Kaieteur News

Thursday Edition November 26, 2015 - Vol. 8 No. 48

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

Four arrested in Celina standoff Suspected rapist shot by police The wounded Jaime lamaison

Tax evasion matter against Irfaan Ali dropped RUSAL to face charges for labour infractions …employees made to pay hospital bills for injuries on job

Convicted drug trafficker Slain hospital dispatcher’s Peter Morgan reputed husband surrenders back in Guyana

Govt. contracts Fedders Lloyd to build, equip Specialty Hospital

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Suspected rapist shot by police

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Middle Road La Penitence man is receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to his left leg which he sustained when he tried to escape from a policeman who was about to arrest him.

The man whose name was given as Jaime Lamaison was being arrested for an alleged rape he had committed earlier yesterday.

According to reports, Lamaison is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in a house at Middle Road, La Penitence.

“People see the girl come running out the house with she bloody clothes. Then he

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

beat out,” a source in the area told this newspaper.

The police were called in and they remained on the lookout since they were certain that he would return home.

Sure enough, Lamaison turned up to collect some of his clothes around 18:45 hours.

A police rank who was a part of the team hunting Lamaison, confronted him and during efforts to arrest him, shot Lamaison in his leg.

He was placed into a police vehicle and taken to the Georgetown Hospital for medical attention.

Convicted drug trafficker Peter Morgan back in Guyana Guyanese auto sales businessman and race car driver, Peter Morgan, is back on local soil after completing a 10 year sentence in the United States of America for drug trafficking.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum confirmed yesterday that Morgan was handed over to local law enforcement officers by US officials after he was deported following the completion of his sentence.

Morgan underwent the normal procession of deportees by detectives at the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters before he was released.

In 2010, Morgan was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges. The sentence was deferred on several occasions, which suggested that there was a plea deal.

But since Morgan was held since 2007, a US Judge had ruled that the time served be taken into consideration with regard to the period he would spend behind bars.

The businessman was facing a three-count indictment which accused him of conspiring to import, possess and distribute five kilograms of cocaine between December 2001 and August 2003.

Morgan was nabbed in March 2007 in Trinidad by Trinidadian and US authorities while he was intransit at Piarco International Airport. He was extradited to the US on August 23, 2007, after he withdrew a last-ditch appeal he had made in the Port-of-Spain Appellate Court.

His capture in Port of

Spain was reminiscent of that of another Guyanese businessman, Shaheed ‘ Roger’ Khan who is currently serving time in US prison on similar charges.

Khan was also arrested in Tr i n i d a d a f t e r b e i n g deported from Suriname.

Morgan was charged in December 1999 following an arms bust at the John Fernandes Wharf in Georgetown. Members of the Guyana Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department unearthed 14 guns, including semiautomatic weapons, pumpaction rifles and revolvers in a container consigned to the businessman. Also, ranks recovered over 3000 rounds of ammunition in the container, which had been shipped from Miami, Florida

by Nankumar Budhan, to Morgan. Local law enforcement agents had requested assistance from Interpol in relation with the investigation.

On December 21, Morgan and Budhan appeared in the Georgetown

Peter Morgan Magistrates’ Court to answer charges in relation to the guns and ammunition find.

On January 20, 2000, Budhan, who had shipped the container in which the guns and ammunition were found pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to one year in prison on all five of the charges. He however spent only one year since the sentences ran concurrently.

The charges against Morgan were dropped on the advice of the DPP.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Tax evasion matter against Irfaan Ali dropped

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inance Minister, Winston Jordan, categorically stated yesterday that a case involving tax evasion on a sports vehicle by former Housing Minister, Irfaan Ali has been dropped.

He said that after “personally examining the facts” it was clear to see that, “Ali didn’t commit any wrong.”

The Finance Minister said, “I examined the matter and all the documents involved and what I can say is that someone at inland authority was just too overzealous. Ali was in no way wrong, he committed no act of impropriety and as a result of that Government has dropped the matter.”

In early September, it was reported that Ali received a letter from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to pay up to $40M in taxes for a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) he imported last year.

But the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee insisted that he had received permission for exemptions.

On August 23, he released a letter dated

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Former Housing Minister, Irfaan Ali March 3, 2014 that he purportedly received from G R A’s C o m m i s s i o n e r General, Khurshid Sattaur, approving the importation.

Under regulations, MPs, Ministers, State and other officials are entitled to tax waivers on vehicles.

They can import used vehicles every three years.

For new vehicles, officials are not allowed to import one before a five-year period has passed, a senior GRA official explained.

GRA contended that while serving as a Minister in the

previous administration, Ali imported two luxury Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) within the last five years when he was only entitled to one.

Ali is now a Member of Parliament (MP) for the o p p o s i t i o n P e o p l e ’s Progressive Party (PPP).

Ali had taken to his Facebook page late August claiming that it was brought to his attention by a senior GRA official, that instructions have been given to institute taxes on “motor vehicle I acquired through legal means as a Member of Parliament in the 10th Parliament.”

Ali insisted that the concession was recommended and approved by all the relevant authorities. ”I was shocked when this officer approached me… after the Parliament to inform me that I will be receiving a letter from GRA…asking me to pay taxes on this vehicle.”

Ali claimed that the issue is really about “witch hunting” and “vindictive action” aimed at members of the former Government, which “will not move me and my convictions”.

Guyana banking on C/wealth support against Venezuela President David Granger yesterday morning departed for the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), in Malta. The forum opens on Friday and ending Sunday.

With the President set to once again deliver a strong message on the security of small states, particularly in light of the resurgence of Venezuela’s aggression, the Commonwealth Heads are set to consider and ratify a declaration in support of Guyana’s stance on the issue.

Speaking briefly, while in transit in Trinidad and Tobago, the President said,

“We have always been able to enjoy the support of the Commonwealth and we will continue to work with our partners in the Commonwealth to ensure that their support continues undiminished and that we send a message to aggressor states, in this case Venezuela, that we are not alone.”

President Granger, the Ministry of the Presidency said yesterday, noted that if Venezuela believes it has a claim, that country should present the evidence of its assertion to an international forum so that the matter can be resolved. “We feel that slowly (Continued on page 18)

Slain dispatcher’s reputed husband surrenders

Melissa Skeete

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fter two days on the run, the man who stabbed his reputed wife and dumped her from his car, causing her death, has surrendered to the police.

Kaieteur News was told that the man, Alan Sim, turned himself in with his attorney Patrice Henry, at the Alberttown Police Station early yesterday morning.

He was questioned by detectives yesterday and is scheduled to undergo further grilling today.

Sim is being accused of killing Georgetown Public Hospital dispatcher Melissa Skeete, of 94 Prince William Street, Plaisance, East Coast Demerara.

The mother of four died on Monday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) hours

after she was allegedly stabbed by her jilted lover who then kicked her out of his car on Carmichael Street, Georgetown in broad daylight.

The incident occurred around 16:30 hrs in the vicinity of Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre.

Detectives, acting on information reportedly provided by the suspect, returned to the area where Skeete was pushed from the car, for clues that could strengthen their case.

Shortly after stabbing Skeete, the suspect had called one of her friends and when the individual asked why he injured the woman, he denied and ended the call.

It is not yet clear if Sim has admitted to police his reason for killing Skeete.

According to reports, the woman left work around 15:00 hrs on Monday. The hospital security guards recalled seeing the woman entering the suspect’s car.

There are reports that before Skeete left the hospital with the suspect, she left his car registration number, PRR 6841 and her cell phone number with one of her colleagues.

The woman reportedly told her co-worker that she does not trust the man and requested that he (coworker) call her phone later in the day to ensure that everything was okay.

She also asked that if anything should happen to her, he should hand over the car registration number to the

The suspect after he surrendered to police police.

Skeete was attacked shortly after leaving with the suspect. She was taken to the hospital by a man who saw her lying on the road in blood.

There are reports that the woman and the suspect who share one child separated some time back after she was frequently abused by the man.

Kaieteur News was told that after the separation, the suspect would show up at the w o m a n ’s h o m e a n d physically abuse her.

Some time last week, the suspect went to the woman’s house and destroyed her windows, forcing her to move from that location.

Skeete’s co-workers recalled the woman complaining to them that her lover threatened to kill her.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

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

Haji Roshan Khan says the sugar strike is to bring down Guysuco DEAR EDITOR, Why do political leaders always desire to make it difficult for the Government of the day? Except for the days when Dr. CheddiJagan was in power, I recall as a youth, he given support to the Forbes Burnham’s Government with what was called ‘Critical Support?’ I recall when the then Prime Minister/President, was trying with great difficulty to make peace with Dr. Jagan for a truly united country.

Many of our hearts crave that unity, not just lip service but inclusive government.

Imagine what we as a people can achieve. Imagine what heights our country and standards of living we can raise to! Our politicians need to stop making threats and attend to personal egos, ambition and power.

The strike, this strike, to bring down Guysuco is not good. It is for want of money, more money, or promised money, but not well at this time. Not good for anyone.

Days not worked for, the poor workers lose.

The holiday season is here and pressure to spend and enjoy is reality. With loss of work and no pay, it will mean difficulties and

disappointments for families.

Will the GAWU management and those in opposition also refuse to accept money from salaries? As they call the strike, they should also lose salaries and benefits. That will truly display solidarity with the strikers. Will GAWU and the opposition leaders agree to this? I guess not.

My appeal to GAWU is to understand, as it was said by the PPP while in Government during the election campaigns, and after, that the APNU/AFC wish to close down Guysuco. I do not know about this, but I do know that Guysuco provides enormous employment and opportunities directly and indirectly supports the entire economy. If that is the case, do not give the Government whom you believe wish to shut down Guysuco, the opportunity to think, or even do it.

This strike and frequency of them could cause just that.

One needs to think, calculate, articulate, strategize and then act. Do not use the poor to achieve political ends. I am not a political person but a lover of Guyana, one who is proud to be a patriot of this country.

To instigate a national

strike is to prevent the target of Guysuco from being realized; to affect guaranteed markets; affect the nation’s foreign currency; cause loss of reputation as a reliable supplier. Maybe cause loss of markets.

Remember GAWU, and politicians, sweeteners are easy to access around the world, be it from corn as corn syrup, or from European beet.

Sugar is produced much cheaper in Guatemala and Mexico and Brazil, even the USA and India. We must secure and protect our markets, many of which are preferential.

If we cannot supply, then the markets could withdraw preferential treatment due to incompetency. Use good wisdom, intellect in decision making.

Despite having political ambitions, which is understandable for being politicians, let us think of the welfare of our peoples and our country firstly. It is so sad to cause financial misery in the homes of some of the poorest people in this country. Let us look to stability and saving the sugar industry please leaders of Guyana, Government and opposition.

Haji Roshan Khan

DEAR EDITOR, I recently read a book written jointly by James Kouzes and Barry Postner titled “Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it”.

The book is about how leaders earn the trust and confidence of their constituents.

It is about what people demand of their leaders and the actions leaders must take in order to intensify their constituents’ commitment to a common cause.

The main thesis of the book is that people want

leaders who they can trust.

They want leaders who are credible; who hold to an ethic of service and are genuinely respectful of their intelligence and contributions.

They want leaders who will put principles ahead of individual interests and who put others before their own self-interests.

A salient point to note is that it is the constituent that confers authority on the leader and not the other way round.

A constituent is someone who has an active interest in

the work of an organization and who authorizes another to act on his or her behalf.

Hydar Ally

Ex-PPP Executive wants leaders people can trust

I support Vice-chancellor Opadeyi from what I read about him

DEAR EDITOR, As Professor Opadeyi is about to take his leave as Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG), Professor Nigel Harris, Chancellor of the UG, and Mr Joshua Griffith, President of the UG Students’ Society (UGSS), have publicly expressed their praise of him for his stewardship (‘UG Council approves transformation team’, Stabroek News, November 16, 2015; and ‘Professor Opadeyi improved UG – insists UGSS President’, Kaieteur News, November 23, 2015, respectively).

Generally, we know it is common courtesy to say nice things about a person when

the individual passes on, retires, or as in Professor Opadeyi’s case, demits office.

Yet, in my view from abroad and based on my limited interaction with him in my capacity as President of the Ontario Chapter of the UG Guild of Graduates, I believe the sentiments expressed by Chancellor Harris and UGSS President Griffith are genuine and reflect the significant contributions he has made to our alma mater.

From what I have read of his plans for the UG and the actions he took in his short tenure, I believe he was a man in hurry to bring about positive change at the UG. In my view, he was prepared to

move at the pace of a hare but others were accustomed to the pace of a tortoise. Sadly, he was not given the support of those who hired him, and when his zeal for a quick turn around at the institution clashed with entrenched attitudes, his fate was sealed.

In the end, the tortoise won.

Personally, I wish Professor Opadeyi success in his future endeavours. As for the UG staff and students, I am reminded of the old Guyanese saying “cow na know the use ah e tail till mosquita season”. I hope there will be no cause for regret when a new Vice Chancellor comes on board.

Harry Hergash

DEAR EDITOR, The Crime Chief’s recent disclosure that crime is not spiraling out of control is merely wishful thinking on his behalf.

I wonder which country he is living in.

No amount of doctored statistics and rhetoric can hide the fact that crime is definitely on the rise, especially gun crimes.

One just has to open the daily papers or listen to the news on television to view the numerous reports of robbery under arms, rape and murder.

It is plain as daylight to everyone that the situation is critical.

Many people thought that with a new government in

place we would have seen a major restructuring of the Guyana Police Force and a better, more efficient 911 service but guess what, neither has happened.

Instead what we have is the same hierarchy that existed under the PPP putting on a new face.

It is the opinion of some senior officers that the top three have bonded together and are in total control with the current Commissioner having more authority than he had when the PPP were in Government.

He is intolerant of dissent and criticism and rules with impunity, the “New Amsterdam scenario” is a prime example.

Minister Ramjattan lacks the capacity to supervise and influence the proper functioning of the force, a lot of people think he is all “bark and no bite.”

One would have expected that the President would have paid more attention to the happenings in the Guyana Police Force and asserted some authority directly or through his Minister but it seems he is “asleep at the wheels.”

Michael Anthony

Guyana Police Force needs to be overhauled now

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Thursday November 26, 2015

Four arrested in Celina standoff An ongoing standoff between the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) and Celina’s Atlantic Resort (CAR) over current expansion works yesterday saw four workers being arrested.

Charges are now likely against the resort operators for possible damage to the integrity of Kitty seawall, MPI said yesterday.

CAR, which has embarked on a US$5M ($1B) renovation at the hangout spot, is planning to have a modern entertainment facility completed by May next year in time for Guyana’s 50th Independence celebrations.

However, the Ministry says that the construction works are unlawful. Despite several cease work orders, CAR has refused to adhere.

Celina’s has insisted that its lease which was updated in 2011 allowed it to carry out works.

The Ministry had been preparing this week to approach the courts for an injunction to stop the works.

A statement from MPI yesterday confirmed that following a formal complaint to the Criminal Investigations Department, four workers were taken into police custody

Work at Celina’s on Tuesday.

after ranks visited the Kitty seawall site in the afternoon.

“For quite some time now, MPI has been concerned about the ongoing construction due to the risk it poses to sea defence. After MPI sought assistance in the matter (yesterday), the police legal advisor was contacted and informed of the situation.

In turn, advice was given that the police may proceed to prosecute CAR under the Sea

Defence Act,” the ministry explained.

When police visited the site at around 16:30 hrs, employees were at the time engaged in work. “While three persons were arrested on the spot, one subsequently came in. The employees were three operators and a mechanic. A police official has confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the extensive and detrimental work undertaken by CAR.” According to the Ministry, the employees have all singled out the same person as their employer.

“Additionally, the police are hoping that the arrests will send a clear message to both employees and employers at CAR and will act as a deterrent in the future.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David

Patterson, applauded the police’s swift response.

“I must commend the police for doing their job,” Minister Patterson emphasised. “The Ministry takes the protection of the sea defence and the preservation of our protection extremely seriously and we will continue to monitor the situation.”

The workers were expected to be released on station bail last evening.

On Tuesday, Celina’s spokeman, Bobby Vieira, was adamant that the current construction activities were not unlawful, but in conformity with permission granted under its lease which was renewed in 2011.

He said that the US$5M facility will boast a restaurant, bar, mini-golf course and kids’ park next year. A number of guest rooms are also planned.

At least three cease orders were issued this year to Bernard Yhun, whose name appears on the lease that was issued in 2003, under the Bharrat Jagdeo government.

Yhun has reportedly taken on an overseas-based Guyanese as a partner and developer.

Vieira said Tuesday that Celina’s has its permits and licences all paid up.

“We have the lease here which allowed the property to be developed. We have the restaurant and liquor licence paid up-to-date. You can’t have that unless you had permission in the lease that allowed you to build in the first place.”

Vieira said that works being done are not any new buildings.

“What is happening here is that workers are replacing a few windows in a building

and raising the level of the area by 12 inches. What is wrong with that? The mangroves are not being destroyed by clearing the vegetation.”

The tussle with Celina’s has reportedly caused some friction between a number of Ministries in the Government, with some Ministers for the development and others worried about environmental impact. Vieira noted that Celina’s is paying up to $500,000 monthly for security of the place.

Yhun was ordered to cease all work and remove the equipment and workers from the site.

In 2003, the land was leased for 50 years to Yhun for tourism purposes, for the establishment of a sea view resort. The land, east of the Kitty groyne and north of the seawall, was 1.54 acres, with Yhun asked to pay $1.5M every two years.

The lease was reportedly extended in 2011 to 100 years.

Celina’s lease barred it from undertaking any work without permits from Environmental Protection Agency. The business entity was also specifically barred from disturbing mangroves east of the property without consent of the Board.

Vieira on Tuesday claimed that no mangrove was disturbed, just vegetation.

Yhun was also told that he must move any equipment and materials to and from the area by the way of the sea.

He was forbidden to move any construction plant, equipment and materials over the sea defences without the Board’s permission.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

U.S. sanctions businessman helping Syrian government buy oil from Islamic State (Reuters) - The United States sanctioned a Syrian businessman yesterday who it said was a middleman for oil sales between Islamic State and the Syrian government, the latest salvo in an effort to cut off the flow of funds to the militant group.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that it had also sanctioned three other individuals for providing support to the Syrian government, and businesses linked to them, including a Russian bank.

The measures, the latest round of sanctions related to the ongoing civil war in Syria, freeze any U.S. assets and prohibit Americans from transactions with the targets.

Islamic State, which has been described by U.S. officials as the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind, is believed to derive much of its funding from oil fields seized from the Syrian government.

IS sells the oil through longstanding smuggling networks, experts and officials say.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has also agreed to purchase IS oil, a Treasury official said

last year.

The U.S. Treasury said it was targeting Syrian businessman George Haswani, who it said “serves as a middleman” for oil purchases by the Syrian government from Islamic State. His company, an engineering and construction firm, was also sanctioned.

The European Union sanctioned Haswani in March, and at the time, he denied the accusation that he bought oil from IS militants for the Syrian government, telling Reuters by phone that the EU had no evidence to back up the claim and should instead look for intermediaries he said were smuggling oil to Turkey on Islamic State’s behalf.

The United States has used financial and military tools to target the finances of Islamic State, which this month took credit for a coordinated assault on Paris that left 130 people dead. Last month, the U.S. military launched air strikes concentrating on the group’s oil facilities in Syria in a campaign dubbed “Tidal Wave II.” Defence officials estimate the group was earning $47 million in oil sales prior to

October and that the campaign has reduced that amount by about 30 percent.

The U.S. sanctions also target Mudalal Khuri, who the Treasury said assisted or acted on behalf of the Syrian government, its central bank, and central bank officials, and represents Syrian government interests in Russia.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who the Treasury said is a wealthy Russian businessman and president of the World Chess Federation, was also sanctioned for helping the Syrian government. Russian Financial Alliance Bank was targeted for being controlled or owned by Khuri and Ilyumzhinov.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabokov, referring to the sanctions on Wednesday, said Washington should stop playing “geo-political games,” RIA news agency reported.

Ilyumzhinov denied the U.S. Treasury’s allegations, Russian news agencies also reported on Wednesday.

“I want to emphasize that I have never had any kind of commercial interests in Syria or Iran,” he told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

(Reuters) - The world’s poorest countries can stem migration by emulating China’s rural reforms, and should ditch any get-richquick ideas about exposing their farmers to the glare of the global market, the U.N. economic agency UNCTAD said yesterday.

Taffere Tesfachew, head of the Least Developed Countries division at UNCTAD, said China’s rural reforms had twinned privatisation with promoting the emergence of non-farm enterprises in rural areas.

But that was not happening in many African economies today because countries were failing to develop non-farming rural enterprises, and as farm productivity increased people were being forced to

move away because of lack of jobs.

“Migrants coming out of Africa, for example, are in the majority displaced because of the inability of agriculture to accommodate them, to give them decent livelihoods,” said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi, also speaking at a news conference.

“A sustainable solution to Africa’s contribution to illicit migration is not to be dealt with by declarations in Malta or in Addis Ababa that we should be humane and stem the migration. It’s to be addressed by creating viable livelihoods for the populations that are being disgorged by unviable agriculture.”

U.N. says Chinese-style rural reforms can cut African migration

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Thursday November 26, 2015

Russia and Turkey refuse to back down in row over jet downing

An employee looks out of the window of the Turkish embassy in Moscow, Russia, damaged by protesters in reaction after a Russian war plane was shot down by Turkey. (Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin) (Reuters) - Russia sent an advanced missile system to Syria yesterday to protect its jets operating there and pledged its air force would keep flying missions near Turkish air space, sounding a defiant note after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet.

Underscoring the message, Russian forces launched a heavy bombardment against insurgent-held areas in Latakia yesterday, near where the jet was downed, rebels and a monitoring group said.

The United States and Europe both urged calm and continued dialogue in telephone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a sign of international concern at the prospect of any escalation between the former Cold War enemies.

The downing of the jet on Tuesday was one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a NATO member and Russia for half a century, and further complicated international efforts to battle Islamic State militants in Syria.

President Tayyip Erdogan made no apology, saying his nation had simply been defending its own security and the “rights of our brothers in Syria”. He made clear Turkish policy would not change.

Russian officials expressed fury over Turkey’s action and spoke of retaliatory measures that were likely to include curbing travel

by Russian tourists to Turkish resorts and some restrictions on trade. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described it as a planned act and said it would affect efforts towards a political solution in

Syria. Moscow would “seriously reconsider” its relations with Ankara, he said.

Jets believed to be Russian also hit a depot for trucks waiting to go through a major rebel-controlled border crossing with Turkey, Bab al-Salam, the head of the crossing said.

Syrian jets have struck the area before, but if confirmed to have been carried out by Russia, it would be one of Moscow’s closest air strikes to Turkish soil, targeting a humanitarian corridor into rebel-held Syria and a lifeline for ordinary Syrians crossing to Turkey.

But the Russian response was carefully calibrated, indicating Moscow did not want to jeopardize its main objective in the region: to rally international support for its view on how the conflict in Syria should be resolved.

“We have no intention of fighting a war with Turkey,” Lavrov said. Erdogan also said Ankara had no intention of escalating tensions with Russia.

In Paris, where deadly attacks on Nov. 13 claimed by Islamic State prompted France to step up its aerial bombing of the militant group in Syria, President Francois Hollande expressed concern over the war of words between Ankara and Moscow.

“We must all work to make sure that the situation (between Russia and Turkey) de-escalates,” Hollande told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Hollande is due to discuss Syria and the fight against Islamic State with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today.

Putin said an advanced weapons system would be

dispatched to Russia’s Khmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia province.

“I hope that this, along with other measures that we are taking, will be enough to ensure (the safety) of our flights,” Putin told reporters, in an apparent warning to Turkey not to try to shoot down any more Russian planes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was forced to fly missions close to the Turkish border because that was where the militants tended to be located. Russian operations would continue, he said.

Turkey said the downed jet had encroached on Turkish air space and was warned repeatedly to change course, but Russian officials have said the plane was at no time over Turkey.

The pilot was quoted by Russian agencies as saying the crew “knew the region like the back of their hand”, that they did not fly over Turkish air space, and that there were no visual or radio warnings from Turkey.

The Turkish military later released what it said was an audio recording of a warning to a Russian fighter jet before it was shot down near the Syrian border. A voice on the recording can be heard saying “change your heading” in English.

The Turkish military said it had explained the rules of engagement that led to the downing of the jet to Russian military attaches.

At a business event in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey had made a “huge effort” to prevent such incidents but that the limits of its patience had been tested after repeatedly warning Russia about air space incursions in recent weeks.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

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THE GAMBLE THAT FAILED Donald Ramotar got bad advice from his party. If he had rejected that advice, perhaps the history of the PPP would have been different.

Donald Ramotar has a heavy psychological burden to carry around. It must be hard for him to carry such a burden. It must be hard for any man much less as nice a man as he is, to have to be shouldered with the burden of being the person at the helm when the PPP lost both its majority in parliament and eventually its hold on power.

The PPP will have its chance in court to prove that the results of the elections were fraudulent. But in the court of public opinion it will have to disprove the theory

that it lost the elections because it took a gamble on the holding of Local Government Elections.

Donald Ramotar was advised not to call Local Government Elections even though it seemed as if at one stage he had reached an agreement with the then opposition, APNU, on those elections. The opposition did feel at one time that there was such an agreement. They were clearly wrong and Ramotar was wrong in not agreeing to those elections.

It was his biggest political mistake. It brought about his dethronement.

The PPP’s position was that if the President agreed to local government elections

and lost, then the opposition which had a narrow one-seat majority would decide to move a vote of no-confidence against the PPP and this would end the life of the government.

The advice, therefore, that Ramotar was receiving was that agreeing to Local Government Elections would be to his peril. If he gambled and lost those elections he would expose himself to an inevitable no-confidence vote.

This was the worst advice possible because the opposite was true. If Ramotar failed to agree to Local Government Elections, it would leave the opposition with no alternative but to move for a vote of noconfidence in the government

Dem boys seh...

Moses tun dactah just like Jagdeo De world economy is at a standstill. De Guyana economy going backwards. It simply mean money ain’t flowing and every business sector feels it and knows it.

De treasury got li’l bit money and Soulja Bai and Jordanite dem got to spend de li’l bit wisely. Dem can’t throw it here, there and everywhere, up falls and down falls.

De other day a young woman jump over de Guyana Falls. She jump off de falls because de first woman who do it got worldwide publicity.

De second woman get regional publicity.

This one see all that and she also dream of de limelight, so she jump. What she didn’t cater for was that nobody ain’t going fuh she.

Dem boys hear she got to stay right wheh she deh because Guyana ain’t got money to bring she up. Dem boys hear de last one cost de treasury in excess of $10 million. And that was just to fetch she up from wheh she been.

Dem boys support leffing she wheh she deh because it becoming a copycat thing.

And if every week you go on like that then de whole country can’t even eat. Dem boys

not being rude or disrespectful- dem just being practical.

While Guyana ain’t got money Babbie, not de one who deh wid Soulja Bai, and Irfaat charter a private plane to go to St Lucia. Dem didn’t go pun vacation and dem lef Guyana wid a lot of money, and not monopoly money.

Dem boys hear dem been to hide it because Soulja Bai bringing down de heat in Guyana. Dem didn’t pass through Customs so dem had nutten to declare. Dem go through de back gate, something dem accustom to. Jagdeo been through nuff back gate and collect many things through de backdoor.

He get two doctorate from under he bed, one pun he shelf and two through that same backdoor. Moses, de man who part de sea, who kick against and complain bitterly and refuse to honour Jagdeo man doctorate because he see de man get it by foul play, now tun de table.

Dem boys hear he get one of de same doctorate, yesterday, but through a window.

Talk half and remember to address de man, now, as Dr Moses Gat-a-Mootoo. He will now part windows.

because the then opposition APNU and AFC had made the holding of these elections as one of their foremost priorities. They could not back down from this.

The PPP financiers concurred with the advice of the party. They were cheap. They did not wish to bankroll the PPP in both Local Government and General Elections and so they too were on the same page as the party which felt that holding Local Government Elections was a gamble.

No one saw the fact that holding Local Government Elections would have placed a great financial burden on the then opposition parties, APNU and the AFC which would have weakened them.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing but even the PPP is blind to hindsight.

Donald Ramotar gambled and lost. He did not move ahead with Local Government Elections. The PPP government defence was that certain pieces of legislation were unconstitutional.

The PPP now had a chance to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation; it is in opposition.

The failure of the Donald Ramotar administration to commit to Local Government Elections was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” The then opposition had had enough of the PPP and its shenanigans over the holding of Local Government Elections. They decided then that

it was time to press the noconfidence button.

The PPP thwarted that no-confidence motion by proroguing parliament, a lawful act but one that is not admired by those who support democracy. Donald Ramotar came under relentless pressure from the international community and was forced to call early General and Regional Elections.

In those elections, the PPP won seven of the ten regions. If Donald Ramotar had disregarded the advice of his party, the PPP would have swept the Local Government Elections and the opposition would have been fearful of going to General Elections.

Ramotar may have served out his term, and who knows may have still been the President today. His gamble failed.

His party was ousted.

Donald Ramotar would have a long time to reflect on that gamble. He has had six months so far to reflect on it.

Having reflected on it, however, it seems strange that he is making what many feel is a political comeback.

He is making another major mistake. His future in politics has ended. It is time for him to do something else.

He has left a legacy that will live on. When people think of him, they will remember the gamble that he took and how it backfired. They will learn from that experience.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Thursday November 26, 2015

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

The Bar Association is contextually flawed In my experience, I have found lawyers to be some of the most cowardly humans Guyana has produced. Moral obligation prevents me from naming names. But here are some nameless descriptions.

I went to interview an Attorney for my column. A Magistrate’s deportment in a matter before her was incongruous with moral rules. She needed to be written about.

The lawyer provided me with the details then exclaimed, “Freddie don’t mention my name, I have to ap-

pear in front of this woman.”

Another lawyer told me in relation to another Magistrate; “I can’t go public with that Freddie, I make my living as a lawyer.” To date, I can count only two lawyers who have openly commented negatively on the decision of a judicial officer. Timothy Jonas, as Bar Association President, agreed to be quoted on an unusual action

by Chief Justice Chang.

Eleven months after President Jagdeo brought his libel suit against me and Kaieteur News, it came to trial. This was and remains a record in Guyanese legal history.

Jonas went further to point out he knows of one other approximate situation involving a then Minister suing an anti-Government critic, Clem David. In discussion with a prominent lawyer when the Chief Justice brought forward Jagdeo’s writ, he said, “Freddie, don’t quote me, I have to protect my clients.”

What he meant was that if the

Judge had taken offence to what he read, his clients may have faced consequences.

Christopher Ram penned a trenchant rejection of the ruling of the Chief Justice on the two-term presidential restriction.

Finally, no lawyer was willing to publish a disagreement with the Chief Justice’s decision in the Carol Sooba case.

The CJ ruled that the Minister of Local Government did not have the authority to appoint Sooba as Town Clerk but he mandated her continuation in office as de facto Town Clerk on the premise that a specific writ has to be directed to the Town Clerk herself challenging her right to continue. I have written four times about that ruling; this is my fifth. Several lawyers told me that once the Minister acted ultra vires, Ms. Sooba’s occupancy of the office became legally untenable. But none wanted to be cited in the media I use the word, “contex-

tually” instead of “essentially” because all professions have their associations; law is no different. But in the context of the rule of law and judicial deportment, the Bar Association is on morally questionable grounds. Can it be trusted to expose judicial improprieties, excessive judicial behaviour and erratic sentencing? The answer is no, because lawyers have to appear in front of the officers they castigated. It is not a question of lack of integrity or personalized relations between lawyer and the judicial system. The argument is that contextually, lawyers are hamstrung in a structure made for such limitations.

A lawyer (we must note the notable exception of Ram and Jonas) simply cannot expose a Judge or a Magistrate with the knowledge that they have long years ahead of them to appear in front the very officer they have publicly embarrassed. For this reason, I think the focus of the Bar

Association will continue to be on the holistic approach to law reform rather than the human rights basis of judicial improprieties.

Notwithstanding the constraints, the Bar Association needs to intervene and stop many charades in the legal system that have reduced this country to a farce There is a weekly circus that the Bar Association cannot tell the nation it does not know about. In media and political circles, I have heard about some strange occurrences in the realm of denial and granting of bail.

Each week, the Chief Justice receives about a dozen petitions for the placement of bail denied in the original appearance in the lower courts.

This is a weekly event that has been going on for years.

The Chief Justice then assigns bail. This is a mockery that borders on contempt for the rule of law.

My question is why the process keeps taking place.

Frederick Kissoon Shouldn’t there be a review to see if the lower courts are not acting according to legal procedures? Why is the Bar Association silent on the comical yet abusive situation where lawyers’ clients are turned away from the courts because a police rookie, without any training in aesthetic philosophy, determines the “loudness” or “softness” of the colour of a garment?

I will have more to say on the correct stance President Ganger took on the complaint the Bar Association made about his presidential pardon of forty convicted young men.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

RUSAL to face charges for labour infractions …employees made to pay hospital bills for injuries on job Minister Simona Broomes and other Ministry officials engage some of RUSAL workers.

Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, on Tuesday led a team to the Aroaima location of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), a RUSAL subsidiary based in Region Ten. The visit was prompted by reports of a number of labour infractions and indeed there were.

While the Management of the Company indicated that a new Management team is in place and that the health and safety of workers are now being focused on, the Ministry yesterday said it is particularly concerned about the extreme and at times, dangerous conditions under which workers are being forced to perform.

The Labour Department, according to a statement from the Ministry, has now launched an investigation and a letter listing the infractions observed will shortly be dispatched to the company indicating that these need to be corrected, some, immediately.

“The complaints by workers were numerous but chief among them was the fact that they are not allowed to be unionized. It is the Ministry’s position that the Constitution of Guyana provides for every worker to be part of any organization according to their choice and these include trade unions,” the Ministry said.

“It is the fact that the Trade Union Recognition Act makes it mandatory that any trade union bargaining for or on behalf of any group of workers ought to be recognized. Section 23 of the said Act makes it an offence for any management to refuse to treat with the trade union of the workers’ choice.”

The Ministry said that almost all of the more than 100 workers spoken to by

Ministry officials expressed the desire to be unionized. “…And the Ministry believes that their right to this should be respected. This was made clear to management, and the Ministry believes that this issue will be ironed out in the new future.”

The Ministry’s team, which included assistant Chief Labour and Occupational Health and Safety Officer, Lydia Greene, and Consultant, Francis Carryl, was also disturbed by the claim of two workers that they are being forced to repay medical bills for injuries they would have suffered on the job.

“The workers were taken to a private hospital, one for burns and the other for a broken arm. The Ministry finds it unconscionable that monies are being deducted from their salaries for the medical bills. In at least one of the cases management officials on site admitted to this. A recently appointed Manager indicated that he has written to the company’s Country Manager on the issue.”

According to the Manager, the employee, who

is in a supervisory position, is an exemplary one and the Ministry finds it unconscionable that he is being treated in this manner.

“The Ministry plans to address this issue immediately with management with the view to having these deductions cease and for the workers to be repaid the monies already deducted. In the case of the said worker, who was burnt earlier this year, the company failed to report the accident during the four-day period prescribed by the labour laws, and for this a charge will be instituted against the company by the Labour Department. This was told to management.”

The Ministry said that workers also complained about a three percent salary increase being imposed upon them for next year and that management told them this was the ceiling set by Government because of inflation.

“Minister Broomes made it categorically clear that this is not the position of the Government and when she sought to challenge the Deputy Personnel Manager (Continued on page 24)

Page 11

Doctors from hinterland communities targeted for post-grad training The government is placing a lot of emphasis on developing training programmes for health care providers. According to Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, doctors from indigenous communities will be targeted for post-graduate training.

During an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister Norton said that over the years, Rupununi especially has produced several doctors. However, most of them are serving for years with no training in a specialised area.

“Lethem is now getting its own doctors.

You are now getting doctors who went and studied from this area now going back there.

But you can’t have one for more than five years just sitting there...We have to keep abreast with them, and give them opportunities to pursue post-graduate work, so that we

can have them there all the time,” Minister Norton explained.

The Minister noted that while the medical outreaches that have been conducted in the communities may have solved some problems, it is not the best way to go. The government will be providing opportunities where doctors can be trained in specialised areas.

“This whole thing about serving for five years before considering yourself for postgraduate must become a thing of the past,” Minister Norton stressed. This, along with improving the conditions under which they work, will encourage them to return to their respective communities and serve. Training opportunities will also be provided for Nurses, Medics and Community Health Workers to generate adequately trained personnel to man health care facilities in the hinterland.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Thursday November 26, 2015

Police host community outreach against suicide The Guyana Police Force in collaboration with the Cops and Faith Mission held an inter-Agency Suicide prevention programme at Black Bush Polder on the Corentyne, Berbice, recently. The event

which attracted a number of schools and villagers was held at the Mibicuri Secondary School, Corentyne, Berbice.

The programme was chaired by Commander of the

Police ‘B’ Division, Assistant Commissioner Christopher Griffith.

Speaking at the activity, Acting Commissioner of Police, Balram Persaud, spoke about crime and suicide as it

relates to the Mibicuri Community and the programme that the Guyana Police Force has put in place to deal with the various issues.

Other speakers include Dr. Bhiro Harry who spoke about mental disorder as it relates to suicide. Dr. Laitlin Vieira spoke of substance abuse as it relates to suicide and crime.

Also speaking at the activity was Pastor R. Massiah who during brief remarks

commended the teachers and parents of students attending the school, for their mannerism issues after the final speaker.

During the activity residents raised concerns about the amount of ranks working at the Mibicuri Police Station.

They also called on the police top brass to ensure that the station’s vehicles are functional which will be used to attend to reports and pa-

trol the district.

Assistant Commissioner Griffith promised those in attendance, that the station will have more ranks shortly, while a vehicle will be in place before the end of the year.

Guyana had been described as having the highest suicide per capita in the world with the farming community of Black Bush Polder been described as the suicide capital.

GBTI launches Education Savings Plan

Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine addressing the gathering

The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry on Monday launched an Education Savings Plan which will allow parents and guardians to set up an education fund for their children.

The minimum target for the plan is $2M while the maximum is $15M. Once a target is set, the bank calculates how much money must be deposited each month in time for the child’s 16 or 18th birth-

day, depending on their education path. The plan will attract an interest rate of five per cent. This however, will only be added if the plan reaches a stage of maturity.

In attendance at the ceremony was Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, who applauded GBTI for taking the bold step in putting this innovative programme in place as often, investments are placed in

other sectors.

He urged other banks to follow suit as “there is no sector more instrumental in engendering development than the education sector.”

“As Minister of Education, I fully endorse this initiative and encourage parents to strongly consider this as an option in funding your child’s education and ensuring that they are given a competitive chance at a good life.”

Chairman of the GBTI Board of Directors, Robin Stoby, related that throughout the years GBTI has maintained a “recognized focus on young people.” He gave the example of the Early Savers Club which provides young people with the opportunity to develop key financial skills.

“In this evolving world, increasing demands are being placed on our young people and we believe it is important that we empower them adequately with the right knowledge, skills, opportunities and resources to allow them to achieve all-round development, fulfill their aspirations and enhance their contribution to the country’s socioeconomic progress,” said Stoby.

As such, the GBTI education savings plan was decided upon in an effort to help parents “take a bold action for your child’s education, to make them ready for todays and inevitably tomorrow’s progressive world.”

“A University education,” said Stoby, “is an investment that will almost certainly pay dividends for your child.”

Thursday November 26, 2015

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Kaieteur News

GPHC gets support to build paediatric cardiac care capacity

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here are many children born every year with congenital heart disease. An examination of the birth situation in Guyana reveals that between 160 and 180 children are born each year with this condition.

About 50 percent of these children will require some form of intervention, according to Head of Paediatric Surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Marisa Seepersaud.

Dr. Seepersaud said that in the recent past the needed interventions such as surgeries were not readily available here to these children.

Although Dr. Seepersaud is a Paediatric Surgeon, she said that currently the GPHC – the country’s premier medical institution – does not have a Paediatric Cardiologist and in the past didn’t even have a paediatric cardiac surgical service for that matter.

Many of the children who were diagnosed with congenital heart disease were merely followed by the h o s p i t a l ’s r e s i d e n t paediatricians. “A lot of the children were lost in the system because they were not diagnosed. They might have presented with respiratory distress or have pneumonia or some other thing; many of them would have died without being diagnosed...

“Even if they were diagnosed we couldn’t do much for them because all we had was some basic m e d i c a t i o n , ” s a i d D r.

Seepersaud.

A few, however, after approaching the government through the Ministry of Health or charitable organisations such as Kids First Fund and Three Rivers, were given an opportunity to travel overseas for their assessments and cardiac surgeries.

But according to Dr. Seepersaud even with surgery done overseas there was still an aftercare challenge that remained.

“They were returning to a place (Guyana) where there were no specialists to take care of them,” observed the Paediatric Surgeon.

But this state of affairs is being reversed with forthcoming support from the International Children’s Heart Foundation also known as the Baby Heart Foundation.

With the support from the United States Foundation, Dr. Seepersaud disclosed that children with congenital heart conditions are afforded an improved delivery of service including surgery and aftercare.

The Foundation has also been helping to build capacity at the GPHC to cater to paediatric cardiac patients.

“Now that we understand a little more about what is

required to take care of these children we have been ordering medication that could help. They (children) have got access to more rigorous investigations and certainly some of them have already benefited from s u r g e r y, ” a d d e d D r .

Seepersaud.

And according to her, there is no denying that there is a great need for the paediatric cardiac service now being offered at the GPHC. “There are many children who will benefit from it. There are many staff members at all levels who will benefit from training, and the hospital itself has improved because of the presence of Baby Heart.

“We have certainly got a lot of equipment, disposals and medication donated. All of those things cost money and some of them we did not have available to us before,”

GPHC’s Head of Paediatric Surgery, Dr. Marisa Seepersaud said Dr. Seepersaud.

“I am very excited that the Baby Heart Foundation chose to expand their service to us,” she said, adding that Guyana is one of two

territories in the Caribbean that are attempting to put in place paediatric cardiac service. The other Caribbean territory working in this regard is Jamaica, according to the Head of Paediatric Surgery.

Among the personnel that are being trained to boost the local service are nurses, paediatricians, anaesthetics, surgeons and various other specialities some of whom have been working closely with the Baby Heart Foundation since it started offering its support here earlier this year.

“We are training an entire team,” said Dr. Seepersaud, who pointed out that if efforts were being made to train a single individual at a time overseas it would take several years. “If you are training a nurse it could take one year and to train a surgeon it could take as

much as 10 years...to build an entire team will take a very long time and it is done piecemeal...we have an opportunity to train our entire team,” asserted Dr. Seepersaud as she made reference to the support from the Baby Heart Foundation.

“It is very important that we function as a unit because we are dealing with critically ill patients and we have to know each other. We have to understand each other; we have to all be on the same page when we are looking after these patients, because things go at the speed of light when you are dealing with patients.

“If you are not on the same page with your teammate it may cost you a life,” said Dr. Seepersaud as she added that “this is a unique opportunity we have and we have to capitalise on it.”

Page 14

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Teenage pregnancy rampant at Annai Secondary School

Students of the Annai Secondary School, Region Nine.

P

arents of students of the Annai Secondary School in the North Rupununi, Region Nine are beginning to think that the Ministries of Education and Social Protection have forgotten them.

Over the past year the school has seen an increase in its female students becoming pregnant at an early age and there has been no social intervention to

address the problem.

The facility, which is the only secondary institution in the North Rupununi, is the temporary home for 158, mostly indigenous girls, who are housed in dormitories.

The administration there is battling to contain social problems such as rampant teenage pregnancy while at the same time, trying to provide an education to the students.

One parent revealed that

there is a high rate of teenage pregnancy and drug use at the Annai Secondary School, a situation of which the Ministry is aware but is doing little to address.

It was revealed to this newspaper that for this year, there were five cases of teenage pregnancy at the Annai Secondary School alone, all of which went unreported to the Welfare Officer in the District.

“The Welfare (officer) never received a report and there was no investigation.

The youngest girl was a Grade Eight girl, who was 14 years old,” the concerned parent told Kaieteur News.

It was reported that there is only one Dorm Mother and one Dorm Father to look after all the children in the dormitory.

“These children are slick; it is difficult to monitor

them properly in the darkness, especially when the security guard does not turn up, which is quite often,” the parent said.

When contacted, one Welfare Officer in the district noted that (statutory) rape is very prevalent in Region Nine, “But from what I was told, it is the Amerindians’ way of life.”

This newspaper was told that as soon as a student realizes that she is pregnant, she quickly leaves the dorm and returns to her village, never to attend school again.

“They never get the benefit of expert counseling with a view to re-integrating them into the school system.

But addressing the issue requires expert help from outside, help which the Ministries of Education and Social Protection will definitely have to find a way of providing quickly.

The Welfare Officer said that the area of teenage pregnancy is one that needs expert intervention in most Amerindian communities, since most parents in those

There are no lights in the classrooms of the Annai Secondary School

areas appear embarrassed to discuss it with their children.

“When talking about it in Social Studies, it’s a ticklish matter —you can see the expressions on the children’s faces. I suspect that it is a part of their culture to hide things from the outside even if things are affecting them in a negative way,” the Welfare Officer stated.

What is worrying for the parent is the fact that “things are happening” at the St. Ignatius Secondary School, which is located at the other end of the Rupununi, but “nothing is happening for Annai.

For several weeks now, the facility has been without electricity, compounding the myriad of other problems which desperately require urgent social remedy.

“The compound has been without electricity for a month now and the place is very dark at nights, and since the place is not properly

fenced, the teachers and admin staff are faced with the possibility of the children leaving their dorms without permission to do things other than school work,” one irate parent told this newspaper.

The parent said that they had a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Education and promises were made, but to date those promises have not been fulfilled. “ We a s k e d f o r a generator but never got a response,” the parent declared.

“The police are so far away from the school, so if anything should happen in the darkness, the children and the teachers are at the mercy of whoever wants to attack the school,” she added.

“The teachers cannot do anything after school, such as preparing for the next day’s classes. It’s all darkness,” the parent added.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Page 15

Kaieteur News

Govt. contracts Fedders Lloyd to build, equip Specialty Hospital A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will see works restarting on the construction of the Specialty Hospital was signed yesterday between Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, and Fedders Lloyd Country Representative, Ajay Jha. According to the Ministry of Finance, Fedders Lloyd will review the works already started; conclude a design of the Hospital that is acceptable to the coalition government and commit to fully equip the facility on completion of its construction.

The company also undertook to commence work on the facility immediately following the signing of the MOU. Jordan said, “The signing of the MOU represents a tangible expression of Fedders Lloyd interest and commitment to move the project forward.”

He added, “The MOU is also testament to Government’s commitment to advancing health care delivery in Guyana.” He also restated the Government of India’s approval of an additional Line of Credit for the upgrade and modernisation of Suddie and Bartica hospitals and the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Mr. Ajay Jha thanked the government for the opportunity to work on the project. He further remarked, “The Specialty Hospital will be a model not only for Guyana but also for the rest of the Caribbean.”

Work on the Specialty Hospital was initially halted after allegations of impropriety and fraud were leveled against the

Minister of Finance Hon. Winston Jordan and Fedders Lloyd Country Representative Ajay Jha during the MOU signing contractor Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited (SECL) which won the bid for its construction in 2012. It was agreed that the company would provide services related to designing, building, equipping, testing, delivering, installing and commissioning of facilities for the facility in Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara. The cost of the contract was over US$18M. In December of that year,

Surendra Engineering received 20 percent of the contract price as an advance payment – approximately US$3.6M. In November 2013 an additional payment of US$649,440 was made.

The contract was terminated when Surendra reportedly attempted to submit a performance bond from a company in Trinidad and Tobago called ‘World Bankers Re Company Ltd’.

Following queries, the

Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago stepped in to reveal that ‘Worldwide Bankers’ was not a registered company under the insurance act of Trinidad and Tobago. Following the termination of the contract,

Government moved to the Commercial Division of the High Court and sued Surendra. Government was claiming damages in excess of $100M, as well as special damages amounting to over US$4M. Surendra had by then, flown the coop and had vacated its local office in Berbice when court officials visited to serve the writ, so when the matter was called twice, on January 21 and again on January 23, and no one appeared on behalf of the company, the court awarded judgment in favour of the Government of Guyana.

Following a court judgment awarded January 23, 2015, Government is still to collect over US$4M from embattled the Indian firm. It created a situation which left the future of the Line of

Credit (LOC) threatened.

Following the APNU+AFC government’s accession to office, it reviewed the project and concluded that since there was no existing contract that could be enforced, it was impractical to continue to keep the LOC in its existing form, especially since it was attracting commitment fees.

Government therefore requested EXIM Bank of India to cancel the LOC for the Specialty Hospital and to reallocate the balance of funds to a project to modernize three Primary Healthcare Facilities.

H o w e v e r, t h e Government of India (GOI) in its response, while indicating its no objection and support for the modernization of Primary Healthcare Facilities (Continued on page 24)

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Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Texila American University convocation Nigerian is best graduating medical student

Best Graduating Student Nigerian Chinedu Joseph Asigebu and other doctors take the Hippocratic Oath at graduation.

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Nigerian was t h e B e s t Graduating Student as seven dentistry surgeons, 20 doctors of medicine and one nurse graduated from the Texila American University Guyana last evening. The ceremony was held at the Princess Hotel.

After four years of studies, the Best Graduating Student, Chinedu Joseph Asigebu, 30, dubbed the occasion a momentous one after a very difficult journey that proved worthwhile in the end.

The son of an Attorney and a teacher said that during his course of study he lost his mother, last year, and dedicated his academic achievements to her.

Speaking for the graduates drawn mostly

from Nigeria and India (there was one Guyanese graduate among them) he said, “The challenges were many for us as students but we kept the faith and exercised patience and today we are glad that it has come to an end.”

The second best graduating student is Indian national George Scaria.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, performing the duties of President, congratulated all the graduates. He expressed the hope that many of them, after the appropriate accreditation processes, would remain in Guyana, to live out their vows and sacred commitment to duty and service.

Commending the dedication and sacrifice of the students and their

families, and the dogged perseverance and steadfast commitment to academic excellence by the University’s leadership and s t a ff , P r i m e M i n i s t e r Nagamootoo recognized the high level of scholarship produced by the university.

He paid tribute to the University’s President, Saaju Bhaskar, the ViceChancellor and his Management/Teaching Team.

The students left their homes, thousands of miles away, to come to a foreign land to undertake studies in the demanding programme, he said.

“It could not have been easy. In spite of any challenges that you might have encountered, you nonetheless would have found our country welcoming and our people

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo addressing the Graduates at the historic Texila University’s 2nd Graduation Ceremony. hospitable.

“Together, this would have contributed immensely, towards making these past years not just bearable but rather enjoyable and rewarding.”

Singling out the students from Nigeria, who took the initiative to form an Association and to organize several cultural activities, thereby not only keeping close to heart their rich culture and traditions, but also sharing them with Guyanese with whom they share ancestry, Nagamootoo noted: “The established presence of a private Medical University in Guyana, is further evidence of open partnership in both the health and education sectors.”

While it is easy to say that private-public

partnership is in Guyana to stay he told the gathering that he is aware that the university in past years faced problems associated with Government bureaucracy and red-tapes and nonresponsiveness to requests for concessions to expand.

“Yet it moved from a s chool of only s even students to an enrollment of 450 from over 38 countries, all of whom live and study in Guyana.”

Of that lot 120 are Guyanese nationals, who benefit from a 50 per cent concession and who, in time, would join the ranks of the medical profession in Guyana.

The University is working towards realizing a new campus. The PM said that such a move is first education-tourism initiative

- in Guyana, with a capacity to accommodate over 1,600 students.

“This will certainly give a boost both to Guyana’s economy and the country’s reputation in the international community as a health-educational centre.

“I applaud this bold and innovative venture. The government of Guyana recognizes the benefits of such an investment. It would allow for the expansion of quality medical education and research, at a time when our own Medical Faculty at the University of Guyana has been allowed to decline in academic standards that are necessary for recognition as an institution for medical education.”

TAU is filling a void for certifiable medical education as it has graduated as doctors of medicine the first batch who survived the rigorous demands of academia.

Nagamootoo expressed regret from President David Granger who is currently in Malta, to share in the historic and auspicious occasion, when the first batch of students is graduating with their Doctor of Medicine D e g r e e s f r o m Te x i l a American University (TAU).

S a a j u B h a s k a r, a s Founder of TAU was also informed that the President has assured that he would, at a convenient date, accept the offer of conferral of an Honorary Doctorate from the Central University of Nicaragua, a partner university.

The Prime Minister was also awarded a certificate for excellence in Public Service.

The University hopes to commission its new University Campus in Providence before its next graduation. Also addressing the gathering were Minister within The Ministry of Education Nicolette Henry, a n d t h e U n i v e r s i t y ’s President as well as the Vice Chancellor.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaneville man shot in botched robbery Wounded: Patrick Rose

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57-year-old man is nursing a gunshot wound to his right side chest at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after being shot by one of two young bandits early yesterday during a botched robbery.

The incident which left Patrick Rose, of Lot 29 First Street, Kaneville, East Bank Demerara (EBD) hospitalized, occurred around 04:20 hrs at the man’s home.

According to reports, Rose was getting ready to leave home when the men confronted him. He was shot when he tried to chop one of them.

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Kaieteur News

At the hospital yesterday, Rose, an electrician said that the men seemed young and were not masked.

“I had a job in Berbice so I wanted to leave home early so that I could come back early. I got up and I took my vehicle outside the yard. I was going to park another vehicle in the garage because a man was supposed to come weed the yard,” Rose recalled.

He added that it was while he was in the garage that he was shot. “These two people come up to me and tell me not to move but I tried to run in the house and close the door but one of them pushed the door and come in the

house while the other one waited outside.”

Determined not to allow the men to get to his family who were sleeping in the house, the father of three said that despite the men instructing him not to move, he dashed to his kitchen where he would normally keep a cutlass.

“I pulled the cutlass and pelt a chop and he (one of the gunmen) jumped back and that’s when he fired a shot at me,” the electrician recounted.

He added that when the shot was fired, both men ran away. “I was determined not to allow them in my house. I didn’t want them to tumble my place because I didn’t have money. I don’t keep money at home.”

The man said that crime in Kaneville has increased.

The man recalled witnessing a robbery just over two months ago during which three young bandits robbed a van.

Early this year, residents in Kaneville had called on the government to set up a police outpost in the area in an effort to tackle crime in the community. Kaneville is located between Craig and Diamond.

“The criminals normally commit the crime and run and hide in Kaneville. Most of the times when these things happen, police at Grove Station take forever to come.”

Police are yet to take a statement from Rose.

President Granger replaces stolen laptop for QC student

President Granger presents Terron Alleyne with a new laptop computer, as Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and the lad’s father, Terrence Alleyne, look on.

Fifth-form student of Queen’s College, 16-yearold Terron Alleyne, who was on Friday robbed of his laptop computer, School Based Assessments (SBAs) and school books, had his laptop replaced by President David Granger.

The President made the presentation to Alleyne, who was accompanied by his father Terrence Alleyne, at the Ministry of the Presidency, on Tuesday.

The President was made aware of Terron Alleyne’s plight and in an effort to ensure that nothing gets in the way of his preparations for the upcoming Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC), the Head of State presented him with the laptop, the Ministry of the Presidency said. Terron told the Ministry that he was on his way home from extra lessons when he was attacked and relieved of his

haversack containing the items. “Terron who was delighted to have received the laptop, which will aid in his preparations for CSEC, said he will be sitting a total of ten subjects,” the Ministry said.

Page 18

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Ed Ahmad’s sentencing delayed due to oversight Guyana-born US-based businessman, Ed Ahmad, will have to wait another four weeks before his sentence for real estate fraud is handed down by a New York court.

Ahmad, who reportedly has businesses in Guyana, was set to be sentenced on January 15.

However, US Probation Officer, John Lanigan, on November 19, wrote Judge Dora Irizarry, to explain that due to an oversight in

assignment procedures, he was not notified in time for his input into the presentence report until October 9. Lanigan said that there will not be enough time to gather the information and as such requested the sentence date be pushed back by four weeks.

Judge Irizarry this week gave the Probation Department until this year end to disclose the presentence report. She also set the sentencing for February 12.

In August, New York court authorities disclosed that almost three years after he pleaded guilty to a mortgage fraud charge in the US, Ahmad’s sentencing was set for January 15.

Prosecutors had managed to use Ahmad as a star witness in a witness tampering case against the businessman’s former friend, ex-Senator, John Sampson.

Sampson was found guilty earlier this year.

The sentencing had been

delayed for Ahmad, a wellknown businessman in both New York and in Guyana, but in July proceedings was started to bring the matter to closure.

In February 2012, Ahmad reportedly wore a wire, recording Sampson during a meeting. In July, he gave testimony during a four-week trial.

Ahmad is well known to tens of thousands of Guyanese living in the New York area, as he was well connected in the real estate business.

A former policeman in

Guyana, he appeared in a New York court before Judge Irizarry in October 2012 and pleaded guilty to one of the ten-count criminal complaints against him, and told the court that his attorney has advised him that there is no viable defence to the charges against him.

In admitting guilt, Ahmad told Judge Irizarry that between January 1995 and January 2009, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, together with others, he knowingly and intentionally conspired to defraud several lending

Ed Ahmad institutions, in a mortgage fraud scheme that lasted almost 15 years.

The United States Attorney’s office said that Ahmad was part of a scheme that (Continued on page 24)

Guyana banking on C/wealth...

From page 3 world opinion is turning against aggressive solutions to conflicts or controversies and this is time when we have decided more positively than ever before to have a juridical settlement.

We’ve just had too many decades of harassment,” he said. Speaking on the possibility of a Commonwealth Declaration

in support of Guyana, the Head of State said, “This type of declaration indicates that there is an intolerance in the world at large for settling conflicts by violent means [and] that there is a desire of countries to get ahead with t h e i r e c o n o m i c development, rather than expend their economic resources on military material.”

Additionally, in the lead up to the meeting, President Granger had indicated that Guyana will give its full support to Antigua and Barbuda nominee, Sir Ronald Sanders, for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General, when leaders of the 53-member association meet at the biennial meeting.

“We regard him as a friend of the Commonwealth and Guyana. Small states expect to see the SecretaryGeneral coming out in even greater support of smallstate security, climate change in small states and the economy of trade and commerce,” he said.

F i r s t L a d y, S a n d r a Granger, is also traveling with the President and Guyana’s delegation to the Commonwealth meeting.

She will participate in the CHOGM 2015 Spouses programme.

The delegation, which also includes the Minister of F o r e i g n A ff a i r s , C a r l Greenidge, who is already in Malta, will return to Guyana on December 1.

E a r l i e r t h i s y e a r, Venezuela ramped up its aggression against Guyana after US-owned ExxonMobil announced it found oil in offshore waters.

Venezuela aggressively issued decrees restating claims to Essequibo and the waters where the oil was discovered.

Guyana has vowed to sensitise the world to the Venezuela threat which has seen a halting of trade.

President David Granger s a i d t h a t t h e m a t t e r, simmering for over 50 years, should be settled in the World Court once and for all.

The matter has been taken to the United Nations which is working to find a resolution.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Page 19

Kaieteur News

Prison officials and an orderly accused of abuse by ex-prisoner - ringleader of the alleged beating placed in confinement

A

n ex-prisoner is alleging that he was severely beaten by three prison officials and an orderly while he was remanded at the Georgetown Prison for six months.

Selwin Atwell, 25, of Lot 2 Layne Avenue, West Ruimveldt yesterday contended that he was wrongfully beaten by a group of prison officials and an orderly after he was accused of disrespecting a Matron.

Atwell, whose charge of theft was dismissed against him on Tuesday, was beaten to his head and about his body with cutlasses, fashioned from bed rails. He said that the incident occurred two weeks ago after a Matron accused him of “causing trouble” with another prisoner, who was cussing him out at his bedside.

“I can’t see how I disrespected her if all I said was that I can’t stop another prisoner from coming to my bed,” he said, contending that after his exchange of words with the Matron, he was thrown into a small cell where he couldn’t lie or sit.

He was forced to stand all day in the cell without any food.

Early the next morning, he said he was awakened from his sleep with a beating.

However, Director of Prison, Carl Graham, denied Atwell’s allegation that he was assaulted by prison officials. He said that the man had told officials that he was beaten by fellow

prisoners and not prison officers.

He stressed that Atwell’s case may very well be one of retaliation. Atwell was fingered in the beating of another prisoner. Graham said that the prisoners might have retaliated. “It is very unlikely that officers would beat a prisoner in such a manner,” he said.

He stated, nevertheless, that the orderly who was accused of being the ringleader of the beating was placed in confinement, pending adjudication.

“We are hoping that Atwell would return to the prison to give a statement and give evidence in the trial.

We want justice to be dispensed in a just and fair manner,” he emphasized.

Nonetheless, Atwell maintained that it was the said orderly and a group of officers who carried out the beating. He recalled that it was 3:00 am when he was awakened out of his sleep by the officials. \ “I jumped up and they shove me back on the bed and started chopping me with cutlasses... They told me I was getting the beating because I disrespected the Matron. One of them told me I ain’t getting nothing yet,” he said he was lashed in his head, stabbed in his right shoulder with the metal and hit repeatedly in his left eye.

After he was beaten, he said he was prevented from visiting the prison doctor.

“The orderly told me to bear my pain because I’m a man.

When I tried go on my own I was shoved back into the cell

and he told me if I wasn’t satisfied with this morning beating I could get more,” he related.

After his case was dismissed, Atwell’s mother, Donna, took him to the Woodlands Hospital where he met with a doctor. She said the doctor told him that the trauma had damaged

“three-quarters of the tissues” in his eyes.

Graham also refuted the claim that Atwell was denied medical attention. In fact, he said, Atwell was removed from his cell and placed in the prison’s mini-hospital, where he was treated.

“We went to the police station. We got no justice.

We went to the Ministry of Public Security and we got no justice. It is the same everywhere,” she said, adding: “Not because someone is a prisoner they should be treated that way.

They are not supposed to beat him and they certainly not suppose to deny him medical attention.”

Selwin Atwell’s eye after he was beaten in prison.

Page 20

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Former Editor-in-Chief Raschid Osman laid to rest

Relatives and friends at the funeral

V

e t e r a n Journalist and former Editorin-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle, Mohamed Raschid Osman was laid to rest at Le Repentir Cemetery yesterday afternoon after a moving ceremony at the First Assemblies of God Church.

Preceding the funeral service was a viewing at M e r r i m a n ’s F u n e r a l Home, Lime and Bent Streets. The viewing was attended by Prime Minister

Moses Nagamootoo, who bears responsibility for Information. There was also the conspicuous presence of media operatives, friends and people who knew and associated with Osman during his lifetime. They had gathered to pay their respects.

Osman passed away at the age of 78, on Friday last. Up until his death he was active in his field, hosting the radio programme, Midmorning Classics. His last

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo pays his respect

assignment was the National Drama Festival at the National Cultural Centre Thursday evening.

It was from that event that he went home and died.

Osman was Editor-in Chief at the Chronicle, then he resigned to take up an appointment overseas.

More recently he had been responsible for the Sunday edition of the newspaper.

Osman leaves to mourn his wife, Yvonne, daughter Ruth, granddaughter Adia and many relatives and friends.

Young Guyanese killed in Venezuela A young Pomeroon man who migrated to Venezuela last April, to seek employment has been shot and killed in the Spanish-speaking country.

According to reports 27- year- old, Deon Davidson, formerly of

Wakapoa, in the Lower Pomeroon River, was shot somewhere in a back dam where he was said to be working in Venezuela. His killer is unknown.

D a v i d s o n ’s a u n t , Norma, said that she received the tragic news

about her nephew’s death, yesterday, from her sister, Josephine Henry, who is in prison, at Berbice. The distraught woman said that her nephew died of his wounds Tuesday night in a hospital in Venezuela.

Norma is seeking the assistance of the Indigenous Affairs Ministry to ascertain some form of assistance to transport her nephew’s body to Guyana for burial.

(Yannason Duncan)

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 21

IICA pledges continued support for Tapakuma cassava project The Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has pledged to continue collaborating with the residents of Tapakuma and with local partners to ensure that the recently re-commissioned cassava processing factory remains viable and sustainable.

The Rising Sun Agro-Processing Facility at St. Denny Village, Tapakuma, Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), was re-commissioned by Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder a week ago.

The facility had been

opened in 2007 following studies on cassava which indicated that the industry had untapped potential.

The first commissioning was done with financial assistance from the Kellogg Foundation, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Government of Guyana and IICA. The facility, due to a number of constraints, became non-operational in 2011.

In 2014, the Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Development (READ) project allocated $3.378M for the refur-

Minister Holder and others at the Tapakuma recomissioning. bishment of the Rising Sun Processing Facility. These funds were disbursed through a partnership between the Institute for Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and the Village Council, with IICA providing technical oversight to assist in meeting factory compliance.

During a re-commission-

Taxi driver seeks compensation for property damage A West Coast Demerara resident is seeking compensation after a utility pole belonging to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) collapsed on Monday causing damage to his fence.

Winston McKenzie, of Crane Old Road, West Coast Demerara, said that he inquired about compensation late Monday afternoon when technicians of the company visited the area to replace the utility pole outside his home.

Two additional poles at adjacent properties also fell Monday morning. The poles, which accommodated both GTT and Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) wires, had become weakened. They fell because their bases were rotten.

During the GTT technicians’ visit Monday, the man said that he was informed that a supervisor from the company’s office will visit him to discuss the matter further. But McKenzie is sceptical that compensation will be forthcoming as on an earlier occasion when a pole collapsed damaging his fence, he was forced to do his own repairs without compensation.

As at yesterday afternoon no supervisor had made contact with McKenzie. “I’m hoping this time it will be different,” said the man. He said that because of the hanging GPL and GTT wires on his fence and gate Monday, neither he nor the members of his family wanted to take the chance to venture out.

The man, who is a taxi driver by profession, said that the situation had resulted in him losing an entire day of work and his wife, a teacher,

and their four children were unable to attend school.

According to the man the pole outside his home was “halfway suspended” since Sunday but collapsed unto his fence by Monday morning, bringing down with it two other poles. McKenzie said that he was initially under the impression that the fallen poles belonged to GPL but was told otherwise, when technicians of the power company visited Monday morning to re-mount electrical wires.

The incident however prompted a maintenance ex-

Taxi driver, Winston McKenzie ercise by GPL which entailed efforts to secure a number of leaning poles along the Crane Old Road.

ing of the facility, IICA country representative Wilmot Garnett disclosed that the cassava industry had faced challenges including insufficient cassava to meet the demand for optimal factory production, loss of markets due to inconsistent supply, need for scale-up of machinery and management issues and clearly defined roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders.

In seeking to address the challenges IICA in collabora-

tion with partners National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) made recommendations to the Village Council and the factory operators to place corrective measures that seek to secure the viability of this industry.

As a result, the re-commissioned project will be focusing on garlic-flavoured cassava bread and cassareep.

Garnett said: “IICA’s continued commitment is to ensure that small producers/entrepreneurs, especially women and youth, are more effectively integrated into national, regional and international markets. He added: “We will continue to collaborate with our partners to agree on the most practical way forward to address the gaps identified, and to work to ensure the viability and sustainability of the cassava industry here at Tapakuma.”

Page 22

Kaieteur News

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Thursday November 26, 2015

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Continued on page 23

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Letters... Where your views make the news

The Berbice campus is a terrible step-child of the Turkeyen campus DEAR EDITOR, Berbice Campus is a beautiful campus, but there are many ills which have begun to make the campus unattractive for students.

What the administration of the University does not realize is that students across groups share both negative and positive experiences.

Most of the experiences that are now being shared make us realize that the quality of service given at the Berbice Campus is on a decline.

The Berbice Campus, apparently, is not to be accommodated under the

University administration’s umbrella of supposed Quality Assurance. One sweep across the campus revealed the following that characterize students’ experiences.

Only at the Berbice Campus are available lecturers awarded contracts to teach almost at the end of a semester or after the semester is completed.

Only at the Berbice Campus are our first-year colleagues in the Division of Social Sciences taught five courses by one lecturer. Only at the Berbice Campus does

the Dean ignore our colleagues’ request in the Division of Social Sciences for transparency with the grades allocated for several courses.

When I saw no distinction for any Marketing student in my graduation booklet, I probed and learnt that the Marketing students continue to be the group most affected by the administration’s policy of ”one lecturer to teach fivefirst-year courses.” Only at the Berbice Campus our colleagues in the Division of Social Sciences who paid for a course to be completed in a

fifteen-week semester completed the course in one week so that they could graduate and were happy to do so because they wanted to get out of the campus.

Only at the Berbice Campus, our colleagues pay tuition fees for a part-time lecturer to distribute notes downloaded from the internet which they have to cram for tests.

Editor, is it only at the Berbice Campus that Quality Assurance has missed its mark? Or is it that the Berbice Campus is the terrible step child of Turkeyen? When I

was a student at that campus, every issue which we brought to the attention of the Berbice Campus administration had to wait on the leisurely pace of Turkeyen.

Our fees are no different from Turkeyen. Out of compassion for my unfortunate colleagues who are still on campus, I urge the administration to deal with the issues which the graduating class has left behind. To my colleagues, let your voices be heard. The Berbice Campus needs to do more for itself!

Garfeld Sammy Class of 2015

Do not employed PPP leaders or else!

DEAR EDITOR, Recently we have seen a media report that former PPP officials Robert Persaud and Nanda Gopaul are in line to receive major government appointments. I am pleased that Minister of State Joseph Harmon subsequently dispelled the rumours and made it clear that no such plan is in place. The report

appeared on an online news website as an exclusive. It appears therefore as though the story was floated, either

by Persaud or Gopaul, or perhaps by someone from the Coalition government to get a sense of how such a move would be received by the public.

From the outcry seen since the mood of the public

for such a move is unanimous.

It is not that the public is averse to the Coalition government offering noteworthy positions to credible persons from within the PPP ranks in an effort to be demonstrably inclusive. It is that the public will be deeply offended should either Persaud or Gopaul be

From page 4 establish for himself a record of fairness. Despite the allegations of the PPP, his name was not implicated or compromised in any testimony, oral or documentary, in the public sessions. Having to date not been smeared by the events and manoeuvres of the bloody and felonious assassination of 1980, it is the wish of fair minded people that he is not by his exercise of his authority to close down the Commission suspected of the civic assassination of the Commission’s findings.

The Guyana government’s principal legal adviser, the Attorney General, the main anti Rodney protagonist in the Inquiry, belongs to a learned profession many of whose members are dedicated to the upholding of ethical governance.

Clearly he cannot allow these events to go by without a statement on the quality of the earlier trial of Donald Rodney, a trial which would be a stain on the most backward judicial system. He will be failing in his duty and his professional ethics if he does not move to quash Donald Rodney’s mistrial and conviction.

The withholding from the court and the defence of evidence favourable to the defence is a feature of dungeon democracy and must be denounced at the highest level of a democratic legal system and government.

These issues are so crucial .that we are compelled to refer to the composition of the Coalition Government which exercises control over the Commission.

The Working People’s Alliance is not now a major political party. Because of its record, however, many will be concerned how it is treated within the Coalition. Walter Rodney, standing above the divisions of the sixties, justified all that is noble in African Guyanese and struck a blow against the entrapment in race politics when he declared in defence of Arnold

Rampersaud, “Africans came out of slavery with dignity! “ Those still alive who cherish Walter Rodney’s living call for all time, “People’s Power, No Dictator!” and use it as a measure of political health may number more than five thousand, the Coalition’s slim majority. Its consultants will advise it that even for no higher motive than self-preservation it cannot directly or indirectly be seen as undermining the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry.

Eusi Kwayana For Justice for Walter Rodney Committee

Eusi Kwayana raises questions on...

offered any such position.

These two former PPP diehards are seen as deeply divisive.

There are well known allegations of corruption and under no circumstances whatsoever will any government appointment for them be palatable.

These men used the power of government to oppress and suppress when they were sitting pretty on the inside of the PPP. It would be a slap in the face of the public, and particularly APNU+AFC supporters for the Coalition to now offer them cushy jobs.

Compounding the issue is that there are many who are qualified, credible and competent and who labored tirelessly for the Coalition and are still without jobs.

How can the Coalition government think it is right for PPP die- hards like Persaud and Gopaul to jump the queue? It does not withstand the test of logic or good sense.

I am among those who toiled for the APNU+AFC. I

stand resolutely with my government but if there are persons in the government who believe that offering Persaud and Gopaul jobs would be a demonstration of inclusivity, then they are sadly mistaken.

Such a move will precipitate a rising up not only of young people but a wide cross-section of the Coalition’s own supporters who will be insulted. Our government must tread carefully on this matter.

Abel Seetaram AFC official Region 5

From page 22

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Page 24

Kaieteur News

Thursday November 26, 2015

Int’l day for Elimination of Violence against Women Noting the effects of violence and the impact it has on the nation, members of the Guyana Local Government Officers Union (GLGOU) have joined in the observance of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

As part of their commemoration activity, representatives and members of GLGOU, assembled on the lawns of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, (M&CC) yesterday and released orange balloons to raise awareness about the scourge.

This year, UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon’s Unite to end Violence against women campaign has extended a global invitation to “Orange the World,” using the colour designated by the UNiTE campaign to symbolize a brighter future without

GLGOU joins “Orange the World” to end gender-based violence violence. The campaign encourages individuals, organizations and companies to organize events to orange streets, schools and landmarks.

According to the United Nations report, every one in three women worldwide has experienced physical and sexual abuse mostly at the hands of their physical partners.

“Prevention” is the 2015 theme of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The Unite to End Violence against Women Campaign is a 16-day call for action.

“From 25 November through 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 days of

activism against gender based violence aim to raise public awareness and mobilizing people everywhere to bring about change.

In her statement to mark this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said, “If we all work together: governments, civil society organizations, the UN system, businesses, schools, and individuals mobilizing through new solidarity movements, we will eventually achieve a more equal world—a Planet 50-50—where women and girls can and will live free from violence”.

RUSAL to face charges...

From page 11 on the issue, he indicated that the issue arose out of miscommunication due to the language barrier. The Ministry is concerned about the issue and this will be registered in a letter to the company’s management.”

During Tuesday’s visit, Broomes made it clear that her presence should not be seen as an attack on the company since the Government welcomes foreign investors, but stressed that this should not be done at the expense of workers being treated unfairly.

She added that while she would not attempt to impede the company’s progress she would also not allow workers’ rights to be infringed.”

“As the Minister responsible for labour I am here to hold the balance between employer and employee and that is what I am going to do. I am not going to attempt to do anything outside of the law,” she said. Officials of the Ministry will conduct a follow-up inspection

to ensure that the labour infractions that were pointed out to the company are corrected.

“During a meeting with the management team it was indicated that changes will be made and for this, the Ministry is heartened.”

The Russian company is the second largest aluminium company in the world.

In 2006, RUSAL acquired assets of the state-owned Aroaima Mining Company in Guyana.

It clashed with local unions after 57 trade union leaders of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GBGWU) were summarily sacked in late 2009 when workers at the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) went on strike.

BCGI is 90 per cent owned by the Russian aluminium company RusAl and 10 per cent by the Government of Guyana.

The company had also been under the spotlight for a number of lucrative tax concessions it has been granted.

Govt. contracts Fedders Lloyd...

From page 15 suggested that the Granger administration consider salvaging the Specialty Hospital, as it will complement primary healthcare facilities in Guyana. The Specialty Hospital is intended to cater for high risk surgeries and other health care demands.

The administration having examined the merits of the proposal began searching for a willing partner to complete the

Specialty Hospital using the remainder of the LOC. In the interest of time, Government approached Fedders Lloyd to explore the possibility of the company completing the project. At the time of tendering in 2012, Fedders Lloyd, had also submitted a bid. Fedders Lloyd’s bid was not only lower, but the company also had actual experience in constructing specialty hospitals across the

world. Surendra, a spare parts fabricator for sugar mills across India, was found to have none. Citing corruption in the matter, Fedders Lloyd subsequently registered its objections to the manner the contract was awarded under the PPP administration. In spite of prior complications, Fedders Lloyd still expressed continued interest in the project and is prepared to complete and fully equip the facility.

Ed Ahmad’s sentencing delayed due...

From page 18 defrauded American lending institutions of approximately US$50 million, obtaining approval for mortgages on various properties by falsifying documents submitted to the lending institutions, using a string of straw buyers, and other illegal practices.

In detailing the allegations against the Queens businessman with strong political connections, Judge Irizarry outlined a scheme which had as its victims not only financial institutions, but also many ordinary New Yorkers, most of whom were Guyanese immigrants

pursuing the American dream to own their own home, only to find themselves trapped in a real estate scheme, ultimately resulting in them losing their homes in foreclosure proceedings, while Ahmad and his co-conspirators made millions of dollars.

Ahmad’s attorney had signaled intentions to challenge the financial loss attributed to him.

Prosecutors had advised a term of between 121 and 151 months (10 to approximately 13 years) of imprisonment for Ahmad.

Ahmad’s case has attracted much attention from the media in Guyana and in New York.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 25

Page 26

Kaieteur News

Thursday November 26, 2015

EU sounds alarm as internal barriers rise in refugee crisis (Reuters) - The European Union’s chief executive warned yesterday that the survival of Europe’s “partially comatose” open border travel zone and its single currency were both at risk if member nations continue erecting internal barriers to keep out refugees.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker drew a direct link between the two key achievements of EU integration, telling the European Parliament the euro would be jeopardised if the Schengen passport-free travel system unravels.

“If the spirit of Schengen leaves our lands and our hearts, we will lose more than Schengen. A single currency makes no sense if Schengen falls. It is one of the keystones of European construction,” Juncker said.

While there is no legal connection between the Schengen zone, which has 22 EU members and four from outside the bloc, and the 19member euro zone, Juncker’s warning reflected growing concern in Brussels that intraEU tensions over migrants could reverse the post-World War Two war drive for

European unity.

He sounded the alarm as some 1,500 migrants remained trapped in northern Greece unable to cross the border into Macedonia after Western Balkans countries overwhelmed by the refugee flow began limiting their intake to Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis.

The United Nations condemned the new restrictions with SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon saying that “profiling asylum seekers on the basis of their alleged nationality infringes the human right of all people to seek asylum, irrespective of their nationality, and to have their individual cases heard”.

Tens of thousands more migrants are stranded in Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia after Schengen zone countries further north built fences to seal their borders.

New arrivals from Turkey to the Greek Aegean islands have slowed this week despite fair weather in a possible sign of more effective Turkish action to clamp down on people smugglers.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is due in

Brussels on Sunday for a summit with EU leaders meant to seal a joint action plan under which European countries will provide 3 billion euros in aid to help keep refugees in Turkey.

But days before the meeting, senior EU officials said a deal had not been finalised, with the funding, the pace at which Ankara’s longstalled EU membership talks can advance and whether Brussels can deliver on its promise of easier travel for Turks all unresolved, EU and Turkish officials said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country has borne the brunt of hundreds of thousands of migrants who have poured into Europe from the Middle East and Africa this year, said the open border system would only endure if EU member states accepted a permanent, mandatory quota system for sharing out refugees.

Merkel rebuffed growing pressure from her own conservatives on Tuesday to impose a limit on the number of refugees Germany would admit.

It made no sense to try to curb the migration flow that way if Europe was unable to

A stranded Iranian woman embraces her daughter as hundreds of migrants line up during food distribution at the GreekMacedonian border. (REUTERS/YANNIS BEHRAKIS) control its external borders, she said.

In the northern Greek town of Idomeni, a group of Iranian asylum seekers on hunger strike, many nearing collapse, sat in the rain on the train tracks with their shirts off.

Nearby, about 200 to 300 Algerians and Moroccans faced Macedonian border guards, chanting “Mrs Merkel, please help us!”

Mohammed Merka, a Somali prevented from

crossing the GreekMacedonian border, told Reuters: “We are human beings and we have escaped war. If they want us to go back to war let them take us back to war.

“But there is no way we are going back. We will only die. If they want us to perish here we will perish here. All our lives we have been refugees. We have never seen peace.”

Greek authorities, happy to wave migrants through on

their journey towards wealthy northern Europe in recent months, appear to have been caught unprepared by the decision of their northern neighbours to start filtering them by nationality.

The Schengen zone has come under immense pressure as hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty have streamed across the continent’s largely unguarded southern maritime borders in search of security in Europe.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

CCJ referendum not practical, says Jamaica foreign minister KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Senator A.J. Nicholson, has reiterated the government’s position that it is not practical to have a referendum on the matter of Jamaica’s accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

“Let us tear down this referendum wall. It does not prove to be good sense in history, it is not good sense in logic, it is not practical,” he said while making his contribution to the debate on the three Bills to establish the CCJ as Jamaica’s final appellate body in the Senate on November 20.

It is the intention of the government to separate Jamaica from the Judicial Committee of the United Kingdom (UK) Privy Council, and to become part of the CCJ in its Appellate Jurisdiction. Nicolson, who is also leader of government business in the Senate, further argued that none of the 41 countries that have left the Privy Council and established their own court “has gone route of a referendum”. In addition, he

contended that Jamaica does not possess the power to implement or enforce a decision to remain with the Privy Council.

“If the people vote to remain with the Privy Council, the power to enforce that vote doesn’t lie here in Kingston – it lies in Whitehall (where the council sits). You can’t have a referendum on something that you don’t control,” he said.

Nicholson also called for the Bills to be passed as quickly as possible. He argued that any Bill that is brought before the Senate ought to be supported where it is shown that: it is not unconstitutional; is not contrary to public morals; does not offend any international agreement or treaty to which Jamaica is a party; and it is in the interest of the people of Jamaica.

“These Bills seek to amend the constitution of Jamaica, and at the same time would put in place a platform for consensus that would signal such a positive movement on Jamaica’s governance curve… this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, a chance that is not likely to

come again in a generation and more,” he said.

Government senator, Imani Duncan Price, in her contribution, also upheld the position that there is no need for a referendum on the issue.

“There is no requirement in law for the staging of a referendum on this issue. The provisions of the constitution establishing Jamaica’s Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal are not deeply entrenched provisions of the Constitution and as such, the introduction of a third-tier court does not need to overshoot the level of protection already offered to those courts,” she said.

The Bills being debated are the Constitution (Amendment) (Caribbean Court of Justice) Act 2015; the Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, 2015, and the Caribbean Court of Justice Act, 2015.

The CCJ Bills were debated and passed on May 12 in the House of Representatives, where the government enjoys the twothirds majority needed to have them passed. The opposition voted against all three Bills. (Caribbean News)

Page 27

Haiti election results trigger violent protests BBC News - Violent protests have erupted in Haiti after the electoral council announced the official results of the first round of last month’s presidential election.

Jovenel Moise, who has the backing of current President Michel Martelly, came first with 33% of the vote and Jude Celestin came second with 25%.

As neither won a majority, a run-off will be held on 27 December.

The announcement triggered protests by supporters of another candidate, Moise JeanCharles.

His supporters took to the streets of Cabaret, a town in western Haiti, while protests also erupted in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where two police officers were injured.

Police fired teargas to disperse protesters who denounced the first round as fraudulent.

Last week, one person was killed when police clashed with protesters demanding that the first round be annulled.

The protesters accuse the

government of rigging the election in favour of Mr Moise, an accusation Mr Martelly’s administration has denied.

On Tu e s d a y, the National Offices of Electoral Litigation rejected a request by the Fanmi Lavalas opposition party to ban Mr Moise from the race because of “massive fraud”.

Mr Moise is a banana exporter with little political experience but who enjoys the support of outgoing

President Michel Martelly.

Jude Celestin made his name as the former head of the state construction company.

It is the second time he is running for president after he failed to win the 2010 election.

Some voters have called on Mr Celestin to boycott the run-off in December.

They want Mr Martelly to step down and a transitional government to take over and organise fresh elections.

Mr Celestin has not yet indicated what he will do.

Page 28

Kaieteur News

Thursday November 26, 2015

Sloth in executing capital projects will affect future budgets - PPP

From left; PPP MP Irfaan Ali and PPP Chief Whip Gail Teixeira The slow rate at which Government is executing capital projects was flagged by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). The party is adamant that it is having a severe effect on the economy and future budgets.

During a media briefing at Freedom House yesterday, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Irfaan Ali, asserted that Government has been slow in implementing key projects provided for in the 2015 budget and all sectors are in the midst of a slowdown.

“If you look at the implementation rate of the 2015 budget, in many instances projects have not been awarded as yet, tenders are not out; there is hardly any work on the ground outside of Georgetown.”

The Shadow Finance Minister said that outside of Georgetown, there is not much going on in the other regions. He cited several projects, including the expansion of the roadways in Region Three (West Demerara road).

He noted that the implementation of major projects identified in the budget have to be sped up, so that through expenditure it can benefit the economy and citizens at large.

“You will hear people on the street saying there is not enough flow of money, or people are not spending.

Government expenditure drives private expenditure,” he stated. A perusal of the Bank of Guyana’s half year report reveals that Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reduced to 0.7 percent in the first half of 2015, the lowest recorded growth rate since 2011.

This is in contrast to the revised growth of 4.8 percent

growth for the same period in 2014. The bank flagged this performance to the decrease in gold and bauxite output and contracts in the construction sector.

“If you look at the Bank of Guyana Report you will see that that lack of interest in investing is clearly demonstrated,” he said.

“You have decreased levels of local investments; you have decreased activities in the various sectors, (such as) construction sector, services sector, mining and the forestry sector,” he went on to note.

Ali made it clear that if the 2015 budget is not fully implemented by the time the 2016 and 2017 budgets come around, a crisis can arise in trying to implement them.

“In some Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC), (there) are supposed to (be) a lot of construction going on, for instance Stewartville and the Tuschen/Uitvlugt housing schemes.”

“In some cases, we have a decrease (in activity) of 50 percent in some NDCs, compared to 2014.”

He also pointed to the number of containers coming in and leaving the country. He claimed that the aggregate figure shows a decrease of 37 percent compared to last year.

Ali observed that numerous stores, which should have been bustling with activity, have not even brought in the amount of stock they previously would have as consumer spending is reduced.

He also expressed worry over the widening difference between the buying and selling rates for the US dollar.

“Domestic investment decreased by 2.7 percent during the first half and this would have even deteriorated

over the last quarter.”

Ali also flagged the report’s highlight of nonperforming loans. The report showed that non-performing loans (loans for which the monthly installment has not been paid for three consecutive months) increased by 69.7 percent as of June 2015.

This means that in comparison to the same period for last year, nonperforming loans in Guyana increased from $8.3M to $20.4M. It also represented 8.3 percent of total loans.

Worse yet, the report recorded significant increases in non-performing loans for the first half of 2015 in the business sub-sectors.

This means that more and more investors in the business sub-sector, namely mining and quarrying, manufacturing and agriculture are unable to pay back their loans.

“This is a serious indication of what is coming out of the financial sector and the banks themselves,” Ali said.

“In some economies, if Agriculture is not doing well, gold does well to make up,” Ali posited. “But across the board gold is not doing well, quarrying is not doing well (and) construction is not doing well.”

Government has been blaming the delayed budget of 2015 for the slow expenditure. Works on other roads, including the East Bank Demerara Public road, have been suffering.

However, the fact that Parliament was prorogued in October by former President Donald Ramotar has been cited as the major contributor to the slow down being experienced now.

Parliament was in turn dissolved and new elections held in May 2015. All of this occurred without a national budget being passed and many projects reportedly did not get funding.

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

AG goes after jailed Trini terrorist…

TO SEIZE ASSESTS

Trinidad Guardian - The State is moving to deem a Trinidadian convicted in the United States a terrorist and obtain a freezing order of his assets and any transaction done on his behalf.

The unprecedented action against convicted JFK bomb plotter Kareem Ibrahim, which is being pursued under the Anti-Terrorism Act, follows the collaborative efforts of local and foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The exparte application was filed Tuesday by the Office of the Attorney General and listed attorneys Pamela Elder, SC, and Michael Rooplal as the advocates.

The application comes on the heels of numerous reports of Trinidadians’ involvement with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and a fresh wave of calls for action to be taken against the

foreign terrorist fighters in the wake of the recent ISIS attack in Paris.

News of the move had been announced hours earlier

by Attorney General Faris AlRawi during a media conference following the opening session of the Caribbean Action Financial Task Force (CFATF) plenary meeting at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, where a prayer was said in French and a minute’s silence was observed for the victims of the Paris attacks.

Al-Rawi declined then to name the person or entity but cited Sec 22 (B), 1 (B) of the Anti Terrorism Act as the piece of legislation which enabled him to act on the application.

Confirming that the application related specifically to terrorism, AlRawi said: “As incoming AG I met an application which

was languishing and in respect of which there had been a conviction.

“I saw it as an important deliverable to proceed with that application to court and so I took the exercise of gelling the application into its proper form, ensured the evidence was behind the application and in very short measure made the approach to court today.”

A tough-talking Al-Rawi added: “Matters cannot afford to be in the system for long. You must deal with them conclusively and if you can’t deal with them, you have to say why.”

Warning that there would be international and local repercussions, Al-Rawi also declined to comment on the value of the assets involved, saying it would be premature to do so “until we have dealt with the position.”

Page 29

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 26, 2015

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Trophy Stall trophy for Caribbean Sensation

In photo, Roger Sunich (stooping at left), poses with members of Caribbean Sensation after presenting the trophy.

TROPHY Stall Guyana Inc., touted as one of the leading sponsors of sporting activities in Guyana, has also been spreading its wings in the Canadian sports arena.

Over the past few years, Trophy Stall has been involved in the sponsorship

of cricket at all levels in Ontario and this year was no different.

At last Saturday’s Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) 20th annual presentation dinner and dance, held at the Eastown Banquet Hall, Scarborough, Toronto, Caribbean

Sensation received the Grand Championship trophy, sponsored by the Guyanese entity.

On hand to present the winning trophy and smaller ones to each player, on behalf of Proprietor Ramesh Sunich was his brother Roger Sunich who resides in Canada.

Thursday November 26, 2015 ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Double check your work and be sure that your boss is in a good mood before you do your presentation. Organize social events or family gatherings.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) Not everything you hear will be legitimate. A change of attitude has probably disrupted your home environment. Don't push your luck.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) You may find your nights sleepless due to bad dreams.

Passion is inevitable and commitments can be made during the heat of the night.

Your outgoing nature will surprise others today. Secret enemies may be holding a grudge that you're not even aware of.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) You will gain a lot if you listen. Don't shy away from potential mates they want to introduce you to. One sided attractions are likely.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Make changes that will heighten your appeal. You may have personal problems, but professional duties might be pressing.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Loss or theft may occur if you are careless with your belongings. You haven't been watching your spending habits and you may have been neglecting your duties.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) You can learn a great deal if you listen to those who are older or more experienced.

You could meet an interesting individual you'll want to get to know better.

SAGIT (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) You will be in the mood for competition, and your ability to lead a group will bring you popularity. You should be setting up interviews or sending out your resume today.

CAPRI. (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Move into a leadership position if you are determined to do so. A passionate encounter with your mate should help alleviate that pent-up energy.

AQUAR. (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) You can meet interesting new friends if you join worthwhile groups. Make changes regarding your status in society.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Electrical problems may be an issue. You may want to sign up for lectures or courses that will bring you mental stimulation.

Page 31

Let’s welcome the Antigua and Barbuda...

From page 34 Points led the visitors. Auric Tappin led all scorers with 25 Points, Skipper Leon Christian 8 Points and Gavin Cummings 8 Points supported for Guyana.

Bouyed by the blowout of host Guyana, the Antiguans destroyed Suriname 89 to 69 in their next encounter; Deon Joseph had a game high 20 Points, Keith Roy James 14 Points, Wayne Harris 14 Points. OverReem Relium scored 12 Points for Suriname.

Trinidad & Tobago halted the Antiguans run with a 73 to 55 victory as Patrick Joseph led all scorers with 22 Points, Lennox Sobers 16 Points and

Bertrand James 16 Points for the winners. For Antigua, Wayne Harris scored 16 Points, Kenroy Jones 10 Points and Trevor Edwards 10 Points.

Barbados defeated Antigua for the third place and Bronze Medal. After the tournament two players from Antigua and Barbuda were selected on the Caricom All Star Team.

Selected after the 1988 Caricom Tournament: Leon Christian - Guyana Auric Tappin - Guyana Deon Joseph - Antigua Kenroy James - Antigua Patrick Joseph - Trinidad Garnett Stewart - Trinidad Jeff Pinder - Bahamas

Denzil Swain - Bahamas Dale Weekes - Barbados Dave Johnson - Jamaica Paul Farr - Jamaica This time around the Antigua will be contesting only against their Guyanese rivals this is their first Goodwill tour, their two previous visits was for participation in Caricom Championships. Lets See who will emulate Wayne Harris, Deon Joseph, Kenroy James, Elton Thom and Carl Knights. We have waited a long time for an Antigua visit, it has been 27 years since the boys from the Island with 365 bleaches has visited the land of the Mighty Kaieteur Falls.

(Charwayne Walker)

Male and Female Linden teams...

From page 30 pressure on their opponents in the field.

In the female category, Aoraima seems to have the edge and in Captain Angela Grimmond and they possess one of the most complete players, she has led her team thus far by sheer weight of runs and accurate bowling.

The All Star Conquerors have been busy so far throughout the downtime leading up to this stage and will be hoping to get past their opponents by this. The Sunrise girls will be looking for revenge as they were stretched to their limit in the preliminary rounds and on both occasions but were successful against the All-Star Conquerors but lost against the Aoraima girls.

Meanwhile, on Sunday three teams in Wolf Warriors, Cross Breed XI and Brickery All Stars will be playing against three select Linden teams in a bid to bring the Lindeners on par with the other tournament leaders in the 10/10 format.

Lewis leads Port Mourant to...

From page 35 Corentyne, congratulated both clubs for putting on a good show.

According to Mr. Balram the competition is being played in memory of his father who was a former cricket and sports enthusiast. He stated that apart from cricket it is their way of giving back to the community from which they garner their support in a tangible way. He plans to make it bigger and better next year.

Proceeds from the game will be dived equally and distributed to the two teams to assist then with the cricket development programmes. A number of entities were given tickets to sell and keep the proceeds from the sales.

(Samuel Whyte)

re part of the Guyana Softball League plans to ensure the quality of teams coming out of areas are of the same as the other areas. The West Coast teams in Wolf ‘s Warriors and

Cross Breed XI are presently unbeaten in the Mobile Wizard 10/10 and the Brickery All Stars are having a good run so far as they have won their last 2 matches on the trot.

Page 32

Kaieteur News

Thursday November 26, 2015

PCL’s leading run scorer Vishaul Singh aims for consistency

By Sean Devers Many are called but few are chosen. But for 26-yearold Guyanese left-hander Vishaul Singh although it’s all up to the West Indies selectors if his dream of playing for the West Indies Test team is to be fulfilled, he intends to have a say by letting his bat do the talking.

The Guyana Vice-Captain sits at the top of the runs aggregate after three rounds in the WICB PCL First-Class Franchise this season with 343 runs at an average of 85.75. The diminutive Singh is the only batsman with 300 and two centuries.

“My goal is to score as much runs as possible this season.

When the tournament began, my goal was 700 runs and to play a meaningful role in helping Guyana to retain the title. I won’t put a time frame on how far I am away from Test cricket but if I am to be selected in the near future I know that will only happen if I continue to score heavily at the Regional level and make a case for myself,” the levelheaded Singh said.

He credits Guyana’s success over the last two seasons to two main factors.

The players in the Jaguars squad being arguably the best prepaid of all the teams and the maturity of the players.

“The squad has now matured with the average age being 27 with Shiv’s (Chanderpaul) experience being beneficial to everyone plus we are playing as team, we are comfortable with each other,” The GCC batsman explained.

Singh says while the pitch at Providence is difficult to score quickly on if you adapt to the surface and be patient

you should be successful.

“Because it (pitch) is low and slow, it’s not the type of pitch that you could score a hundred in a session but if you are patient and don’t fight the pitch you will get runs at Providence.”

All of Guyana’s matches for this season have been played at Providence where Singh registered back-toback tons against the Leewards and Barbados to help the Jaguars to three wins and a top of the table 53 points.

His 150 in the second round has been the best of his three First-Class tons in his 24 games at this level but Singh, who has batted with confidence and fluency this season, says his most memorable match was his maiden century against T&T’s Red Force in Port-ofSpain last year in his second game as Captain.

In Singh’s debut as Captain he displayed good leadership qualities as Guyana dominated Barbados at Providence for three days before, with 69 required to win on the final day, Guyana fell for their third lowest total to lose by two runs as Singh made an inauspicious start as Guyana Skipper.

“I would rather not remember that game,” Singh, who celebrates his 27th birthday on January 12 during the Regional Super50 tournament in T&T, disclosed with a chuckle.

Vishaul was born in 1989 to Hardat ‘Pepe’ Singh and Nalini Singh and lived all of his life in Alexander Village in Greater Georgetown until he recently moved to his own home in Atlantic Gardens on the East of Demerara when got married this year to Trisha Singh.

The former Stella Marris Primary and St Roses Secondary student who also attended Saints Stanislaus College to write his CAPE exams said he was born into cricket since his dad was a legspinner who played at the first division level for City side GYO where Vishaul began his career as an eight-year-old.

“When I was about eight, I was picked for GYO against a Lawyers team after the GYO team was short of players,” said Vishaul, who gained four 1s, two 2s and a three when he wrote the CXC exams.

This writer first saw little Vishaul when I played a season for GYO in 1994 when he would come to practice with his dad and would not remain in one place for too long.

At that time he was as tall as the wicket. In 21 years since then he has not grown much past that height and now stands at 5 ft, 5 inches.

But don’t let his size fool you since his well timed strokes, especially his favorite cut shot, reaches the boundary a fast as most other batsmen. In club cricket he hits some big sixes although he rarely takes those risks at First-Class level.

“I joined GCC at 10 after I played a game for East Bank U-15 against GCC and Harold ‘doc’ Dhanraj asked dad for me to join GCC to get more opportunities than at GYO,” said Singh and his cricket took off.

Vishaul made the Guyana U-15 team in 2004 before scoring his only U-19 century (121 v Leewards in St Kitts) in his only year at the under19 level three years later when he played with his present team mates Rajendra Chandrika, Veerasammy Permaul and Steven Jacobs

Has an appetite for runs & Sweet Potato and pot roast chicken

Vishaul Singh looked rock solid this season. who led the team to the 2007 title.

His first-class debut came in 2009 against Barbados at Providence and although he has five fifties, his first ton came last year. He has added two more this year as he continues to enjoy a purple patch of form which he attributes to hard work and a burning desire to do well for Guyana.

His cuts, drives and excellent use of his feet to the spinners has been a joy to watch for the young man who claims to be a great cook and whose favorite dish is sweet potato and pot roast chicken.

Vishaul’s hobbies are cricket, football and reading while when not involved with cricket (which is becoming much less these days) he enjoys ‘hanging’ with his friends.

According to Vishaul, his

time spent playing in England (2008-2011) helped him to be more responsible with his shot selection and learn to play the ball later due to the soft pitches. “As the Pro you were expected to make runs most of the runs,” said Singh whose favorite cricketer is Brain Lara because of his lefthandedness and style.

Singh, who says because he has a central contract he will not be going to England next season, adding that while he does not have a preference regarding playing pace or spin he feels he is more dominant against spin.

Vishaul first saw his wife in a pageant about five years ago and got her contacts from a friend, but says Trisha ignored him for about four months before responding.

The couple got married this year.

Vishaul says if he was not

a cricketer he would have been an IT technician (he studied IT in school) and explained that he got his nickname ‘Cheezy’ from former GYO batsman Arun Dhallo, who was at that time 14 years older than him.

“I was about eight and there was this song with sometime about Cheezy in it and Dhallo would sing it. The nickname Cheezy got left on me,” the correct looking batsman concluded.

Under his helmet he could be mistaken for an Under-17 batsman, but when he smashes the Region’s leading pacers like a bullet to the boundary you quickly realise that this is no little boy but an established First-Class batsman, who if he continues to score ‘runs’ should not be too far away from joining the list of those from Guyana to play Test cricket.

The final of the annual 7a-side Inter-Ward Football competition to mark the occasion of Mayor Hamilton Green 81st birthday organized by former National footballer Lennox Arthur will be played next Friday evening at the Banks DIH Thirst Park ground and not this Friday as was previously announced.

Arthur informed yesterday that the Banks Thirst Park ground would not be available no longer this Friday so that are forced to reschedule to next Friday.

The teams clashing to determine who eventually

advances to the Grand Finale are: Kitty who will play Lima Dam, Mahaica versus Victoria, Uitvlugt against Haslington and Den Amstel face Pouderoyen. The winners advance.

The teams are battling for a first prize of $200,000 and the John Fernandes trophy, while the other top four finishers will collect; $100,000 and Youth and Sports Trophy, $70,000 and China Trading trophy and $30,000 and the Business School trophy. Additionally AHL Kissoon has donated a 3piece suite for the top scorer,

while Ricks and Sari will give 10 hampers each to the winning and runner up teams.

Among the sponsors aiding a successful staging of the event are: Banks DIH, Massy, Beepat and Sons, CBR Mining, MACORP, Guyana Beverage, home of Busta soft drinks, Aruwai Mining, IPA, Muneshwar’s, E Networks, CIDI, BEV Processors, EC Vieira, Cummings Electrical, Crown Mining, Sattar Gafoor and Col. Larry London along with the above mentioned trophy and cash prize and other donors.

Mayor Green’s Inter-ward Football final rescheduled to next Friday at Thirst Park

Thursday November 26, 2015

Kaieteur News

Isabella Smartt/Bernadette King Memorial 25-Overs Female Cricket Tournament

Rose Hall Town Metro defeat Tucber Park

The successful Rose Hall Town Metro team take time out for a photo following their win over Tucber Park.

A cricket match between two female cricket teams was finally played in the Ancient County of Berbice after an absence of six years. The match played between the Rose Hall Town Metro Female Team and the Tucber Park Cricket Club at the Area “H” Ground was the first of three to be played as part of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club efforts to promote female cricket in the ancient county.

The winner would take home the Isabelle Smartt/ Bernadette King Memorial Trophy. Smartt and King were two outstanding female administrators of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club and who died several years ago.

Rose Hall Town Metro led

by West Indies female cricketer Shemaine Campbelle easily defeated Tucber Park by 8 wickets to go up 1 - 0 in the three matches series.

Tucber Park were asked to bat first after losing the toss.

They were bowled out for 104 in 21.2 of their allotted 25Overs with Trishanie Cort 15, Steffi Rodney 20, Tremayne Smartt and M. Budhoo 13 being the principal scorers.

Bowling for Rose Hall Town Metro, off spinners Melanie Henry took 3 wickets for 8 runs, Plaffiana Millington 2 for 10, while Sherica Campbelle, Erva Giddings and Shanetta Grimmond each took one wicket.

Openers Melanie Henry and Shanetta Grimmond then featured in an attacking partnership of 66 in eight overs to lay a strong foundation for the home team in their pursuit of victory before Grimmond was bowled

by D. Frank for 25. Rose Hall Town Metro lost their second wicket at 83 for 2 in the 10th over when national player Melanie Henry was caught and bowled by Steffi Rodney

for a well played 43 with eight boundaries.

Sherica Campbelle, cousin of the more famous Shemaine Campbelle was unbeaten on 33 (5 boundaries) along with Shakati Gajnabi 04 when victory was achieved in the 12th Over. D. Frank 1 for 28 and Steffi Rodney 1 for 09 were the wicket takers for Tucber Park.

Secretary/CEO of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Hilbert Foster congratulated both teams for the spirit of the game was played and the discipline and commitment of all the players.

He pledged the co-operation of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club in the continued development of female cricket in the ancient county. Melanie Henry was named Player of the Match and received a trophy. The second match of the three matches’ series would be played this weekend.

Petama Enterprise of Delph St., Campbellville, and Motor Trend of Enmore, Softball Finals which is run by GFSCA will be played on Sunday. The finals were postponed from last Saturday evening to this Sunday, because of rain.

The competition is also co-sponsored by Mike’s Pharmacy, Ariel Enterprise, Trophy Stall, Romeo Oil Seal, Tropical Spring Water, Ramchand Auto Spares and

Rohan Auto Spares.

Winning prize for Male Masters and Male Open is $100,000 each, while Runnerup receives $25,000. The winner for the Female match will get $50,000 and the Runner-up $20,000. MVP prize for the three finals is trophy plus $5,000 each.

Player for the Series for the three categories will collect a Trophy plus $5,000.

Admission is free for the finals at DCC starting at

9:00am. Fixtures for Saturday 28th November: OPEN SEMI FINALS: DCC Ground: 9:00am Die Hard Brothers vs Regal on Pitch 1: Adventure Sports Club vs Wolf Warriors on Pitch 2.

FINALS: DCC Ground on Sunday 29th November12:00 pm: Trophy Stall Angels vs Wellwoman, 1:30pm: Parika Defenders vs Regal Masters,.4:30pm Open Finals, between winners of 2 semifinals.

Petama Enterprise/ Motor Trend Softball Male/ Female Finals fixed for Sunday at DCC

Page 33

2015 RHTYSC/Busta Champion of Champions Tournament

Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets and Tucber Park advance to Final The finalists of the 2015 Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club’s Busta Champion of Champions 40Overs Cricket Tournament was decided after two high standards semifinals played on Saturday last at the Area “H” Ground and Cumberland Ground. Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets had to dig deep to overcome a remarkable effort by West Berbice at the Area “H” Ground, while Tucber Park (formerly Bermine) got past arch rival Young Warriors by six wickets at the Cumberland Ground.

West Berbice invited Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets to take the first strike in the first semi-finals after play was delayed by an hour due to early morning rain.

The match was reduced to 35-Overs per side and Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets suffered an early setback when Vidal Crandon was bowled by the fiery Kieron Fraser for 04 at 14 for 1 in the fourth over.

Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets lost Renwick Batson (10) and Jason Sinclair 13 to find themselves in trouble at 36 for 3 and when Rajiv Ivan was run out for 01, they had slipped to 43 for 4 in the 9th over.

The seasoned pair of Royston Crandon and Khemraj Mahadeo then added 123 for the fifth wicket before a tired Mahadeo fell for a majestic 76 (three boundaries and five sixes).

Crandon batted well for a top score of 80. Collis Butts 15 not out and Eon Hooper 14 supported well to ensure

Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets reached 251 all out off 34.5 overs. Bowling for West Berbice, Kieron Fraser took 6 wickets for 48 runs from seven overs.

Needing to score 252 to win from 35-overs, West Berbice were given a rousing opening stand of 87 from eleven overs by openers Arthley Bailey and Raffiel Estriado before Bailey was bowled by leg spinner Shawn Pereira for 40.

The openers were severe on fast bowler Clinton Pestano whose two overs cost thirty five runs. It took the Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets spin attack of Collis Butts, Pereira, Eon Hooper and Rajiv Ivan to pull back their team into the game as Troy Halley 38, Steffan Adams 27, Renwick Mitchell 28 and Carlton Nurse 20 all batted well.

West Berbice in rapidly fading light were eventually bowled out for 226 to lose by 25 runs. Offspinner Rajiv Ivan took 4 wickets for 30 runs (7overs), Shawn Pereira 3 for 38, while Collis Butts and Eon Hooper took a wicket a piece.

At the Cumberland Ground, Tucber Park inserted the home team after winning the toss.

Openers Ishwar Singh and Kelvin Sinclair added 44 for the first wicket before Ishwar Singh and his younger brother, Gajanand Singh, were dismissed by Female West Indies pace bowler Tremayne Smartt to leave the home team at 79 for 2. The hard hitting Wahied Edwards (49) and Seon Hetmyer then added 79 runs for the 4th wicket before

Hetmyer was dismissed for 32. Eugene La Fleur then took 4 wickets for 24 runs to limit Young Warriors to 199 all out in 40-overs as Tremayne Smartt supported with 2 wickets for 38 runs. La Fleur then completed a good allround match by scoring an unbeaten 86 not out as Tucber Park reached 201 for 4 in 34-overs to win easily by six wickets. La Fleur was supported by skipper Anthony D’Andrade 28, Hakeem Hinds 24, Devon Clements 23, while Romario Shepherd scored a breezily 22 not out at the end of the innings. Sudesh Dhanai, Balram Samaroo, Kevin Ramdeen and left arm spinner Kassim Khan each took a wicket for Young Warriors.

The final featuring Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets and Tucber Park would be played in two weeks. Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that the Club intends to make the final a special occasion and with a lot of planning to do, the match would most likely be played on Sunday 6th December, 2015, at a venue to be named.

Foster state d t h a t t h e first two rounds of the tournament had seen a v e r y h i g h s t a n d a r d of cricket and several outstanding individual performances from players like Clinton Pestano, Collis Butts, Devon Clements, Ishwar Singh, Royston Crandon, Khemraj Mahadeo, Brentnol Woolford, Arthley Bailey, Kieron Fraser and Romario Shepherd.

The Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL Inc) organised Winston Murray memorial 10/10 knock out competition will be played on Sunday at the Everest Cricket Club.

The draw took place yesterday at GNIC SC and the teams that will battle for supremacy are Regal, Farm, Speed Boat, Mercenaries, Success, Leguan, Omesh XI and Wolf’s Warriors.

In the opening fixtures Success will play Speed Boat and Wolf’s Warriors will face Leguan; both matches will commence at 08:30 hrs.

Regal will then battle Omesh XI and Mercenaries will take on Farm.

The winners of game one will play game four

champions in their first semi final, while game three winners will face the victors of game two in the next.

The winning team will take home a trophy and $200,000 and the runner up a trophy and $100,000.

The GSCL Inc is asking

the teams to provide their balls (small supreme), meals and water; No entrance fee is required.

Teams are asked to make contact with Rafman Alli on 654-2233 and to be at the venue at least 45 minutes prior to the start of play.

Winston Murray softball set for Sunday

Page 34

Kaieteur News

Let’s welcome the Antigua and Barbuda national male team for their third visit The first time Basketballers from Antigua and Barbuda played internationally in Guyana was August 1981, the occasion was the Inaugural Caricom Championship staged at the National Sports Hall.

The Antiguans first match resulted in a 94 to 84 loss to Barbados; Malcolm Stanton top scored for Barbados with 24 Points, Dennis Osbourne had 19 Points, for Antigua and Barbuda Noel Roberts scored a game high 26 Points, Wholly Abbott 12 Points.

Antigua and Barbuda second game also resulted in a loss this time to host Guyana 86 to 75 the late Stanislaus (Knox) Hadmon top scored for Guyana with 24 Points, Compton (Lofty) Hinds 14 Points, Orin Cumberbatch 14 Points, and Skipper Hewley Harry 12 Points. For Antigua, Wayne Harris scored a game high 27 Points and Mark Christian 16 Points.

Antigua and Barbuda’s first victory in Guyana came in their third match when they defeated Dominica 88 to 65.

Wayne Harris top scored with 23 Points, Carrie Knights 16 Points and Elton Thom 12

Points. For Dominica Oliver Burton scored 16 Points, Bernard Thomas 12 Points and Irvine Williams 10 Points.

The Antiguans next match was a blowout loss to Suriname. The Dutchmen won 109 to 67; Lucien Blaaker top scored for Suriname with 25 Points, Jerry Bleeggraat 16 Points and Jeffrey Straal 15 Points. For Antigua and Barbuda Wayne Harris scored 10 Points, Elton Thom 9 Points, T. Salmon 8 Points, Mark Christian 8 Points and L. Clarke 8 Points.

By only winning one of their four preliminary games the Antiguans failed to qualify for the semifinals. The prolific sharp shooter Wayne Harris was the lone Antiguan selected when the Inaugural Caricom All Star Team was announced.

Caricom All Star Team selected after the Inaugural Tournament: Hewley Harry - Guyana Stanislaus Hadmon -Guyana James Brushe - Guyana Wayne Harris - Antigua & Barbuda Malcolm Stanton - Barbados Michael Chase - Barbados Frank Menke - Suriname

Dennis Spier - Suriname Lennox Jervier - Dominica Wayne Sappleton - Jamaica Junior Foster - Jamaica John Bailey Jamaica Brian John Trinidad Lennox Sobers - Trinidad Victor O’Garro - Trinidad The next time the Antiguans visited the land of the Majestic Kaieteur Falls was August 1988 for the 7thCaricom Championship and again the venue was the National Sports Hall. The boys from St. John’s started that tournament with a 75 to 67 loss to Regional Power House Bahamas. Denzil Swain led all scorers with 20 Points, Hilton Pinder 15 Points, Jeff (Cheese) Pinder 12 Points and 10 Rebounds; for Antigua and Barbuda Wayne Harris top scored with 14 Points, Deon Joseph 13 Points, and 11 rebounds, Keith Roy George 10 Points.

The Antiguans rebounded from the Bahamas loss by silencing a sellout Sports Hall with an emphatic blowout win over host Guyana 77 to 55. Wayne Harris 13 Points, Deon Joseph 13 Points and Carl Knights 13 Continued on page 30

Thursday November 26, 2015

Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Competition

Former champs Back Circle beat Sparta Boss Former national champions Back Circle, who became the first team to represent Guyana at the Caribbean Street Challenge Tournament, sent a warning to all those in their path to glory after knocking off one of the pre-tournament favourites Sparta Boss 2-1 in their marquee encounter on Tuesday night, at the National Cultural Centre Tarmac.

Playing in the Georgetown Zone of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Competition, Sparta Boss got off to a fast start when the prolific Sheldon Shepherd fired into an empty goal after just two minutes.

However, Back Circle responded three minutes later through their experienced Captain Andy Duke, who raced on to a pass following a counterattack to boot into an empty goal to draw level.

Just before the half, Jermaine Beckles exhibited crafty skill, pushing and pulling the ball back, avoiding a flailing attempt to tackle from a Sparta Boss defender, before tapping into an empty net.

The second half saw both teams attacking with menace, but the savvy back Circle unit held firm until the final whistle sounded to earn a morale boosting win that should ignite confidence in their camp going forward.

Below are the night’s full results and current points standing: Game-1 Upsetters-2 vs South Sophia1 Upsetters Scorers Orlando Ricketts-5th Own Goal-7th South Sophia Scorer Ryan Oselmo-16th Game-2 Young Ballers vs Island All-

Stars Young Ballers won via walkover Game-3 Holmes Street Tigerbay-0 vs Stevedore Housing Scheme0 Game-4 Queen Street Tigerbay-0 vs Jamoon Drive-0 Game-5 Bent Street-0 vs South Ruimveldt-0 Game-6 Festival City Street Fighters0 vs Shopping Plaza-0 Game-7 Gold-0 vs Broad Street Bullies-2 Devon Adams-7th Ryan Jones-13th Game-8 Sparta Boss-1 vs Back Circle2 Back Circle Scorers Andy Duke-5th Jermaine Beckles-10th Sparta Scorer Sheldon Shepherd-2nd