Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Why was Multi-level Parking systems not considered? DEAR EDITOR, In spite of the rumpus caused throughout the capital city and country by the proposed installation and implementation of paid parking systems in Georgetown, regardless of the concerns expressed by civil society, the business community,nongovernmental organizations, the media entities, Guyana’s academia, private citizens, some governmental officials and organizations, the Mayor and some Councillors seems hell bent on rolling out this albatross around the necks of the citizens and visitors to Georgetown. This is a most unjust, iniquitous and unreasonable imposition. This is a situation whereby a foreign company with comparatively little investment, shall be able to milk Guyanese mercilessly for at least another twenty years. Why was the Multi-level Parking system not considered as an option to provide relief for our parking arrangements since it has a number of advantages – such as optimal utilization of space, and a secure environment? Multiple Level Car Parking Systems are much more in vogue in other progressive countries as a method of automatically

parking and retrieving cars, which provides advantages like safety, saving of space, time and fuel, but this of course would require a much greater investment b y t h e parking meter company, than what Smart City Solutions is doing, and that is putting down multispace meters that control multiple spaces per block whereby parkers will have to walk several car lengths to the meter. A question to be asked is whether the municipality will rehabilitate the streets on which persons will be required to pay to park, or whether they will just put down these meters on these potholed, decrepit roads that constantly damage vehicles? It is such a shame that our roads which our ancestors built, often with their bare hands and for which this present Council is failing to maintain, shall be used to make a fortune for a foreign company and a few corrupt municipal officials who could not care less about what happens to Georgetown’s commercial sector as a consequence of the further economic hardship this burden will heap on the citizens of and visitors to Georgetown. Riley Matthews

Rastafari activist puts a question to Stabroek News DEAR EDITOR, On December 14th 2015 there was a published letter in the Stabroek News that expressed the opinion of many of the Rastafari in Georgetown on the renaming of streets in the city. This followed a meeting by Rastas on Merriman Mall opposite Bourda market that criticised the newspaper’s stance on the renaming of streets. The ‘reasoning’ was loud in its opposition to the newspaper’s “colonial mentality”. I just received a visit from a Rastafari who read Stabroek News’ editorial ‘Fuzhou in Georgetown’ and he posed

this question to me “How many races dey have in Guyana?” He answered it himself “We have six races in Guyana.” We went into conversation about the newspaper and colonialism. We think there should be streets in Georgetown with Chinese names. We opined the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown are defining what leadership is for the citizens of Georgetown. Changing street and village names to reflect our historical mix is laudable. Why is the Stabroek News resistant to change? Ras Dalgettie I

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Kaieteur News

A display of distasteful behavior in the American elections DEAR EDITOR, Before Election Day in the USA every time I turned on the television or went on social media I was overfed a diet of US politics replete with scandals, mudslinging and name calling. I am not American, never casted a ballot there nor hold partisan feelings towards Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Trump but I feel elated that Guyanese in recent history especially during our last election did not descend to such lowly depths as witnessed during the US campaign season given the exalted, ‘superior’ position bestowed on this godblessed country by the masses. The good, the bad and the ugly came out in numbers but there was a preponderance of the latter two. The low blows and dirty tactics provided comic relief on one end and on the other was viewed as distasteful,

crude and childish. The spouse of the conservative party nominee was raked over the coals by many liberal warriors against sexism, racism and other ‘isms’ for being too liberal with her body and sexuality. While the antics of spouse of the other candidate was somewhat simmered down although certain unpopular liberties taken by him led to his impeachment among other allegations. Thankfully, the graphic depictions of these which would have titillated the creativity of any artist did not materialize. Due to the popularity of Mrs. Clinton and the majority who supported her I saw few deprecatory ‘artistic’ depictions. However, my eyes feasted on naked bloated effigies via the media of the president elect being paraded through major US cities and attacks on the appearance of both candidates were not un-

common. The ‘fake’ stories on both sides meant to incite and provoke angry reactions were allowed to make their rounds. I cannot recollect our media houses and average man and woman so blatantly and publicly attacking the personal appearances and lifestyles of our politicians and their immediate family members especially the females in such a way as to mock and debase them during our election season. The ordinary Joes and Janes do air their criticisms but is usually done in a more private setting while the columnists and editors utilize less crudeness and more forethought and employ subtlety and intellectualism. I read an article last week where a politician quite frankly told another to ‘mind her own business’ after she made references to the children he has fathered out of wedlock. Then there was another story out of Trinidad about the wife of a politician being

criticized for showing her abdominal region at a very prestigious event although her clothing can be described as a traditional cultural wear! Politicians are not saints nor morally perfect, although many expect them to be. I personally feel the US candidates should have been blasted more by the media, observers and twitter and Facebook users for the heavy deadweights that matter namely corruption, tax evasion, attitude towards the disabled, veterans, women, minorities and of course sexism, racism and ‘culturaphobia’. Policies and proposals on the economy and reducing unemployment should have dominated the attention of the multitude. One cannot fight sexism by being sexist or demean the overweight, old and not so handsome or beautiful in this age where people struggle with being bullied; there is anorexia and body dysmorphic disorder. Continued on page 6

Empowerment is one of the hallmarks of local government DEAR EDITOR, The Public Relations Officer of the City Council has written to the press about consultations done to determine the priorities for the Georgetown municipality and about pervasive criticisms levelled “every time the Georgetown Municipality seeks to employ a new revenue earning venture” (Kaieteur News, November 19, 2016). Indeed we have read numerous articles and letters criticising the operations of the City Council and especially its methodology which appeared to be rooted in the principles of disregard, disrespect and bullying. Some of the issues have been highlighted by Councillors who had the good sense to make citizens aware of the state of transparency and accountability in the City. Although the people have a part to play, the state of affairs should be placed at the feet of the Council. Engage-

ment of the citizens on setting the priorities for the City is a step in the right direction and I applaud the city in earnest rather than facetiousness. Consultations should be pursued fervently as it provides empowerment and selfdetermination which should be hallmarks of local government. Nevertheless, the City should elaborate on the thoroughness of the engagement. The PRO’s letter does not indicate whether determination of the approaches to garnering the requisite financial inputs was addressed with the people. This is important since it should be recognised that agreement on the priorities does not imply approval of the methodologies if these were not specifically discussed. The Council should furthermore consider the broken trust for which it needs to make amends. An excerpt from a column article by

Transparency Institute Guyana Incorporated (TIGI), that was published on May 4, 2016 (Stabroek News Column, May 4, 2016) with the title Institutional Trust and Citizen Engagement in Guyana indicates that “the public tends to have greater trust in institutions when the authorities are not expected to abuse their powers to intentionally cause harm or serve narrow interests without consideration of the harm done. In return, the citizens tend to defer more to decisions made by officials and to voluntarily comply with rules.” The City Council has in my view not yet earned the confidence of the people and it should not be surprised that it is not necessarily trusted or allowed to determine just measures for generating revenue. Once trust is broken, the road to redemption can be long and perilous. In the current scenario, wherein the top echelons of the City Council so recently appeared to be strangers to the concepts of

democracy, transparency and accountability, it is perhaps unrealistic to expect rapid change in the attitudes of the people especially when some city officials remain obstinate and unrepentant and when some of the issues remain unresolved. The City should continue on the path of citizen engagement. To build trust and to inform everyone, the City should provide accurate and complete information on its operations in a timely manner and it should become more responsive and accountable to the people. Tipping a low trust or distrust equilibrium requires sustained effort and genuine commitment to the democratic principles. The PRO and the Council are faced with an uphill task and it is important to consider that impatience can be counterproductive. I wish to take the opportunity to commend the upstanding Councillors who have and continue to put the citizens first. Troy Thomas, PhD

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Kaieteur News

A reader warns Guyana of the environmental dangers of oil DEAR EDITOR, Is Oil a safe bet? In the aftermath of the Skeldon fiasco, where our long history and expertise in the industry did not serve us well, even though we teamed up with our close friends and industry experts from Bookers to establish a plant which is found today in disappointing condition, one must ask the question “Is Oil a safe bet?”. Many Nations with a wealth of expertise in the oil industry, despite their high and unacceptable levels of debt (which some may argue is due to oil dependence e.g. USA) and unacceptable levels of unemployment, are moving away from oil and aggressively pursuing sustainable clean energy options. This change from oil is being prompted by various reasons, such as the affordability of sustainable clean energy solutions, but most importantly the avoidance of environmental disasters. It is my humble opinion that we should be cautious and conservative in our pursuit of sustainable energy independence and oil is not a sustainable energy resource option. We must be prudent and consider the experiences of other nations and be realistic in accepting that our partners cannot guarantee that such disasters will be prevented from happening in the future upon our shores if we pursue drilling. After all, the most experienced oil companies have experienced major environmental disasters in their recent past, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 and the BP

offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Such a disaster close to Guyana’s shores would result in not only an unfavorable living environment for those living on the coast, but it will also have a negative impact on our fishing industry (as it did in the USA), the agricultural sector and the livelihood of our nation. If such an industry was established it is most probable that the sweet breeze we enjoy today on our verandas would turn into one similar to that on the Texas seashore (e.g. Texas City) where it burns the nostrils and eyes, not to mention the smell of which some may equate to that of a gas station or pesticides. Currently a plentitude of wind, rivers and sunshine resources bless our beautiful nation, and we are at the best moment to date to make a successful transition to sustainable clean energy alternatives. Other leading nations are rapidly pursuing these alternative options, such as China and the USA, but most notably nations in Europe such as Sweden and Scotland. It is our duty to our people and their children to pursue similar or better sustainable clean energy strategies and partner in this way with such nations that truly have a long term vision with their people’s best interest in mind. There is no need for us to repeat the pitfalls and mistakes of others, especially when the long term negative impact of such an unsustainable energy direction is well known and can be easily avoided. Jamil Changlee

Please fix this road in South Ruimveldt Gardens DEAR EDITOR, I just want to know if the Ministry of Public Infrastructure has forgotten to fix the Cul de Sac called Powis Close, South Ruimveldt Gardens. For the longest while we are hearing that the street will be fixed but nothing is being done. The street is in such a

deplorable condition that taxis don’t want to drive on it. Those who are dependent on a taxi to carry them out have to either walk out to the corner or go nowhere. The rainy season is almost upon us and we shudder to think what will happen to the street not to mention the cars that have to traverse the street. We implore you to have some consideration because other streets in the area have been fixed. Concerned neighbours

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Are there more revelations to come about London? DEAR EDITOR, The startling revelations that have hit print media and Facebook, as it relates to Pope Emanuel, a purported man of cloth, whose selfanointment was a “desecration to religion. Editor, before I attempt to discuss the harsh but sad reality of the situation as it unfolded. May I reiterate; “There shall be wolf, there shall be sheep; there shall be wolves in sheep clothing. Many shall come in my name; deceiving many but not everyone that knocks on the door shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. Editor, a few months ago I had penned a letter captioned, “Is the Guyana Council of Churches still functioning?” which was published in your newspaper wherein I had questioned the vibrancy of the Guyana Council of Churches, as it relates to the self-appointment/ appointed titles that some church heads are attaching to their names such as: Apostle, Bishop, Prophet and Pope.

As a consequence, it came as no surprise to have read recently and viewing on Facebook the acts of sex by Pope Emanuel, Philbert London, who also utilizes the term Doctor, on women which are most disheartening. Are these women members of his church, and if in a relationship, to the extent of marriage, would their spouses/husbands approve of the service London enjoyed? Additionally, are there more revelations to come involving any other bottom house churches that are springing up overnight, whereby the created and not the creator is more revered and worshiped? Fashion craze, skin bleaching, gossiping is the order of the day; not foregoing financial contributions, despite severe economical hardships and single parentage. What of the widow’s mite? I am a non-church attendee, but yet still find the time on a daily basis to read

the Holy Scriptures, with aid of a Bible Reading Guide, while listening attentively to 2 Christian religious broadcasts; all towards spiritual upliftment. Realistically, I still support the notion of Pope Francis, the titular head of Catholicism. It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual but not religious. It is not necessary go to church and give money for many, nature can be a church. Some of the best people in history did not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in his name. Where did London obtain his doctorate or was it conferred as an honour degree and by whom? Surely, this individual didn’t uphold the ideals of “celibacy”, but rather over-indulged in satisfying his sexual pleasure and desires. While I had previously alluded to the “sexual domination of women folk” by the

purported man of God, his (in) actions show how low our society have sunk. The victims may have been a product of an estranged/abusive relationship in the past, thereafter, seeking comfort and solace within the church, with the end result being sexual activism. In leaving all judgement unto the Most High, may I remonstrate, “woe be unto the pastors that lead my sheep astray” However, it must not be construed that only a few denominations are plagued with such a sex scandal. Within other denominations over a few decades there were public reports of religious officials conducting a different type of religious ceremony involving young girls, suffering from mental disorders, with “sex” behind closed doors being performed. A few years ago, a religious figure was placed before the court for sexually molesting five male youngsters. Lester Sealey

Withdraw the Hamilton Green Pension Bill

From page 4 a pension for his service as Prime Minister decades ago. At the time the law was passed, Guyana’s economy and exchange rates were reasonable. It was the reckless and undemocratic policies pursued by the government of which Mr. Green was Prime Minister that led to the destruction of the economy and the plunging of the exchange rate. How can the government in good conscience squeeze the citizens to now bail Mr. Green out above and beyond what is due, when they have also suffered the consequences of these policies? TIGI furthermore questions the genesis of this bill. The indecent haste with which it was quietly written to be presented in Parliament without significant public knowledge beforehand, confirms the impropriety of its legislative intent. TIGI calls on the government to divulge the date of the cabinet decision that lead to the drafting of the bill and to explain the lack of public disclosure via post Cabinet briefings which

served to negate robust public debate. Are post Cabinet press briefings now carefully sifted to withhold controversial decisions and to avoid public scrutiny? Does the government intend to send the bill to a select committee for debate and public contribution or will it be scurried through the stages in one day? That we have to ask these questions is symptomatic of the reality that the nation has been blindsided. This bill is outrageous, unfair, vulgar, in poor taste and is an affront to good governance, accountability and transparency. One takes public office to serve the people rather than for personal enrichment but since the coalition government took office it has been unashamed and apologetic about lining the pockets of politicians and friends of the party. Should this bill be rushed through Parliament, it would confirm the position that the political elite of Guyana, on all sides of

the political spectrum, are primarily concerned with protecting the financial interests of their own at the expense of the Guyanese people. We are awed by the fact that in such critical times when citizens are faced with an upsurge in violent criminal assaults on their persons and property, unemployment, economic hardship and high cost of living, time and effort has been diverted to crafting an offensive piece of legislation to benefit one controversial individual of nebulous contribution. We are awed by the fact that in such times this is a priority on the government’s legislative agenda. This bill is repugnant in that it (1) is made in the name of a single individual rather than for all Prime Ministers, (2) gives Mr. Green access to benefits of which he is not entitled based on the offices he has held, (3) provides Mr. Green with a pension based on a

salary that he never earned, (4) gives special consideration to a man who is especially undeserving of such recognition given his historically divisive role in society, (5) perpetuates the enrichment of politicians and friends of the government at the expense of the citizens, made possible only through the power entrusted to those in government and (6) is rushed to the process without regards to transparency and good governance in general. TIGI wishes to place on record our strong objections to this bill and we call for it to be withheld and not presented at all. TIGI also calls on the AFC’s faction of government to clarify its position on this bill and set out cogent reasons why it presumably supports it, given the absence of any strenuous objection from them. T. Thomas for Transparency Institute Guyana Inc.

A display of distasteful behavior in the... From page 5 We live in a world where in some parts women are killed due to perceived shame being brought unto the family; they are blamed for being raped and sexual violence is condoned and prevalent in part due to the objectification of women. Recently, a very popular Pakistani blogger was murdered by a relative over provocative pictures and videos because he felt she brought shame unto the family.

Maybe, because my views on women’s rights and individual liberties may be considered too modern I noticed the condemning of the unimportant things concerning the candidates. Nevertheless, I do not think the majority would find many of the dirty stories tasteful. Although, one man’s meat can be another man’s poison we do live in a modern globalized environment and in one of the most liberal parts of the world. Our society is guided by

individuality and openmindedness and one of the leaders in progressive modern values and ideas is the USA. Even the revered President Obama has been supportive of LGBT rights. For these reasons and others including my personal beliefs about not wallowing in the muck if one is to criticize others covered in it, I was quite disgusted by what I saw displayed during the US election season. Narissa Deokarran

Tuesday November 22, 2016

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Over 18 million people on effective HIV treatment - allows for increased life expectancy rate The life-extending impact of HIV treatment is working. This has been amplified in the 2016 UNAIDS 2016 World AIDS Day Report. The Report entitled ‘Get on the FastTrack: the life-cycle approach to HIV’ was launched yesterday in Windhoek, Namibia, by the President of Namibia, Hage Geingob and the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé. n substantiating the fact that HIV treatment has been effective, the report highlights that in 2015 there were more people over the age of 50 living with HIV than ever before—5.8 million. It was also revealed that if treatment targets are reached, that number is expected to soar to 8.5 million by 2020. Older people living with HIV, however, have up to five times the risk of chronic disease. A comprehensive strategy is needed to respond to increasing longterm health-care costs. The report also warns of the risk of drug resistance and the need to reduce the costs of second and third-line treatments. It also highlights the need for more synergies with tuberculosis (TB), human papilloma virus (HPV) and cervical cancer, and hepatitis C programmes in order to reduce the major causes of illness and death among people living with HIV. Last year, 440,000 of the 1.1 million people who died from an AIDS-related illness died from TB, including 40,000 children. “The

progress we have made is remarkable, particularly around treatment, but it is also incredibly fragile,” said Mr Sidibé. “New threats are emerging and if we do not act now we risk resurgence and resistance. We have seen this with TB. We must not make the same mistakes again.” Get on the Fast-Track: the life-cycle approach to HIV outlines that large numbers of people at higher-risk of HIV infection and people living in high-burden areas are being left without access to HIV services at critical points in their lives, opening the door to new HIV infections and increasing the risk of dying from AIDS-related illnesses. The report examines the gaps and approaches needed in HIV programming across the life cycle and offers tailored HIV prevention and treatment solutions for every stage of life. “Just under two years ago, 15 million people were accessing antiretroviral treatment—today more than 18 million are on treatment and new HIV infections among children continue to fall,” said President Geingob. “Now, we must ensure that the world stays on the Fast-Track to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 in Namibia, in Africa and across the world.” The report contains detailed data on the complexities of HIV and reveals that girls’ transition to womanhood is a very dangerous time, particularly in sub-Sa-

haran Africa. “Young women are facing a triple threat,” said Mr Sidibé. “They are at high risk of HIV infection, have low rates of HIV testing, and have poor adherence to treatment. The world is failing young women and we urgently need to do more.” Since the new report shows that people are particularly vulnerable to HIV at certain points in their lives, a call has been made for a lifecycle approach to find solutions for everyone at every stage of life. However, the report shows that countries are getting on the Fast-Track, with an additional one million people accessing treatment in just six months (January to June 2016). By June 2016, around 18.2 million (16.1 million–19.0 million) people had access to the life-saving medicines, including 910, 000 children, double the number five years earlier. “If these efforts are sustained and increased, the world will be on track to achieve the target of 30 million people on treatment by 2020,” the report outlines. It has therefore been concluded that HIV prevention is key to ending the AIDS epidemic among young women and the cycle of HIV infection needs to be broken. Recent data from South-Africa shows that young women are acquiring HIV from adult men, while men acquire HIV much later in life after they transition into adulthood and continue the cycle of new infec-

Man shot dead outside East Ruimveldt secondary school A 29-year-old man was shot dead early yesterday outside the East Ruimveldt Secondary school, following an argument with two men. The dead man has been identified as Paul Rodney, of Lot 530 West Ruimveldt, Georgetown. He was shot seven times about the body around 02:55 hrs in Avocado Avenue, East Ruimveldt. According to information received, the victim and the suspects had attended a dance at the school. During yesterday morning, an argument ensued and the 29-yearold man was shot dead by two men. The Guyana Police Force in a press release said that investigation revealed that the victim was gunned down by a group of men, who escaped on foot.

According to the release, a mobile patrol was on Mandela Avenue and ranks heard several loud explosions and went to investigate. When they arrived at the scene, the ranks observed Rodney lying motionless, with blood all over his body. He was immediately taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he succumbed while receiving treatment. Several spent shells of a small caliber weapon were found at the scene. No one has been arrested as yet.

Paul Rodney

tions. “Ending AIDS is possible only if we join hands— by each doing what is within our scope, creatively and aggressively embracing the 90– 90–90 targets,” said Eunice Makena Henguva, Youth Economic Empowerment Project Officer for the Namibian Women’s Health Network. From birth globally, access to HIV medicines to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV has increased to 77 percent in 2015 (up from 50 percent in 2010). As a result, new HIV infections among children have declined by 51 percent since 2010. However, the report highlights that of the 150,000 children who were newly infected with HIV in 2015, around half were infected through breastfeeding. It stresses that infection through breastfeeding can be avoided if mothers living with HIV are supported to continue taking antiretroviral medicines, allowing them to breastfeed safely and ensure that their children receive the important protective benefits of breast milk. Testing also remains a major issue. The report shows that only four of 21 priority countries in Africa provided HIV testing for more than half the babies exposed to HIV within their first weeks of life. It also shows that in Nigeria, which accounts for more than a quarter of all new HIV infections among children globally, only half of pregnant women liv-

ing with HIV are tested for HIV. Moreover, ‘Get on the Fast-Track: the life-cycle approach to HIV’ stresses that more efforts are needed to expand HIV testing for pregnant women, expand treatment for children and improve and expand early infant diagnosis by using new diagnostic tools and innovative methods, such as SMS reminders, to retain mothers living with HIV and their babies in care. The report also encourages countries to adopt the targets of the Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free framework led by UNAIDS and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to reduce the number of new HIV infections among children, adolescents and young women, and ensure lifelong access to antiretroviral therapy if they are living with HIV. The report shows that the ages between 15 and 24 years are an incredibly dangerous time for young women. In 2015, around 7,500 young women became newly infected with HIV every week. Added to this, data from studies in six locations within eastern and southern Africa revealed that around 100 000 people in low and middle-income countries aged 50 years

and over are estimated to newly acquire HIV every year, confirming the need to include older people in HIV prevention, as well as treatment, programming. “As people living with HIV grow older, they are also at risk of developing longterm side-effects from HIV treatment, developing drug resistance and requiring treatment of co-morbidities, such as TB and hepatitis C, which can also interact with antiretroviral therapy,” the report outlines. Continued research and investment are needed to discover simpler, more tolerable treatments for HIV and comorbidities and to discover an HIV vaccine and cure. The report therefore highlighted that investments must be made wisely across the life cycle, using a location–population approach to ensure that evidence-informed, high-impact programmes are available in the geographical areas and among the populations in greatest need. It strongly urges countries to continue to Fast-Track HIV prevention, testing and treatment in order to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 and ensure that future generations are free from HIV.

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Tuesday November 22, 2016

CARICOM security ministers discuss region’s crime situation The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) yesterday held its Seventeenth Meeting of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement to address the crime situation in the region. The meeting at the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, saw the Ministers with responsibility for national security discussing critical issues affecting the Caribbean as a whole. One of the main items on the agenda was consideration of the CARICOM Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Action Plan (CCSCAP). Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, said that the meeting’s topics are monumental. The Minister said that the issues must be addressed in the context of CARICOM since the global crisis of violence has been woefully neglected. “We have to create a virtual circle through programmes to create champions on the ground rather than a vicious cycle where villainy is exalted. This will only be done, through our Vice Council, and meaningful decisions here,” the Minister stated. Further, Minister Ramjattan said that crime and corruption are choices, and not a culture as is believed by many in the region. The Minister noted that it is important for the council to promote the development and implementation of a com-

Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan (third from right), Chairman of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement, Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs, Barbados, Adriel Brathwaite (center); Secretary General to CARICOM, Irwin LaRocque (third from left) along with other members of CARICOM at the 17th meeting of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement mon regional security strategy. “We here must construct projects of hope and trust, and secure that freedom from violence and fear which will secure for our people in the Caribbean an opportunity to flourish and thrive, and to do so in peace,” Minister Ramjattan explained. Chairman of the council,

Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs, Barbados, Adriel Brathwaite, said that the meeting comes at a critical time when the region is not going in the direction it should as it relates to national security. Attorney-General Brathwaite said that it is regrettable that some parts of the region have made the

crime situation a political one, rather than taking a collective approach to tackle the issue. “It is not a political issue, it is an issue that is fundamental to the way of life of all of our people, and none of us can do this alone, not one party, not one government,” the chairman explained. Brathwaite noted that at

the end of the meeting, members must be able to find solutions to some of the causes of crime in the region. The chairman also urged member states to utilise the services available in fighting crime. “Unless we are able to control crime in our individual and collective states, we are going to be challenged financially, continuously,” the

chairman stated. CARICOM Secretary General, Irwin LaRocque also reiterated the importance of working together to address the issue of national security in the region. “The onus is on us, collectively to demonstrate that we are indeed serious about our own security,” the Secretary General stated.

TIP unit to reduce human trafficking in 2017 The Ministry of Social Protection’s Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit has vowed intense efforts to curb human trafficking. Acting Coordinator, CTIP Unit, Tanisha WilliamsCorbin, said that several awareness campaigns which will be launched to schools next year to sensitise citizens on human trafficking. The C-TIP unit is also planning a local documentary on human trafficking which is aimed at eradicating the myth that trafficking only entails sex workers, and is exploring the possibility of conducting street theatres. The unit intends to develop and pilot test a TIP

module that is to be implemented in primary and secondary schools by the end of next year, to further create awareness. Meanwhile, the unit will continue to work with its partners including the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), and the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) to conduct outreaches in the various regions. “The Guyana Women Miners Organisation has been of great help to the unit, we can always call on them to get information, and they will assist us, and they’re always willing,” Williams-Corbin noted.

Additionally, there are some international bodies on board with the unit including the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United States Embassy. “INTERPOL came and they did some training. We did needs assessment with them through the Ministerial Task Force. IOM continues to work in very close collaboration with us. They provide transportation services etcetera, and they are pushing for funding for us to do our awareness and continued training in the area of trafficking and the US Embassy is continuing to show support,”

Williams-Corbin explained. Further, the acting coordinator highlighted that one of the unit’s major successes this year is the conviction of Joyce Lawrence whose noncustodial sentence is currently being appealed. Williams-Corbin noted that the first restitution was offered last year, but since there was no custodial sentence, the matter is under appeal. Another success is Guyana being promoted to tier two of the United States’ State Department Report on TIP. “We’re looking to be on tier one just to ensure we’re able to comply, and most importantly we were able to rescue people who found themselves in difficult circum-

stances,” Williams-Corbin explained. The plan will enable the Unit to effectively rescue persons who are trafficked and ensure that those persons get justice, the official said. She added that there are some challenges the Unit has to overcome to achieve these goals, one of which is travelling to the remote areas. Williams-Corbin said this is expensive and sometimes no public transportation is available. Another challenge is the 72 hours for a victim to selfidentify. “Research has shown internationally that a victim does not self-identify most times within 72 hours of a rescue, it takes time; you have to work with that victim, you have to encourage that victim, and often times persons cannot see they’re being exploited so the 72 hours pose a serious issue,” Williams-Corbin noted.

Acting Coordinator, Countering Trafficking in Persons Unit, Tanisha Williams-Corbin

Tuesday November 22, 2016

The Bill that was tabled in the National Assembly yesterday is unashamedly about granting a pension to former Prime Minister of Guyana, Hamilton Green. The Bill makes no pretense about this matter, even going as far as mentioning his name. The Bill, in this regard, is unprecedented. No Bill, tabled in the National Assembly, has ever sought to be of benefit to one person and one person alone. The system of parliamentary democracy was intended to ensure limits on absolute rule. It was intended to ensure

that governments did not serve just narrow and confined interests but was exercised in the interest of all citizens and not the elite few. The Bill is a frightening reminder that steps must be taken to ensure that our National Assembly does not promote the interests of a few persons. If the intention of the Bill was to ensure that all Prime Ministers are given a pension, it would have been much more acceptable. The Bill is aimed to ensure that future Prime Ministers also benefit but its primary purpose is to give Hammie a

pension. Hammie deserves a proper pension. He is, after all, a former Prime Minister who served in that capacity for seven years. Guyana owes all those who have served in high office a certain degree of respectability and a dignified life after they would have left office. The issue of Hammie’s alleged indiscretions in the past are irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that he occupied high office in Guyana. No country should treat those who occupy such office

Dem boys seh

Harry gone and some cops celebrating Was loud music and nuff rum drinking de other day at Diamond Police Station. People who go to mek report trying to get a patrol but de station sergeant telling dem that de patrol celebrating. It tek a while to realize why de four people pun de patrol celebrating. In fact, dem boys should a know in advance because dem cops was singing ‘Harry dead’ to de same tune of ‘Sparrow dead’. Is only dem who know suddenly get de point. This was de patrol that arrest Harry because he refuse to give dem a raise. Dem demand $5,000. Harry seh he didn’t have, suh dem cops force him into de tray of dem vehicle and drive

away wid him. Dem threaten him wid all kind of thing. In de end dem tek $4,000 from Harry and dem lose him but de boy file a report. During de investigation dem same four who now celebrating tell de force that dem never see Harry and that dem don’t know him. Dem forget about security cameras these days. When dem boys check wid dem cameras in de area, dem see de four patrol men stopping Harry; dem see when de cops put he motorcycle in dem vehicle and then dem get Harry to go inside. De police start to prepare de file fuh send it to de DPP. David de Ram already was sending home crooked cops.

This four know wha been pun de line. Nutten can’t happen now. Harry gone. He crash pun de road. When de four hear de news dem begin a sporting. In fact dem sporting till now and de station sergeant can’t tell dem nutten. De four know that de main witness dead suh there is no case. That is why dem sporting so much. Nobody can’t hold dem back. Is like when a woman break down at a funeral. Nobody can’t hold she back. But dem boys does listen to old people. Dem know de old people saying that wha miss you ain’t pass you. Talk half and walk good Harry

Death of elderly pedestrian…

Asst Superintendent of Police charged, on $300,000 bail Almost two months after he struck down and killed an elderly woman, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Jermaine Grant, has finally been charged. This was revealed yesterday by the Police Public Relations Department, on the very day that Kaieteur News queried the whereabouts of the file on the case. Kaieteur News had reported that weeks after the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recommended that Grant be charged with causing the death of 65-year-old Anmanie Deonarine, the rank was still to appear in court, and mystery surrounded the whereabouts of the file. In response, the Public Relations Department stated yesterday: “Please be advised that Assistant Superintendent Jermaine

Anmanie Deonarin Grant, 28, of Fort Street, Kingston, Georgetown, was (yesterday) charged with causing death by dangerous driving. “He appeared before Magistrate Clive Nurse at the Vr e e d - e n - H o o p M a g i s t r a t e ’s Court, pleaded not guilty and was

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placed on $300,000 bail. His passport was also lodged. The case has been postponed to December 16, 2016. According to reports, Deonarine, a mother of three, was pushing a bicycle east along the Vreede n - H o o p , We s t C o a s t Demerara public road, when a car, PRR 4446, driven by an Assistant Superintendent of Police, veered further south and struck her. She succumbed at the West Demerara Regional H o s p i t a l . A police release stated that the rank, who was stat i o n e d o n t h e We s t Demerara, was relieved of his duties. The release also stated that a breathalyzer test was conducted on the officer by the Traffic Chief himself and no trace of blood alcohol was recorded.

shabbily. Hammie deserves a dignified existence. He should not have to become a dependent. This would amount to an indictment against this nation. The fact that his own government did not provide for a pension for his service is something which needs to be examined in the context of Guyana’s parliamentary system. Unlike a President, a Prime Minister is a member of the National Assembly. As such, any former Prime Minister is likely to receive a parliamentary pension. There was no need, therefore, for a Prime Ministerial pension. When the APNU+AFC coalition came into power, it set about amending the Former Presidents Benefits Act. One of the amendments was intended to ensure that that a person who becomes, as of that date, a former President and as such entitled to a pension as an ex- President, would have to choose between a pension as a former President or as Leader of the Opposition. It is suspected that the reason why Donald Ramotar did not become Leader of the Opposition was because in so doing he risked losing his

Presidential pension. This clearly does not apply to Bharrat Jagdeo since no law can have retrospective effect. The amendments passed by APNU+AFC were intended to ensure that a former President chooses between a pension and receiving employment benefits. The same principle should apply in the case of the proposed pension to Hammie. The logic was that if you have certain sources of income, you were disqualified from receiving a presidential pension. This is what APNU+AFC set about doing. It is now making a complete political somersault. It is saying that it is quite acceptable for a former Prime Minister to receive a parliamentary pension plus receive a special pension as an ex- Prime Minister. If Hammie is receiving a parliamentary pension, he should not receive a pension as a Prime Minister. A former Prime Minister should have to choose between a parliamentary pension as a Prime Ministerial pension. He or she cannot benefit from both.

A former Prime Minister should not be entitled to a Prime Ministerial pension. He or she should be entitled to a parliamentary pension which should have a clause that would provide compensation for inflation. If Guyana starts to award special pensions to its former Prime Ministers, a queue will develop. Former Ministers will also want a special pension apart from their healthy parliamentary pensions. And we have a lot of former Ministers in this country. Hammie deserves something. The better option would have been to pass a law that would have made a provision for a special parliamentary pension for all ex-Prime Ministers rather than passing a Bill specifically to grant Hammie a special Prime Ministerial pension. (Hammy is the only surviving Prime Minister causing the Bill to be a misnomer)

Crabwood Creek man pleads guilty to drunk driving A Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, Berbice resident has pleaded guilty to drunk driving and fleeing from the scene of an accident last Friday. Yesterday, the 20-yearold Grant resident, Tilendra Totaram, appeared at the Whim Magistrates Court to answer to three charges. He appeared before Magistrate Marissa Mettleholzer to answer to the charges of failing to render assistance, failing to stop and driving under the influence. He pleaded guilty to all three charges and was fined $7,500 for the drunk driving charge; $25,000 for failing to render assistance and $25,000 for failing to stop. His license was suspended for one year. According to reports, Totaram drove a motor vehicle bearing the license plate number PNN 7746 and collided with George Beramsingh aka Quarter, 66 years; Harrinarine Lakhan aka Ranal, 60 years; and Vidyawattie Adhari aka “Granny”, 60 years; all of Crabwood Creek who were sitting on a bridge rail situated about 20 feet off the public road at Deen’s Sawmill Access Road. His vehicle was proceeding north along the western side of the Public Road, allegedly at a fast rate, he at-

tempted to turn east into the Access Road and in the process lost control of his vehicle and struck down the senior citizens. Reports stated that after hitting them he exited the vehicle, secured his car and abandoned the scene. He was subsequently apprehended shortly after. Reports state that the elderly persons received multiple injuries to their lower limbs and body and were rushed to the Skeldon Public Hospital in a conscious state, and were transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where Beramsingh and Lakhan were admitted and Adhari treated and sent away. Beramsingh’s left foot had to be amputated due to the extent of the injury. A breathalyzer test was also performed on the driver where it was found that his

Tilendra Totaram blood alcohol level was more than three times above the legally prescribed limit. Kaieteur News also understands that Totaram was previously arrested on two other DUI cases and was warned.

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Tuesday November 22, 2016

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

Guyana’s incomprehensible incompetence killed Harry Brijmohan

The lines that follow this one here contains the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. For three consecutive nights last week, the latest being Saturday night, I had a discussion with two traffic cops at the junction of Hadfield and High Streets where Parliament is located. On each occasion, I asked the identical question. Let me explain. When I leave Kaieteur News, with very few exceptions, I travel north on Lombard Street then make an eastern turn into Hadfield Street. It is one of the busiest junctions in the world. The traffic there is literally hectic and nerve-wracking. Vehicles coming from the south and the north going east into Hadfield Street are bound to collide if there is no regula-

tion. There is none. Throw into this confusion, the mentality of the mini-bus driver. Mini-bus drivers turning east into Hadfield Street have a fixed policy; they are not slowing down for the Lombard Street flow. To add to the nightmare, there is a huge crater in Hadfield Street just feet away from Lombard Street. So you have to dodge the minibuses and all other vehicles too because of the crater. That junction is a nightmare corner. I say emphatically, I have never seen a traffic rank at that junction directing things; never. I now come to the psychological nastiness of a moribund country named Guyana.

Once you manoeuvre your way into Hadfield Street and safety looks promising, you stumble on two traffic ranks. These gentlemen are either in High Street itself near the corner or they are in Hadfield Street near the corner or at the corner itself, but they are never where they are needed – at the insane junction of Lombard and Hadfield Streets. In the evening hours for three consecutive nights – Thursday, Friday, Saturday -- I passed these ranks, put on my hazard lights, stopped and asked the question; why are you here and not at that mad corner where you are badly needed. The answer for each night was the same’ “this is where we are posted.” I ask every reader who went through this particular column – could there be a more mentally disheveled nation in the entire world? Two

ranks walk about talking to each other doing absolutely nothing because there is no traffic to control and just yards away is a terrible vortex of vehicular madness. For you to understand the imbecility and asininity that inhere in the psychology of this nation, you have to witness this deep obscenity with your own eyes. Only then can Guyana’s nihilism be brought into your consciousness. Seeing this madness, as I have seen it for three consecutive nights tells the story of incomprehensible incompetence of the Guyana Police Force. I come to the death of Kaieteur News staffer, Harry Brijmohan. It is never easy for any human to see someone a day before only to learn the next day, that he/she is dead. When I went into Kaieteur News at 3.45 P.M. on Friday I was told that

someone I saw at Kaieteur News the night before was dead. Harry met his death in circumstances that should never have happened but it did because the Guyana Police Force has too many incompetents in its midst. I do not travel on the fourlane highway on the East Bank from Houston up because I know of the unbearable delays. What I did not know until the death of Harry was being discussed was that in the morning rush hour traffic, the police open up the south bound, eastern oneway lane to traffic going north. I did not know that. It meant I could very well have overtaken a car only to swerve into oncoming traffic. That is exactly what Harry did. One cannot quarrel with the strategy to open up one of the lanes for two way traffic to ease the morning confusion but monitor the thing so as not to cause an incident as what happened to Harry. Harry’s incident cost him his

Frederick Kissoon life. There are three things the police can do. Put barriers along the passage so that drivers cannot overtake. Alternatively, have two cops on motorcycles monitoring the third lane that is opened up to north bound traffic. Thirdly, put cones all along the way. Where I live on the Railway Embankment, that street becomes a one-way from 7 to 9 in the morning hour going west only. But there is no supervision. Some folks from out of town may not know about it. One day someone is going to swing from Conversation Tree Road east into that street at that hour. That is going to happen because this country will never learn.

Tuesday November 22, 2016

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Men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women…

‘Stop male’ suicide event held at Buxton “Men are three times at greater risk of suicide than women.” This is according to information compiled by the National Suicide Prevention Plan 2015–2020 launched by the Ministry of Public Health. According to the information, men aged 20-49 years are now the group with the highest suicide rate. Most suicides are among men under 50 years. Factors associated with suicide in men include depression; family and relationship problems including marital breakup and divorce, alcohol or drug misuse; unemployment; impulsive emotional reaction; social isolation; lack of family support; physical illness and low self-esteem.

The data was released by the Gender Affairs Bureau(GAB) of the Ministry at an International Men’s Day event over the weekend. The Gender Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Social Protection in collaboration with the Ambassadors of Buxton Development Association held its annual International Men’s Day programme under the theme “Stop Male Suicide - Let the Men Speak”. The event held at the Tipperary Hall in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, saw a large contingent of men in attendance. The programme featured cultural presentations from representatives of the Hindu, Muslim and Christians, remarks from Minister

of Citizenship, Winston Felix, Pastor Diego Alphonso of the GAB and Deputy Permanent Secretary, (P.S) of the Ministry of Social Protection, Adrian Ramrattan. In his remarks, Ramrattan, noted that the Ministry of Social Protection, through the GAB is extremely pleased to collaborate with the “Ambassadors of Buxton Development Association” on the hosting of this event to mark International Men’s Day 2016 which is being celebrated in over 60 countries. He said that International Men’s Day allows for people of the world to set aside some time to focus on men’s and boy’s health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting

positive male role models. “The occasion is for men to celebrate their achievements and contributions; in particular their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care while highlighting the discrimination against them,” he added. Given the significant rate of suicide among males worldwide, the Deputy Permanent Secretary explained that the programme is not about suicide in particular, but it is about letting men know that when they decide to speak that there are people, who are listening and will take them seriously. There was also a “Man Talk” and a “Let the Men Speak” segment session facilitated by Clinical Psychologist Dr. Mark Constantine. He

encouraged the gathering of men to “speak about their accomplishments and disappointments.” ”It is about time, too, that society be willing to listen to men. Be prepared to listen because men are three times more likely to commit suicide than our women. Men at the prime of their lives, when they can be most productive find it difficult to cope with their problems and kill themselves. ”I am talking about the 20 – 49 year age group. This group has the highest suicide rate.” Pastor Diego Alphonso, of the Gender Affairs Bureau, in his welcoming remarks outlined the importance the theme “Stop Male Suicide Let The Men Speak” in the context of Guyana, pointing

out that the local statistics show the worrying trend of males committing suicide more than the females. He also pointed out that it’s very important for males to speak out whenever something worries them rather to bottle it up inside which could then lead to suicide or violence. “We men feel depressed, we often feel socially isolated from the very families many of us work extremely hard to support; many conscientious and family-oriented men lack backing from their families; many are grieving silently, perpetually. We often hide the terror we feel inside by projecting an external bravado. We are pained too when our marriages collapse,” he stated.

Illegal importation of animals on the Nandlall faults AG’s office for rise; authority threatens charges non-publication of online Official Gazette The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) is threatening tough action against persons who illegally import animals. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, yesterday, it is getting ready to lay charges against persons who are illegally importing animals into Guyana, without an accompanying import permit. “Recently, the authority has been observing an increase in the illegal importation of animals resulting in confiscation at the port of entry. However, this has not stopped persons from attempting to smuggle the animals, as cases of illegal importation have increased over the last two months.” The ministry said that the GLDA Act, Section 17, makes provision for charges to be laid against defaulters. “In an event that a person fails to comply or commits an offence on summary conviction, the importer is liable to a fine of $100,000. In the case of a continuing offense, the defaulter will be fined an additional $50,000 and imprisonment for three months.” Dr. Dwight Waldron, Deputy Chief Executive

Officer, pointed to the fact that there are rules and regulations which govern the importation of animals. “It is a worrying situation for the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) as we have noticed an increase in cases of illegal importation of animals, specifically dogs,” the Deputy Chief Executive Officer stated. The authority said that the campaign to halt the incidences will be rolled out shortly. “Defaulters are therefore being put on notice. Animals found to be imported illegally into Guyana will not only be euthanized, but charges will be laid against defaulters,” the ministry warned. “It is important for persons to comply with our rules. Rules are not implemented to make things difficult. Oftentimes these animals are imported without their rabies shots- which place not only our animals but human beings at risk,” the DCEO said. The authority will also be meeting with airline operators to ensure that animals are not accepted onto flights without supporting documents. “The move is in keeping

with the authority’s mandate to regulate the import and export of animals and to promote greater efficiency in the livestock sector.” Earlier this month, on November 4, last, Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder, tabled the Food Safety and Animal Welfare Bills in the National Assembly. The campaign will see officials from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) increasing their presence at the Ports of Entry to further strengthen its surveillance system. “Regular inspections at hatcheries and processing facilities will also be conducted to ensure compliance with national and international Animal Health standards and guidelines. The nexus between animal health and public health, in its diverse eco-systems, is fully expressed in the concept of ‘One Health’ which emphasizes the need for good governance among all sectors and actors involved, by preventing and mitigating the risks generated at the interface between people, animals and the environment,” the ministry explained. The applications for import permits are as follows:

Former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has criticised Government’s management of the online version of the Official Gazette. For over a month now, the Official Gazette has not been updated. According to Nandlall, a Parliamentarian for the Opposition, this is because two staffers trained to administer the system have both been “politically and/ ethnically cleansed” from the Ministry over the last few months. “For several weeks now, there has been no publication of the Official Gazette Online. This is absolutely unacceptable. The Attorney General (Basil Williams) is answerable. This is another blundering act of incompetence,” Nandlall said in a statement. He explained that in 2013, as Attorney General, he piloted a Bill through the National Assembly to publish the Official Gazette Online, and to give legal validity to the online version of the Official Gazette. “This was an initiative which I included in the Modernization of the Justice System Project, funded by the IDB. Two employees of the Ministry of Legal Affairs were identified by the Project Coordinator and sent oversees for training to implement and administer this initiative on a daily basis. When the Bill became law, the Official Gazette began to be published online every Friday evening. This was made possible through a collaborative relationship which I established between National Printers Ltd and the Ministry of Legal Affairs.

AG, Basil Williams

MP Anil Nandlall

This initiative was deeply welcomed and appreciated both locally and internationally. At the click of a button, persons living all over the world were able to access, weekly, the important information published in the Official Gazette. More particularly, it offered property owners who are overseas, an opportunity to see whether their properties in Guyana are being fraudulently sold, or whether persons are applying for

prescriptive title in relation to the same,” Nandlall explained. “Every conveyance of immovable property and a notice of every application for title by prescription are required by law to be published in the Official Gazette. A great volume of other important information is also published in the Official Gazette.” The last time that the Official Gazette was published online was on October 15.

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Tuesday November 22, 2016

Govt. promises systematic changes for countrywide internet service in 2017 GTT Customer Experience Store on Brickdam

Minister Cathy Hughes cuts the ribbon with CEO of GTT, Justin Nedd The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) on Friday opened a new branch of its Customer Experience Store on Brickdam which was formerly the company’s BlackBerry station. Present at the opening were Minister of Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of GTT, Justin Nedd, Retail Operations Director, Allison Dundas, and the Store Manager, Sally Kirton. Minister Hughes said that, GTT is an important partner in the development of

Guyana. “I personally feel that we cannot transform our country until we get our telecommunications and our internet connectivity to all parts of the country in place”, she said, “and we cannot do that without the support from GTT.” The Minister remarked that, the store opening is seen as a demonstration of GTT’s commitment to work with its customers and to continue to provide superior service. According to Hughes the Ministry is working towards many improvements in

the government service for 2017. She said that there are a few systematic changes that will roll out in the year ahead. The Minister said that the aim for 2017 is to give Guyanese the option of conducting many of the functions of government offices without physically being there. The Minister spoke about the transferal of the passport office’s functions online; so that one would only be required to physically take in your passport picture. She also praised the recently concluded “Hackathon” as being a major success and added that the Ministry plans to host five more in the New Year. The aim being to have young people become more engaged in telecommunication and the development of apps. She assured the public that come 2017 they can ex-

pect internet hotspots countrywide, especially in the hinterland communities in the sectors of Health, Education and Farming. Minister Hughes also addressed the fact that internet access would allow persons in Hinterland communities, with just a health centre, to communicate with persons in Georgetown about medical proceedings. Also, the schools in hinterland communities will be able to have the opportunity to educate the children who do not have teachers for a specific subject. Recently, GTT and the government put an initiative in place to give people free access to information from more than 20 local and international websites including Wikipedia, Educationgy.org, Guyana Learning Channel.com, google.gy,

gina.gov.gy and all major news sites in Guyana using 4G internet. This service is now exclusively available to all GTT mobile users across G u y a n a . Also delivering remarks at the event was Chief Executive Officer Justin Nedd who said, “GTT is in the midst of change. We are now starting to see some of the hard work that we would have put in over the last few years. GTT is really committed to Guyana”. Additionally, Nedd said that all the furniture in the store (chairs and tables), were all locally manufactured. GTT would have reached out to local manufacturers who stepped up to the plate in producing quality furniture. In June, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Gert Post, said that 4G is now available in Guyana and that GTT

wants to ensure that everyone can freely benefit from this new technology by being able to use the web for education, information, check the weather and to access the information of the Government of Guyana. Recently, the Telecoms (amendment) Bill 2016 was passed after tumultuous debate on July 18, 2016 with all of its clauses intact in the National Assembly. This comes after years of the Bill being subject to deliberations, consultations and delays. Meanwhile, there have been clashes between GTT, Guyana’s sole telecommunications service provider over the years, and Digicel. The Bill paved the way for a competitive playing field in the telecommunications sector, by providing for an open and liberalised sector.

Hamilton Green defends right to former PM’s pension - Accuses critics of fomenting strife, distorting history Former Prime Minister of Guyana and past Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green, yesterday, defended his right to be a beneficiary of a former Prime Ministers ‘pension amidst growing criticisms by several organisations. He did so hours before the first reading of the Bill – which will guarantee himself, and past Prime Ministers a

pension – was tabled and read for the first time in the National Assembly. Green, during a press conference hosted at his residence in the capital, said that there was nothing “unique” about past Prime Ministers being given a pension when all “civilised “countries that he knows of, have systems in place which cater for former

Presidents and Prime Minsters after they demit office. Last week, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and the Transparency Group in Guyana, criticized the move saying that Green is not entitled to a pension since the state faced many difficulties during his tenure as Minister which was during the period of 1985 to 1992. Green in response to these arguments accused these organisations of “fomenting strife” and “distorting history”. He went on to say that these organisations are not dealing with relevant matters. In fact, a pension is not stipulated by law to be determined

by one’s reputation. According to media reports, the Bill provides for Green to be paid a pension “based on the salary paid to the Prime Minister, as though he actually earned the said salary, taking into consideration his record of service as a legislator.” The Bill also provides for the former Prime Minister to receive all benefits provided for by the Former President (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2015. Green told media operatives that although it is covered in law for the President and Prime Minister to receive some benefits after leaving office, the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government took the matter to Parliament for updating in 2011. Former Presidents and

Former Prime Minister and Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green. not former Prime Ministers were catered for. The only living former

Prime Minister other than Green is Samuel Hinds, but Hinds also served as President of Guyana after Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s death in 1997. Therefore, he is a beneficiary of the Presidential Pension. This leaves Green, the only former Prime Minister who is not receiving any pension. Green asserted yesterday that he does not know the reason for the PPP’s decision. Green, now Chairman of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), said that since leaving office as Prime Minister, he has been depending on family. The former politician said that he strongly believes that as a former Prime Minister who served for almost eight years, he should not have to live this way.

Tuesday November 22, 2016

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Barbados welcomes debate on de-risking BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Barbados has welcomed the decision of the London-based Financial Stability Board (FSB) to involve small open economies in the decision making process on de-risking of banks. A statement issued by the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) yesterday said that the issue was discussed at the FSB meeting in London last week and that the CBB Governor Dr. DeLisle Worrell commended the FSB for its position. “We must compliment the FSB for having opened an avenue for small international financial centres like Barbados to participate in the process of decision making on this matter of vital importance to the growth of our international business and financial services sector,” said Worrell, who attended the plenary meeting of the FSB in his capacity as co-chair of the Regional Consultative Group for

the Americas (RCG_A) for the period 2015-17. Correspondent banks, which are mainly large, international banks domiciled in the United States of America, Europe and Canada, provide Caribbean states with vital access to the international financial system, by offering services to smaller, domestic banks and financial institutions to complete international payments and settlements. However, many banks, which provide correspondent banking services have been seeking to manage their risks by severing ties with institutions in the region. The issue of corresponding banking was a major item at the annual summit of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders in Guyana in July. Worrell said that international business in Barbados has been hampered by a complex web of international regulations and strictures, even though Barbados has an en-

sure that they are not the victims of some sensational news item. The CBB said what makes their situation difficult is the fact that damage is done, and their share price may fall, even if the news proves to be unfounded. The CBB said that a sec-

ond item of interest to Barbados on the FSB agenda was financial technology with the meeting being told that the innovations most likely to affect how business is done are the distributed ledger technology, arrangements for small business to raise funds from many small contributors via

the Internet, and online lending by financial institutions.

CBB Governor Dr. DeLisle Worrell viable reputation as a competitive, well-regulated, transparent country, which provides financial services of high quality.

He noted that the de-risking strategies adopted by banks operating in Barbados have been introduced very reluctantly, and only because they see no other way to en-

The CBB said that these services could affect consumer banking, transfers of funds, payments, investment, and the financing of small business. “The potential benefits of financial technology include increased competition for traditional financial institutions,

greater access to finance, more diverse financial services, and possibly an overall increase in the efficiency of the financial sector. “However, there may be potential drawbacks because there could be a growing number of less well supervised financial institutions,” the CBB added. The FSB, which is chaired by Dr. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, brings together central banks and financial regulators of the world’s most powerful nations to oversee the process of international financial reform. The RCG_A is one of six affiliate groups established by the FSB. The members of the RCG_A are Canada, Barbados, Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Isl ands,

Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and the United States of America.

Brazil 2017 GDP to be lower T&T calls for continued than expected – Govt. vigilance in Zika fight - Economy expected to shrink 3.5% in 2016 versus 3.0% contraction previously projected SÃO PAULO (WSJ) — The Brazilian government yesterday reduced its 2017 annual GDP forecast to 1.0% from 1.6%, a sign that Latin America’s largest economy is struggling to rebound from a brutal recession. Fabio Kanczuk, secretary of economic policy for Brazil’s Finance Ministry, made the announcement at a press conference in Brasília. Low oil prices and the lingering effects of a massive corruption scandal have hammered the country’s key oil and gas sector, as well as state-run Petróleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras, as the company is known, is Brazil’s largest company and biggest single source of investment. Giant construction firms caught up in the graft probe have likewise been paralyzed, sending layoffs rippling through the economy. Unemployment hit 11.8% in the June to August period. Around 12 million Brazilians are unemployed. Rising joblessness and falling incomes have hurt retailers, while sales of homes and cars have plummeted. That vicious circle is weighing on Brazil’s growth, with companies afraid to in-

Fabio Kanczuk

vest and consumers wary of spending, said Carlos Kawall, chief economist at Banco Safra in São Paulo and a former head of Brazil’s Treasury. “To put their finances in order, companies are selling assets and cutting investment,” he said. “We also see families making an effort to reduce their debt.” Brazil is grappling with ballooning debt and deficits that threaten its financial stability. The nation’s debt is now rated junk by major ratings firms. The government of

President Michel Temer is working to pass unpopular austerity measures, including a constitutional amendment to limit spending increases to the rate of inflation and reforms to the shaky pension system. Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles had signaled the GDP revisions last week on a visit to New York where he was meeting with investors. Mr. Meirelles said Brazil must move quickly to implement austerity measures to get Brazil back on track.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The Trinidad and Tobago Government yesterday maintained that the mosquito-borne Zika virus is a “national public health emergency” even as the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that the virus is no longer a global public health emergency. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said that it had taken note of the WHO statement on the Zika virus and reminded the population that in January this year it had declared the virus a national public health emergency. The ministry said that in February the WHO declared a global public health emergency which allowed for allowed for increased and more rapid research to be conducted. “This research has since linked Zika to Guilliain-Barré Syndrome in some adults and the severe birth defect, microcephaly. “This underscores that the Zika crisis is far from over as it has now been classified as a dangerous, mosquito borne disease similar to malaria or yellow fever and should be viewed as an ongoing threat,” the Ministry of

Health said in the statement. It said that having noted the WHO’s recent position it “wishes to advise the population of Trinidad and Tobago that vigilance must be maintained in the coming months to ensure the safety of our citizens, especially pregnant women. “The Ministry of Health will therefore maintain its position of treating Zika as a national public health emergency due to not only the threat of Zika and its associ-

ated risks, but other mosquito borne diseases as well. “Citizens are therefore urged to continue working with authorities in the eradication of mosquito breeding sites and to take all necessary precautions to avoid being bitten by the Aedes aegypti mosquito,” the statement added. In August, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said there were more than the 247 confirmed cases of Zika in Trinidad and Tobago.

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Visa Application: U.S.A, C a n a da & UK; Guyana p assport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 6267040; 265-4535. INNOVATIVEMARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, busi ness cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. Repairs at affordable prices: fridge, air conditioner, washing machines, dryers, TV, microwaves & freezerCall: 610-5846 or 661-8158 Hello the doctor is back! Have your gas stove service and repairs. Call: 601-0595; 220-4073; 220-5785 Passport, permanent & visitor visa application, Professional Immigrant Consultant – Sabita Immigration Services. Call: 225-6496; 662-6045 Eagle’s: Re-gas -$8,000, Washing machine repairs, Gas Stove, Plasma flat Screen & more. Call: 697-2969/6460966 Repairs at low cost: Fridges, air- conditioners, washing machines, TVs, microwaves, freezers- Call:629-4946 or 225-4822 Guytec Repairs Services & Spares to washing machines, pressure washer, dryer, stoves, refrigerator, treadmill, vacuum, etc –Call: 680-2377 Desmond Repair Services Fridge, AC, gas stove, microwave, washer, etc on the spot repairs –Call: (592)678-8683; 613-9181 HEALTH Learn how you can benefit from iridology Mon, Dec 5th - Contact Hazel’s Herbal Store: 226-9136

PROPERTY FOR SALE

TO LET

Transported property @ Grove and Diamond $16M negotiable. Call: 625-5461

3 Bedrooms bottom flat @ Lamaha Gardens. Call: 2258084/ 689-6001

Transported property, flat concrete building, land size 80x50, house size 20x38, full facilities Tel: 683-7507/6770321

Fully furnished vacation home with all amenities Call during working hours 2271218 Austin Street Campbellville Upper Flat unfurnished, three bedrooms, monthly rent $75,000 Call: 222-5087 between 4:00pm & 6:00pm 2 Bedrooms apartments for rent @ Nandy Park -$70,000. Call: 641-3318

FOR RENT

VACANCY For male factory workers between the ages 18 and over. Must have police clearanceCall:223-0090 Fast Growing food distribution company seeking a bookkeeper/inventory clerk. Experience & police clearance needed. Call:231- 8344/2231027/ 223-1034 Work in Trinidad, 5yrs experienced welder/mason. E m a i l : clinttrintent@gmail.com (great salary) Camp assistant for interior location. Job involves dishwashing, cleaning etc.Call: 618-2020 One Field supervisor to work in Georgetown. Must have a motorcycle license- Call:2271717 LORRY DRIVER, MINIMUM 3 YEARS EXPERIENCE, FACTORY ASSISTANT 266 5569 ACCOUNTS CLERK, MINIMUM qualification CXC Accounts Grades I/ II, familiar with QuickBooks POS & Accounts. Email: info@guygas.com Hairdressers and nail technicians @ the 2nd Floor City Mall. Call: 697-4328 Receptionist male, room attendant, desk staff. Call: 2250198 or visit 233 South Road, Lacytown. Administrative Assistant/ Internet service operative, computer literate, 2 references needed. Call: 644-2234/ 6494183, email: demcar.info@sky.com Part time teacher needed to teach Social Studies and Integrated Science for High School students. Call: 690-9378

TOURS Suriname Tours Return: Shopping, sightseeing, dolphins, casino, clubbing, Nov 24-27. Call: 665-5171/ 639-2663/658-3758/ 223-7589

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Kaieteur News

Vacancy for salesgirls, hair & nail station rental @ New Market Street. Call: 667-7409 Cook/baker for the Interior location, applicants must be experienced. Call: 618-2020

PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Two bedroom apartment with toilet & bath @ Lot 19 Pigeon Island Chateau Margot, E.C.D. Call Nasmoon: 220- 6799/ 6039547 2 Salon Stations to rent & 1 nail tech ($5,000 per week each), persons to do massage & facials. Call: 2234238/602-7960 Space for rent at Ashmin’s Building- Ideal for commercial and office use- Call: 683-7954 One (1) Bedroom Residential Apartment, at Houston, East Bank Demerara. For more information. Contact: 6031602 Fully furnished apartment in South & 2 Bedrooms unfurnsihed apartment in Albouystown. Call: 689-5877 House for rent located at 696 Golden Grove, E.B.D. Call: 611-1963 for further details LEARN TO DRIVE C. Persaud & N. Outar Driving School formerly Soman & Sons Driving School @ Maraj BuildingCall: 644-5166; 622-2872; 615-0964; 689-5997 (affordable packages).

VEHICLE FOR SALE

WANTED

1 RD5 Honda CRV, immaculate condition, TV, reverse camera, CD, mags, alarm, etc, price -$2.850M. Call: 626-2884

1 Refrigerated truck box, approximately 14’ long, preferable Mitsubishi Canter, contact Wieting & Richter Ltd 226-6150, 6152-3, 6155-7

1 New & unregistered Toyota Allion $2.4M, 1 Allion PVV series $2.150M negotiable, low mileage, TV, camera, etc. Call: 649-0956

One Data Processing Clerk. Must possess five Subjects at CSEC with Grade 1 -2 passes. Thse must include Accounts, Maths & English. Interested Candidates must text to SMS or WHATSAPP 592-696-9386

1-DAF 75 Hauler GNN Series -$2.5M negotiable. Call: 6555117 One black pit-bull BTT 9621, in good condition, 1TR engine. Call: 277-3657 SALE! SALE!- 2010 NOAH & VOXY $2.6M, 2009 TOYOTA ARIUS $2.6M, 2 TON CANTER $2.4MCALL:642-7295

LAND FOR SALE Diamond 21st Street, can transfer $3.5M. Schoonard, WBD $2.5M, Land Of Canaan $5M per acreContact Shawn 231-2199, 618-7483 Land @ La Parfaite Harmonie -$1M. Call: 690-9645 Land @ La Parfaite Harmonie: $1.4M, $1M, $1.6M, Uitvlugt $2, Tuschen School Street $2M (terms available). Call: 604-6724/673-6300

PEN PAL Overseas based male seeks working female 30-33 years. Must be intelligent- call:6643119 (No Texts) Mixed male, age 55 with own business is seeking female companion, ages 50 & older. Call: 684-6035 or 622-1201

Honda Civic (04) stick shift from Singapore. Rims, deck. In immaculate condition $1.150M negotiable- call: 618-4257 Bluebird for sale 2011 model, dark interior, reverse camera $2.7M negotiable, preorder any vehicle Call: 655-3400 1 Silver Nissan Dualis (PTT 3081) – PS, PW, AC, CD/DVD player, reverse camera, AW, ABS $3.2M Call: 695-9548 2009 NOAH & VOXY $2.6M IN ‘G’ SERIES, 3 TON OPEN BACK CANTER -$3.6M. CALL: 617-2891 Almera Nissan Car- 1295 CC Engine - $775,000 negotiable, very good working condition. 116,000km Call: 616-1598 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: SIENTA -$2.3M, RAUM $2.3M, RACTIS -$2.3M, FIELDER -$2.6M, NEVER R E G I S T E R VEHICLE.CALL: 617-2891 One (1) Nissan Escudo, good condition, owner leaving the country. Price $1.6M negotiable. Contact: 6683312/ 627-3609

One experienced general domestic to work in G/Town, must know to cook all Indian dishes. Pleasant & trustworthy. Call: 656-6388 Live in/Live out domestic/ babysitter. Call: 223-7500 Mon-Fri 8:15-4:15pm 1 Female shop assistant to work in the interior, salary depends on experienced. Call: 678-0565 Straight stitch, over edge machine operators, portersCall 222-2541 8:00am-4:00pm Mon-Fri One salon assistant must know to do hair & nails- Contact: 625-3899/ 264-0034 Raymond building Vreed-EnHoop Junction Person to work bar at nightsCall: 223-4778, 626-0189 Handy boy, age 17- @ Lombard street, Werk-EnRust- call: 227-8529, 233-7356 Attractive live in waitressCall: 327-0252/674-4665 Experienced & Mature cashier & salesgirls. Apply with written application @ American Variety Store, 140 Regent & Light Street. Live in domestic must know to cook & bake, salary $80,000-$90,000 monthly 3050yrs, boarding & lodging free. Call: 222-4890 Two block makers. Call: 6895877 Live in waitresses to work in bar– Call:604-6606/692-4649

FOR SALE/RENT American Pool Table. Call: 277-0578 EDUCATIONAL

CAR RENTAL DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM

CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS& SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 6560087 , EMAIL: PRO_ AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO. COM

WING’S CAR & PICKUP RENTAL: LOW DOWN PAYMENT, CHEAP REATES,SPECIAL OFFER FOR THE SUMMER. CALL: 690-6494

AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL:PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MIN BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPOTR & FAMILY OUTING, CHEAPEST RATE . Call: 698-7807

CXC Classes: day & evening classes, personal tutor, Grade 4 to 6, Form 1-5 Maths. Call Sir Jarvis: 690-5008/ 6934588/ 638-2359 Study and work in Canada/ US. VISA processing centre Parika 260-4850. All vistors VISA professionally done. Pre-Xmas computer package, diplomas 9 courses $40,000, 4 courses- computerized accounting $30,000Micrographics: Vreed-EnHoop 264-3057, Parika :2604850

EDUCATIONAL Free lessons for Grade 7&8 students: English, Mathematics, Social Studies & Science. Limited space! Call: 690-9378

Continue on page 23

Tuesday November 22, 2016

PAGE 23

Kaieteur News

Men get 60 months jail, fined $80M for ganja in salt bags Fawad Hamid and Mark Douglas, the two men who were busted with almost 130 pounds of marijuana after a high speed chase with police, during which gunshots were exchanged, were jailed for 60 months and fined $80.7M each.They were found guilty of trafficking narcotics by Magistrate Judy Latchman at the conclusion of a trial in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts yesterday. Hamid, also known as ‘Not Nice’, 22, of Blairmont Estate, Berbice; and Douglas of Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice; had 58.843 kilograms of marijuana in their possession for the purpose of trafficking on March 12, at David Street,

Kitty, Georgetown. They were represented by Attorneys Mark Waldron and Clyde Forde respectively. Based on reports, police acting on information travelled to the vicinity of Subs and Salads, Sheriff Street, Georgetown, where two vehicles were seen. Hamid, who was the driver of one of the vehicles turned into David Street, Georgetown after seeing police ranks. Ranks intercepted the vehicle after an exchange of gunfire and conducted a search during which a quantity of compressed marijuana was found in five bags in the trunk of the vehicle. However, during the trial, Hamid had told the court that

he thought dry coconuts were in the salt bags which were given to him by Douglas. According to Hamid whilst leaving his home on the day in question, Douglas approached him at a park at Rosignol, Berbice and asked if he wanted a taxi to Georgetown. Hamid recalled that Douglas told him he had some bags to take to the city and that they were only five minutes away. He said that Douglas left and returned with five salt bags and placed them into the trunk of the vehicle. “He (Douglas) tell me the bags got to go to Georgetown and he gave me a phone number to call somebody. I put it (the phone number) in my cell phone. He

said when I go on Sheriff Street call the (phone number) and a man will come and collect the (salt) bags.” The convict said that he drove a car from Berbice and called the cell phone number given to him while on Sheriff Street, but got no answer which resulted in him calling Douglas who told him he would be there in two minutes. Hamid said, “When Mark Douglas arrive he parked behind my car. When I stepped out my car to talk to Douglas I see a burgundy 212 (motorcar) pull up alongside Douglas car with four plainclothes police (ranks).” Hamid stated that he rushed into his car and sped off after police ranks with

guns approached Douglas. He said that after the police chased him firing shots he stopped his vehicle and surrendered. Hamid told the court that he was taken to Police Narcotics Branch, Eve Leary, Georgetown, where police ranks opened the salt bags in the presence of Mark Douglas and disclosed that the bag contained marijuana. Hamid related that he told police that the drug belonged to Douglas and they promised to send him home if he testified against Douglas. In spite of the promise, Hamid related police informed him that he and Douglas would be jointly charged for the offence.

PI into KNews grenade attack…

Analysis of video footage from CCTV shown to court An analysis of footage from close circuit television (CCTV) retrieved from the Kaieteur News building was shown and explained to the court via PowerPoint slides by Detective Corporal J u n i o r B l a i r, w h e n t h e Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the grenade attack continued yesterday. Corporal Blair is the Subordinate Officer (SO) in charge of video forensic at Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown. The policeman gave testimony in relation to CCTV footage he extracted onto three compact discs. The discs with the footage were admitted to form part o f t h e p r o s e c u t i o n ’s evidence, after its contents were revealed to the court. Detective Sergeant Herbert Henry, the SO in charge of the CID, Ruimveldt Police Station, and Somal Sharma, Network Administrator at Kaieteur

Alfie Garraway

Janeil Howard

Leroy Williams

News were recalled to the stand. Cross examination for the witnesses were deferred until Thursday. Janeil Howard, 20, of 322 Section ‘C’ Turkeyen, East C o a s t D e merara; Alfie Garraway, 36, of Norton Street, Lodge, Georgetown; and Leroy Williams, 25, of 11 Durban Backlands, are

accused of conspiring together with other persons to cause an explosion by way of grenade, likely to endanger lives and cause d a m a g e t o p r o p e r t y. Garraway is currently out on $300,000 High Court bail. The other two accused

remain on remand. Howard is unrepresented by an attorney. Alfie Garraway is being represented by Attorneys Stanley Moore and Glenn Hanoman, while Attorney Neil Bollers is defending Williams. According to reports,

Rohee prompts Govt tooverride Medical... From page 17 council deals with the matter. It was on this note that Rohee was grilled even further. He was asked if he was suggesting that the Government gets involved in decision making for the medical council – which is an independent body and if so, then should the government get involved also in making decisions for the Police Service Commissions and other independent bodies. Rohee defended by saying that “Don't put words in my mouth,” He added also that, “The party has also noted that di-

sastrous situation plaguing the nursing sector. The most recent manifestation of this being the uncertainty facing student nurses in connection with a controversy that has arisen over the claim by nursing council about leaked exam papers. The party empathises with those student nurses who are disinclined to sit another set of examination and calls upon the Ministry of Public Health and the Nursing Council to resolve the matter speedily and in the interest of the nurses whose careers and professionalism for no justifiable reason, is on the line.”

on the day in question, a security staffer heard an unusual sound coming from near Lall’s vehicle PRR 8398, which was parked on the western side of newspapers Lot 24 Saffon Street, Georgetown office. On checking the front of the vehicle, the staffer spotted a grenade lying near one of the front tyres. Video footage from t h e c o mpany’s CCTV cameras showed a greycoloured vehicle, slowing as it approached Lall’s vehicle. The driver accelerated after the explosive device was thrown. Shemar Wilson, also known as ‘Abdue’ is still wanted by the police for questioning in relation to the grenade attack. He is 20 years of age and his last known addresses have been given as 43 North Sophia and 51 West La Penitence, Georgetown.

From page 22

FOR SALE Music set, 6 bass 4 tops, RCF & PV Speakers, QSC amp’s, fully loaded rack Call: 6837507 Salon equipment, under good conditions. Call: 6974328 MX QSC 2000, 1500, 1000 watts, 4 Bass 4MID, 4 horn, 4 tweeter mixer, juggler, EQ, Speaker, Cable. Call: 6542732/ 253-3070 1-30 feet aluminum jet boat with spares. Call: 642-7898 Design & Make Aluminum windows, doors, stainless rails, showcases, rolling shutters, make & install automatic doors. Call: 2336818/677-5599/659-9999 LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. Trinidad: Columbia 16 Block plant, fully automated, production 12,000 blocks per day-$600,000USD. Email: clinttrintent@gmail.com Elite 150 -$200,000. Call: 6716749 Vigo GPP Series, 3RZ Engine, 4WD, immaculate conditionCall: 698-7807 1 Enclosed Mitsubishi canter GNN series, 1 Fiber glass boat 140HP, outboard engine, 1 generator Kubota 1,000 watts. Call: 277-3230 669-9596

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Tech worker visas face uncertain future under Trump, Sessions (Reuters) - The main U.S. visa program for technology workers could face renewed scrutiny under Presidentelect Donald Trump and his proposed Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of the skilledworker program. H-1B visas admit 65,000 workers and another 20,000 graduate student workers each year. The tech industry, which has lobbied to expand the program, may now have to fight a rear-guard action to protect it, immigration attorneys and lobbyists said. Trump sent mixed signals on the campaign trail, sometimes criticizing the visas but other times calling them an important way to retain foreign talent. Sessions, however, has long sought to curtail the program and introduced legislation last year aiming to make the visas less available to large outsourcing companies such as Infosys. Such firms, by far the largest users of H-1B visas, provide foreign contractors to U.S. companies looking to slash information technology costs.

“Thousands of U.S. workers are being replaced by foreign labor,” Sessions said at a February hearing. A spokesperson for Sessions did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Trump transition team spokesperson declined to comment. The H-1B visa is intended for specialty occupations that typically require a college education. Companies use them in two main ways to hire technology workers. Tech firms such as Microsoft and Google typically hire highly skilled, wellpaid foreign workers that are in short supply. They help many of them secure so-called green cards that allow them to work in the U.S. permanently. By contrast, firms such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, both based in India, use the visas to deploy lower-paid contractors that critics say rarely end up with green cards. Infosys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Tata spokesman declined to comment. LABOR LOTTERY

Donald Trump sits with U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo H-1B visas are assigned through a lottery once a year by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This year, companies filed 236,000 petitions for the 85,000 available visas, a cap set in U.S. law. They are awarded to employers - not employees - and tied to specific positions. Both Democratic and Republican critics have argued that companies such as Walt

Disney Co and Southern California Edison Co, a utility, have used the program to terminate in-house IT employees and replace them with cheaper contractors. Sessions last year urged then-Attorney General Eric Hold e r t o i n v e s t i g a t e Southern California Edison’s use of H-1B visas in a letter than was also signed by Democratic

U.N. says nearly 1 million Syrians besieged; U.S. names, shames commanders (Reuters) - The number of besieged Syrians has more than doubled over the past year to nearly one million, the United Nations aid chief told the Security Council yesterday, as the United States named 13 Syrian military commanders it accused of killing civilians. Some 850,000 of those people are besieged by government forces, the United Nations said, while the rest are trapped by Islamic State militants and other armed groups. “There is nothing subtle or complicated about the practice of besiegement. Civilians are being isolated, starved, bombed and denied medical attention and humanitarian assistance in order to force them to submit or flee,” U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien told the 15-member council during a monthly briefing. O’Brien again urged strong action from the Secu-

rity Council to back its resolutions calling for an end to attacks on civilians, humanitarian aid access and a lifting of sieges. “Without strong backing from each of you, red lines will be crossed again and again; international humanitarian law will be trampled on; war crimes will be committed. And until there is action by you, there will be no accountability,” O’Brien said. The council has been divided over how to end the nearly six-year war, with Syrian ally Russia, backed by China, protecting President Bashar al-Assad from council action by vetoing several resolutions, including a bid to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, named 13 Syrian military commanders she said had been involved in killing and

U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien injuring civilians since 2011 through air and ground assaults, and detaining and torturing civilians. “The United States will not let those who have commanded units involved in these actions hide anonymously behind the facade of the Assad regime,” Power told the council. “Those behind such attacks must know that we and the international community are watching their actions, documenting their abuses, and one day, they will be held accountable,” she said.

However, Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov accused Power of being hypocritical by not naming militants for killing civilians, and criticized her for naming the Syrian military commanders. “You forgot even about your own golden standard of the presumption of innocence,” Safronkov told the Security Council. “This is something that can only be decided by legal proceedings. This is something that is elementary.”

Sens. Bernie Sanders, Richard Durbin and Sherrod Brown. Disney and Edison did not immediately respond to requests for comment but have said previously that they paid foreign contractors comparably with local staffers. The Justice Department in 2013 settled a visa fraud case with Infosys for $34 million. Federal investigators accused Infosys of using easier-to-obtain business travel visas to import foreign workers who were required to have H-1B visas. Investigators also alleged that Infosys told foreign workers to lie to U.S. officials about the cities where they would work. In the settlement, Infosys denied the allegations but agreed to retain a third-party auditor for two years and to provide the government with detailed descriptions of what its visa holders were supposed to be doing in the U.S. CALLS FOR CHANGE Several constituencies have called for program reforms, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, that industry’s largest professional association. It wants the lottery ditched in favor of a system that would award visas to companies offering the highest-paying jobs, said Russ Harrison, director of government relations. That could potentially shut out employers looking to mine the program for cheap foreign labor. Sessions included a similar measure in his 2015 bill. Tech industry groups also want changes. FWD.us - the immigration lobbying group backed by Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg supports setting higher minimum wages and giving priority to companies that sponsor H-1B workers for green cards.

“We’re going to advocate for expanding the program, but we’re also going to advocate for reforming the program,” FWD.us President Todd Shulte said in an interview. The current program mainly benefits big companies at the expense of both U.S. and immigrant workers, said Gaurav Mehta, a 32-yearold H-1B holder from New Delhi who works for a cyber security firm in San Francisco. H-1B workers struggle to switch jobs without risking deportation, he said, which allows employers to pay them less. “The current system is not working for Americans, and it’s not working for immigrants,” he said. ‘AMAZING PEOPLE’ Some Trump allies expect him to keep the program mostly intact, including Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar - an Indian-born Chicago businessman who donated $900,000 to his campaign. “He has said to us that these are amazing people and it would be crazy to let them go,” Kumar said in an interview. But Kumar has urged Trump to eliminate countryby-country quotas that create long waits for Indian and Chinese nationals to get green cards. John Miano, an attorney with the Immigration Reform Law Institute - a conservative group that has been aligned with Trump - also supports prioritizing H-1B applications from companies offering higher pay. Such a change would hit the outsourcing firms hard. The top 10 recipients of H-1B visas in 2015 were all outsourcing firms, according to government data compiled by the IEEE. Tata Consultancy Services topped the list by securing 8,333 H1B visas. Amazon, by contrast, ranked number 12 and was awarded just 826 H-1B visas. Google and Microsoft ranked No. 14 and 15, with Facebook at No. 24 and Apple at No. 34. Some H-1B visa holders aren’t waiting. Sofie Graham - a marketer at the San Francisco startup BuildZoom.com and a dual Irish and British citizen - secured her H-1B visa last year. Although she could have worked for six years on the visa, she and the company decided to apply for a green card. “Everywhere I looked, people were saying we should have fewer H-1Bs,” she said. “I just wanted to get a green card as soon as possible.”

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Kaieteur News

Eight C’bean countries to benefit from multimillion-dollar project PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) will implement a multi-million dollar programme aimed at assisting eight Caribbean countries update their National Implementation Plans (NIPs) as it relates to the exposure of toxic chemicals. “The execution of this project will help strengthen the capacities of member states to better manage hazardous chemicals with a view to implementing environmentally sound mechanisms for the storage, abandonment of use, identification of alternatives to use and final disposal/destruction of these types of chemicals,” said CARPHA executive director Dr. James Hospedales. The eight Caribbean countries to benefit from the eight million US dollar project are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Director of the Basel Convention Regional Centre for

Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean (BCRC-Caribbean), Dr. Ahmad Khan, said that some pesticides, cleaning agents and industrial chemicals contain hazardous properties, which can cause cancer, developmental delays, dysfunction of the reproductive organs and reduce immunity. He explained that one particular group of these toxic chemicals is referred to as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) and that exposure to POPS can be through direct contact with the chemicals, consumption of contaminated foods or environmental exposure. He said because of this, it was imperative for the Caribbean to make the management of toxic chemicals to protect human health and the environment a priority. As a result, BCRC-Caribbean, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), prepared a project document outlining the work required to strengthen the capacity of Caribbean countries to manage POPS. They also approached the

Global Environment Facility (GEF) and were successful in acquiring approximately the funds to support the project. “The BCRC-Caribbean is committed to deliver services to our member Parties under the four ‘chemicals’ Conventions (Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Minamata) that govern the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and chemicals. “Through the successful implementation of this regional project, we will be able to establish the extent of new POPs in our countries and more importantly develop Action Plans to target the elimination and/or reduction in the use of these particularly harmful chemicals,” Dr. Khan added. In addition, BCRC-Caribbean said it will host a threeday regional workshop here from Tuesday to initiate an update of the participating countries’ NIPs, POPs inventories and related capacity development. During the workshop, conducted by CARPHA, country representatives will present an update on the status of implementation of their NIP Action Plans.

Powerful quake hits Japan, Fukushima residents urged to flee tsunami (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 hit northern Japan today, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, generating a tsunami that hit the nation’s northern Pacific coast. The earthquake, which was felt in Tokyo, was centered off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of about 10 km (6 miles) and struck at 5:59 a.m. (2059 GMT) the agency said. A 60 cm (2 foot) tsunami had been observed at Fukushima’s Onahama Port and a 90 cm (3 foot) tsunami at Soma soon after, public broadcaster NHK said. The region is the same that was devastated by a tsunami following a massive earthquake in 2011. A tsunami warning of up to 3 metres (10 feet) has been issued. One woman suffered cuts to her head from falling dishes, Kyodo news agency reported, citing fire department officials. Tokyo Electric Power Co, known as Tepco, said on its website that no damage from the quake has been confirmed at any of its power

plants, although there have been blackouts in some areas. Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant caused Japan’s worst nuclear disaster when it was knocked out by the 2011 tsunami. Tohoku Electric Power Co said there was no damage to its Onagawa nuclear plant, while the Kyodo news agency reported there was no irregularities at the Tokai Daini nuclear plant in Ibaraki Prefecture. Television footage showed ships moving out to sea from Fukushima harbours as tsunami warning signals wailed. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. The March 11, 2011, quake was magnitude 9, the strongest quake in Japan on record. The massive tsunami it triggered caused world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier. An Iwaki city fire dept official said there was smoke or fire at Kureha’s research cen-

ter in a petrochemical complex in Iwaki city at 6:17 a.m., but it was extinguished at 6:40 a.m. Other details were not clear, he said, adding that no other major damage in the city has been reported at the moment. One hotel in Ofunato, badly hit by the 2011 quake, told guests to stay in the facility, which is on high ground. The U.S. Geological Survey initially put today’s quake at a magnitude of 7.3 but downgraded it to 6.9. All nuclear plants on the coast threatened by the tsunami are shutdown in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Only two reactors are operating in Japan, both in the southwest of the country. Even when in shutdown nuclear plants need cooling systems operating to keep spent fuel cool.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Kaieteur News

Iran’s Guards using Trump victory to claw back power

Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s victory and the war on Islamic State have given Iran’s hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps what it sees as a unique opportunity to claw back economic and political power it had lost. Sidelined after a nuclear deal was reached with Iranian reformist leaders and the administration of President Barack Obama and major nations, the IRGC is determined to regain its position in Shi’ite Iran’s complex governing structure. Republican Trump said in the campaign that he would abandon the 2015 deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear ambitions in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. His tough stance, in contrast to Obama’s olive branch, is expected to empower hard-liners who would benefit from an economy that excludes foreign competition. In addition, the Quds force, that conducts IRGC policies overseas, has played a successful and key role on the battlefields of Iraq increasing the Guards’ kudos at home. “Trump and the Islamic State militants were gifts from God to the IRGC,” said a senior official within the Iranian government, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity like other figures contacted within Iran. “If Trump adopts a hostile policy towards Iran or scraps the deal, hard-liners and particularly the IRGC will benefit from it,” a former reformist official said.

Elected in a landslide in 2013 on a promise to end Iran’s diplomatic and economic isolation, pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani has struggled to reconnect Iran’s economy to world markets and to attract foreign investment. Uncertainty over the nuclear deal, unilateral U.S. sanctions, political infighting in Iran alongside complex regulations, labor issues and corruption have hampered a post-sanctions economic revival causing concern to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who blames the government. SANCTIONS BENEFITED IRGC Deeply loyal to Khamenei, the IRGC was created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution. The IRGC first secured a foothold in the economy after the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War when the clerical establishment allowed them to invest in leading Iranian industries. Involved in a wide range of businesses, from energy and tourism to car production, telecoms and construction, the IRGC’s empire grew by taking billions of dollars in projects vacated by Western oil companies because of sanctions imposed to curb the nation’s nuclear ambitions. Trying to limit IRGC influence, Rouhani’s government stalled or canceled some major projects with the IRGC, including a $1.3 billion deal with National Iranian Gas Co. in March 2014.

Under the nuclear deal, international sanctions were lifted in January opening up the Iranian economy, thereby threatening the IRGC power base. Now the Guards see an opportunity to lever back their position in the Iranian hierarchy. “The IRGC will use Trump’s win to convince the clerical rulers to give them more political and economic backing. This is what they have been hoping for since the deal was reached,” said the senior government official, who declined to be identified. “If Trump’s presidency scares away foreign investors from Iran, then it is the IRGC that will regain its economic power,” said a former reformist official close to Rouhani. “More economic involvement of the IRGC means a riskier market for foreign investors. It will hinder Rouhani’s planned economic growth and will give more political power to the IRGC and their hard-line backers,” the reformist official added.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Panic behind Windies meltdown... (From page 28) expertly guided by novice Shai Hope who carved out 101 off 120 balls in only his second One-Day International, and opener Kraigg Brathwaite who struck 78 from 117 deliveries. Together, they put on 162 for the third wicket, a stand which put the Caribbean side in pole position to take victory. “I thought it was outstanding. [They were] both great innings in a wonderful partnership … to set up the potential win,” Radford noted. “We’ve talked about seeing the 50 overs in blocks of ten and that there were certain rates we wanted to go at to keep up with Duckworth/ Lewis. There were a bit of rain

clouds around and we thought it could come down to Duckworth/Lewis and also we just wanted to break it up so players knew what kind of rate to bat at. “I thought both were exceptional, they rotated the strike really well. When bad balls were there, they put them away. There are two really talented young players who played as well as they could play.” Despite the result, Radford said West Indies were doing all the right things and needed to remain consistent for the remainder of the tournament. “I think we’re playing good cricket. There are a lot of positives to be taken from [the game] as disappointed as we were not to cross the line,

having played so well,” the Englishman said. “We know we are playing good cricket, we had a good win against Sri Lanka a couple of days ago … We have to keep doing these things, keep doing the basics well, keep pinning sides down in the field and making it tough for them to score.” He continued: “And in terms of batting [we have to] set up the innings. I thought what was very good with those young batters (Hope and Brathwaite) was that they paced it well, didn’t go too rash early on and got us into a situation where to be honest we should have won.” West Indies face Sri Lanka here Wednesday in their next game.

Tuesday Novembet 22, 2016 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Look into ways that you can make extra cash. Financial affairs do not look too favorable today. Traffic will be busier than you anticipated, so try to get a head start if you have made plans to travel. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Romantic encounters are evident through travel or educational pursuits. A residential move may be necessary to get a better job. You can accomplish a lot if you deal with other people's money or possessions today. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Involvement in financial schemes will be followed by losses. Balance is required if you want stability. A long, quiet walk alone may help you sort out your thoughts. CANCER (June 21–July 22) You are best to listen for the time being. You can raise your standard of living if you pick up some freelance work on the side. Try to convince a good friend to take a holiday with you. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) If you try to manipulate emotional situations you will find yourself alienated. Exhaustion will lead to minor injury if you don't know when to quit. Romance is likely if you can bring yourself to go out with friends. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Don't give in too quickly. Travel will be favorable and bring you the greatest rewards. Take advantage of your attributes and lure the mate of your choice.

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Kaieteur News

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Try to channel your energy into professional endeavors. Don't try to twist things around so that they sound more enticing. Expect temper tantrums on the home front if you haven't been letting someone have their way. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Try to stay calm and do the best you can. Don't get involved in idle chatter that will hurt your position. Take action. SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Don't take offense at comments made by coworkers. Listen and formulate your course of action. You will be indecisive. Your high enthusiasm will be sure to inspire anybody around you. CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Your charisma will no doubt attract a lot of attention. Make sure all of your travel and driver's documents are in proper order. Luck is with you, regardless of the financial venture. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) You will find that friends or relatives may not understand your needs. Start sending out those resumes. Rethink your motives and make the necessary changes to yourself. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Unreliable people will be negative about your ideas. Don't believe everything you hear. Escapist tendencies will result in a poor reputation and a lack of confidence.

Hikers hoping to keep tradition of... (From page 31) International Indoor in 2006 and the Ventures International Indoor (Trinidad & Tobago) in 2008 to remain the only Caribbean Club to win indoor titles in all three countries. The majority of the players responsible for the club’s early success have since aged into the veterans’ category where they have reeled off the last four consecutive Diamond Mineral Water Veterans titles. The core of the current team is made up of outstanding youngsters like Jamarj Assanah, Andrew Stewart,

Aroydy and Rayon Branford. Stalwart Devin Munroe and the experienced trio of Robert France, Randy Hope and goalkeeper Jason Hoyte add the right balance to a team that is yet to taste defeat in 2016. They will be focused on keeping this record intact as they face the formidable challenges expected from Canada’s Toronto Lions, Trinidad’s Queen’s Park and “Bal Wash ers” from the Baltimore, Washington area of the USA. Although still to emulate their male counterparts, the Hikers ladies have seen

steady improvement in recent times. They will be strengthened by the addition of former Trinidadian National Players Alanna Lewis, Krizia Layne and Amanda George, as well as England based National captain Chantelle Fernandes. Combined with the outstanding young talents of Nicole Eastman, Latacia Chung and Tekeisha DeLeon, as well as the experience of Marisha Rodrigues, Maria Munroe and Latoya Fordyce, this year represents the club’s best chance to take home the Ladies title.

Defending Champions District six and... (From page 27) open ahead of Abigale Jeffrey of District 10 and Selena Blair of District 14 in that order. The 2000m boys U14 was taken by David Hicks of District six; Omarie Walcott of District four got second and Clevon Murray of District seven third. Nynza Poyer of District six took gold in the 2000, girls U14; Cyanna Retemiah of District three got silver and Chelsea Sanchara of District 10 bronze. Denzil Huntley of District 10 won the 2000m boys U16, while Ronaldo Narine of District 13 took the runner up spot and Ralph Seenarine of District six placed third. Kendra Dunn of District six won the 2000m girls U16 ahead of B’Yonca Barker of District 10 and Allia Roberts of District 13 respectively.

Pride crush... (From page 26) immediately following the break when he bowled JonRuss Jaggesar for three. For their efforts, Pride took away 18.4 points while Red Force mustered four. Scores: BARBADOS PRIDE 242 (Anthony A l l e y n e 8 8 , K e n r o y Wi l l i a m s 4 6 ; Sheldon Cottrell 3-27, Imran Khan 3-61) and 317 for two decl. (Anthony Alleyne 186, Shamarh Brooks 76 not out, Omar Phillips 40). TRINIDAD & TOBAGO RED FORCE 168 (Roshon Primus 65, Imran Khan 35; Kenroy Williams 3-21) and 99 (Kyle Hope 26, Yannic Cariah 25; Kevin Stoute 3-14, Kemar Roach 3-33).

The 2000m boys open was taken by Andrew Hicks of District six; Jornel Yearwood of District 10 finished second and Rockwell Smith of District two Pomeroon Supenaam got third. Shenika Teixeira of District six won the 2000m girls open while Abigail Jeffrey of District 10 and Junisca Blair of District seven finished second and third in that order. Delicia Sarmento of District six won the 800m girls open. Deancae Welch of District

six bagged gold in the 1000m girls open; Kenesha Williams of District five, West Coast Berbice placed second and Alicia McPherson of District 10 third. The 3000m girls open was won by Shenika Teixeira of District six, Abigail Jeffrey of District 10 got second and Kenesha Williams of District five third. Cortis Dey of District six won the Unknown Distance event which replaced the Devil takes the hindmost.

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday November 22, 2016

Hurricanes post record run Miller routs Volcanoes to chase to shock Jaguars hand Scorpions stunning win BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Leeward Islands Hurricanes laid waste to a 33-year-old record by executing the highest successful run chase in the history of the modern first class championship, as they shocked two-time reigning champions Guyana Jaguars by four wickets here yesterday. Set what appeared to be an improbable victory target of 369 on Sunday’s p e n u l t i m a t e d a y, Hurricanes batted imperiously to reach their target at 5:07 pm 0n the final day with 21 balls left in the contest at Warner Park, to register their first win over Jaguars in 2-1/2 years. The monumental effort was spearheaded by opener M ontcin Hodge who stroked 114 – his second first class hundred – while Jamaican Nkrumah Bonner hammered an up tempo 82 off 114 balls and opener and captain, Kieran Powell, 54. Wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton came at the end to unleash a cameo unbeaten 49 from 43 deliveries and it was he who hit the winning runs, smashing left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie over long on for six to end the game in style. Left-arm spinner Ve e r a s a m m y P e r m a u l claimed four for 109. The effort by Hurricanes eclipsed the previous best run chase back in 1983

Montcin Hodge

when Windward Islands overhauled 368 to beat Trinidad and Tobago by two wickets at Queen’s Park Oval. For the Hurricanes, it was their first win of the new Regional Four-Day Championship season following their draw against Barbados Pride in the opening round here last week and represents one of their best starts to a first class campaign in recent years, after a tough last few seasons. Jaguars, meanwhile, saw their unbeaten streak finally broken, as the loss was their first in 19 outings. Resuming the day on 47 without loss and requiring a further 322 for victory, Hurricanes were propelled by t h r e e v i t a l partnerships. Hodge extended his first wicket stand with Powell to 93 and added a superb 145 for the fourth wicket with Bonner – a partnership that set up the win. A n d w h e n Hurricanes lost three wickets for 23 runs in the final session, Hamilton and Jeremiah Louis – who was unbeaten on 26 at the end – combined in an unbroken 63-run, seventh wicket partnership to seal the result.

Hodge and Powell set the tone early on, carrying Hurricanes safely through the first hour to frustrate Jaguars. The right-handed Hodge, starting the day on 26, faced 287 deliveries in just over 6-1/2 hours and counted ten fours and a six while Powell, unbeaten on 20 at the start, faced 113 balls in just over 2-3/4 hours at the crease and struck five fours and a six. Powell eventually holed out in the deep off Permaul and Akeem Saunders followed soon afterwards for ten, stumped trying to use his feet to the same bowler. Hodge put on 32 with left-hander Chesney Hughes (23) in a stand that took Hurricanes to lunch on 134 for two and when Hughes fell in the fourth over following the resumption, it paved the way for Hodge and Bonner to entertain. The right-handed Bonner was positive from the outset, stroking three fours in three hours at the crease and his enterprise saw Hurricanes reach tea at 236 without further loss. Hodge reached triple figures in the fifth over after the break before finally departing, missing a charge at Permaul and going stumped. Even then, however, Hurricanes kept their focus and Bonner and Hamilton ensured there was no disappointment late on.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Champion left-arm spinner Nikita Miller snatched his 24th five-wicket haul in first class cricket to fire Jamaica Scorpions to a stunning come-from-behind 41-run victory over hapless Windward Islands Volcanoes here yesterday. With the visitors set a mere 106 to win at Sabina Park, captain Miller scythed through their innings with five for 22 to send them tumbling for 64 all out on the final day of the second round game in the Regional FourDay Championship, that saw 18 wickets fall. He was well supported by leg-spinner Damion Jacobs who finished with three for 17, as Scorpions picked up their first win of the season following their defeat to Guyana Jaguars in Georgetown last week. For Volcanoes, it was their second straight loss, coming on the backs of their nine-wicket defeat to

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in Port of Spain in the last round. No such result for Scorpions seemed possible when they slumped from their overnight 92 for two to 159 all out, with opener John Campbell top-scoring with 6 7 a n d Te s t b a t s m a n Jermaine Blackwood getting 27. The pair extended their overnight third wicket partnership to 46 before being separated, when Blackwood departed in the day’s sixth over after adding 11 to his overnight score. His dismissal triggered a terminal decline for Scorpions as they lost their last seven wickets for just 31 runs in quick time, as 21year-old left-arm spinner Larry Edward picked up career-best figures of six for 20. Campbell, unbeaten on 43 overnight, completed his seventh first class half-

century, striking six fours off 141 balls in three hours at the crease. Then, what should have been a straightforward run chase quickly turned into a nightmare for Volcanoes as they lost wickets steadily, with only opener Devon Smith (19) and all-rounder Kyle Mayers (15 not out) reaching double figures. Scorpions claimed 16.2 points while Volcanoes picked up 5.2. Scores: J A M A I C A SCORPIONS 151 (Devon Thomas 51; Shane Shillingford 5-32, Delorn Johnson 2-53) and 159 (John Campbell 67, Jermaine Blackwood 27; Larry Edward 6-20, Kyle Mayers 245). WINDWARD ISLANDS VOLCANOES 205 (Sunil Ambris 61, Kyle Mayers 61, Kavem Hodge 16; Oshane Thomas 2-26, Derval Green 2-27) and 64 (Nikita Miller 522, Damion Jacobs 3-17).

Pride crush Red Force to snare first win P O R T O F S PA I N , Trinidad, CMC – Barbados Pride pulled off an emphatic victory over Trinidad and Tobago Red Force here yesterday, when they crushed their perennial arch-rivals by 292 runs, to notch their first win of the newly minted Regional Four-Day Championship. The visitors secured victory in the first over after lunch on the final day of the second round contest as Red Force crumbled for an embarrassing 99 in their second innings, in pursuit of an unlikely target of 392 at Queen’s Park Oval. Pride’s assault was led by captain Kevin Stoute who snatched three for 14 while fellow seamer, Test bowler Kemar Roach, finished with three 33. Resuming the day on 57 for three, Red Force lost their last six wickets for 42 runs – with opener Jeremy Solozano again unable to bat because of illness. Other than Kyle Hope (26) and Yannic Cariah (25) who perished on Sunday’s third day, no other batsman made it into double figures. Pride were forced to wait until the eighth over of the morning before finding success when Roach had captain Yannick Ottley, yet to score overnight, caught at the

Captain Kevin Stoute appeals for an lbw decision against Roshon Primus during Barbados Pride’s victory over T&T Red Force on Monday. (Photo courtesy WICB Media)

wicket for two with the score on 64. In the very next over, leftarm spinner Jomel Warrican had nightwatchman Marlon Richards caught at bat-pad for seven without any addition to the overall score, to leave Red Force reeling. Debutant Jyd Goolie spent 46 minutes and 26 balls over nine before he was bowled by Stoute who struck

again in his next over by removing Roshon Primus to a catch at the wicket for two, at 80 for seven. Wicketkeeper Steven Katwaroo holed out in the deep off pacer Justin Greaves for eight before lunch as the Red Force innings lay in ruins at 99 for eight at the interval. And Roach applied the finishing touches (Continued on page 25)

Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 22, 2016

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MOE/GTU Nat schools swimming C/Ships

District 11 continues Pool dominance North G/Town district copped the swim meet yesterday. (Photos by Sean Devers)

The start of the Girls U-15 100 Meters Freestyle event.

In sweltering heat at the National Aquatic Centre on the East Coast, District 11 (North GT) continued their dominance in the Pool accumulating 401 points in a commanding display of swimming as the Ministry of Education (MOE) & Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) National Schools Championships got on the way with Swimming and cycling yesterday. On a day in which there were a few hiccups including a 42-minute late start, the late arrival of meals, and inadequate seats and Tents for the swimmers and their supporters, District 11 again

won the swimming in convincing fashion and not surprisingly dis played superior technique especially when ‘turning’ off the wall and entering the pool in the Backstroke category. District 10 (Upper Demerara-Kwakwini) finished second but were 194 points adrift of the Champions, while District 1 (North West) and District 13 (South Georgetown) finished in fourth position. Under blue skies with a cooling breeze helping with the uncomfortable heat, the large gathering created a wonderful atmosphere with

especially the New Amsterdam-Canje fans from BHS, urging their District on with plenty raucous support. But that did little to halt the North Georgetown unit from repeating their performance from last year’s event at the same venue. Districts like Essequibo Coast-Pomeroon, PotaroSiparuni, Rupununi and Cuyuni-Mazaruni, all rivering communities, showed the love of the water and while North West team showed fight in the pool, members of the other teams who learnt to swim in Rivers, Creeks and Lakes struggled badly with poor techniques

when performing out of their natural habitat. The City based swimmers have access to proper Coaches and Pools and some of the rural area Coaches lamented that their charges had very little experience swimming in an International pool and without the luxury of goggles struggled with the chlorine treated water when it got into their eyes. Meanwhile, Amy Grant who has been off swimming for some time was given the thumbs up from Doctor Rohan Jabour when he told her that she could resume swimming Saturday 12th

November. Amy was entered for the 50m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke in the Girls under 16 Category and the Girls 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay. Amy won Gold in the 50m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke and 4 x 50m Relay. She took Silver in the 50m Butterfly which was won by Kenita Mahaica. Amy Grant will move over to the track at the National Stadium tomorrow where she will be competing in the 800m in the Girls Under 16 category. The Berbice teams (Districts 5 (West Berbice), District 15 (New

Amsterdam-Canjie) and District 6 (Corentyne) finished at the bottom of the points standing in that order. According to President of (GASA) Ivan Persaud, S c h o o l ’s s w i m m i n g competitions were around for a very long time and not much improvement was evident from the out-ofCoast swimmers since no Coaching is being done for these Children. Persaud added that this tournament was run by the MOE and GTU, informing that GASA contributed the officials for swimming category. (Sean Devers)

Defending Champions District six and 10 locked in keen tussle for cycling title By Zaheer Mohamed Defending champions of the National Schools Cycling Championship, District six Corentyne are being hard pressed to retain their title as the event got underway yesterday at the National Park. They are closely followed by District 1 0 U p p e r Demerara/Kwakwani who are one point behind on 268. The overall title is now largely dependent on the 40km boys Open and the 25km girls Open road races which will be held on Friday. Yesterday’s events saw outstanding performances from District’s six Whitney Poyer, Balram Narine, Ralph Seenarine, Shenika Teixeira, Cortis Dey, Deancae Welch, Delicia Sarmento, District 1 0 J o r n e l Ye a r w o o d , B’Yonka Barker, Denzil Huntley and Wakenaam born Cyanna Retemiah of D i s t r i c t t h r e e We s t

Demerara/Essequibo Islands. The athletes must be given credit for the efforts despite the absence of a medical personnel at such an important event which didn’t had a public address system to keep the public informed of the events as they unfolded. The boys 800m U16 was taken by Jerome Stephen of District 13 South Georgetown, while Whitney Poyer of District six captured the 800m girls U16. Esau Lowden of District 10 carted off the 800m boys U14, while his teammate Thersea Spencer grabbed the female equivalent. Balram Narine gave District Six success once again when they pedaled to victory in the 800m boys Open ahead of District’s 10 Christopher Joseph and Jason Cameron of District 15 New Amsterdam respectively.

Cyanna Retemiah

Ralph Seenarine of District six edged Denzil Huntley of District 10 to win the 3000m boys U16 while David Hicks of District six powered his way to victory in the 3000m boys U14; Lowden of District 10 took the runner up spot, while

Clevon Murray of District seven Bartica finished third. Jornel Yearwood of District 10 rode to victory in the 3000m boys open; Cortis Dey of District six finished second and Jason Cameron of District 15 placed third. Cyanna Retemiah of

District Three won the 1000m girls U14, while Selena Stephen of District seven placed second and Dayna Roberts of District 14 East Bank Demerara third. Kevin Reddy of District seven took gold in the 1000m boys U14, while Lowden of District 10 grabbed the silver. Jerome Stephen of District 13 captured the 1000m boys U16 event while Huntley of District 10 finished second and Mark Welcome of District 12 East Georgetown third. The girls 1000m U16 was taken by Kendra Dunn of District six ahead of Destheney Lewis of District 15. Nyanza Poyer of District six grabbed the 1000m girls U14; Chelcia Sanchara of District 10 placed second while Cyanna Retemiah of District three got third. The 1000m boys U14 was taken by Omari Walcott of District four East Coast

Demerara; Tryston Louisy of District 13 ended in second spot and Kevin Reddy of District seven third. Kevin Monah of District 10 won the 1500m boys U16 ahead of Ronaldo Narine of District 13 and Rokeel Gordon of District six. Narine was successful in the 3000m boys U16. Shenika Teixeira of District six romped to victory in the 1500m girls open while Olesa McPherson of District 10 took the runner up spot and Saudia De Silva of District four placed third. The 1500m boys open was won by Andrew Hicks of District six; Adealie Hodge of District 11 North Georgetown got second and Christopher Joseph of District 10 finished in third position. D e a n c a e We l c h o f District six powered her way to gold in the 400m girls (Continued on page 25)

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday November 22, 2016

Auto Fashion wins Novel Beginner’s Golf Tournament at Lusignan Golf Club Auto Fashion of 34 Seaforth St & Campbell Avenue, Campbelville, Georgetown, (Tel:2256211,) one of the leading distributors of auto accessories in Guyana, with over five years of experience in the Guyanese market, raced to the front ahead of Digicel, CIDI and Regal Stationery companies at the Novel Beginner’s Golf tournament held on Sunday at the Lusignan Golf Club. The representatives of the four participating companies enjoyed a session of competitive and fun golf so much so that one of the rookies felt if he had one week’s practice he would be good enough to challenge last Saturday’s Grand Coastal winner Parmanand Max Persaud, whose brainchild the tournament was. In addition to Auto Fashion, the companies competing were Caribbean International Distributors Inc, (CIDI) of Lot D Rome Street, Mc Doom, East Bank D e m e r a r a , ( Te l : 2 3 3 0867/0911); D IG ICEL Guyana, of 8 Fort Street Kingston, a generous and outstanding corporate citizen who sponsors activities and organisations across a wide spectrum, and

was the major sponsor of the recently concluded 2016 Digicel Guyana Open, Golf Tournament; and Regal Stationery & Computer Centre of 13 Seaforth St, Campbellville (Tel:2264205). Each company fielded four representatives. The competition was played under a Medal Play Scramble system as follows: Two players from the same company formed a team, and their combined play was used to produce one score. Each of them hit a ball, and of the two balls played the one that landed in the position they preferred was taken as the ball position to be used for the next play. In this way, four players (2 teams) produced only two final scores. The sum of the two scores was used to determine the company’s total performance.The tournament started at about 10:00 a.m. with all players starting from Hole 1, and playing 9 Holes. At the end of play winners were: 1st Auto Fashion (gross 98); 2nd Digicel (100); 3rd CIDI (104) and 4th Regal (106). (A prize was not awarded to 4th place.) Nearest to the Pin was won by Rajesh Singh of Auto Fashion, who also got a

At right the winners pose with Joaan Deo: Standing from left, Ravi Jagdat (CIDI), Roland Fanfair (Digicel), Paul Parasram (Digicel), Rohan Mangal (Digicel), Trevor Parasram (CIDI), Bidesh Persaud (Digicel), Pradeep Baidjoe (CIDI), and Leon Sewnandan (CIDI). Sitting from left: Rajesh Singh (Auto), Joaan Deo, Ravin Balkaran (Auto), and Saeed Mohammed (Auto). In front is Kennard Singh of Auto. Birdie at that hole! Longest Drive was won by Leon Sewnandan of CIDI. Captain Chatterpaul Chen Deo congratulated the participants and expressed

the Club’s appreciation for the great initiative and drive of Max and Per Persaud in bringing about the tournament. Joaan Deo, recent 2016

Harry makes presentation to Joanna Archer

Joanna Archer (second, left) receives the gear from Gervy C. Harry while Headmaster of West Demerara Secondary, Harrinarine (second, right) among other teachers and students share the moment. Administrative Officer at the National Sports Commission (NSC), Gervy C. Harry made a timely contribution to the efforts of West Demerara’s Joanna

Archer when he handed over some gear to the bourgeoning studentathlete. Harry made the presentation ahead of the

start of the track and field competition of the National Schools’ Championships today at the National Stadium. Headmaster of the

We s t D e m e r a r a Secondary School, Harrinarine was also present for the occasion a m o ng several other teachers.

Digicel Guyana Open female champion, on behalf of Max and Per Persaud and the participating companies, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be involved

in the game and thanked the Club for the support of the members and caddies who came out and were a great help to the participants.

Panic behind Windies meltdown, says Radford B U L A W A Y O , Zimbabwe, CMC – Batting coach Toby Radford said West Indies were guilty of panicking in the late stages of their Tri-Nations Series clash with Zimbabwe last Saturday, which resulted in the tied game at Queens Sports Club. West Indies seemed en route to an uncomplicated victory in pursuit of 258 in their second game of the tournament, when they reached 220 for two in the 45th over. However, they lost six wickets for 37 runs in the space of 32 balls – including three wickets in the last over with four runs required – as Zimbabwe forced their way back into the contest to earn a share of the points. “We needed 60 runs with eight wickets in hand [at one stage] and nine times out of

ten you’d expect the batting side to do that,” Radford said. “I think a little bit of panic set in which is easy when you’re away from home and there’s a noisy crowd. To be fair, they (Zimbabwe) actually bowled well and took the pace off on what was a slowish wicket.” He added: “There were big boundaries and we made a made a couple of good strikes to keep us in with a chance of winning and I think after we got into that position it was just a case of knocking the ball around but one or two [players] sort of panicked under the pressure and then we ended up with the tie rather than the win which we probably deserved.” The run chase had been (Continued on page 25)

Kaieteur News

Tuesday November 22, 2016

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Guyanese sweep Srefidensi Marathon in Suriname Lionel D’Andrade bursts through the tape to win the Srefidensi Marathon in Suriname.

Euleen Josiah-Tanner Guyanese enduring distance running aces, Lionel D’Andrade and Euleen Josiah-Tanner won the male and female overall

categories respectively at the Srefidensi Marathon in Suriname over the last weekend. D’Andrade won in

2:52.27 ahead of two Surinamese, Udenhout Guillermo (2:56.03) and Carlos Felixsdaal (3:07.42), while Tanner outran Sandra

Ammersingh (4:08.43) and Guyanese teammate Cyrleen Phillips (4:15.47) respectively with a winning 3:29.38 time.

D’Andrade, who is currently in Guyana but did not compete in last weekend’s South American 10km Road Race Classic,

thanked his sponsor Mohamed Khan of Builders L u m b e r Ya r d f o r t h e continued support for his career.

Hamilton Green 82nd Birthday 9-a-side football now Sunday at Den Amstel

Joel Dick Due to the start of the GFF League, the organiser had postponed the start of the 82nd birthday celebration 9a-side football tournament in recognition of former Prime Minister of Guyana and Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green from last weekend. However, the event will be played at the Den Amstel ground on the West of Demerara on Sunday starting form 2:00pm. The event is organised by Former National Football player and Coach, Lennox Arthur, who has organised football programmes in honour of Mr. Green’s birth anniversary for over 30 years now and keen competition is promised come Sunday. Keen competition is anticipated with some of the leading players in this format

Shemroy Arthur expected to be in action throughout the afternoon into the evening. Among those on show include Joshua Jamal of South Sophia, Shem Porter of Alexander Village, Joel Dick of Grove, Mervin Joseph of Soesdyke, Trayon Bobb and Jamaal Harvey of Uitvlugt and Delon Lanferman and Andre Hector of Den Amstel and Shemroy Arthur of South Sophia. The winner will collect $200,000, while the runnerup will claim $100,000, with both receiving trophies put up by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo. The MVP gets the Trophy Stall trophy, Best Goalie gets the Business School trophy, while the player scoring the most goals collects a Lazy Boy chair from AH&L Kissoon and the

Joshua Kamal Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport trophy. The fixtures today start with: Tucville vs Wales, Kitty vs Mocha, Pouderoyen vs Alexander Village, Crane vs Kuru Kururu, Stewartville vs Grove, Uitvlugt vs Soesdyke, Sara Lodge vs South Sophia and Den Amstel vs Herstelling. The winners will advance to the quarterfinals with the respective winners from those matches battling in the semis and eventual final. Among the sponsors assisting is lead sponsor Top Brandz of Broad and High Street, distributors of the popular Interstate vehicle batteries, Busta, Macorp, Ready Mix, Guyoil, IPA, BEV Processors Inc., EC

Vieira, Sattuar Gafoor and Gafsons, Cummings Electrical, Tecnomills, Namilco, E networks, Massy, BM Soat, RK Security, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo,

Mervin Joseph Ramesh Sunich of the Trophy Stall, James Bovell of the Business School, AH&L Kissoon, Nexen Global, China Trading, Silvie’s, Tritipaul Singh and Ramchan Ragubeer.

Teams will be playing according to the Inter Ward/Village tournament rules in accordance to FIFA rules. The no offside rule is also in effect in this format.

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday November 22, 2016

Record turnout at King Medas/Pansy Adonis Classic road race

Participants gathered for the presentation after the King Medas/Pansy Adonis Classic road race at Paradise which had many attractive prizes on offer. Just around 3 years ago, the King Medas/Pansy Adonis Classic road race was born. The race developed tremendously over the years and the 3rd edition, competed recently, was maybe, the largest and attracted over 500 athletes from Berbice, Linden and Georgetown. The race culminated at Paradise road head, East Coast Demerara, and witnessed the President’s College fielding the largest contingent (approximately 100 athletes) to set up a day of tough competitive action for what was arguably the largest number of clubs to participate in the competition to date. Touted as the singular (athletic) event to have attracted such a wide cross section of local athletes, the event attracted participants from as young as 4 years with the eldest being 72 years old. Seon Dover won the boys, 8 & under category in a time of 3:59secs with Vibert Mago and Malachi Isaacs completing the podium spots. Lotrell Cox finished 4th while the other 4 succeeding positions were occupied by Daniel Haimer, Caleb Peters, Stephen Adonis and Arimani Mingo. Four years old, Rayston Peters, demonstrated remarkable grit and is

definitely an athlete for the future. The organizers have singled him out for special mention, while emphasizing that the aim of the meet is to discover young talent and work with them to achieve lofty goals. “We have discovered several young talents and will work assiduously along with the corporate community and other stakeholders to place these children into a special developmental programme,” the organizers assured in a press release. Meanwhile, Tamara Harvey clinched the first place in the Girls 8 & Under girls event while 4 years old, USA based, Kunusasha Medas-King, defied ill fortunes after falling during the race; she determinedly rejoined the fracas to finished 7th. Emily Fraser, at age 3 years and 7 months was the youngest female participant to cross the line. The 9-12 years division also witnessed stiff competition with Okemi Porter winning in a time of 8:24secs with Kcaysha Medas-King coming in second. In the 13-16 years category, Okemi Porter dominated in a time of 8:24secs. President’s College representative, Odwin Tudor, dominated the 17-20 years male event in a time of 16:50 seconds while Robin

Phillips ran with the clock in the teacher’s event. Winston Messenger turned back a stiff challenge from Nathaniel Giddings to take the seniors category while Cleveland Thomas completed the podium spots in 5:33secs. Athletes from the President’s College carted off the prestigious prizes of computers and

tablets. Th e o rg an izer s ar e pleased with the quality of the race and thanked their many supporters, athletes and sponsors. Those business enterprises coming in for commendation included Ansa Mc Al, D a d d y ’s E n t e r p r i s e , Shelmac Photo Studio, Banks DIH Ltd, Signal

Department, MTA, the Adonis family as well as the many friends and families who rendered unswerving support. They also had special words for the teachers who took care of the children. The Guyana Police Force also came in for high commendations for their professional stance in

guiding the race along the route and other security issues. H o s t o f Wa k e U p Guyana, Basil Bradshaw, also received kudos for his role in promoting the event as well as Jamaican, Barry Minott, who travelled to Guyana to be a part of the organizing committee.

Trophy Stall adds to Mohamed’s Enterprise New Era Futsal tourney Ramesh Sunich and the Trophy Stall continues their support for local sports this time for the Mohamed’s Enterprise New Era Futsal tournament which starts Friday at the Mackenzie Sports Club, Hard Court in Linden. Bryan Breeze, a representative of the Trophy Stall presented the trophy on behalf of Sunich to Aubrey M a j o r J n r. , N e w E r a Director. Sunich has been supporting all levels of sports in Guyana and came on board with this tournament set for the Linden community. Game nights are fixed for Friday with the opening, followed by action on November 26, December 2, 3, 9, 10, 17, 23 and 26 the grand finale. The first prize is $400,000 along with trophies and replicas. The second placed team will claim $150,000 and trophy, third $75,000 and trophy and fourth place collects a trophy. Other prizes are on offer f o r t h e M V P, B e s t Goalkeeper and Best Young

Bryan Breeze of the Trophy Stall hand over the trophy to Aubrey Major Jnr., New Era Director. Player. Exhibition contests featuring Promoters versus the Referees, Taxi Drivers against Mini Bus Drivers

and a specially arranged Media contest is also on the card. Other sponsors include main sponsor, Mohamed’s

Enterprise, Ansa McAl, Cell Smart, Nalico Nafico, Sankar’s Auto Works and Bumper to Bumper Auto Services.

Tuesday November 22, 2016

Kaieteur News

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GFF / Stag Beer Elite League

Opening day wins for Fruta Conquerors, GDF -Action continues this Friday at Tucville

Part of the action in the clash between Fruta Conquerors and Topp XX at the DCC ground in Queenstown.

Fruta Conquerors marksmen Jermin Junior (left) and Kwame LaFleur pose for a photo op following their win over Topp XX on Sunday. Fruta Conquerors and Guyana Defence Force (GDF) coasted to easy wins on opening day of Season Two of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League which commenced on Sunday, at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, Queenstown. Fruta Conquerors playing in the feature game against debutant Linden’s Topp XX cruised to a comfortable 3-0 triumph with Jermin Junior firing in a brace, while Kwame

LaFleur added the other to complete their tally. Played before a fairsized crowd that included Minister of State Joseph Harmon, GFF President Wa y n e F o r d e , Vi c e Presidents Bruce Lovell and Rawlston Adams, the North East Georgetown-based side took the lead after thirty eight minutes when Junior unleashed a powerful shot from inside the penalty area that settled into the back of the net. He was back in action

two minutes later to finish off a clever move by teammate Eon Alleyne, who weaved into the box, before squaring a pass to Junior who finished past the opposing goalkeeper. Undaunted by their situation, Topp XX produced a few moments of brilliance with mid-fielder Travis Waterton the chief architect of their attacking forays. On one such occasion, he uncorked a stinging shot that crashed onto the crossbar, before rebounding into play.

Minutes later, Fruta Conquerors goalkeeper Derrick Carter had to spring into action to tip a ripping free-kick from about 22 yards out delivered by Waterton over the bar. However, having survived those anxious moments, Conquerors sealed the deal through LaFleur in the 73rd minute after he raced past his marker to fire into the left hand corner of the goal. Fruta Conquerors secured three points for the

victory. In the first encounter, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) sent an ominous warning to the other teams with a convincing 7-1 win over Victoria Kings. Sherwyn Caesar’s netted a hat-trick in the 78th, 87th and 90th minutes, while there was one each for Delroy Fraser, Jeffrey Pereira, Olvis Mitchell and Eusi Phillips scored in the 20th, 22nd, 30th and 50th minutes respectively. Marlis Johnson’s 85th

minute strike was the lone response for Kings. GDF now join Fruta Conquerors on three points to lead the table. Action in the League r e s u m e s o n F r i d a y, November 25th at the Tu c v i l l e g r o u n d w i t h another doubleheader. In the first game at 18:00hrs, Buxton United tackle Monedderlust, while Fruta Conquerors square off against Victoria Kings in the feature clash from 20:00hrs.

DMW International Hockey Festival

Hikers hoping to keep tradition of success Chantelle Fernandes

Hikers Hockey Club has a proud tradition of success at the Diamond Mineral Water International Hockey Festival. In the inaugural event back in 2004, the Hikers men endured the cruelest of defeats, leading 3-1 with a minute and thirty seconds left in the final, before they

were defeated in sudden death overtime after Jonathan Roberts scored twice for the Toronto Galaxy in the dying minutes of regulation time to take the match into overtime. As devastating as that defeat was, it became the catalyst for the years of sustained success that were

One of the rising stars of the Hikers famle team Nicole Eastman (centre) seen in action at the recently concluded GTT National Indoors Tournament.

to follow. In 2005, Hikers became the first local team to win the tournament they followed that up with a treble of titles in 2007, 2008 & 2009. This dominant side was led by Devin Munroe and included outstanding nationals such as Jerazeno Bell, Alex Gouveia and

Marvin Dannett, among others. Hikers men have since added the 2012 and 2014 trophies to their cabinet for a grand total of 6 titles, which is more than all the other men champions combined. The club’s success can be attributed to the foundation laid by former club and

Hikers Jamarg Assanah seen in action during a previous tournament.

national coach Timothy McIntosh, who returned in 1999, after spending five years at university in Germany where he competed in that country’s hockey leagues. G e r m a n y h a s consistently been the top indoor hockey nation in the world and McIntosh saw

fertile grounds for this form o f t h e g a m e l o c a l l y, considering it as Guyana’s best chance for international success since there was, and still remains, an absence of an artificial turf. U n d e r M c I n t o s h ’s tutelage Hikers men also won the Barbados (Continued on page 25)

t r o Sp Defending Champions District six and 10 locked in keen tussle for cycling title

District’s six Balram Narine (left) edges Christopher Joseph to the finish line.

Jerome Stephen of District 13 gestures as he is about to cross the finish line. (Photos by Zaheer Mohamed)

MOE/GTU Nat schools swimming C/Ships

District 11 continues Pool dominance

The Swimmers turned out in large numbers yesterday.

Opening day wins for Fruta Conquerors, GDF 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