the case to be published. Asked why, she said she doesn’t know but she thinks it has to do with the illegal status of the children. Asked what her relation to the woman was she said her aunt. No amount of persuasion could sway this woman to give me her address and telephone number. I then tried another angle.

I suggested a meeting that I will arrange with Mr. Mark Archer of APNU and Nigel Hughes and Khemraj Ramjattan of AFC. I thought the political angle might have galvanized her. I was wrong. In the end I think all she wanted to do was alert me. I believe she expected me to write about what she told me. Well I am doing so. I asked her if she is religious and would swear on the name of God that the information she related to me was correct. She did that and she was gone. She vanished. Was I conned? Was this a hoax? I honesty don’t know. But why would she want to pull a stunt like that on me? This is a story about a dead woman and it does not involve a living Guyanese that the caller may want to embarrass. It doesn’t involve any Guyanese at all. It doesn’t involve any powerful person in Trinidad. There are no accusations being made against any

Guyanese official. So surely, her motive cannot be to embarrass me or the newspaper. When you are an experienced media practitioner, you tend to detect a veil behind a voice; you tend to detect a conspiracy behind the words. You somehow know by the use of words, the station of the caller. In all honesty, this person came across as someone who doesn’t even know what role the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could play in these kinds of situations. Assuming that she did set out to trick me why would she be so sparse with her details? I just have this feeling that this caller wanted to alert me to a wrong that was committed against a Guyanese in Trinidad. What more can I do? Could this newspaper, the Stabroek News, Prime News, do further research? It would seem to me that it has to begin with the Government of Guyana. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has to request

Frederick Kissoon details of the women’s file. Why was she in the detention centre? Was she an illegal entry or was she illegal and committed a crime. If so, was she charged? Did she complain of rape in her cell? I can anticipate the attitude of many readers. There have been so many files like this woman’s, even worse and they just pass into oblivion with the passage of time. Let me conclude with my belief. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not take up an issue that emanated from this column. It will not work along with Red Thread and will ignore the private media. It will ignore an interest in this tragedy from the Opposition. The brutal reality is that try as had as you can to help the fact is that the onus is on the Ministry to ascertain the facts from Trinidad and it will not do so.

Tuesday November 05, 2013

WANTED Contract cars- Contact City Taxi Service- 660-1100/2267150 Housekeeper required on the E.B.D must know how to prepare a Variety of dishes Phone: 690-9233 Jet man, marak man operator, baheir – Call:671-5149 Attractive live in waitressCall:327-0252; 674-4665

Kaieteur News

WANTED Porters- Apply to Alabama Trading, Georgetown Ferry Stelling Stabroek.

VEHICLE FOR SALE One Skid Steer Thomas with Japanese Kabota Engine Call:259-1370, 650-3447

Minibus driver for contract, living in Georgetown - Call: 675-3093

2007 Toyota BB, fully loaded, unregistered special price $2.350M – 617-2891

TRUCK DRIVER WITH EXPERIENCE, MUSTHAVE POLICE CLEARANCE, 3 REFERENCES OF LAST JOBS & ALL PROPER I.D’S & LICENCE. TEL:231-8529

We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 TacomaCall:680-3154 ONE MITSUBISHI FUSO CANTER (ENCLOSED) PLEASE: CALL 619-9000

GREENHEART AND PURPLE HEART LUMBER - TEL: 653-9752

Professional painters and carpenters – Telephone:6224899 One female cleaner- Apply to Alabama Trading, Georgetown, Ferry Stelling Stabroek. Worker wanted for restaurant and roti shop in Trinidad; accommodation provided. For more information contact - 0011866-760-1426. Urgently needed 1 plot of land to buy in Parfaite Harmonie - Tel: 675-7292; 218-5591

CAR RENTAL Premio, vitz call: 679-7139 Dolly’s Car Rental- Call: 2257126/ 226-3693dollysautorental@yahoo.com/ www.dollysautorental.com Aidan’s Car Rental & PickupCall: 645-7981/ 698-7807 First Choice Car Rental: Cars as low as $5,000 per dayCall: 668-0306/ 694-7817/2256337 Wings Car Rental- Call: 6874116 Untouchable Car Rental Tel:621-6827; 226-9668

Hotel receptionist; Restaurant cook – age 25+ (shift systems) – Contact: 223-6284

MASSAGE American Style massage services- Call:678-7499

One domestic, live in & live out babysitter from 12pm8pm- Call:225-4492

Toyota RAV 4, PMM 1072 with body kit. Price $3.4M negotiable - Call:610-1230; 673-5828 Smart Choice Auto: Premio, Allion, IST, Runx, FielderCall:652-3820/665-4529 Cheapest- Premio, Pitbull, Manual Buses & Hilux- Call: 616-7635 One Toyota RZ minibus, BHH series. Price negotiableCall:668-5180 First Class Auto: Premio, Axio, Passo, Runx, Allex, IST, Fielder, Raum – Call:609-8188; 602-6307

One RZ minibus - Contact number:664-9936 AT192, 212, Allion, Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN& cheap RZ buses, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154

EDUCATIONAL CXC/CAPE classes for students and adults. Highly qualified teachers & CXC examiners - Call: 683-3887

2 Handy men to work in the interior. Free meal and accommodation – Call:6276416; 226-3799 (8am-4pm), (Friday - Monday)

Institute Academic Supremacy; East Street, 4 building before Balwant Singh Hospital – Forms 1-5, CXC, adults/classes – Call:226-8468, 690-5008

HOUSE KEEPER/ NANNY: MATURE WITH EXPERIENCE, POLICE CLEARANCE & 3 REFERENCES.FLEXABLE HOURS – TEL:231-8529

Christmas Computer Courses Deal: 9 courses (Diploma in Technology) $30,000. Micrographics Technology, Vreed-En-Hoop - Tel: 264-3057

1 Live in experienced waitress (18-25 years) & 1 experienced cook ( Salary $50,000 monthly) - Call:6987172

Now open! Christmas Shopping just got easier. Shop online, cheap shipping. Cybertron Vreed-En-Hoop Tel:264-3057

FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY $19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. Potting Soil and quality cow mould- Call: 656-1326/678-0058 Tundra ‘Woman Driven’ Tel:627-1983 Cheapest Online Vehicles!!! - Tel:626-2771

VACANCY Vacancy exists @ Survival Shopping Complex; 173 Sheriff St - For cashiers & drivers. Apply with written application & passport photograph Contact: 227-5288-89 Vacancy exists @ Survival Shopping Complex; 173 Sheriff St - For IT Technician. Apply with written application & passport photograph & CV - Contact: 227-5288-89

Dachshund & Terrier mixed pups for sale - Contact: 6800192; 216-3408 Houses & house lots Contact: 223-8479; 647-3768; www.spaceseek.gy. 1- Caterpillar D5 Bulldozer and 1- Caterpillar engine 3406 Contact number 650-0402 Whole sale: Pluck Chicken - Tel:676-0931 1 Pajero JR Roof Rack – Tel: 233-2182

1 Maid - must be good in Indian cooking & experienced in housekeeping - Call: 2235451/ 227-4799 Pump Attendant at Shell Service Station Providence, E.B.D. Must be able to work shift (5am-3pm & 3pm12pm)- Call:265-7305

LAND FOR SALE

New RX8 (Red) rotary 7 speed engine, new rims, tires, music kickers, lambo doors – Tel:680-2095

3-Ton Canter excellent condition – Model M.Bush truck for interior – Tel:2318417; 231-6560; 231-1238; 624-0443 GRR 573, long base RZ minibus, automatic. Excellent Condition Tel:687-5657; 652-0709 ALYEA’S AUTO SALE: PREMIO 2002/2003, AXIO 2008. ALL PRICES ARE NEG. 40 CROAL STREET STABROEK- TEL:2317284/622-3823 1 Toyota Ipsum; fully powered; AC & music – Tel:223-6948; 642-4379 One AT192 PLL966 $1.1M; with DVD player – Tel:6399528 Toyota Primo Late PNN Series – Tel:624-6471; 2254741

TO LET Furnished self contained studio apartment @ Eccles with: Cable, internet, A/C, etc - Tel:233-2770 Harmony Inn: Apartments fully furnished, airconditioned apartments: As low as $5000 per night- Call: 668-0306/602-8769/ 694-7817 Fully furnished short term apartments, Eccles call: 679-7139 Fully furnished Vacation home with all amenities- Call during working hours- 2271218

Honda welders; 270 amps 15,000 watts generator Tel:611-5114/220-4495 Massey, Yanmar Ford 5000 Logging/ Agriculture Tractors, parts, Loader & Ford Truck- Call:615-1578/ 694-3595: Tools & Chainsaw-668-2831 One stall @ La Penitance Market; $600,000 – Tel:6900437. Pre-painted and unpainted corrugated zinc sheets at affordable prices- Call Tel: 226-7054 Clearance Sale: greenheart lumber, slabs, strips & firewood. Toolsie Persaud Ltd, Lombard St. Georgetown – Tel:226-4920; 226-4071-5 Land! Land! Land! – 6600 SQFT to 1500 acres: Providence & Berbice Contact: 223-8479; 6473768; www.spaceseek.gy .

Games PS2 $900, PSP $900, X-Box 360 $2600 & PS3 $2600- Call: 672-2566. Toyota Hilux LN 172 diesel, extra cab pick up 4x4, manual ( 5 speed transmission)Tel:623-0425; 609-2876 1 Three storied building centrally located down town in Thomas Street South Cummingsburg, G/town Tel:623-0425 or 609-2876. Original Games- Call: 6722566.

PENPAL Businessman in Trinidad seeks Guyanese woman for friendship & marriage between ages 30-40; email:ramphal mahadeo@ live.com – Tel:0011-868-7243155; 0011-868-4681075 FOR RENT Coolers and Call:657-0424

Scaffold-

Generators, welding sets, compressors, power washers, drill - migrating, must see! - Tel:227-8519 2 white female and 1 brown male fluffy dogs - contact: 699-6006 One taxi service for sale Tel:683-7400 One 8000 Ford tractor & one Ford 450 2005 Towing truck – Call: 689-1864 (Guru) / 6945599 (Floyd). Spare for washing machine, microwaves,fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call:225-9032,647-2943

One bedroom house; Lusignan E.C.D - Tel: 6629043 LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & Sons Driving School , First Federation Building Call 225-4858, 6445166,622-2872,615-0964

FOR SALE

Large vacuum cleaner wet & dry (for cleaning or car wash), stereo sets& speakers. Tel:227-8519

At Blankenburg Public Road, W.C.D. 38x150 & 39x150 $16M each- Call:666-3619

Toyota Allion PNN 7620, green – Contact: 669-2650, 677-5559.

One Toyota RZ mini-bus BJJ series – Call:678-5887

Labourers/ painters/ carpenters with own tools to work with limited supervision - Tel:225-6070 Office Clerk: CXC English/ Mathematics- Call:225-0188/ 225-6070

F150 Tundra, chevy cargo van – Tel:227-8519; 653-4287

White 2008 Tacoma 4x4 lift kit, off road tyres. Excellent condition- Call:610-5370

Two Toyota Tacoma 2006 unregistered: 4wd $3.9M & 2wd $3.1M- Call:662-1396/ 678-0573

Urgently upholsters, joiners, spray painters ( Furniture) handyman Contact S. Khan: 225-6810 Urgently needed land to buy - Tel:675-7292; 2185591.

VEHICLE FOR SALE Super heavy duty Tubo Diesel F350 (very powerful), owner migrating - Tel:2278519

Toyota Raum PRR, 16 mags, music, Tv, $1.4M – Tel:6622569; 670-3775.

Wash bay attendant – Contact:694-4148 or 2256296 Experienced and attractive female waitress to work at bar must be able to work late hour - Call: 649-1105.

Page 15

SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 647-1773

Hifi Sound Connection: Car Audio, Pro Audio, complete sound system generator.Call:610-1230/673-5828 (Continued on page 15)

Page 16

Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Politicians must stay out of Local Camp Street car park Govt. elections at NDC level - GTUC questionable - Harmon

The political parties are being asked to stay out of the elections in the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and to allow the citizens in each community to work across party lines to elect their leaders and develop their agenda. General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis in his report to the entity’s fourth triennial delegates’ conference held at the end of last month under the theme “Empowering Citizens For Societal Development-Intensifying the Fight”, said that Local Government elections are in the air. “This speaks to the devolution of power and the deepening of democratic practices in Guyana.” According to Lewis, Local Government elections speak to the interest of the GTUC. “Our members and their households stand to be affected directly by the results of these elections and their conduct.” He said that ‘Local Government’ is a deepening of the right to selfdetermination, where the

citizens in each community shall elect their leaders. This has its genesis in the Village Movement where the residents elected their leaders. “As we seek to speak about the deepening of our democracy, political parties cannot call on the people to organize, plan and develop their communities yet at the same time divide the people along political lines.” In calling for politicians to stay out of the process at the NDC level, Lewis said that for political parties to be involved in these elections speak to the notion that the politicians at the national level want to control the thinking, behaviour and every act within every sphere of the society. “The trade unions have a social responsibility to every community within which they operate and they are called upon to influence the change in ensuring the power is put back into the hands of the people.” “GTUC stands firm to the belief that we can only achieve an inclusionary society where fundamental human rights, dignities and justice are guaranteed and

protected for each citizen, where they can grow and develop and have meaningful participation in their country’s development, and that the law protects and holds each citizen accountable.” He said that the trade union body stands committed to forge a truly inclusive government and trade union community by holding all, “including our self, accountable to reinforcing/ giving meaning to these international and local instruments.” This, he said, is Labour’s commitment. It is a commitment deeply rooted in the United Nations’ affirmation that: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” He said that “It is a commitment being made possible in other lands and many of us leave these shores to experience these rights that others laid down their lives for – that now forms such a natural part of the lives of others that like air it is sometimes taken for granted.”

Family members question... From page 3 laptop computer so that he could use it as a form of entertainment to play music, watch DVD and play his usual games. Instead, his relatives purchased a portable DVD with features to accommodate flash drives, SD slot and games. This purchase was made the day before his death. His mother, Tonia Richmond left her home around noon the following day. Ryan never stopped calling because he thought that we would have missed the flight; he called countless times that very day. They sent the package but he still really didn’t believe it. However, around 07:45pm his family received a call announcing the death of Ryan. The following Tuesday the family received a visit from an employee of the Baganara Island and Resort. The visitor was one of Ryan’s workmates, Fordyce. He explained that he and Ryan went to receive the package from the aircraft. He said that when Ryan collected the package he opened it at a nearby seat at the airstrip. He added that Ryan played one of the CDs on their way back to the resort which, he explained seemed to be a few meters away. Fordyce said that at the time the other staff members were on the beach playing while some were in the river

Ryan Anthony Harris swimming. Fordyce stated that he left Ryan sitting on the seat near the beach and he stepped out to use the toilet. Fordyce said stated that on his way back to the beach he heard a scream and he noticed the manager running towards the beach. He said he took it for nothing but went straight to the location where he left Ryan but saw no one there only the portable and the other stuff. He also added that their supervisor was in the shallow part of the river swimming so he said he asked him if he saw Ryan and the supervisor

replied that he saw Ryan walking past him heading into the water fully attired. He said that in disbelief he called Ryan’s cell phone and found it a few meters away from where he left Ryan. He went into the river. Fordyce stated that shortly after he came out the water Ryan’s hat floated up. And not long after divers were there using a compressor to locate the body. In no time he said they brought up the body. The superiors stated that no one was to touch the body until the body reaches the Bartica Hospital not even to carry out the process of mouth to mouth resuscitation. According to Fordyce the body was immediately taken to the hospital where Ryan was pronounced dead. On October 16, a post mortem stated that Ryan died from a hit to the head which caused a concussion and led to quick drowning. Ryan’s family finds it odd to believe that Ryan would leave his portable which has access to games to enter the water. His family also finds it hard to understand the cause of Ryan’s death. The members would have heard several different stories relating to his case but are concerned that the Baganara group of company is only focusing on compensating the family.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) shadow Minister responsible for Public Works and Infrastructure, Joseph Harmon, has expressed concern over Bai Shan Lin’s decision to build a car park on the Railway embankment in the vicinity of Lamaha and Camp Streets. This constriction is purportedly being done for Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). Harmon, a lawyer, said that he found it questionable that the Chinese Forestry company Bai Shan Lin is involved in the construction of a car park for GRA. “The company is called Bai Shan Lin Forest Development Inc. One would think that given its name, the company would have as its primary interest, forestry development and things to that nature,” he posited. According to Harmon for a company that has no jurisdiction within the field of construction, it is unusual for that company (Bai Shan Lin) to be involved in building a car park. “When you see the company now doing work in building a car park in Georgetown and renting it out to Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) there must be something unusual about such an activity. Why couldn’t the monies be allocated to the Ministry of Public Works?” the attorney queried. Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Khurshid Sattaur had stated that the Chinese company Bai Shan Lin in wanting to demonstrate corporate social responsibility offered to build the car park on the Lamaha

Attorney at Law, Joseph Harmon Street embankment, east of Camp Street. He said that GRA and the Company in a joint venture are building the car park, since according to Sattaur, Bai Shan Lin has the necessary equipment and knowledge to build the car park, it will do the work and GRA will rent the park. “The GRA will soon enter into an economic relationship that would result in payment being made over a period of time for such facilities to be rented for a number of years at a nominal fee,” Sattaur said. “What we are saying is that every time we see things like these, they are aberrations; it is something that we have to pay very close attention to.” A CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY “Companies that utilize these roads particularly companies with large vehicles and heavy tonnage, I believe, share a civic responsibility for the maintenance of those roads because the stretch of road is

a very long one between Ituni and Kawkwani and Linden.” Harmon was ddressing the issue of whether or not private companies such as Bi Shan Lin have a civic responsibility in making sure that the roads that they traverse (Ituni/Kwakwani roadway) are maintained in light of the fact that they use large vehicles which carry heavy loads. According to Harmon, “Communities that benefit from that road (Ituni/ Kwakwani) are affected by the work that is done in the area by Bi Shan Lin and companies like that. So the companies must pitch in. They must assist in some way in helping to maintain the structure of those roads.” The shadow Minister responsible for Public Works and Infrastructure articulated that his “understanding is that a contract has been awarded for the road itself.” Two or three weeks ago I travelled on that road going to Kwakwani on one of our outreach exercises and had to comment about the state of the road.” Harmon’s position is that these companies must help maintain the roads that they traverse extensively and inadvertently contribute to its destruction due to size and weight of the vehicles. He added that companies would argue that they pay their taxes and as such the onus or responsibility is not on them to fix the roads since they pay their taxes. “But I think it is the civic duty or corporate duty or corporate responsibilities of companies that utilize these facilities to ensure that they are kept in a proper way” Harmon said.

Edinburgh headmaster says he did not assault sweeper/cleaner Mark Scipio, the Headmaster of Edinburgh Primary School who was fingered in an alleged physical assault of a sweeper/ cleaner at his school, has denied such claims. It was a verbal altercation. Sharon George, 45, New Glasgow Housing Scheme, East Bank Berbice School filed charges against the Headmaster for alleged assault. The incident allegedly took place on the school corridor on Thursday shortly before 09:00 hrs in the presence of teachers and students. The accuser alleged that she sought a change of brooms and this angered the Headmaster who she said poked her in the eye.

But Scipio debunked the claims by the sweeper cleaner and told us his version of what transpired. “The day before [Wednesday], in the progress of the staff meeting, another teacher and Ms. George were talking, but her response to the teacher caused me to intervene in a polite manner.” He stated that he asked George twice what the matter was “and she said, ‘broom, broom!’ in a very disrespectful manner.” “It was very much disrespectful and no Head teacher would have accepted that so on Thursday morning just after assembly, I summoned Ms. George in a polite manner that I wanted to speak to her for a minute,

so she came across and I told her how disrespectful she was.” He then stated that he did not hit the woman. “My hands were folded…At no time during the heat of the argument was Ms. George more than eight feet from me. My hands were folded and I was talking. My hand never accidentally or deliberately touched her face, so it’s all about a fabrication and conspiracy…to tarnish my good name. There was never a physical contact only a verbal altercation,” he claimed. The court case will come up on November 19, 2013 at 09:00 hrs at the Sisters’ Magistrate’s Court.

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Kaieteur News

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November is F oster Care Guyana makes strides towards Foster the gift of love and protection Month ‘Giveand achieving MDGs - Finance Minister foster a child today’ “Being a foster parent is a priceless type of activity…it is for one who really opens up their home and their heart to take a child and provide that care for a child. If you can provide that care for a child, you just save an entire generation,” the words of Ann Greene, Head of the Childcare and Protection Agency of the Ministry of Human Services. Her words could not have come at a better time as recent events have brought foster care to the fore, even as Guyana has designated the month of November Foster Care Month. The theme for the month is “Give the Gift of Love and Protection and Foster a Child Today”. It is expected that throughout the month there will be programmes that will raise the level of awareness so that more persons will be encouraged to come forward and be a part of the future by fostering a child. Coleen Khan, the agency’s Foster Care Manager in a brief interview with this newspaper, informed that her department is responsible for the short listing of prospective foster parents and the placement of children in their care. “First of all we recruit and then we also do placement and then we do monitoring,” Khan explained. After a child is placed, Social workers do follow-up,

psycho social support. There are many children in need of foster care in Guyana and there are many who are opening up their homes to them also, but there is still need for more homes to open up to these children and it takes a special touch to be a foster parent. But thanks to the Childcare and Protection Agency, parental training is available. According to Khan, there were times when the agency has had to intervene whenever they deemed the foster care not up to standard. “We have children who move through one foster parent to another; but it is not as a result of cases of abuse; it has to do with if we feel that

State auditors called in to probe Town Clerk’s alleged misuse of funds

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, has said that despite hiccups, Guyana will achieve its Millennium Development Goals. Dr. Singh has said that Guyana is on track and that the country is making significant strides. In 2000, Guyana and 188 other countries adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration which captured the agreement on eight goals on international development. These goals are now known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals are to eradicate extreme poverty a n d h u n g e r, a c h i e v e universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development. Guyana has already achieved the first two goals (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and universal primary education) according to the third MDG progress report. It is also doing well as it relates to the other six goals. The third report, being the most recent, has said that as it relates to the third goal, Guyana has made very good progress towards promoting gender

With much blame throwing and charges of ‘who owes who’ recently occurring at the Georgetown City Council, the Municipality has contacted the office of the Auditor General to investigate what it says is the misappropriation of public funds by one of its own. Executives within the City Council told Kaieteur News last week that Mayor Hamilton Green had cause to call in representatives of the Audit office to probe the alleged use of Council funds by acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba to secure 24- hour arm security at her place of residence. The report to the Audit officers accuses the Town Clerk of reportedly using Council funds to build among other things, a guard hut and sanitary facilities at her Duncan Street rental. The official told Kaieteur News that the issue was discovered when records showed that the Town Clerk had reportedly instructed the City Treasurer to issue the money and the Finance Officer signed it off. Additionally, the Council officer said that the owner of the Duncan Street property had not

applied to the Council to make any changes or to erect additional structures at the property. Kaieteur News was there last Thursday when the Audit officers visited the Mayor. Subsequent to the meeting, the newspaper inquired from Mayor Green the topic/s discussed at the meeting. He would only say, “The Audit Officers were responding to an apparent violation of the law by the Acting Town Clerk.” He expressed optimism that the Audit Office will get to the bottom of the matter. The Town Clerk had announced at a press briefing in early October that a selective debt recovery system was in order to assist with the Council’s growing financial ailments. She stated that several persons including Kaieteur News Publisher Glenn Lall, the Mayor’s wife Dr. Jennifer Basdeo and prominent Accountant / Attorney Christopher Ram, had tallied taxes owed to the Council at several millions. The Town Clerk had also stated her intention to sue the delinquent taxpayers. Mayor Green had stated, however, that

Comforting Hearts, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) of New Amsterdam on Friday organized a Youth Rally and March through the streets of New Amsterdam for schools in the New Amsterdam, East and West Canje areas on the prevention of violence against children and youths. The main thrust of the activity was to sensitize the youths against child abuse, neglect and sexual abuse which poses a threat to their schooling, health, wellbeing and the future of Guyana. The children who participated in the rally which culminated at the Esplanade Park, were drawn from various schools in New Amsterdam, East and West Canje. Probation and Social Services Officer attached to the Ministry of Human Services, Desmond Nelson addressed the gathering. Nelson commented on a

Head of the CPA Ann Greene

Foster Care Manager of the CPA, Coleen Khan the standard is not up to what we feel is right,” Khan said. The Childcare and Protection Agency has often come under attack for the work they do, with many persons accusing them of taking away people’s children. But if there was no such agency, what would have been the fate of the countless abandoned children who were rescued by the agency? “When people attack us, I say if people only know if we weren’t here then what. There are sometimes we’re tired. Sometimes I leave here really exhausted and I will go down the steps, weary, but knowing that we have made a difference in a child’s life and saved a generation,” Ann Greene said.

Town Clerk (ag) Carol Sooba the taxes owed to City Hall were being claimed in a different form since it is noticed that the Council itself has outstanding debts to some of those “delinquent taxpayers” because of its poor financial status. He dubbed the Town Clerk’s “attacks” as political before reporting that her actions were without the blessing of the City Councilors, “since these matters could have been resolved in an amicable and civilized manner....” City Hall has for years complained about its financial struggle. The Town Clerk has vowed throughout her tenure to restore the financial capabilities of the Council.

equality and empowering women as the country met the target of eliminating gender disparity in primary and second education and strives towards parity at the tertiary level. Whilst employment of women is still targeted for improvement, female political representation within Parliament has increased substantially. The report said that female representation has increased from twelve members (18.5 percent) in 1992 to twenty members in 2009 (30.7 percent). The Government and Ministry of Health are working to w a r d s improving health care, especially for children at around the time of birth and improving the nutritional intake of both mothers and children. Though the report explained that Guyana has made some headway in maternal health, Dr. Singh said that there is still need for improvement in the quality of health care offered by the maternal health care team, including nurses and obstetricians. Guyana is among 10 of the nations that have achieved universal access to treatment of HIV/AIDS, its high dependence on foreign aid still remains a key priority and measures are currently being looked at to combat this. As it relates to Goal 7, Government has already taken action to address a

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh key priority; the provision of and access to safe water in the hinterland and other remote areas. Under Goal 8, the report explains that Guyana has moved from being a heavily indebted country to one that has achieved debt sustainability. It has been noted that the lack of adequate and predictable financing has been and still is an important constraint in meeting the MDGs. The M i n i s t e r h a s reiterated that the country is on track and t h e G overnment is sure that the country will achieve all the goals by its deadline. He is pleased to note that Guyana is progressing substantially, based on the third report.

NGO organizes successful march and rally number of topics, including violence against youths and children, which he states has no barriers including race, class or culture. He stated that violence against youths occurs anywhere- on the street, in our homes, places of work and other places that young person’s find themselves. Nelson stated that perpetrators of violence against children and youth are not necessarily strangers. They could be family members, teachers, caretakers, law enforcement authorities and even other children. He said that violence is evident in all communities. He urged victims not to live under strenuous conditions, but to speak out. During the march the children chanted anti-child abuse slogans. Among some of the slogans were -”We will tell. Taxi man, leave the li’l girl

alone. It could be you own daughter.” The campaign to stamp out violence against children was imbedded in the international campaign to stop child abuse. This received international attention when the first International Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse was held. The Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) launched WWSF 19 days of activism a global campaign which is held from November 1 to November 19. Also speaking at the rally was Peace Corps Volunteer, Julia O’Conor, from the University of Maryland School Of Social Work in the U.S.A. who is on attachment with the Comforting Hearts organization. In her presentation, she also urged children to speak out whenever there is anything done to harm them.

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Tuesday November 05, 2013

Gender Study Centre being touted for UG A proposal has been made for the introduction of a Centre of Gender study at the University of Guyana (UG), a move which is being spearheaded by the Women and Gender Equality Commission. And according to one of the members of the Commission, Commissioner Vanda Radzik, the proposal was forthcoming during a meeting with Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, about two months ago. Radzik disclosed that the meeting has resulted in the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Commission and the University which entails the establishment of the Centre. The Centre, once in place, will cater to the provision of

online courses in gender development for both male and female members of the society, Radzik explained. Added to this, the Commission, as part of its collaboration with UG, will be looking to support one student of the university to undertake a research project on gender, women rights or on other related matters. This move, the Commissioner disclosed, is expected to continue on an annual basis with a view of helping to develop and nurture a body of gender sensitive researchers. Such an undertaking, according to her, can be considered, “very important work, that can help to determine the root causes of the gender violence epidemic or any other matter that has

Members of the Women and Gender Equality Commission. to do with Women’s Rights and Gender equality.” Meanwhile, the Commission, as part of its outreach efforts, has been

visiting a number of institutions which included a recent visit to the Teenage Maternal Clinic. And according to

Group meets Ramotar on Prof. Samad UGBC re-appointment

L to R: Some members of the group: Mr. Latcha, Prof. Samad, Ms. Seetayah and Pastor Geer By Leon Suseran President Donald Ramotar and Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, recently received a group representing former University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC) Director, Professor Daizal R. Samad at the Office of the President in Georgetown. Ms. Shazeena Seetayah, head of the group, told Kaieteur News that the purpose of the visit to Office of the President was to make the case for rehiring Prof. Samad as UGBC Director. The University of Guyana has since advertised for the position and Prof. Samad, who resigned on October 4 last, has re- applied. Samad had resigned citing strained relations between him and the current Vice- Chancellor, Prof. Jacob Opadeyi. Samad was also not satisfied with the “dictatorial policies” of UG Turkeyen and had been a strong advocate for calling for autonomy and Berbice University. He has applied for the position and is very

optimistic that President Ramotar will consider giving more freedom and autonomy to the Berbice Campus. The group that visited the Guyanese leader, comprised Agriculture Consultant, Shazeena Seetayah, Roman Catholic Priest, Fr. Edwin Thadeu, SJ; Imaam Naeem Barlow; Pastor Shawn Geer; Pastor Pooran; Security Expert, Mr. John London; and sportsman in Berbice, Mr. Randolph Latcha. Seetayah and the group met with the media last week, and stated that the meeting stemmed from the initial meeting after Prof. Samad said he would have resigned. Additionally, Seetayah stated that following the meeting with the president, thousands of Berbicians have signed a petition demanding that Samad rescind his resignation and be re- appointed the top position at the Berbice Campus. “We need him not because he is best fitted for the job, but his work…and after demitting office in October, we have seen that a lot of things that he worked

for have been going down the drain and Berbicians want him back to build the campus.” She added that Samad’s works “speaks for itself.” Seetayah stated that the result from the meeting with Ramotar and Manickchand “was very likened to Berbicians in that they told us that, once he applied, he would be given fair chance to get the job back, because a lot of persons have applied…” She said that the President “promised some very good things and that he will give Prof. Samad a fair shot back at his job. His Excellency said that he was even shocked at Samad’s resignation.” Manickchand, she said, “shared her liking for Samad. She said, “We all like the dude”. Samad told this newspaper that he returned to Guyana on October 5, 2013 after he was offered a very lucrative job offer in his homeland of Canada; “of which I am a Citizen…I turned it down…business is not really my cuppa tea but it was a very, very lucrative offer—

and it was a serious business offer, but my whole idea is to return and serve this nation.” The Professor said that he hopes the appointment process “speeds up”. “I will be really chagrined if the process takes another five months—clearly, if you have one person tailor made for the job, you just don’t have to pull out four more people.” “I am not begging for this job—let’s be clear about that. I think, here is a position where I can serve Berbicians and serve Guyanese…the one word I have is ‘service.’” Should UGBC get greater freedom, there will be twinning programmes with St. Helen’s University; Universities in Canada; and new degree programmes such as Senior Police Management; Human Kinetics; and a Degree in Sports Management. “I will be talking about Errol Morrison of the University of Technology in Jamaica and I would like to see a unique athletic centre built and we have had offers of 22 scholarships and an offer of over 100 acres of land (for new dorms).

Commissioner Nicole Cole, the visit to that location was in fact a fruitful one which not only allowed for interactions with a few teenagers but also served to enlighten the commission that those in the Maternal Clinic’s care are taught family planning as well as social skills that would seek to re-integrate them into the education system. According to Cole, “before they got pregnant and dropped out of school many of them wanted to become teachers, nurses, lawyers, doctors...what is being taught to them is that they can still go on to become those, but they would have to do family planning, be disciplined and of course return to their education.” Educational sessions with the teenagers, according to Cole, are seen as a means to empower them and to help them in the quest of re-organising their lives. Cole disclosed that the teenagers have also been the recipients of informative sessions delivered by medex students who enlightened them about the importance of breastfeeding, how to properly hold their babies as well as the importance of food and nutrition. The Commissioner explained too that it is a well

known fact that pregnant mothers could suffer from anaemia, which could result in the low birth weight of their babies. “So they (the teenagers) were exposed to sessions that prepared them to deliver a healthy child which I think was good and excellent for the young mothers,” asserted Cole. The Commission also has plans to soon visit the East La Penitence lock-ups as part of its observance of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which will be celebrated on November 25. And as part of its efforts to reduce the scourge of violence in the society, the Women and Gender Equality Commission also has plans apace to engage some 45 schools across Guyana for public awareness sessions, according to Chairperson, Ms Indranie Chandarpal. She disclosed that each Commissioner is tasked with identifying at least three schools, either primary or secondary, at which issues of violence will be discussed. And according to Chandarpal, special efforts will be made to reach out to the children of the schools with a view to ensuring that they understand that violence in any form is unacceptable.

Family suffers three deaths in 16 days Praimwatty Ramcharran, a/k”Gladys, 72, the mother of Zorg burn victim, Tameshwarie Narharry, a/k” Shantie, died sixteen days after her daugther’s demise. She reportedly suffered a heart attack on Saturday. Doctors at the Suddie Public Hospital confirmed the prognosis which resulted in Ramcharran’s death. Saywattie Persaud, a sister said that her mother became consumed by grief over her daughter, Shantie’s death and eventually suffered a heart attack and died. Persaud lost her mother 16 days after losing her sister, Shantie, who suffered first

degree burns about her body, after her now dead commonlaw husband, Patrick Seepaul, doused her with gasoline before setting her alight. Narharry’s rented house was also destroyed in the fire. In the wake of the killing and the arson, Seepaul took his own life. A farmer discovered his body under a mango tree, after he had consumed a poisonous substance. Seepaul and Narharry lived together at Zorg for less than a year. Persaud, Narharry’s sister said that Seepaul originally was from Berbice but that he lived and worked with some people from Vilvordeen.

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Kaieteur News

‘Dudus’ took down JLP - Review team says Coke issue was key to 2011 election loss

Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke

Andrew Holness

(Jamaica Observer) The five-member Independent Strategic Review Commission, which assessed the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) strengths and weaknesses, says that the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition issue played a primary role in the party’s loss of the December 2011 General Election. In addressing the party’s inability to win the election, the report concluded that this was due essentially to weaknesses in political conduct during its term of office, of which the Coke extradition fiasco was the prime example. “It also had to do, to a lesser extent, with an element of unpreparedness for a general election that the party leadership had itself called,” the commission reported. The report said that four unmistakable lessons learnt, or which should have been learned, emerged from the commission’s various interviews and conversations: • The party should have demonstrated more humility in the period of time the electorate had given it to temporarily hold the reins of power; • The party, while in government, had not sufficiently demonstrated, if at all, a sense of connectedness with people’s real pain; neither did prime

ministers Bruce Golding and Andrew Holness explain to them how the short-term pain (as short as ‘we in government can make it’) will bring long-term gain; • Party leader Bruce Golding should have been astute enough to recognise, and then avoid, an undertaking that ended up inflicting the kind of gratuitous political damage that the Christopher Coke extradition matter did. “If while in government the party is faced again with a situation similar to Coke’s, it should move as quickly as feasible [to take] the matter from the executive to the judiciary. Let the constitutional court(s) decide; or, as put to the commission by a former justice ministry legal expert: Just let the court deal with it.” • Even though it had already formed the government, the party ought still to have painstakingly attended, in an ongoing way, to groundwork matters relating to campaign strategy and campaign readiness. “The internal process of reviewing the party’s structures, with a view

toward rebuilding and/or reshaping ground level (or branch-type) systems must therefore continue.” On the issue of the leadership of the party, the report said current leader, Andrew Holness, “is liked and respected and has a high degree of trust from the party’s base”, as it was felt that his leadership, while at the Ministry of Education, “spoke to an organised, knowledgeable and fearless leadership personality”. Despite this, the commissioners felt that Holness needed to work to prove himself worthy of that trust, and that some members feared that his “conservative nature” could be a major weakness. “There are concerns that the party leader is too soft and needed to be more assertive, and a suggestion was made that he needed to follow the leadership style of Edward Seaga…,” the report stated. However, it said that the consensus among stalwarts of varying persuasions, and across generations, was that Holness has the legitimacy and, more importantly, the credibility to act. The commission was created by the JLP after the election defeat to provide answers to explain the loss, which made the party the first to serve one term in government in Jamaica. It was chaired by Professor Bernard Headley, retired professor of criminology in the Department of Sociology, Psychology & Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona; Rev Dr Maitland Evans, president of the International University of the Caribbean; Dr Marcia Forbes, executive chairman, Phase 3 Productions Ltd and media consultant; Professor Neville Swaby, executive director, University of Technology/JIM School of Advanced Management and vice-dean, College of Business and Management; and Dr Lloyd Waller, behavioural research and development specialist lecturer in the Department of Government and director of the Centre for Leadership and Governance, University of the West Indies, Mona. Kay Ann Henry was research assistant.

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In court, defiant Morsi says he is still Egypt’s president

ANGER: Fourteen other members of the Muslim Brotherhood are on trial with Morsi (at extreme right). While he wore a suit, they were clad in white prison uniform (Reuters) - Ousted Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi, given his first public forum since his overthrow in a trial where he could face execution, declared yesterday he was still Egypt’s legitimate president and shouted: “Down with military rule!” Morsi, an Islamist who was toppled by the army in July after mass protests against him, spoke with anger and passion, interrupting the first day of his trial repeatedly from his cage during an unruly hearing that the judge adjourned to January 8. State television aired brief footage of Morsi, the first public sighting of the president since his overthrow in July. Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, had been kept in an undisclosed location since then. “I am Dr. Mohamed Morsi. I am president of the republic,” said Morsi. Inside the courtroom, anti-Morsi Egyptian journalists chanted “execution”, “execution” as the deposed leader did his best to challenge the authority of the court, shouting repeatedly at the judge whose legitimacy he refused to accept. “We are in a state, not a (military) camp. Down down with military rule,” said Morsi. “I am a witness that what is happening is a part of a military coup. I ask the Egyptian judiciary to not act as a cover for the military coup.” The judge repeatedly asked Morsi to stop giving long speeches. “Please answer the question, do you agree to have a lawyer representing you?” judge Ahmed Sabry said. Opponents of Egypt’s army-backed government deride what they call a “show trial” as part of a campaign to crush Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement and revive the police state of Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule that ended in a 2011 popular revolt. Hundreds of people were killed in the months that followed Morsi’s overthrow, including many hundreds shot dead by police and troops who cleared out a weeks-long protest vigil by Morsi’s supporters. Thousands of followers have been rounded up. Egypt has become fiercely divided, with state media lionizing the military and police for their crackdown on “terrorists”, while the Brotherhood, once the country’s most powerful political force, has retreated to the shadows where it spent more than 80 years as an underground movement. Morsi, 62, who like many Islamists was also jailed under Mubarak, now faces charges of

inciting violence that could carry the death penalty. It is the second time Egypt has put an ousted president on trial since 2011, and taking place in the same venue - a police academy hall - where Mubarak has faced retrial over his conviction for complicity in killing protesters. Morsi and 14 other Islamists face charges of inciting violence relating to the deaths of about a dozen people in clashes outside the presidential palace in December after Morsi enraged his opponents with a decree expanding his powers. After stepping out of a white van and buttoning his jacket, he appeared in a cage in the courtroom beside other Islamist defendants, who were in white prison garb. They applauded when Morsi arrived, gave the Brotherhood’s four-fingered salute, and at times turned their backs on the court. “This trial is illegitimate,” said Morsi, who was dressed in a dark suit. “This is a criminal military coup.” Hundreds of Morsi’s supporters gathered outside the court building. One sign read: “The people’s will has been raped”. SECURITY PRESENCE Trial proceedings were not aired on state television and journalists were barred from bringing telephones into the courtroom. Senior Brotherhood figures among the defendants used the chance to tell reporters they had been mistreated. “I have been kept in my cell for 60 days,” Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagi told Reuters in the courtroom from inside a cage holding defendants. “I have been held under water in my cell and this has happened to other members.” Another Islamist in the cage, Alaa Hamza, said he was tortured and lifted his shirt to show reporters what he said were torture marks. After the hearing, Morsi was taken to Borg al-Arab prison in Alexandria. The military establishment’s return to the forefront of power prompted Washington to cut some military aid, although Washington has not said whether the overthrow was a “coup”, language that would require it to halt aid to one of its biggest clients. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Cairo on Sunday, expressed guarded optimism about a return to democracy.

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Kaieteur News

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Chancellor, CJ alone for tax-free dollars, other judges sidelined Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, is slated, this T h u r s d a y, t o p r o v i d e answers in the National Assembly on a series of questions based on salaries paid to Members of the Judiciary. Those questions were posed by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams. His questions revealed that the Chancellor and the Chief Justice (CJ) are the only ones in the Judiciary that benefit from tax free dollars. Wi l l i a m s , when

- Opposition questions why contacted yesterday, declined to state whether the questions he posed were born out of concerns reflected by Members of the Judiciary or were of his individual concern. The questions posed by the Member of Parliament ranged, in content, from inquiries about the last revision of salaries and emoluments of Members of the Judiciary to the “discriminating” payment of tax fee dollars to members of

the Judiciary. Williams asked, “Could the Honourable Minister inform the National Assembly of the date of the last revision of salaries and emoluments of Members of the Judiciary?” He questioned as well if Government intends to revise the salaries and emoluments of Members of the Judiciary before the end of 2013? Wi l l i a m s a l s o w a n t s Nandlall to state if the Government considers it a

discriminatory act against the majority of the Members of the Judiciary to only pay the Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice tax-free salaries. Under a heading-”Tax free salaries for all Members of the Judiciary,” Williams asked, “Could the Honourable Minister inform the National Assembly if the Government will make salaries for all Members of the Judiciary tax-free?” Members of the Judiciary

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall

APNU’s Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs include the support staff in the Appeal Court, Judges, and secretaries to Judges, the

Chief Justice and the Chancellor of the Judiciary. Williams didn’t want to divulge information as to whether he was asked by Members of the Judiciary to raise those questions. What he did say however, is that the Chancellor “is on record as asking for a review of Salaries.

Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union to hold AGM While preparations for the Annual General Meeting of the longstanding Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) are currently ongoing, the call is being made for inactive members to join in the activities. The meeting is scheduled to be held at the Union’s Thomas Lands building on November 10. According to current members of the organisation, it is imperative that all members attend the meeting so as to participate in the making of decisions that affect the membership base as

a whole. They said that attendance at the meeting will not only allow for informed decisions to be made; but will also provide a platform where misconceptions are cleared and members are given the opportunity to become au fait with the recent developments in the union. “They could be able to make contributions during the passing of motions and have answers for questions of any issue that is bothering them,” Audrey Kellman, member of the Credit Union related to Kaieteur News. Rosaline Stewart, also GPSCCU member for close to

a decade said that not only will the meeting encompass standard AGM material but will also include a session, rendered as a training programme, which will provide details of ongoing issues affecting the Union.

The Annual Report and Audited Accounts for the period 2009-10 will also be under consideration. Most important though will be the election for members making up both the 12-member Management Committee and three-member Supervisory Committee. According to Kellman, there are currently four vacancies within the Management Committee. She said that the vacancies open the window for any member, who so desires, to join the team. While the opportunity is open to new members, Kellman said that the option

of reelecting old members of the Management Committee also exists. “Either four new persons take the stand or four existing members of the Management Committee are reelected,” she said. Also requiring votes will be the election for persons to take the posts of Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of the Supervisory Committee. It was noted that it is especially important for the thousands of members who are currently part of the Credit Union to attend the AGM; as all final decisions regarding who will take the lead in carrying out the

organisation’s mandate for the next two years are dependent on votes received from the elections. “The end results of the elections depend on the persons on the ground, the members who vote at the meeting. That is why we are asking persons to come out and vote,” Kellman posited. The mission of the decades old GPSCCU remains to promote thrift among its members, to educate them in cooperative principles and effective management of the affairs of the society and to create a source of credit available to its members.

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Tuesday November 05, 2013

GTUC roasts Granger over Procurement Commission GTUC roasts Granger over Procurement Commission The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) says that it takes serious objection to Leader of the Opposition, David Granger’s reported statement, that the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission [PPC] is not a concern that the APNU shares at this time, more so with respect to tying it with the passing of the AntiMoney Laundering Legislation. GTUC President, Lincoln Lewis, in a public missive yesterday, sought to remind Granger that the PPC is a constitutional body and all responsible parties should seek to ensure its immediate enactment and functioning. According to Lewis, constitutional requirements cannot be cherry-picked or dismissed at will. “Doing this is in itself a violation of the

Constitution…Further it gives tacit support to the government’s contempt for this sacred instrument, which remains the foundation for good governance.” Lewis is of the opinion that “failure to uphold this also reinforces the importance of the influences of human will-power or lack of, in giving meaning to constitutional provisions.” According to the GTUC President, “this is a factor of grave concern and an unnecessary hindrance in the development of our society and accountability of government offices.” He reminded that, “Corruption is a human rights issue.” According to Lewis, the APNU as the lead opposition has a responsibility to society to ensure good governance, accountability of public

Opposition Leader, David Granger

GTUC President, Lincoln Lewis

procurement and holding government responsible for holding the constitution sacred. “Where government is failing, APNU must give voice and leadership to this nation to protect and defend the Constitution…GTUC calls on the APNU to respect the Constitution and revisit

its position on having the PPC activated.” According to Lewis, “The time for doing this is now if the Executive lacks the will to uphold the Constitution and safeguard the public against wanton waste and corruption.” He also drew reference to a statement by Head of the

Presidential Secretariat; Dr. Roger Luncheon, when he said that Government will get the support of the APNU to make amendment to the Procurement Laws which would retain Cabinet having a say in awarding contracts, in as much as the Act seeks to phase this out. “This is dangerous and would continue the very practice the PPC sets out to halt, that is corruption.” According to Lewis, the Anti-Money Laundering Bill seeks to reinforce financial probity of the people’s resources and of which the PPC forms the precursor. “That is the nexus to help Granger in his decision making.” The fact that Khemraj Ramajattan, the Leader of the Alliance For Change, alleged money was offered him to derail tying the establishment

of the PPC to the Anti-Money Laundering Bill and in light of Granger’s willingness to go ahead with the obvious violation of this constitutional provision, is placing him in an untenable situation where the APNU is called to question. “Has Mr. Granger had a similar experience like Mr. Ramjattan, and if so what must the public believe…Given what Mr. Ramjattan said, the lawlessness by those who seek to bribe public officials to act contrary to the interest of the people is troubling.” Lewis also questions what is Granger’s incentive not to act? “Mr. Granger needs to be wary of his quality of decision-making that is becoming associated with APNU and the case of the Linden electricity issue being a recent scenario.”

UNESCO threatens to remove Paramaribo from World Heritage sites PA R A M A R I B O , Suriname (CMC) – Suriname has been warned that it risk losing its position on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites if greater attention is not paid to the country’s historic inner city, Paramaribo. A mission from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory UNESCO organisation, found that many of the wooden Victorian buildings in the capital were either dilapidated or replaced by concrete structures. ICOMOS said that while the city’s characteristics remain, the authorities

needed to implement urgent measures to prevent irreparable damage to the buildings. The ICOMOS report, which was present to the Desi Bouterse government last week, was accompanied by a plan to prevent the country being removed from the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Paramaribo was established by settlers in the 17th centuries and much of the city’s original historic center remains intact and in June 2002 it was inscribed on the prestigious World Heritage List, with UNESCO saying that the historic

buildings illustrate the gradual fusion of Dutch architectural design with traditional local techniques and materials. “Paramaribo is a unique example of the contact between the European culture of the Netherlands and the indigenous cultures and environment of South America in the years of intensive colonization of this region in the 16th and 17th centuries,” the UN body wrote then. While Suriname often boasts of the listing to lure tourists, ICOMOS found during its visit that the protected site has lost much

of its charm. Historic buildings were found to be dilapidated or replaced by new structures and Government redesigned the Independence Square without consulting the UNESCO, which is mandatory when considering modifications of listed sites. ICOMOS said much of Paramaribo’s historical characteristics that got the city on the world heritage list still remain, but if urgent measures are not taken “the inner city will dwindle in an irreparable process of collapse and suffer under large changes that will have an increasing influence on the

characteristics that justified the listing”. Government was given an ultimatum of two months to carry out a list of measures and if these measures were not implemented before December 31, 2013, Paramaribo would be removed from the “List of World Heritage Sites” and be placed on the “List of World Heritage Sites in Peril.” The decision could be taken as soon as June 2014 when the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meets in Qatar. Director of the Foundation for Built Heritage Suriname, Stephen Fokké, said he was not surprised at

the decision. “We warned government, but no matter how hard we hammer on this, everybody just keeps on doing what they like. Construction takes place in a wild-west fashion without coordination or a centralized policy. Just look around in the city to see how bad things are,” he said. Fokké said government has no choice but to follow UNESCO’s urgency plan. “That’s the only way to face the biggest problems. But the two month deadline is just around the corner; to carry out some of the recommendations will demand more time,” he added.

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Kaieteur News

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LeBron James, Chris Bosh lift Heat past Wizards 103-93 MIAMI (AP) — Extra pass, easy win. It’s a triedand-true formula for the Miami Heat. LeBron James scored 25 points, Chris Bosh added 24 and the Heat beat the winless Washington Wizards 103-93 on Sunday night to snap a rare two-game slide. Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for Miami, which hasn’t dropped three straight regular-season games since Jan. 10-13, 2012. The Heat (22) had 32 assists on 37 field goals, including on all nine of

their baskets in the third quarter. Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards. Marcin Gortat finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Washington (0-3), which shot 43 percent and allowed the Heat to convert 21 turnovers into 25 points. In other scores: ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic ended two negative streaks while ruining Jason Kidd’s first game as an NBA head coach. Third-year center Nikola

Vucevic and rookie point guard Victor Oladipo both had 19 points as the Magic outplayed the Brooklyn Nets in the second half of a 107-86 victory Sunday night. It was the second straight win for Orlando, which hadn’t won back-to-back games since Dec. 19, 2012, a stretch of 60 games. It also stopped a four-game losing streak to the Nets, who swept Orlando last season winning the four games by an average of 19.8 points. Andrew Nicholson, a

Tuesday November 05, 2013 ARIES (MAR 21 - APR 19): A business associate or romantic partner helps you to achieve distinction through education or travel. Be sure to follow this person’s suggestions, as they will expand your horizons in exciting ways. *********************************** TAURUS (APR 20 - MAY 20): You’ve risen above intense challenges, which has caused your confidence to soar. Your self-assurance is extremely attractive; don’t be surprised if several people express romantic interest in you. *********************************** GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUN 20): Trust your intuition when it comes to dealing with your love life. This person wants to impress you with their charm and sophistication, but all you really care about is their intellect. Money could be a bit tight right now. *********************************** CANCER (JUN 21 - JUL 22): You can salvage a depressing work environment by adding cosy touches to your surroundings. Family photographs, thriving plants, and soft lighting can soothe your nerves and boost your productivity. *********************************** LEO (JUL 23 - AUG 22): A creative breakthrough is imminent, provided you discuss your ideas with anyone who will listen. An innocent remark will help you see this project in a whole new light. You may be hesitant to explore a taboo subject. *********************************** VIRGO (AUG 23 - SEP 22): A love of nature could prompt you to transform a drab outdoor spot into the Garden of Eden. This project is a perfect expression of all you hold dear.

LIBRA (SEP 23 - OCT 22): Normally, you’re content to take the middle ground in the interests of preserving harmony. Today you have very strong opinions about sex, death and money. Don’t hesitate to speak your mind to a neighbour or close relative. *********************************** SCORPIO (OCT 23 NOV 21): You’re incredibly resourceful when it comes to making and saving money. Keeping a low profile helps you to avoid temptation. Resist going out to expensive restaurants with friends, and avoid going windowshopping to fill time. *********************************** SAGITTARIUS (NOV 22 - DEC 21): You’re a virtual miracle worker when it comes to rallying the troops. Take this opportunity to uplift and encourage people who are engaged in a seemingly endless project. Under your guidance, the team could finish the project in record time. *********************************** CAPRICORN (DEC 22 JAN 19): Trust your sixth sense, especially when it comes to advancing your career. An authority figure admires your humble attitude, and may reward you for it in the near future. *********************************** AQUARIUS (JAN 20 FEB 18): Your leadership qualities come out in full force today, when you prompt certain members of the group to work harder. Some people need gentle encouragement, while others require stern lectures. *********************************** PISCES (FEB 19 - MAR 20): A strong drive to succeed could prompt you to draw upon hidden resources. Normally, you are hesitant to express your creativity at work.

Miami Heat small forward LeBron James is pressured by Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat during the second half at American Airlines Arena.(Photo: Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports) second-year reserve forward, added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Arron Afflalo had 16 points and a careerhigh eight assists for Orlando. Only Brook Lopez and Pierce reached double figures. Lopez had 21 points and Pierce added 16. LOS ANGELES (AP) — A little bit of tweaking to the starting lineup by coach Mike D’Antoni worked wonders for the Los Angeles Lakers, resulting in a dominant first half against the Atlanta Hawks. Then came the second half, and they ended up fighting for their lives to escape with a victory. Xavier Henry scored 18 points, Pau Gasol hit two tiebreaking free throws with 6 seconds remaining, and the Lakers beat the Hawks 105103 on Sunday night after blowing a 21-point lead. Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Steve Nash had 13 points and six assists and Young finished with 13 points. Kyle Korver led Atlanta with 22 points, converting all six 3-point attempts, but his attempt at a tying 21-footer from the right baseline was blocked by Gasol as time ran out. Hawks point guard Jeff Teague had 14 points and six assists after missing his first five shots. NEW YORK (AP) — For the Minnesota Timberwolves, a 3-0 start is as much cause for caution as celebration. The Wolves have had too much bad luck lately to think things will stay this smooth. Kevin Love had 34 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, Kevin Martin scored 30 points and Minnesota improved to 3-0 for the first time in 12 years with a 109100 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday night. Carmelo Anthony had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who have dropped two straight after a

season-opening victory and drew some loud boos in the first half while appearing to be standing still on defense. Anthony shot just 8 of 21. Metta World Peace added 17

points, but the Knicks were too far behind by the time they found any offense. Raymond Felton had 12 assists but shot 3 of 12, as did rookie Tim Hardaway Jr.

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Tuesday November 05, 2013

4th Brusche Basketball classic final...

Ravens waltz away with title, beat Kings 51-37 ‘The Dream’ becomes a reality with MVP and best defensive player awards National guard Akeem Kanhai, known in basketball circles affectionately as ‘The Dream’ became a reality when as guided his team Dyna’s Ravens of Georgetown to an overwhelming 51-37 win against Linden’s Kings, quarterbacking them to effectively landing themselves the 4th Brusche Classic basketball title and $100,000, and thus strengthened a claim to being the top basketball club in Guyana, Sunday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court. Kanhai, the all-purpose guard who was nurtured in Linden, returned home where his face overlooks the MSC facility and in one of the best all round displays, fashioned a commanding victory for the visitors after the Kings had started well. The Kings’ shooting guard Orin Rose started well by lighting up the scoreboard and partisan crowd with back

Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai receiving one of the trophies from Dawn McCammon Barker. to back 3-pointers, but that spark never caught on as the Ravens soon were ahead 7-6 and established their intent

early with a comfortable 15-8 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Kanhai, later named not only the Best

Bolt one of three men for 2013 World Athlete of the Year Jamaica Observer - KINGSTON, Jamaica Jamaica’s sprint sensation Usain Bolt is one of three male athletes still in contention to become the 2013 World Athlete of the Year. With a little under two weeks to go until the 2013 World Athletics Gala, the IAAF Monday announced finalists for the award, who were selected after a month-long poll of the World Athletics Family. The other finalists are: Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko and Mohamed Farah of Great Britain. The IAAF said that the Council of the International Athletics Foundation will select the male and female winners, with the announcement taking place live on stage during the 2013 World Athletics Gala in Monaco, on Saturday, November 16. The three women’s finalists will be announced today, Tuesday, November 5.

Usain Bolt

Former dopers should come clean, says UCI boss PARIS (Reuters) - Riders and managers who have been involved in past doping practices have been urged to come forward by International Cycling Union (UCI) p r e s i d e n t B r i a n Cookson so that the sport can draw a line under its troubled reputation. Reacting to former rider Michael Rasmussen’s series of allegations in a book published on Monday, Cookson told Reuters in an email: “All such allegations

and confessions will be looked at by the new Independent Commission and we would urge anyone concerned to bring forward their information to the Commission.” Dane Rasmussen was kicked out of his Rabobank team, while he was leading the Tour de France in 2007, for lying about his whereabouts to doping authorities. Following allegations made by Rasmussen in the

book, Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, winner of the 2012 Giro d’Italia, admitted to doping “more than 10 years ago” last Wednesday. Other former riders and team doctors were also accused of engaging in doping practices until 2007 by Rasmussen in the book ‘Gul Feber’ (Yellow Fever). Last week, the UCI said it would audit its own antidoping operations in the wake of the Lance Armstrong scandal.

Defensive Player of the final for his exploits defensively, also created matchup problems anytime he had the ball and helped Ravens dominate the final in all facets of the game. However, this was a Ravens team that never depended much on any one player but they played as a unit with the ball doing the work, placing it into the cracks they created against their opponents who relied heavily on their most reliable players who could not put together an effective chemistry to counter this marauding City side. In the end the new fiberglass backboards, compliments of the Kashif and Shanghai Organization to the Mackenzie Sports Club was finally erected through the efforts of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association for this important final, saw the Ravens outrebound the Kings 44-21 and Kanhai taking a liking on his way to the glass where he not only top scored with 17 points but also pulled down 11 rebounds off the glass. The Kings never got their act going and on a number of occasions their seemingly aging players had to be taken off for different reasons and forcing changes to their lineup which reflected not enough adequate replacements invariably. The Kings most consistent player in recent times has been forward Omally Sampson as he played well within himself, but only in spurts did Rose make his presence felt and their best players over the years Steven Neils (Jr.) and Marvin Hartman, never really made a difference as veteran Abdulla Hamid played his heart out in vain. By half time Ravens had maintained their

grip of the proceedings and led 29-17 and while the exchanges were about even in the crucial third quarter, the spread of responsibility among the players were profound in the Ravens camp as it ended with the Georgetown side leading 39-27. However, Ravens once more took control towards the end and with Kanhai executing blocks down the stretch as he pushed the clamps on. Any recovery thoughts the Kings might have had and with Ryan Stephaney playing that solid supporting cast, never allowed them a chance of seeing victory at the end of the tunnel. The game ended 51-37 and showed that a Georgetown based team has now won three of the titles in the four years the event was played. Kanhai with 17 points, 11 boards, four block shots and four steals carted off the Most Valuable Player Trophy Award. Ryan Stephaney netted 15 points and seven rebounds while Jermaine Slater had 11 rebounds for Ravens. For Kings, Rose finished with 12 points, six which came in the first quarter as Omally Sampson played well for 11 points and six rebounds and four steals as Hamid added

eight points inclusive of two from beyond the arc. Kings Marvin Hartman was awarded the Ossie Douglas Trophy for Most Assists, Ravens’ Darcel Harris walked away with the John Davidson Best Coach Plaque and Kanhai the Robert Byass Trophy for his Best Defensive Player award; while the second placed trophy and replicas were compliments of Joan Quincy and Ronald ‘Glasses’ Bacchus, other trophy and replicas were donated by New York based former national player Leon Somerset and his wife Audrey. United States based former national captain James Brusche was assisted by members of the Brusche Basketball Foundation Ms. Dawn McCammon-Barker and Ms Kayla Brusche in handing over the trophies and replicas and plaques. Shane Webster also collected the Best Defensive Player Trophy for the recently concluded LABA organized Trophy Stall Regulation Championship. Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon and successful National grade Six Regma Primary School Teacher Cheryl Wills were also honoured by the Brusche Basketball Foundation for their roles in the Linden community.

Pele FC to host AGM on November 20 Pele Football Club will be having its Annual General Meeting (AGM) to elect office bearers for the next term of office on November 20, at 17:00 hrs, at the Supply Chain Management Systems Office located at 58 High Street, Kingston, Georgetown.

According to a release, the agenda for the AGM is as follows: Call to order, Welcome, Excuses, Minutes of last AGM, Reports, Motions, Election of office bearers, Installation of New executive, Announcements, Correspondence and Adjournment.

Guyana expected to compete at 2nd Caribbean Cup Karate Championships Once again the 2nd Caribbean Cup Karate Championships will take place in Trinidad and Tobago. The much anticipated event will be at the Maloney Indoor Sport Complex from November 29th to 30th. Teams are expected from St. Lucia, Bahamas, Venezuela, Grenada, Guyana, Barbados and the USA. The tournament has been approved by the World United Karate Organization (WUKO). WUKO will also be conducting an official referee course prior to the event. Clubs may contact Barry Winter (313-1101) or Michael Cromwell (310-1172) or log on to

www.ttkf.org. For the first time there will be a Kickboxing division. For info on this segment contact Rodney Ramlal (706-4583). There will also be a division for paralympic athletes. The regular categories will be Traditional Karate, Eclectic Karate, Grappling, Weapons, Teams, and Self-Defence. All Technical Seminars, National gradings, and courses will be on Friday 29th November. Part proceeds will go towards the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society (TTCS). TTKF are asking all spectators to wear pink for the event.

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Berbice Table Tennis Open set for November 17 Racquet wielders in Berbice are set to return to the table on Sunday 17th November for the second annual Berbice open which is expected to bigger and better this year. The tournament which is sponsored by overseas based Guyanese, Berbician Souvenir Ramdyal, a 2009 Hall of Fame Realtor of Queens NY, will be played at the Port Mourant Training School, Corentyne, Berbice, beginning at 09:00 hrs. The tournament which will be called ‘The Berbice Table Tennis Championship’ has the blessing of the Guyana Table Tennis Association and is expected to see the best Berbice racquet wielders in action. A number of categories will be contested including U11, U13, U15, U18 and novices. Play is expected to be in both the male and female categories. The top three players in the respective categories are expected to join their open counterparts to contest the Berbice Open which will be played immediately after. The organisers have sent invitations and are inviting all

Former Caribbean junior girls double champion Petal Bennet receives apparels from sponsor Souvenir Ramdyal last year.

clubs, schools and persons interesting to make contact as early as possible. The competition is open to Berbicians only and those who would have been living and working in the county for

the past three years. Players are expected from all over the ancient county including Skeldon, Rose Hall, New Amsterdam, Berbice River, Canje and West Berbice. While a number of

institutions and schools are expected to send their players to participate including Guysuco Training Centre, University of Guyana, The Guyana Police force among others. The sponsor along with members of his family and company are expected to be on hand to meet the players, declare the competition open and distribute the prizes at the conclusion of the event. Officials from The Guyana table Tennis Association including President Godfrey Munroe and General Secretary Linden Johnson are expected to be on hand to help oversee the proceedings. Berbice has a rich history in the Table Tennis arena and among some who would have gained stardom in the past are former Caribbean champions Anand Sookram and Doreen Chow Wah. Former national Female Table Tennis Queen and nine times champion Desiree Lancaster, who is the only female to have won the tournament on five consecutive occasions, former national champions Donna Sue and Vida Moore. Former national junior

champion Petal Bennet also won the Caribbean junior doubles title in the 90s. Isaac Sewnarine, the late Roy Fredericks, Leslie Amsterdam, Alvin Kallicharran, Clairmont Saul, the Duff siblings the Alphonsos and Floyd Conway are among others who would have excelled. Up and coming national junior boys champions Joshua Lalbachan and Briton Murray are expected to feature prominently. Incentives will be available for the top three performers in each category, to the Most outstanding player, most promising and most improved among others. Interested persons can make contact with any of the following persons - Floyd Conway in New Amsterdam\Canje on telephone No 6238481,Gibran Hussein in Skeldon 628-4248, Richard Bacchus 673-9112, Johnny Persaud 333-2869, Stanley Lawrence 686-6431,Levi Nedd on number 641-9592 or Rono Joseph on 644-2249. Floyd Conway is the coordinator. (Samuel Whyte)

GIRLZ TOP GROUP Jamaica, Mexico end 1-1 North Americans giants the USA and Canada, who met yesterday to decide who will top Group B. A crowd of over 5,000 more than double the attendance on Friday - forced organisers to open the Bleachers section, and 15 minutes into the game, the people were still streaming in. This was the first time in three meetings at this level that Jamaica were scoring against the Central American powerhouse and also the first time they were earning a point. In the opening game,

substitute Alejandra Alvayero broke Haitian hearts with an 89th-minute goal as El Salvador scored their first goal of the tournament to win 1-0 in a game where pride was the only thing at stake. Nine minutes into the game, the large crowd was silenced as Cuevas’s shot, from outside the area down the right flank, flew over the head of goalkeeper Shanay Ricketts and into the top corner of the goal. Jamaica eventually clawed their way back when

Mayor Green Inter... Jamaica goalscorer Felicia Davidson (right) shields the ball from Mexico’s Vanessa Flores during their Group A match of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship at the Montego Bay Sports Complex Sunday. (PHOTO: PAUL REID) Jamaica Observer CATHERINE HALL, St James - Jamaica got the point they needed to top Group A of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship after coming from behind to earn their first-ever point against Mexico in their final group game at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.

Betzy Cuevas scored to give Mexico the lead in the ninth minute, but Felecia Davidson equalised in time added for Jamaica at the end of the first half, with a delightful curling corner kick that flew into the far corner. Both teams qualified for the semi-finals to be played on Thursday and will face

From page 23 Tucville from 10:30pm after several preliminary matches. A number of exciting players are scheduled to be on show during the competition. Among them are Shemroy Arthur of North Sophia, Joshua Kamal of South Sophia, Jamal Harvey of Uitvlugt and Delon Cadogan representing Alberttown. Several corporate entities and persons have lent their support to the event so far. Among them are GT&T, MACORP, Chris Fernandes, Ricks and Sari, who will give hampers of their products to the winners and runner-up, Guyana Lottery Company, New Thriving Restaurant,

Eddie Grant and Giftland Office Max. Fans are encouraged to come out and enjoy three days of action packed 7-a-side football. The winner collects $100,000 and the Trophy Stall Trophy donated by Ramesh Sunich, with the runner-up claiming $50,000 and the Ricks and Sari Trophy. Both teams also collect hampers from Ricks and Sari. The 7-a-side tourney will see games of 20 minutes duration, that’s two halves of 10 minutes, being contested. Three substitutions will be allowed per team during matches with penalties determining a winner in the event of a stalemate.

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Tuesday November 05, 2013

United Bike Shop/Mango Seed Restaurant 70 Mile Road Race...

Greaves silences field yet again; Anthony is top junior Roraima Bikers Club (RBC) cyclist Alonzo Greaves for the 22nd time this year took the top podium spot when he eased to victory in the inaugural United Bike Shop (Grove EBD) and Mango Seed Restaurant (USA) sponsored 70-mile Road Race yesterday. Organised by the Carlton Wheelers Cycle Club (CWCC), the race saw all starters pedaling off on Homestretch Avenue in the City, proceeding to various points on the Linden Soesdyke Highway before returning to Grove on the East Bank for the finish. Greaves, who placed second on Sunday to clubmate Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams in the Troy Humphrey Memorial feature event at the Sewall Bandstand, would not tolerate and second best place

this time around as he completed the 70-mile course in Two Hours 44 Minutes 55.03 Seconds, taking three prime prizes along the way. In an exciting sprint home, Greaves outdid Raynauth ‘Obeah Man’ Jeffrey, Orville ‘Shades’ Hinds and Geron Williams to take the top prize of one GIANT Racing Cycle frame. Akeem Wilkinson and Warren ‘Forty’ Mc Kay closed out the top six positions which saw the respective riders receiving vouchers to shop at United Bike Shop. Albert Philander, Geron Williams and Walter GrantStuart each won two prime prizes with one each to Mc Kay, Paul De Nobrega, Eric Sankar, Hinds, Jeffrey and Shaquille Agard. Michael Anthony of Team Coco’s emerged as the top

junior rider and was presented with a pair of FULCRUM Racing Wheels for his effort. Shaquille Agard was second with Hamza Eastman, third. Naomi Singh was once again unbeatable in the female contest winning easily ahead of Tashwanna Doris. Junior Niles (Team Coco’s) proved again that he was the best among the veterans on the day, winning in One Hour 47 Minutes 37 Seconds from Ian ‘Deaf Boy’ Jackson and Talim Shaw in that order. Ozia Macullay topped his peers in the mountain bike race, along with the veterans and females they turned back at Splashmin’s Resort before returning for the finish at Grove, while the seniors and juniors turned back further up at Dora. Macullay’s winning

FIRST DIVISION T20...

time was the same as Niles as he completed the distance way ahead of the second and third placed Stephano Husbands and Julio Melville. There were also some exciting sprint races for the BMX riders. Horace Burrowes, owner of United Bike Shop in remarks after the event, extended gratitude to CWCC, National Coach Hassan Mohamed and his team, for combining efforts to bring off the race even though the notice was short. Burrowes, who started his cycling career at CWCC before migrating to the USA, said that they would be doing the event again next year and will make it even bigger. He informed the gathering that he has come from a family that has a rich tradition in cycling. (Franklin Wilson)

IT’S ME AGAIN! Alonzo Greaves raises his hands in triumph as he is about to cross the finish line yesterday, trailed by Jeffrey, Hinds and Williams. (Franklin Wilson photo)

ALBION, WEST BERBICE, BERMINE INTO SEMIS

Bishoo snares 4 for 5, Baldeo 3 for 21 and 40* Former West Indies legspinner, Devendra Bishoo, produced a destructive spell of bowling taking 4 for 5 runs from 4 overs and together with all-rounder Balchand Baldeo 3 for 21 from 3 overs and 40 not out, helped Albion Community Centre demolish Police by 9 wickets to advance to the semifinals of the NAMILCO/Bakewell first division T20 competition in Berbice. Police were skittled out for 56 in 16.2 overs, Baldeo came back with the bat to guide Albion to an easy victory.

West Berbice were restricted to 123 for 7 in their 20 overs against Young Warriors Universal DVD, but when the latter took to the crease, they ran up against pacer Roun Johnson who took the first four wickets to leave them 25 for 4 in the 5th over. Ishwar Singh and Linden Austin then put on 57 for the fifth wicket in 9 overs but after Singh was bowled by offspinner Steffon Adams for 29 at 82 for 5 after 11 overs, Adams and off-spinner Krishnadat Ramoo choked

Roun Johnson

Davendra Bishoo

Shemroy Barrington

the scoring rate as wickets kept falling. Shemroy Barrington led the way for Universal Solutions Bermine

to see them past 150 for 7 in 20 overs against GUYTRAC Upper Corentyne who, though were given a good

start by Parmeshwar Chatterpaul (22), and Faraz Mohamed (16) of 40 runs after 6 overs, were undone by offspinner Kevin Pellew 3 for 16 from 4 overs, left-arm spinner Eugene LaFleur 2 for 14 from 3.5 overs and off-spinner Devon Clements 3 for 28 from 4 overs and were bowled out for 98 in 18.5 overs. COLLATED SCORES: At Albion - Albion Community Centre trounced Police by 9 wickets. Police winning the toss and batting first, 56 in 16.2 overs; Philbert Wilburg 17, Devendra Bishoo 4 for 5, Balchand Baldeo 3 for 21. Albion Community Centre 57 for 1 in 13.4 overs; Balchand Baldeo 40 not out.

BCB calls up 32 for three-day Inter County trial match starting today at Albion The Selection Committee of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has called up thirtytwo players for a three-day trial match which is aimed at identifying the Berbice squad for the eminent Senior fourday Inter County competition scheduled to start later this month. The match, which has been sponsored by the

Universal DVD Club of New Amsterdam and Canje, is scheduled to commence today and end on Thursday at the Albion ground. The teams will be captained by two former West Indies players, Sewnarine Chattergoon and Devendra Bishoo. THE TWO SQUADS: Sewnarine Chattergoon

(Captain), Anthony D’Andrade, Devon Clements, Seon Hetmyer, Jonathan Foo, Dominique Rikhi, Raphael Estriado, Kevin Ramdeen, Jason Sinclair, Eon Hooper, Shawn Perreira, Gudakesh Motie, Brendon Bess, Romario Shepherd, Roun Johnson and Deveshwari Prashad. Devendra Bishoo

(Captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Kandasammy Surujnarine, Assad Fudadin, Eugene LaFleur, Rajiv Ivan, Sharaz Ramcharran, Artley Bailey, Joemal LaFleur, Anthony Bramble, Krishnadat Ramoo, Waqar Hassan, Keyron Fraser, Clinton Pestano, Keon Joseph and Nial Smith. Game time each day is 10:00hrs.

At Cumberland - West Berbice got the better of Young Warriors Universal DVD by 6 runs. Young Warriors, losing the toss and sent in to take first strike, 123 for 7 in 20 overs; Arthley Bailey 35, Quacy McPherson 24, Andrew Dutchin 23 not out, Linden Austin 3 for 28 and Kevin Ramdeen 2 for 16 from 4 overs. Young Warriors Universal DVD 117 for 9 in 20 overs; Linden Austin 45, Ishwar Singh 29, Roun Johnson 4 for 19 from 4 overs, Krishnadat Ramoo 2 for 10 from 4 overs, Guyana pacer Keon Joseph 2 for 21 from 4 overs and Steffon Adams 1 for 14 from 4 overs. At Cumberland Universal Solutions Bermine defeated Upper Corentyne by 52 runs. Universal Solutions Bermine, choosing to bat first, 150 for 7 in 20 overs; Shemroy Barrington 45, Damien Va n t u l l 2 7 , R o m a r i o S h e p h e r d 2 4 n o t out, Satrohan Singh 3 for 27 from 4 overs, Lakeram Latchman 2 for 19 from 4 overs and Omesh Kumar 2 for 37 from 4 overs. GUYTRAC Upper Corentyne 98 in 18.5 overs; Monesh Lalee 24, Parmeshwar Chatterpaul 22, Faraz Mohamed 16, Kevin Pellew 3 for 16, Devon Clements 3 for 28 and Eugene LaFleur 2 for 14.

Tuesday November 05, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 27

Anand Mohabir leads Enterprise assault in GASP Diwali Class ‘B’ C/ship Fly Jamaica donates to McDonald’s World championship ambitions

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he tournament was keenly contested but in the end the players of the Enterprise Scrabble Club demonstrated superb acumen and spelt their way to the lion’s share of the prizes when the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) staged the Diwali Class ‘B’ championship at the Malteenoes Sports Club Thomas Lands yesterday afternoon. Anand Mohabir led the team and closed off the day with 5 points and a positive spread of 383 to take top honours, while his club mates Kevin Williams and Devraj Deonarine sealed off the podium spots with 4 points and a positive spread of 220 and 4 points and a positive spread of 101 respectively. The keenly contested tournament also saw Maurice Munru securing 4 points but he failed to ascend the podium after securing the lowest spread of the lot ((50). Mohabir conceded his second game to Deonarine (60) but easily swept aside his other opponents

The smiles on the faces of Ms McDonald (L) and Ms Persaud says it all as the travel document exchanges hands

including Grace Hercules (74), Munru (182), Michael Benjamin (77) Williams (68) and Orlando Michael (52). Meanwhile, Abigail McDonald was not eligible to participate in the tournament but assisted in the technical area. Shortly after the winners were announced, the scrabble queen took centre stage when she received an airline ticket, compliments of Air Jamaica, to facilitate her return trip to New York, enroute to Prague, Czech Republic, to participate in t h e Wo r l d S c r a b b l e

Championships from December 4 - 8 next. This is the second time since dethroning Fred Collins that McDonald is a t t e n d i n g t h e championships; her first sojourn was in Malaysia in 2009. Marketing Representative of Flight Jamaica, Julia Persaud was at the venue to make the presentation and she congratulated McDonald shortly after the gift exchanged hands. Ms Persaud said that her company was delighted to have contributed to the

Whiddon Sibdhannie supports K&S Secondary School Football C\ships

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s the 24th edition of the K a s h i f & Shanghai Secondary Schools Championships gets closer to its kickoff, the excitement mounts among the teams and equally so the support from the cooperate community. M r. W h i d d o n Sibdhannie, formally of Linden who now resides in Brooklyn, New York, has decided to throw his support behind this new initiative of the K&S Organization by donating a quantity of footballs and one latest edition laptop that will go to a very special student. Sibdhannie has supported the senior tournament over the years and now pledges his commitment to the junior ranks. The tournament is scheduled to start on the 8th December 2013 at the GCC Ground Bourda and ends on the 1st January 2014.

venture even as she wished the scrabble queen a safe journey. She also urged McDonald to make Guyana proud. McDonald expressed deep gratitude to her benefactor and said that she felt honoured to once again represent Guyana at the championships. She admitted that she

encountered many challenges in Malaysia as the standard of competition was extremely high. However, she said that she is now more experienced and feels equipped to take on all comers. Meanwhile, the executives are beseeching the support of the public as they continue in their fund raising activities to acquire the requisite $680,000 for the world event. They will commence the fundraising with a BBQ and Lime on November 16 at Malteenoes Sports Club. Tickets are $1,000 each and can be obtained from Public Relations Officer, Moen Gafoor (600-9568) or any GASP member. Persons desirous of supporting the venture may also visit the Malteenoes Sports Pavilion on any Thursday between 18:00hrs22:00hrs where the members are engaged in practice

Kevin Williams

Anand Mohabir sessions. Alternatively, interested persons may log on to GASP Facebook page. (Michael Benjamin)

Mayor Green Inter-Ward/Village Football tourney now a 3-day affair

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h e M a y o r Hamilton Green 79 Birthday 7-aside InterWa r d / Vi l l a g e F o o t b a l l tournament is now a three day affair starting November 10 at the Tucville Ground. That’s the word from Coordinator Lennox Arthur. Games are set for November 10, continue on November 17 and the action concludes on November 24 at the same venue. The action will open at 3:00pm on Sunday November 10 with the preliminary phase before the winners advance to the respective quarterfinals, then semifinals and final. This the 32 year of the Mayor’s birthday football tourney, will see twelve matches in the preliminary phase. Bourda play North S o p h i a , Wa l e s v e r s u s Alberttown, Kuru Kururu tackle East Ruimveldt, De Kinderen oppose South Sophia, Leopold Street battle Bagotville, Plastic City oppose Tiger Bay, Sara Lodge collide with Charlotte Street, Stewartville tangle with Meadowbrook, Berlin face Goed Fortuin, North East Lap Penitence clash th

Joshua Kamal

Shemroy Arthur

nd

Mr. Whiddon Sibdhannie hands over the sponsorship to Andrew Major, while Sharrief Major (left) looks on.

Jamal Harvey

Delon Cadogan

with Crane, Kitty battle Tuschen and Uitvlugt take on Newtown Kitty. The winners advance to faceoff the following Sunday

in the playoff, quarterfinal and semifinal games. The final will be contested on Sunday November 24 at (Continued on page 25)

t r o Sp United Bike Shop/Mango Seed Restaurant 70 Mile Road Race...

Sponsor, Horace Burrowes (stooping 2nd left), pose with the top riders and some of his club members following the presentation yesterday.

GREAVES SILENCES FIELD YET AGAIN; ANTHONY IS TOP JUNIOR James Brusche handing over the lien trophy to the winners.

4th Brusche Basketball classic final...

Ravens waltz away with title, beat Kings 51-37 ‘The Dream’ becomes a reality with MVP and best defensive player awards Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210