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Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Sunday November 22, 2015
Kaieteur M@ilbox
The Diwali date for 2016 Shadow Minister’s urgent is already determined plea for good governance DEAR EDITOR, Please permit a space in your paper to respond to an article “An-Afro- Guyanese male puts a Question to Hindus”, in the Kaieteur News on 11/20/15 by David Elias. Space will not permit me to cover all your questions but if this paper permits me, I could answer all in parts later. The problems is that Hindus do not have anyone to voice their opinion for them as a representative but the Afro-Guyanese have the distinguished professors in African Studies, Dr. David Hinds and Dr. Eric Phillips to say all derogatory things about Hindus and no one can respond or they will be deemed “Racist”. Only Afro- Guyanese are not racist. Mr. David Alias wrote that Khemraj Ramjattan said “ I am a proud Hindu, proud of my culture.” Well, I think Ramjattan, Moses Nagamootoo and Ramaya do not understand Hindusim and the cultural aspect of Hinduism. Hinduism is a religion and could be a faith for some. The Hindu scripture clearly states that “you can change your faith but not your religion”. For your learning, atheism is also a faith. You do not have to be Hindu
to be a leader of a country. Sonia Gandhi was an Italian and leader of the largest populated country in the world In Hinduism, politics is embedded in its culture as it is stated in the caste system. The Kashtriya is to fight for and manage the affairs of the community and country. I am sorry you never heard of Diwali Whinem Mr. Elias. There is no such thing as whine, if you are talking about dancing, it is originated in India, even Voodoo type of dancing. Dancing is part of our cultural activities. People all over the world went to India and learn some part of the Indian style. Micheal Jackson ( USA) learned the hand and foot movements in India. He took it all over the world. The Beatles were living in India. They learned Indian music and made some CDs in Indian music especially the “sitar”. With regards to the Diwali controversal settlement, I had written an article to one of the Guyana news paper which was not published “Diwali in 2015 should not be compromised.” Probably the editor did not see it fit but I know for a fact my letter had a lot of meaning and learning. Mr. Ramjattan along with
Nagamootoo and Ramaya should never have change the special date of Diwali . It showed the high grade of hypocrisy they displayed. Diwali date should not be compromised. They did it because of their ancestors in Tamil Naidu congratulated Nagamootoo for being the first Madrass Prime Minister in the world. Tamil Naidu celebrates Diwali, November 10 , worshiping Mata Kali doing Kali-Mai Puja. The Hindu “Patra” cosmic analogy is very scientific and is proven to be always right, providing you can use it.The future for Diwali celebration has already been calculated. The Vedic Astronomical System calculate the date for ‘future’ Diwali celebration for 2016 Sunday October 30 for 2017 Thursday 19 for 2018 Wednesday November 7 for 2019 and so on. It is astronomically calculated you can get it up to 2100 or even further. Finally, Ramjattan, Nagamootoo and Ramaya promised the people in Berbice the world if they voted for them. The Cummingsburg Accord with the PNC has been totally ignored by the PNC. S.N.Singh, Florida
From page 5 times U$39 or US$ 780 million over the life of the payment period. US$ 780M out of the Treasury. Add this to the G$82 billion for sugar which was under Jagdeo’s watch. Additionally, Amaila would be only replacement power as Guyana would need double the size of the 165 megawatts Amaila would provide. Fi-
nally, there is another hidden element in this corrupt deal structure where interest rate for the US$500 million loan is 9% and in which Sithe’s return is an outragoes 19% for a risk free investment. The true sponsors of Amaila are not Sithe Global but their owner. This company is a venture capital group. Those of us whom have MBAs from credible business schools will know that the Amaila deal can be sold to another company the day after all documents have been signed. US$124 million for 20 years is US$ 2480 million or US$2.48 billion. A venture capital group can sell this deal which was initially US$1 billion (the Amaila price today) for US$ 2.0 billion to a family company or another partner
company. Overnight, this sale would give a windfall profit of US $480 million. The new buyer would then simply treat the annual US124 Million as a mortgage payment. If something like this is possible, no wonder the price of Amaila has escalated from US$ 500 plus to close to US$1 billion. The new Government is doing the right thing. Have a Third Party look at the technical, operational and financial aspects of the current Amaila deal. If it makes technical and environmental sense, the new government can engineer a different capital structure and have an international bidding process. Clean as a whistle. Former President Jagdeo should be the last person to pronounce on any deal. Eric Phillips
Bharrat Jagdeo is in no...
DEAR EDITOR, Information flowing from a Government to her people is not a luxury and privilege enjoyed by those people. It is the Government’s duty to impart and the people’s right to receive information. Indeed, if this time honoured truth could be followed, a nation could spend its time sensibly discussing issues and ideas that would advance her people rather than fighting to have this basic good governance measure followed. On the 28th of October 2015, the Chief Education Officer of Guyana sent out a circular where he, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, declared, inter alia, that the grades two and four assessments would no longer be weighted nor form part of the marks for grade six assessment as before and that the said circular was to have immediate effect. While there were mumblings, prior to the circular being sent out, about the possibility of this happening, up to today’s date nobody from the Ministry, not the CEO himself, nor any of the two highly paid Ministers, not the several new advisers nor the newly acquired Public Relations consultants, has both-
ered with honouring their duty to tell the nation of this major change to our education system. Not surprisingly the people of our country are confused about, and desperate to know, what precisely the circular means and whether its contents are best for our country. I am bombarded with such questions. Sadly, I am without answers as the circular itself is unclear. Further, I was not consulted nor even told about this big change neither as a citizen of Guyana and mother of children of relevant ages, nor as Shadow Minister of Education in the National Assembly. Parents, children and teachers alike would like to know whether those current grades five and six students who already wrote both assessments, which were already marked and weighted, would still have their grades considered at the next two grade six assessments or are their efforts to be abandoned and their grades, already earned, to be discarded? I would like to know what new measures are being put in place to ensure the grades that will emerge from the new un-weighted assessments
will actually be used diagnostically to guide the interventions going forward for each child, thus giving meaning to the reason for assessments in the first place. I should not have had to ask these questions in the first place as good governance demands that the nation be consulted on and informed fully of major policy changes in any sector. However, having been forced to ask, I would have preferred Mr. Editor to raise these issues from the floor of National Assembly so that the people who have asked me for answers could hear those answers. Unfortunately with the Government’s efforts to dodge the debate on the motion to annul the salary increases with which they have rewarded themselves, the National Assembly has been indefinitely postponed. I am therefore left with no place else but your columns to plead with the Ministers to do their duty and let the nation know what this circular really means for the parents, children and teachers who it will directly and immediately affect. Priya Manickchand Member of Parliament (PPP/C)
DEAR SIR, I am writing this letter in response to the Issenuru issue and to enlighten the Guyanese public that a story has more than one side. I started working my Draga SD 7652 at a point about 400 yards above where the dredge is presently located (which by the way is a white Draga and not the one shown in the newspapers). This was in the Issenuru Village area during the first week of April, 2015. At the time of commencement of working, I was granted permission by Mr. Dwight Larson, then the secretary of the Issenuru Village Council. In his words what he says goes and he does not need to consult the council or anyone to grant permission, as his word was powerful enough. In the first three productions, I had been extremely generous. On another occasion I have been generous in fixing an outboard engine. Yet on another occasion, I borrowed money from an Apaiqua business person to help as I wanted to stay
friends with the village. On yet another occasion I spent $20,000 to purchase stuff for a birthday party. Financial assistance as a dredge-owner is public knowledge in the village. Let me expand with specific details. I have donated at the request of the previous village council cash totaling $300,000 to assist in taking a group of 60 persons to Kamarang to play football. To the present council around August this year, I donated a further $400, 000 to take the same group to the same event. Aside from all of that I have assisted many individual residents of the same Issenuru village in numerous ways such as diesel and lube oil for their land dredges, Gasoline for their outboard engines. This would have cost me in excess of a further $1,500,000. Not to mention facilitating transportation and repairing and welding and almost every problem that individuals and the village would have requested of me.
Being a good Guyanese citizen I believe in the code of the “Bushman”, we all eat from the same plate. We have always maintained a friendly relationship with the Village and at no time ever refused to assist in whatever way we can. That is why I cannot understand the reason for this situation. Aside from the assistance I have always had to pay 12% of my gross production as tribute. This was the amount demanded of me. I will put the Kaieteur News in legal hot water so I do not want to say more. I have in my possession receipts from various representatives of the village Council totaling almost 700 Grams of Gold (22.5 Ounces) -$4,500,000) at today’s gold price. To the best of my knowledge I would have paid to certain representatives another 300 grams (10 ounces -$2,000,000) of which receipts were never issued to me . In a summary I would have paid 32.5 ounces of gold $6,500,000 to the village council of Issenuru. Suresh Ramkissoon
Dredge owner says a story has two sides