Kaieteur News
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Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris A. A. Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL REMEMBERING FIDEL CASTRO One year ago, the world’s foremost revolutionary, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, died at the age of 90. As Cubans mourned his death and as world leaders, including United States President Barack Obama paid tribute to him, many Cuban exiles in Miami took to the streets and waved flags and banged pots and pans to celebrate his death.Many had wished his death would have come much sooner because of their hatred for him. Fidel Castro held on to power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He became a towering international figure whose importance in the 20th century far exceeded what might have been expected from the head of state of a Caribbean island nation of 11 million people. Following his overthrow of Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Castro adopted a Marxist-Leninist model of development and made Cuba a one-party communist state; the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The fiery apostle of the Cuban revolution defied the United States for nearly half a century, bedeviling 11 American Presidents and brought the Cold War to the Hemisphere. He dominated Cuba with strength and symbolism. Castro’s leftist and anti-imperialist politics angered the US which attempted to remove him from office by the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. While this incident made Castro a hero in the national liberation struggle, it embarrassed the United States. Castro countered the US threats by forming an alliance with the Soviet Union which sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 that briefly pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war. Socialism or death remained his rallying cry even as communism collapsed in the Soviet Union and Westernstyle democracy swept the globe as other communist regimes embraced capitalism, leaving Cuba an isolated socialist state. Castro was one of the most influential and most provocative figures in the Western Hemisphere. Yet the Cuba in which he died a year ago is very different from the one he ruled for nearly half a century. New diplomatic and commercial relations between the United States and Cuba which were unimaginable during Castro’s reign are now in place, thanks to the pragmatism and bold initiatives of his successor and brother, Raul Castro and President Obama. In death as in life, Fidel Castro was loved and hated in equal measure. As the leader of the most successful socialist revolution in the hemisphere, he survived the longest economic blockade and threats from the United States in history. He built a communist state just 90 miles from the United States. Despite the massive pressure put on him by the US, Castro held his ground and transformed Cuba into an independent and semi-sufficient state. He inspired many leaders around the world, including our own Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. His friendship with Guyana has resulted in hundreds of scholarships granted to Guyanese students to pursue studies in medicine, engineering and other technical areas in Cuba. Today, Cubans enjoy one of the best universal healthcare systems and one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. Cubans are among the most literate in the world and they are some of the best athletes, especially in boxing and track and filed. Fidel Castro was a beacon of hope for oppressed peoples around the world, especially in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. His humanistic personality and compassion for the oppressed and the poor were counterbalanced by an evil and a ruthless dictator who murdered and imprisoned his opponents. Castro who once remarked, history will absolve him is dead; but his legacy whether favorable or unfavorable lives on.
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur M@ilbox Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com
This article bashing City Hall is grossly inaccurate Dear Editor Please refer to article captioned the Story with the Story- “A cesspool of corruption at City Hall” penned by Leonard Gildarie and published on November 19, 2017. We are befuddled by the unusually strange contents of the article. We are aware that individuals who write opinion pieces, such as this one under discussion, are not held to strict journalistic standards but this is no reason why those, who engage in this form of writing should not pay attention to facts and the truth. Mr. Gildarie seems to have discarded both of those values- facts and truth- in this article. In this regard, we feel obliged to point out a few of the many inaccuracies in this piece. First, Mr. Gildarie unsuccessfully attempted to find linkages between recent developments in Zimbabwe and the Mayor and City Council. There are times when writers can find connections between similar or even different cases or events between nations and cities to underscore their arguments for change in particular circumstances. However, this attempt could not achieve that because it did not take into account the differences in contexts of Zimbabwe and the Georgetown City Council; one is historical and political, in process and substance, the other is about resources
and the need for more investment in the economy of the nation’s capital. Therefore, this article failed to address the real issues affecting the service delivery capacity of the Council. Second, Mr. Gildarie’s comments about Zimbabwe’s former President Mr. Robert Mugabe and his family, “… flaunting their ill- gotten wealth…” paragraph 2, seems to suggest that the writer has evidence of corruption by former President Mugabe’s family residing in Zimbabwe. However, he did not go to the trouble to cite any particular court ruling that supports his claim. Mr. Gildarie ought to know that he could not just write a story particularly if it is likely to impugn the character of an individual or individuals, without the supporting evidence. Otherwise, it could be deemed irresponsible writing that has no utility to the good development of society. Further, he should know that stories reported in the media are not always predicated upon empirical evidence, truth or the real realities in communities; news stories are process products. The writer goes on to commit a similar transgression against the City Council at paragraph 11 of his article when he said that, “…because of corruption, don’t care attitude and simple inefficiency have all contributed
to a downward spiral.” Let us take a closer look at this statement: Inefficiency is not unique to the City Council; it exists in almost every organization in one form or another. This is not to say that we should not seek to improve our standards and general performance. In fact, we have had several training programmes and workshops to help enhance the competencies of our workers. Also, we have reorganized different departments and sections to make our general and specific operations more efficient and effective. The dynamics of the new city environment continue to influence our constant reviewing of municipal systems to provide services to local communities. Also, the Council continues to build on a culture of care and responsibility. This is amply demonstrated by our collective effort to restore and sustainably develop Georgetown even in the face of very serious shortages of financial and other resources. Over the last two years, the Council has done substantial restorative works to many of its buildings, bridges and allied facilities. It has removed garbage and rubbish that accumulated in every area of the city for more than twenty- three years. It has cleared canals and (Continued on page 5)
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Kaieteur M@ilbox
The President is stacking the deck for foreign interests and not Guyanese DEAR EDITOR, It is clear to everyone with an objective mind that the President is stacking the deck of likeminded stagnated thinkers to achieve a desired result that has nothing to do with Guyanese or even the followers of APNU. If you look at all the positions being filled to control the democratic process, the President has arbitrarily selected people that will do
what his government wants. It doesn’t help that they are clearly too old to be progressive thinkers to consider the interest of the youth. Never since Burnham have the youth been sidelined by a Government like this one. As we know, Burnham ordered the assassination of young Walter Rodney who at just 38 years old was a world leading intellect for the people in oppression.
This was the most decisive blow to the youths of Guyana from which we are still feeling the pain of that fateful day Rodney died. The recent causality of Granger’s questionable decision to select another Geriatric for a critical post in our democratic system is the AFC. Prior to this, he arbitrarily selected an 84 years old GECOM Chairman who will be 88 years in 2020. This is
not an attack on age but an insight to the President’s lack of progressive vision and his blatant disregard for the promises they made to the young people of Guyana. AFC is now crying that the President has rejected their nominee for GECOM Commissioner, since it was their way of saying that the coalition supports the youth, but instead the President chose another clearly older
This article bashing City Hall is grossly inaccurate From page 4 waterways, alleyways and repaired culverts and related drainage infrastructure. Generally, under this current leadership, the Mayor and City Council has changed the image of the nation’s capital. Our mission is to make Georgetown the cleanest city in the Caribbean. We have shown all Guyana what is possible. We need the resources to continue along this path to fulfill our mission. Therefore, it is not “don’t care attitude” as Mr. Gildarie supposed but the lack of resources that is preventing us from going forward. Again, his statement about corruption at City Hall is very worrying. We have had several audits and none has pointed to corruption. Audits at the Council revealed the need to improve and strengthen our financial systems. In fact, we would be the first to admit, and we have admitted, that we need to enhance our reporting responsibilities in this area of our work. I have asked the Auditor General to come in and work with us to improve our systems; he has been very helpful. In addition we have strengthened our internal audit section, developed a new software program that will allow for greater transparency and accountability with general rates and other revenues. In addition, we have applied for support from the European Union for training
and education in good corporate governance. There has been modest progress with this project but more needs to be done by related agencies to begin the first phase of this project next year. Notwithstanding, the City Council has been carrying out its responsibilities in the face of many challenges. One such challenge is that, there has been no valuation of properties for more than two decades. Corporations and property- owners continue to enjoy the benefits of municipal services such as streetlights, roads, drainage, bridges, garbage collection and disposal, and other environmental and public health services without paying the real costs for them. Worse is the fact that some propertyowners have not paid their rates for more than ten years. The cumbersomeness of the judicial process makes it difficult to recover outstanding rates from defaulters. This works as an incentive to those who are refusing and neglecting to pay their rates and honour their obligations to the city. Perhaps, in light of the aforementioned information, the writer may wish to redirect his comments about corruption. For this reason, the Council has been exploring new revenue sources and ways to mobilize much needed resources to sustain even basic services to the city. These include: parking meters, container fees, cold storage and improved relations with
cities at the international level. We have already said much on the parking meter project and the charge of a container fee. On the visit to Fuzhou it is important for us to mention two important facts: (a) the visit was announced at full statutory meetings (it is in the minutes of the Council) and (b) it presented a narrow window of opportunity to the council to reactive sister city relations between Georgetown and Fuzhou, and to become an active member of a special 21st Century Maritime Cooperation Committee that would set up the effective dialogue and linkage mechanism, and to serve as a platform to share ideas and practices on maritime cooperation for cities and local governments in AsiaPacific and the world at large. The visit to Fuzhou is part of a wider plan to help mobilize resources for the municipality in the areas of training in technical skills, environment and sanitation, markets and infrastructure. It is necessary to make these points because the reality is that currently, 35% of
rate payers have not been honouring their accounts at the Council. This has resulted in budgetary shortfalls affecting the systems of council to deliver services to its citizens. Yet, individuals are making statements that do not represent the issues. The problem is the council does not have the resources to do all the things citizens expect. In conclusion, it is very clear to us that this article has fallen far short of even the basic journalistic standards. Its author has made statements on issues both at the international and local levels he could not prove. Quite frankly, we are very disappointed in this kind of writing for the public sphere. We have said in previous communications that we welcome criticisms because we use them to improve our performance. However, those, who write in our dailies owe it to their readers to, at the very least, present the facts, and to be fair, balanced and objective in their writings. Royston King Town Clerk Mayor and City Council
member for the role. The AFC will now understand what many have been saying from day one, that they are voiceless and powerless. The only voice they have is when they are attacking the PPP. But when it comes to the inner workings of running the country, they are decoration. I am hard pressed to think that Granger is acting in the interest of the average Guyanese, but more in the interest to position themselves, as the most favored to foreign interest. They are simply making themselves to be the best servant to their foreign master’s needs. And in this process you will see a lot of propaganda that creates the perception of care for the people but in reality, our resources will be sold cheap
and they will keep getting bonuses while marginalizing the people. All indication points to Guyana being the newest victim of the resource curse; it starts with a puppet Government who will create a few super rich, a powerful autocracy and increase poverty to keep the people weak and voiceless. I urge my young Guyanese brothers and sisters to know the teachings of Walter Rodney. You have seen how he has inspired young legends like Chronixx whom you admire as he inspires millions around the world. Well Chronixx got that knowledge from a Guyanese and his name is Rodney. Malcolm Watkins
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Government is committed to transparency and accountability in the oil and gas and all sectors
Such predatory practices have no place in the teaching system
DEAR EDITOR, In response to the November 22, 2017 article in the Kaieteur News entitled ‘Petroleum Commission Bill prescribes imprisonment for sharing of info’, the Ministry of Natural Resources wishes to advise as follows: • The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana is committed to transparency and acc o u n t a b i l i t y, n o t o n l y within the oil and gas sector but also in all sectors. This commitment for transparency and accountability has been demonstrated through efforts made by the government to implement EITI which is a global standard that promotes transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining sectors. Guyana’s application for candidacy has been accepted and Guyana is now an implementing country of EITI.
EITI brings together Civil Society, Industry and Government, each having an equal stake in monitoring how natural resources derived monies are generated and expended. • Guyana is not the first country to insert stringent penalties within the petroleum sector’s regulatory framework for breach of a duty not to disclose information. Tanzania’s Petroleum Act 2015, Section 106, stipulates a fine or jail time for disclosing confidential information. So do the laws of Uganda (Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act 2013 Section 32 and Trinidad and Tobago’s (Petroleum Act, Section 35). T he section is aimed at deterring those whose hope to benefit from the improper disclosure; thereby providing another means of fighting corruption. It is one of many anti-
corruption strategies which have to be employed in the proper management of the petroleum sector and is very consistent with international norms. • The Petroleum Commission Bill 2017 is the subject of widespread consultation, the aim of which is to take on board input from numerous stakeholders so that the finalised Bill reflects a collective effort to create a nationally applicable and internationally relevant law. We continue to thank all stakeholders for their vigilance as together we strive to bring Guyana to preparedness, not only for oil production in 2020, but also for the continued exploration and growth of the sector. N. Johann Earle Public Affairs and Communications Officer Ministry of Natural Resources
As a police corporal, I am disappointed at this ‘salary increase’ DEAR EDITOR, Based upon the public servant salary increase the Minister of Finance said that all public servants earning a salary under 100,000 were entitled to an eight percent increased. I was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in January, 2015, then to full Corporal in January , 2017. My salary is just below 80,000 (take home) monthly.
When I received my salary for the month of November, I thought that at least my family would be a little better off for the Christmas holiday. To my amazement, I had only a $6,300 increase and $3,000 was taken back for tax. I did not get a retroactive on my salary. At the police Finance Office I was told that that is how the circular come from the Ministry of Finance. The office further said that it explains that once you were promoted in January 2017, there will be no salary increase for those ranks.
The Minister should be aware the promotion was effective from the January 1, and everybody should be entitled to benefit. I’m in the police force for 16 years and this is the first time something like this has happened. How can someone have a Christmas package of $3, 000? That not possible. In my view I said it was a mistake. I then contacted the Ministry of Finance and was told that nothing can be done once that is in t h e c i r c u l a r. M i n i s t e r, please for a response on this issue. Concerned police rank
DEAR EDITOR, The recent revelations of sexual misconduct and other related issues are being hotly debated in the public domain. It speaks to a teacher who is under the microscope for having inappropriate relations with his students and a principal who was complicit to such actions. This is a very serious matter and must be seriously addressed by all the people involved. In fact, all are involved, especially when you are talking about young, vulnerable children, who are bombarded with lawless and out of place officials. Now, it seems that this sort of slack behaviour was going on for some time with impunity, because when the accused came on television, he could have flippantly remarked that no one can stop someone from falling in love. Whenever individuals are placed in positions of authority, they ought to conduct themselves in like manner. Nothing less than exemplary above board behaviour is expected of you. Barring this that person ought to be prosecuted to the maximum so that we can rid society of such parasites. I know that some writers would want to suggest that I have taken the position of judge, jury and executioner in
this matter, without careful examination of the facts or evidence from the accused party’s standpoint. Well, this is exactly the point that I am making, why would kids for no apparent reason raise such an allegation? Isn’t it with good reason that they would make such a situation such an issue? And being minors, I am duty bound as a responsible adult who should be guardians of the children’s rights that I must investigate such allegations vigorously? I am an educator and I know of these matters. You do not take these cases lightly; urgent action is required the moment you get word of such occurrences. This is what “The Rights of The Child” postulates. Then I turn my gaze to the principal of that school. Did she hear something which elicited such a hostile response to the school? She must give reason(s) for her actions. She needs to tell education authorities what she knew and what she did with that information. Why castigate the victim when the searchlight should be on the accused? Where is the school’s log book? Don’t they keep records of complaints from teacher as well as student? Then seize the log books to see what they con-
tain? Where is the counsellor? I am sure students must have bared such personal information to the counselor. Let the counsellor speak up. Where is the Ministry of Education on this? Were they notified of this teacher’s conduct? If so, what was their response to that information? Heads need to roll here, folks! Sexual predators must be gotten rid of immediately! Were I a parent, I would take this matter to court, principal, teacher and the Ministry of Education. My child deserves the right to be safe from sexual predators and persons who exhibit these forms of sexual deviancy. When I send my child to school he/she should be in an environment that is safe for their mental, physical and social development. My child should not be subjected to harassment of any kind. No child should be bullied into granting sexual favours. In this regard, I would suggest the parents bond themselves together and litigate. Such predatory practices have no place in the teaching system and soon as it raises its ugly head, it should be rooted out with the utmost ferocity any education system can muster. Neil Adams
Where was Peter Persaud when Transport and Harbors was neglected? DEAR EDITOR, I am writing in response to a letter that was published on November 21st by Mr. Peter Persuad. Where was Peter Persaud when the Transport and Harbor was neglected? No money to effect repairs or schedule docking, no acquisition of ferry to replace aged vessels that were plying the North-West route. To crown it, Transport was sidelined by the PPP administration, it was barely existing, the entire administration of Transport was made into a political tool. The PPP cares nothing about the North-West people, they allowed existing vessels to deteriorate without replacement.
Making it a burden to some and for goods and supplies to go to and fro. The current administration from day one brought relief, the Lady Northcote was docked and back in operation. The MV Barima was out in record time for a Passenger-cargo vessel, plying the Georgetown North West route. Very soon the MV Kimbia will be back in operation, all of this is shown by a caring government, who has the development of our country and its people at heart. If the PPP had love for people of the North-West District which is mainly populated by our indigenous brothers and sisters they would have made transportation easy. The people of the NorthWest district depend on everything coming from the Coastland, before 1993 farming was booming, but sadly it
was single-handedly killed by the PPP administration, imagine eddoes coming from the Coast land when it’s supposed to be farmed and coming from the North-West District, the people are not farming and cultivating crops like they used to. The boat when leaving town is loaded with perishable greens, meat, eggs, fruits, provisions etc. If these goods don’t go with the available transportation present there would be starvation in North West. The staff and management at the wharves of the Transport and Harbor Department must be complimented for their professionalism that contributes to the smooth and effectiveness of dispatching the vessels. The present boat is too small but they are doing a great job to alleviate shortness of essential items in the North-West District. I know in time it will get better. With all of that said, I’d like to conclude by saying to Mr. Persaud that your missive is inappropriate and out of touch with reality, instead of critiquing, encourage. -Neil Cort
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Pinewood importation…
Local producers insist they can supply market with Guyana lumber The Forest Products Association (FPA) has lauded the administration for taking steps to introduce import licences for Pinewood, effective January 1, 2018. FPA’s president, Deonarine Ramsaroop, yesterday made it clear that the initiative came from the organization whose membership included loggers and sawmillers. The introduction of the import licence was announced recently by the Ministry of Natural Resources, in a paid notice to importers, published in Kaieteur News. According to Ramsaroop, a former official of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), his organization has taken note of a recently letter by former Minister of Foreign Trade, Clement Rohee, who questioned the reasons for the import licence system being introduced. The FPA official noted that the initiative was guided by the FPA to the government, after much lobbying. ”The views expressed by the former Minister of Home Affairs (Rohee) were somewhat mis-guided. The licences for persons importing pine lumber into Guyana come January 1, was a call from the Forest Products Association of Guyana to the Government of Guyana. This has nothing to do with the Minister of Natural Resources. It was a hard fought battle…we had to examine all ends…We are even asking
for the taxes to be raised.” Ramsaroop explained that Guyana is moving apace with the Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the European Union that will require strict controls of timber imported into Guyana. “It must show legality and we must be able to take control of it. The first step is to have the importers licensed. It is also important for Guyana to ensure that when it has the FLEGT license that no one can bring their timber into Guyana and export it to the EU countries, as if it comes from here. This is a key issue.” Noting that the issue has little to with world trading rules of unfair business practices, as is being argued by Rohee, Ramsaroop said that quoting the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is not enough. “The Forest Act 2009 states that the GFC is responsible for the licensing. This act was crafted also under the previous administration. If the former Minister needs some information on EU-FLEGT he can go to www.forestry.gov.gy and educate himself.” Ramsaroop noted that when it comes to importation, there are many goods being dumped into Guyana. “We import items that we can produce here. This is our problem; simple thing like plantain chips we are importing. We are exporting all of our valuable commodities and importing sometimes items
Local producers are insisting that they have enough quality wood to supply the market, ahead of Pinewood. that are of poor quality into our country. Is this good trade practice? Is it that we can develop our country by only importing?” According to Ramsaroop, it is a fact that some importers capitalize on the free trade arrangements between CARICOM states.
President agrees to review Cummingsburg Accord Political partners, the Alliance for Change and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) have signaled their intention to honour the review clause in the Cummingsburg Accord that gave rise to the governing coalition Government. President David Granger, who leads the larger APNU fraction, said the AFC is within its right to request the review. “There is a requirement to review the accord after three years and that three year will expire at midnight on the 13th of February, 2018 so it is quite within the right of the AFC to request the review. I don’t have a problem,” the President told reporters.
In recent weeks, the AFC has tried to stave off a flurry of leaked emails which showed top officials in disagreement with President Granger’s unilateral appointment of Justice James Patterson (ret’d) as the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Publicly, the AFC has endorsed Patterson’s appointment, but internally, party leaders have faced severe heat from senior members who believe that the party was not fulfilling its mandate as a member of the coalition. Further, the views were also (Continued on page 12)
”Let me share another trick of importers; it is called free trade between CARICOM. They import the pine lumber to the CARICOM member country from outside and then bring it (to Guyana) here under free trade agreement. These are things we need to protect our country against. The importers are claiming that they can’t get enough supplies and quality of locally produces timber. We have a
plan laid out already. We will see what they will complain about next once it comes through.” The official insisted that Guyana’s woods remain one of the best in the world with a variety to choose from. The country’s Greenheart is in huge demand for marine application. The administration this year introduced Value Added Tax on lumber, forcing producers to call for incentives.
Pinewood, used mainly in interior framing, became popular a few years ago when the housing boom was fully on track. However, consumers were complaining of the poor quality of wood available locally and the high prices being charged by sawmills. Some importers found ways to ship the Pinewood, from Canada, at a cheap cost, thus competing with local lumber.
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Export hunters of wildlife now require license A series of consultations with stakeholders to facilitate the drafting of new regulations as they relate to hunting, trapping, protecting and conserving wildlife among other important aspects yesterday ended in Lethem. Among the issues that were discussed, it was related that hunters of wildlife animals are now expected to be licensed. An official said, “We are trying to regulate wildlife use in Guyana.� In doing so it was explained that persons who hunt for export and for commercial purposes will now require a license to do so. However, persons who hunt for domestic purposes will not necessarily require a license. It was further added that
persons who export meat and who hunt for commercial purposes do so on a large scale, while persons who hunt for domestic purposes do not pose much of a threat. A major concern that was also addressed by the wildlife body was if the hunters were going to be compensated during a closed season. A closed season is a specific time of the year when hunting of a particular species of animal is prohibited to protect that species. It is usually during the animal’s breeding season. Hunters were concerned about them being unable to slay animals during the period and questioned if they were going to be compensated in a scenario when the animals damage their farms. It was related yesterday by a source from the Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission that the meeting that was held with the Lethem hunters, concluded a series of meetings the Commission convened in several key locations. The first consultation was held in Georgetown on
November 1, last, and was followed by sessions in the Essequibo Coast, Berbice, Linden, Bartica and Mabaruma. The source from the Wildlife Commission said the actual intent of the meetings were to develop new laws as it relates to domestic wildlife management. However these sessions, among other things, gave the officials from the Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission an opportunity to meet with those who are involved with trapping, hunting, protecting and conserving wildlife creatures. Through a formal setting, they were reminded of the scientific aspect of what they are involved in. The consultations that were held with hunters in the areas mentioned, effectively managed to inform them on the licensing process. These meetings also gave the hunters the opportunity to voice their concerns as it relates to the new laws that are to be established and how they can become licensed.
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
Top Cop sent home to allow No Xmas gift for smooth flow of Xmas plan
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Dem boys seh...
Top Cop in 2017
When people get send home or dem lose dem wuk dem does have nuff time pun dem hand. Some does eat, sleep and get fat. Some does end up in de rum shop and drink demself to death, while some does go jogging to stay fit. De Top Cop wha get send home again choose to go jogging. Yesterday, he wife see he go back home within minutes like if he only go down de step and go back upstairs. He tell she when he was about to start jogging he remember Proverbs 28:1 which clearly states. “De wicked shall run when no one is chasing dem.” Dem boys seh is de wickedness mek he deh home and not wid de police force during this Christmas season. This is de time when de force want every man jack but when dem refuse to tek dem own boss something got to be terribly wrang. Dem boys had to find out wha a man of his rank and caliber can do fuh get send off his job in de public interest. Dem hear he got nuff name. One of dem is Birthday Boy. When he birthday come round he does got to get trucks, and not no ordinary truck, to fetch gifts. Last year he had to get Bee Kay big truck to fetch gifts Christmas time is gifts galore. Dem boys seh he does got more gifts than Courts warehouse stock. Sometimes it does have ten policemen just to collect he gifts every day during de season. Dem boys believe that is one of de reason why Soulja Bai and Rum Jattan tell him go back home. Dem boys can only draw from de words in de letter that he do a lot of wicked things. The words also mek dem boys feel he is a hazard to de force. There is no way anybody sending a man off and using dem words. To keep away de top cop from de Christmas plan speaks volumes. This is de season when crime does kickoff. Dem boys wonder. Rum Jattan did confirm that he send de man back home fuh 56 days. According to Rum Jattan, that 56 don’t include Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. He want him to know that clearly. When that done, he will return to get de reverse of 56 days—65 days—which will carry him to de exact date of his 55th birthday. Talk half and hope he mattie tekking note of what is going on.
Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud, was sent on special leave in the ‘public interest’ to facilitate the smooth execution of the Guyana Police Force’s Christmas security plans. In a letter dated November 23 to Persaud, Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, indicated ‘it is the considered opinion of the administration that you should be and directed to proceed on special leave with effect from November 24, 2017 until further notice’. Minister Ramjattan told Kaieteur News yesterday that Persaud will remain off the job until after the Christmas holidays and explained that ‘until further notice’ in the letter means that Persaud will return after he completes 56 days of additional leave. This translates to Persaud returning to work late January. “I have the authority and I so advised him as to the special leave. I feel in the circumstances explained in my letter that he will come back immediately after the holidays when those temporary initiatives would have been completed,” Minister Ramjattan stated. The Minister was asked to explain what he meant by the ‘public interest’ and whether Persaud, as the Top Cop, could have contributed to the force’s Christmas plans. However, the Minister wouldn’t discuss matters relating to his ‘thinking’
– Security Minister explains regarding the decision and was against assumptions that Government had fired Persaud. The letter, seen by Kaieteur News, indicated that the Minister was advised to inform Persaud of the decision which was made in the public
interest. The letter also stated that the decision is to allow for continuing initiatives and innovations being pursued by the force’s temporary administration to be completed before Persaud’s resumption of duty. Continued on page 71
Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Cow starving in custody months after traffic accident A number of civic-minded persons in persons in East Berbice are upset with the conditions under which a calf is being kept at a police station. According to Leila Hazell-Bhudial, in midSeptember, a car ended up in an accident with the calf. A mirror on the car was broken. The animal also suffered a broken back leg. Since that accident, more than eight weeks ago, the animal has been left virtually alone to face the elements, with sometimes no food, save for a few residents and business persons who came to its rescue. Hazell-Bhudial disclosed that initially she and a colleague even visited the former Police Commander, Paul Williams over this issue. “He had promised to release the calf the next day but unfortunately he was transferred the same day and Mr. Lyndon Alves has since taken over.” A few concerned residents, including a rice miller, even donated a quantity of feed and a bucket. However, according of Hazell-Bhudial, who said she has been asked to make the matter public, checks by residents found that on many days, there was no evidence of the animal being fed or watered, where it is being kept at the Number 51 police station.
“When I enquired about the food and water for the calf, the police keep lying to me saying they just feed the cow. But all we were seeing was an empty bucket that had been left the same way the day before.” In fact, to make matters worse, the feed and bucket appeared to now be stolen. The residents even sought the help of animal rights activist, Syeada Manbodh, who checked to find out why the animal was being kept so long. A number of them, including Manbodh, even visited the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), but were told no file was there. The residents then complained to the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA). Last week, a vet who went to Berbice to conduct checks on animals, also visited the police station to inspect the animal. “They went in the police station seeking permission from the CID woman (name given) but she refused to let them see the calf and administer drugs.” Hazell-Bhudial claimed that the police woman claimed that a senior cop had ordered that the vet was not to see the calf.
Touting the tremendous benefits of the hemp plant yesterday was Dr. Turhane Doerga formerly of Ruimzeigt Rice Mills. His presentation was done at the YWCA Hall, Brickdam Georgetown. Doerga said that the plant is one that has not yet become legal in Guyana due to the relationship it shares with the marijuana plant. In describing the features, he said that it looks like cane, grows up to 10 feet tall and can be harvested within four months. In explaining the tremendous benefits of harvesting and sowing such a crop he gave reference to the fact that Dubai, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, was of less consequence in comparison to Guyana before they discovered oil. He was essentially saying to his audience that Guyana is 52 times the size of Dubai and also has resources such as sugar, rice, bauxite and several others. These resources, in addition to oil wealth, he said, can bring Guyana to one of the wealthiest countries in the
World. In relation to the plant, Doerga said although the plant is a cousin to Marijuana it is not like it, in the sense that it gives you a ‘high’ feeling. He said that the plant, in various countries of the world makes over 25,000 industrial products. “We in Guyana have a diverse economy but it’s mainly agriculturally based. Several experts in the World, including experts from our diaspora, have clearly said that it is good that we have oil but our future depends on agriculture, so hemp is a product of the future. It is coming up at a rate where people can’t say it cannot be controlled anymore.” Using the hemp plant in Guyana will boost entrepreneurism and even provide jobs for many who are unemployed, he said. By implementing the use of hemp along with oil, Guyana is likely to be the Dubai of the Caribbean, he said, by the year 2025. Given the brief growth period and the demand the (continued on page 15)
PAGE 11
Kaieteur News A student feeds the calf
…file sent for legal advice
Group lobbies to legalize hemp
“Please note that this cow is in the rain and sun without any shelter and needs medical attention.” The woman was fearful that unless an intervention comes, the animal could die. Late last week, the residents received an update from the police. “We were told that after this file took from midSeptember to November to get back to Berbice, it now has to go back to the Minister
of Public Security.” Hazell-Bhudial disclosed that a rice miller, Buddy Tulsi, has even offered to pay a deposit and sign documents
to have the animal released but the police is refusing. “I’m just a concerned animal lover that is pleading on behalf of this animal.
Please note that as of Thursday, when I visited the animal, it appeared ill. We are asking for someone to intervene.”
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
President agrees to review... From page 7 critical of the President. “I normally do not comment on the internal functioning of my partners,” President Granger replied when questioned by reporters about the leaked emails. He added, “I am quite confident that the leader of the AFC [Raphael Trotman] could manage matters that affect his party. I don’t comment on the WPA, I don’t comment on the AFC. I don’t comment on any of the parties.” On Friday, the AFC publicly voiced its disappointment over the President’s decision to appoint Desmond Trotman, 72, to replace Sandra Jones as GECOM Commissioner. In doing so, the President overlooked the AFC nominees, former MP, Trevor Williams, to replace Jones, and Beverly Alert as an alternative nominee to Williams. Acknowledging that 65% of the electorate is under the age of 40 years, the AFC expressed that the appointment of the GECOM commissioner should have taken this salient point into consideration. The AFC stated that rank and file members have expressed reservation about the appointment and were expecting the new commissioner to be a youth or a woman as was proposed by the party. “This issue reinforces the position of the NEC for the review of the Cummingsburg Accord,” the AFC stated following Desmond Trotman’s swearing on Friday. After the two sides signed
the Cummingsburg Accord on February 14, 2015, the AFC signalled its intention to carefully monitor the Accord and the implementation of its provisions. The party named a Cummingsburg Accord Review Committee (CARC) of eight members—Dr. Vincent Adams, Dr. Rohan Somar, Marlon Williams, David Patterson, Joel Edmond, Sherod Duncan and one representative each from the party’s Women For Change and Youth For Change. The AFC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has mandated the party leadership to formally write to APNU with regard to review and revision of the Cummingsburg Accord. This process must be completed by the third anniversary of the
signing of the Accord – February 14, 2018. Already, the party’s executive has named members in the negotiating team, in anticipation of APNU similarly naming its negotiating team. There have been reports that AFC was not too comfortable with the current Cummingsburg Accord which details how the two coalition partners would divide up the ministries. It was signed in the lead-up to the May 2015 General Elections, which was called early after Parliament was prorogued. Under the current configuration, the AFC has received the portfolios of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Kaieteur News
Nigeria ties ExxonMobil to support local business The Government of Nigeria refused to rely on a mere policy paper to ensure USA oil giant, ExxonMobil, give monetary support for the development and support of its local products and services. The administration ensured that this was negotiated upfront and entered into the contract it signed with the oil giant. It was this foresight that led to the country drawing down on millions of dollars recently for development purposes. ExxonMobil provided $975 million to support indigenous operators.
The funds are expected to enable indigenous companies that face many challenges; including limited funding finance, different projects and programmes. ExxonMobil is one of Nigeria’s highest producers of crude oil, accounting for almost 600,000 barrels per day of crude, condensate and natural gas liquids. The American company has been in that African country for over 40 years and has a track record of operating a world class facility in the country. It also looks forward to boosting crude oil production there.
Because of the contractual safety nets employed by Nigeria, ExxonMobil was even made to invest heavily on human development in Nigeria. This was very significant in bringing about competition for national growth. The company was also made to invest massively in community development in areas of education and infrastructural development, while ensuring sustainability on the long-time benefit. Over 700 graduates benefited from the company’s skilled training. The majority of them have been employed by various oil and gas
companies in Nigeria. Several anticorruption advocates have questioned whether the Government of Guyana has been able to negotiate a similar arrangement with ExxonMobil and have it inserted in its contract with the oil king. The government has so far insisted that it will not release the ExxonMobil contract. In the meantime, there are over 50 countries around the world which engage in the practice of making oil and gas contracts open to the citizenry for scrutiny. This is according to
Openoil.net. These contracts are als o a v a i l a b l e f o r download on that website. Openoil has one of the w o r l d ’s first comprehensive archive list of oil contracts. These are pulled from s t a t e s s u c h as Mexico, Angola, Chad, Guatemala, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Syria, and Ukraine. USA oil giant,
ExxonMobil has operations in all of the mentioned countries in which disclosure of contracts is practised. Officials, who support the Openoil webpage, categorically believe that all contracts which govern publically owned natural resources and the livelihoods of people should be placed into the open for all to access and examine.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
Gold Board must improve on weak regulatory systems - Goolsarran
Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman
Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran, believes that in order for the Guyana Gold Board to effectively do its job, it must improve on its regulatory systems. He made this comment in light of recommendations that the Guyana Gold Board is operating at a loss as such, it should no longer engage in the purchasing of gold.
Goolsarran said that the Guyana Gold Board Act specifically provides for the Gold Board to trade in gold as its main function. In order for it to cease buying gold and focus more on its regulatory functions, he said that the Act will have to be either substantially amended or repealed in its entirety and replaced by a new Act.
The Chartered Accountant said, too, that there are foreign currency implications in that the Gold Board earns valuable foreign currency when miners sell their gold to the Gold Board. The former Auditor General said it is true that the Gold Board has been making losses because of several reasons. He attributed the
losses to the use of the daily dual rate system for payment to miners and the associated manipulation of the rate to the financial disadvantage of the Gold Board. He said that the losses are also as a result of the Board retaining large quantities of gold at a time when market prices are depressed. Continued on page 71
Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Kaieteur News
Reluctance to address institutional deficiencies leaves children at risk - Rights Activist Women’s rights activist, Karen De Souza, believes that there is a direct link between the reluctance by those in authority to address institutional deficiencies and acts of sexual violence committed on children De Souza has joined the call for reforms in the education system to eliminate incidence of sexual crimes. Her comments come on
the heels of reports that a male teacher at Bishops’ High School over a number of years developed sexual relationships with his students. In expressing her concerns, the rights activist noted that it is imperative to deal with the reports of prolonged and systematic predation by the teacher as well as others matters involving sexual crimes
Soldier gets bail on robbery charge Yet another soldier has been charged with robbery. This time to face the court is Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Corporal Raul Jones. The 29-year-old appeared before Magistrate Alisha George on Friday at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Courts. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge which alleged that on October 21, at B Field Sophia, while being armed, he robbed a woman of a quantity of jewellery among other items—all totaling $341,000. In September, GDF ranks Clive Seymour and Tumblus Richards were slapped with a robbery charge. They were initially remanded to prison but were subsequently released on $10,000 bail by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Seymour of Enmore North, East Coast Demerara and
Richards of Plum Park, Sophia, Greater Georgetown has denied the charge which alleged that on September 12, at Timehri, East Bank Demerara, they robbed Keron Welch of a BLU cellular phone valued $17,000.
From page 11 product has internationally, he established the fact that it would generate revenue for the country. It was even pointed out that hemp has potential of generating 10 times as much as rice. He related that Guyana has become indoctrinated with following the steps of the West and doing all that they do, however the West has gone way ahead in production and completely legalizing hemp, “So we have to catch up now as quick as possible”. While noting some of the benefits of the plant, it was made clear that there are several items on the market that are made with hemp, such as cosmetics. A popular brand that uses hemp to make its products is Addidas. The shoes are actually made from the plant’s fibre and are known for its durability. What many people are not aware of is that the
money Guyanese use is made of Hemp, given that it is also strong. He disclosed that in 1941, Henry Ford, the Executive Director of Forde, made a plastic car from Hemp. The car was able to withstand tremendous pressure without denting but eventually Ford stopped production after Ford realized that if cars of this nature continue to be produced, then the production and sale of cars will eventually decrease. Some other companies that use hemp today are Mercedes and BMW for the seats, panels and dash boards. In addition to the vehicular companies, several clothing brands also use hemp. Doerga said that the Guyana Hemp Association conducted several sensitization projects with the intent of the initiative becoming implemented.
Raul Jones
Group lobbies to legalize hemp
against children. She pointed to the case of the underage child who was recently raped by a city constable in the city constabulary premises. In each case, De Souza noted that people in authority acted “without regard to their duty to protect our children and without regard for the law.” “What all these cases have in common is that they reek of a lack of respect for the rights of children as children,” she said.
Speaking specifically about the circumstances of the case at Bishops’ High School, De Souza recommends that steps be taken by current and former students who have been abused to make reports to the police so that the law can be used to address the unlawful behaviour of the teacher. Turning her attention to Government agencies, the rights activist noted that the Ministry of Education and the Teaching Service
Commission and their successive administrations have been guilty of covering for accused child molesters in the schools by transferring them from one place to another – presumably because they were “good teachers” we could not afford to lose. De Souza has since called for an end to this practice. The Education Ministry is not the only Government agency guilty of not doing enough to ensure the safety of children, (continued on page 16)
Rights activist, Karen De Souza
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
Police ‘B’ Division roll out annual Christmas policing initiatives
Commander Alves addressing the gathering
The Police in Berbice B Division, under the command of Assistant Commissioner Lyndon Alves, have unveiled their annually Christmas policing initiative from November 15, 2017 to January 15, 2018. This activity was done at the Berbice Regional Health Services Board Room, Garrison Road, Fort Canje, Berbice. Commander Alves shared the brief with Deputy Commander Senior Superintendent Edmond
Cooper. Other senior officers present were Superintendents Wayne DeHarte and Boodnarine Persaud, Deputy Superintendent Dennis Stephen, Assistant Superintendents Detective C. Singh, Elton Davidson and Woman ASP Yonette Stephen. In attendance were Regional officials, members of the business community other Disciplinary Services and the media. The presentation was done using a power point presentation. Some of the objectives and intentions of the Christmas plan are to minimize the activities of criminal elements and ensure a safe neighbourhood, reduce traffic congestion and road accidents and provide a safe and secure environment for all. During this period there is usually an increase in social, cultural, economic and business activities and visitors coming into the country for the holidays. There is also an increase in traffic both vehicular and pedestrian movements. Alves and Cooper both gave the assurance that there will be adequate police protection and presence during the Christmas season. To do this the Force has come up with a number of mechanisms including increasing the number of mobile patrols throughout Berbice. The division has been divided into four sectors with a senior officer being in charge of each. Keen attention will be paid to the three towns— New Amsterdam, Rose Hall Town, Corriverton— and other populated areas and known hot spots like Port Mourant, Rosignol, Bush Lot and Bath among others. Increased monitoring will be done at the Berbice River Bridge, Moleson Creek Ferry Crossing and illegal crossings on the Corentyne River. Other areas such as key and vulnerable points including business places, banks, post offices and other financial institutions will be monitored. Patrols will be intensified in all sectors including. There will be mobile, motorcycle, bicycle, beat, traffic, fixed point, road blocks, raids, cordons mounted in the
backlands and searches and intelligence gathering. A new edition will see a mobile outpost being established on the eastern side of Berbice River Bridge. Special arrangements have being put in place for Christmas Eve and Old Year’s Day to deal with traffic, crowd control, late shopping and other social gatherings throughout the division. The force will step up its marine patrols in the Berbice, Canje and other riverain areas. The public is being advised to look out for fake cheques and counterfeit currencies. They are also asked not to leave cash and firearms in vehicles and against the use of large volumes of cash. They are advising the general public to report suspicious activities and movements and to activate CCTV cameras. The Police will up the ante against persons selling and lighting squibs and bombs, noise nuisance and road rage. The Police High Command gave the assurance that they are prepared to work with all stakeholders to ensure a crime and accident free Christmas. Citizens are being urged to be security conscious. A number of community initiatives and outreaches are ongoing in the division to boost relationships.
Reluctance to address... From page 15 she said. “The Ministry of Social Protection must also explain why, seven years after the enactment of the sexual offences law and two years after the coalition assumed office, it has still not activated a functional National Task Force as called for in the Sexual Offences Act Part ix, Prevention which has among other responsibilities, public education and the creation of a national plan for the prevention of sexual offences.”
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Kaieteur News
11 Nurses graduate from first Post- Anaesthetic Care Unit training at GPHC Eleven nurses from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) have graduated as the first batch of the Post Anaesthetic Care Unit (PACU). The graduation ceremony was held on Friday. GPHC’s Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier (Ret’d) George Lewis, urged the graduating nurses to remember that their main concern is the hospital’s patients. “We’re here to serve our patients, without our patients there is no need for any of us.” Lewis also addressed the matter of discrimination against patients by health care workers. “If a patient drives in the Georgetown Public Hospital in a Land Cruiser and another patient walks in the Georgetown Hospital in rags, then I do not expect that we would give more attention to the patient with the Land Cruiser and no attention to the one in rags. They both deserve treatment and they both should be treated in the same manner,” Lewis stated. The CEO also said that persons have “lost faith in GPHC and prefer to go to private institutions to receive health care”. He continued that GPHC provides excellent health care services and that work needs to be done to improve the image of the hospital and rebuild a good relationship with the public. “I think we can do that by how we interact with our patients. We have to ensure that our attitude towards them is one that makes them feel well,” Lewis emphasised. He urged the graduating class to treat patients in a manner that would make them want to return if they have future health issues. Lewis continued to stress on the need for improvement, by saying that the nurses should also work on patient education as it regards medicine. “Patients should be told more about their medicine than just how much and how often it should be taken. They should be educated on what medications do and how they work.” The CEO also urged the nurses to keep proper record management systems. He re-
The Graduates pose with GPHC officials and programme facilitators vealed that while speaking to some doctors and nurses recently at Industry, he was told that referred patients arrive at the clinics without charts or sometimes they have the charts, but it is not filled out efficiently by GPHC health care officials. He said at times the Industry doctors and nurses would sometimes have to rerun tests and assess patients, and in some cases patients would be sent back to GPHC. He declared that it is a waste of money, because patients were already tested and it takes money to rerun tests. He said that some weeks ago he was able to give a court in England information on a patient that was at the hospital around 1995, because at that time there was a better record management system, and nurses should understand the importance of this. “There is a legal responsibility to keep and track records and the current and future nurses should realize this,” he concluded. Dr. Eyvette Martin, Registrar of the Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Unit of GPHC
and Coordinator of PACU programme also delivered remarks. The programme, which started last July, included lectures, written and practical exams and training in “critical areas” such as anaesthesia and intensive care. Dr. Martin explained that the students even did research papers that are being currently reviewed. The PACU nurses will have the task of rendering medical interventions, patient education and offering post-operative assistance to patients who have just come out of surgery. The nurses had a chance to showcase that they are not just talented for providing health care at the ceremony. There was a song by Nurse Tappin, a poem by Nurse Cockfield, and a dramatic piece from a trio of nurses. The dramatic piece highlighted one of the main issues that Lewis addressed; the bad attitude of some nurses. The plot consisted of a nurse who was being rude to another nurse and a patient. The second nurse in the plot cor-
The Baccoo Speaks There is heightened criminal activity as more young men join the band of criminals roaming the streets. The police still control the streets and this is having an effect on the number of crimes, but this is not stopping some of the misguided from attempting their acts. The result is that three of them would be taken off the streets in the coming hours, largely because their animalistic greed would get
the better of them. ** An industrial accident would force the closure of a workplace for hours. A man is
going to fall from a high place because there was simply no safety consideration for workers. ** Vehicular accidents are common, but this particular accident would be inexplicable. A car would seek to meander through a stalled traffic situation. Needless to say, this would cause an eruption of anger that would have serious consequences and further stall the traffic situation.
rected the first and reminded her of what should be her conduct as it relates to patient care. Anika Cordis-Archer received an award for being one of the most outstanding students on the training. The
other two recipients of awards were Dr. Martin and Dr. Andres Guibert Sigura, Consultant and Teacher for the PACU Programme. The nurses that graduated were Anika Cordis-Ar-
cher, Althea Blaize, Velencia Cockfield, Jeny Henry, Fiona Leander, Olette Munroe, Melissa Melville, Beverly JosiahMcKenzie, Naudia GrantPyle, Chrisanna Rodrigues and Lacrisha Thompson.
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
AVOIDING THE PITFALLS OF ALLIANCES…
Do due diligence on your potential joint venture partner - Chris Ram By Kiana Wilburg When two or more companies agree to marry their resources on a particular project, the benefits can be endless. In fact, such an alliance can be seen as a necessary one, especially if you would have been unable to reap the same rewards on your own. But for various reasons, such arrangements can end badly. Therefore, how does one avoid the pitfalls and enjoy the sweet fruits of such a partnership? This question was answered during a two-day seminar that was held at the Marriott Hotel by the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest). The event started on Monday and ended Tuesday evening. The presenters included Senior Consultant of Res Consulting Limited, Francis Lewis; Attorney-at-Law Timothy Jonas; and Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram. ACCOUNTING/ DUE DILIGENCE Ram’s presentation was centred on the accounting aspect of strategic partnerships. Among the points raised by the Attorney-at-
Senior Consultant of Res Consulting Limited, Francis Lewis during his presentation Law was the need for local entities to do their homework on their potential joint venture partner. This is an issue that has been overlooked by many companies here. Ram said that companies should ask themselves a few questions when eyeing such arrangements. These include, “Does your partner have assets and where are these assets? Can I deal with these
Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram making his case on the importance of due diligence
people and are they too big for me? Are they just trying to use me and then leave? Is this person the key driver in the entity…?” Ram said that these questions are helpful guides in ensuring that major pitfalls are avoided. Furthermore, the Chartered Accountant stressed to the stakeholders that in any partnership arrangement they
Go-Invest CEO, Owen Verwey offering remarks during the seminar
choose, a proper shareholder’s agreement, a trusted auditor, and a strong partnership /joint venture agreement is necessary. Ram also insisted on the need for joint partnerships to be characterized by proper record-keeping. In this respect, he said that companies should employ the use of international financial reporting standards. LEGALRAMIFICATIONS Dealing with the legal ramifications of strategic partnerships was Attorney-atLaw, Timothy Jonas. Jonas is a partner at the firm of De Caires, Fitzpatrick and Karran. He specializes in Commercial, Tax, Constitutional, Public, Corporate, Banking, Insurance and Contract Law. The lawyer focused on the different types of strategic partnerships and three industries for his talking points; clothing retail, mining and transportation. In each case, Jonas was able to point out the pros and cons of employment relationships and the effect this can have on the success of a joint venture. Jonas also highlighted the steps which have to be taken when strategic alliances take certain forms. In this regard, he pointed out that the tax obligations are different for two companies that form a joint venture partnership as opposed to establishing a company that represents the
Attorney-at-law, Timothy Jonas
alliance. THEALLIANCE Senior Consultant of Res Consulting Limited, Francis Lewis addressed the management side of strategic partnerships. Lewis spoke to the business climate in Guyana. He also discussed with members of the audience, their concerns regarding strategic partnerships. The issues that came out in this regard were centred on the need to ensure profitability for stakeholders involved, assessing the risks that come with certain partnership opportunities, and the framework that is needed to ensure work is done within timelines. Lewis acknowledged that while joint ventures can bring several benefits to the stakeholders involved, close to 50 percent of these alliances fall apart due to the wrong strategy being employed. DATABASE The need for a database of interested joint venture partners here was also brought up at the seminar. During one of the question and answer segments, a German businessman noted that he came to Guyana with the interest of finding a partner, but could not find an agency which has a database of such interested persons. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GO-Invest, Owen Verwey, noted that while there is no such record at the moment, the forum certainly
serves as one which would lead to that initiative being taken up by GO-Invest and other relevant parties. FOREIGN COMPANIES CONCERNED It was in September last that several Canadian firms flocked to Guyana’s shores in search of partnerships with local companies to access opportunities that will arise as the nation prepares for oil and gas. Verwey noted that several meetings were arranged between those foreign companies, local entities, government institutions and nonprofit institutions. Verwey noted that the biggest feedback received by GO-Invest was that companies here do not understand the basics of a joint venture relationship. He said, “So from then to now, we have been looking at the option of running an event that brings awaren e s s t o t h i s i s s u e . We aren’t an academic institution and we do not wish to get into that, but we want to start the awareness process and hopefully out of that, the institutions that deal with this can take the lead and go forward with the relevant course…” FOR ALL SECTORS Going forward, Verwey articulated that GO-Invest does not intend for the information from this seminar to only benefit partnerships for the oil and gas sector. He said that it is for the benefit of all sectors. Verwey said, “This is not an oil and gas economy. This economy has been one of agro processing and natural resources and it will continue to be like that. So the joint venture sessions being organized are not only for the benefit of oil and gas. It is focused on agriculture, forestry, mining, services and everything else.” He added, “I think that is a big plus and it is one that we want to encourage…”
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Kaieteur News
Burt Bacharach at New Thriving Restaurant On a lazy, hot Monday afternoon, last week, I told my wife we should go to Providence to eat at the New Thriving Restaurant. I never saw the place since it started up. It is first class. It is a world class dining facility. Obviously the Chinese would have patterned it after what obtains in Shanghai. As we sat down to study the menu, something breathtaking was happening and my memories were running wild. They were playing the music of Burt Bacharach. It wasn’t the songs of Bacharach being sung by others. It was Bacharach conducting his own orchestra, playing his own compositions. I knew the music very well, because I have the CD and it is one of my favourite albums. I asked the attendant who selected that music and she said it was the wife of the owner. There was I, dining with my wife, listening to the music of a giant of a composer and those very songs we listened to when we were courting thirty-nine years ago. The memories came tumbling down of my boyhood escapades in Wortmanville, my time with my siblings and my courting days with my wife-to be. One sister, Janet, was crazy about, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” the other liked, “Raindrops keep falling on my head.” All my siblings were fanatic fans of Burt Bacharach. It was simply an enjoyable moment to be dining in a fine restaurant listening to the saccharine
strings of Bacharach’s orchestra, playing some of the greatest love songs that have been written. I never asked my wife which is her favourite song, but I think it is “Alfie,” one of three philosophical compositions of Bacharach. If I had to choose five philosophical pop tunes, I think “Alfie” would be one of them. There are haunting lines in “Alfie” that should cause deep reflection on the human condition. Here they are; “What’s it all about Alfie? It is just for the moment we live? What’s it all about Alfie? Are we meant to take more than we give? Or are we meant to be kind? And if only fools are kind Alfie Then I guess it is wise to
be cruel And if life belongs only to the strong Alfie What would you lend on an old, golden rule?” After visiting Massy’s Supermarket, we headed back to town to see the new version of Mattai’s Supermarket on Water Street. We passed three pedestrian overhead walkways and I showed my wife where persons were standing on the road waiting to cross the busy East Bank Road. I wondered whether they would use the overhead constructions after they are commissioned. There is one right at the entrance of the Harbour Bridge and two young boys, one with a shopping bag in his hand, were waiting to cross the road. They appeared to be in a hurry. A trip up and down those stairways in the future may not be appealing
to them and others. Immediately my mind thought about the culture of Guyana and that of post-modern societies. Our people are not accustomed to bridges in the air that you can use to get over a busy highway. And I am wondering if they will ever get accustomed to it. I mean they should and I hope they will, but I have doubts. The Mattai’s I knew so long ago is not the Mattai’s any longer. The modern version is superb. I once took umbrage at the length of time I had to spend in the line at that supermarket just to pay for one item – a bottle of coffee. So I did a col-
umn on my experience. That was about seven years ago, I think. I stated in the article that Mattai’s needed to have a fast lane. The matriarch, Mrs. Mattai, came up to me to talk about what I wrote when I went back weeks after to shop with my wife. My wife didn’t want me to argue, so she kept pinching me on my leg not to reply. I am married to one of those humans who are extremely shy and quiet. I hope seven years after, with a new spanking edifice, there is a fast lane at Mattai’s on busy shopping days. This is a handsome, impressive supermarket that is colos-
Frederick Kissoon sal in size. I had just left Massy’s Supermarket at Providence and I thought that was big, but it is far exceeded by Mattai’s. New Thriving and the new Mattai’s are great news for Guyana.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
A clarion call for Constitutional Reform AFC held its quarterly National Executive Conference (NEC) on Saturday November 18 at the Georgetown Club, and our leaders and representatives from all 10 administrative regions took the opportunity, as they are required to do, to express their opinions and concerns on the various issues affecting their regions, the nation and the Diaspora, and to bestow credit where it is due. Some members delivered very concise reports with recommendations on activities in their regions, some of which were hotly debated. In the end, the group of national representatives was able to come
to a consensus on several concerns. As a group, the NEC made a few key decisions concerning the directions the party should take on the matters that influence the growth of the nation. One of the subjects that was discussed at length was the future welfare of those sugar workers who may be displaced in the national programme to consolidate the sugar industry and all parts thereof including its operations, finances, debts, management and plans for divestment and diversification, the latter possibly into cash crop and cattle farming among other things. Unanimously,
the NEC proposed that the Coalition Government continues to give serious consideration to the following: . Instant severance pay for affected workers . Land leases for agricultural pursuits . Easy access to financial assistance (small loans) to help start up new businesses . Assisted access to local and foreign markets for grown, agro-processed and manufactured foods The NEC wholeheartedly endorsed the plans for the construction of the new bridge across the Demerara River. Particularly, it highly recommended the bridge de-
sign that was presented by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. In addition, it is the NEC and the AFC’s consensus that the plan to pave the road linking the towns of Linden, Region 10 and Lethem in Region 9 is indeed in the best interest of the nation, of its citizens who live in inland and interior regions, those who travel into the mineral mining districts, and those who trade in Bartica, Mahdia, Mabaruma, the North West Districts, and in hinterland communities. While welcoming new measures to increase the minimum wage and avoid any new taxes in the 2018 Budget which will be laid shortly in the
House of Parliament, the NEC urged the party’s Executive to ensure that the Budget contains a healthy measure of social content to meet the needs of all communities and cultures, including strategic infrastructural projects, educational programmes and youth development. The NEC and every arm of the Alliance for Change remain committed to participating fully in all outreaches to citizens, civil society and the business community to advance the process of Constitutional Reform. Members also marked as a “matter of urgent national priority” the establishment of the long-awaited Integrity Commission. In addition, the NEC formally endorsed the executive’s stated position to support H.E. President David Granger decision to appoint Justice James Patterson as the new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). And as a matter of urgency, the NEC has issued a mandate to the party’s leadership to formally write to the Executive of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) requesting an urgent review of the
Cummingsburg Accord which was signed on 14 February 2015 to establish Guyana’s first multiparty coalition. Their recommendation is that the parties making up the APNU+AFC Coalition should complete this process on or before the third anniversary of the Accord, i.e. February 14, 2018. They also recommended/identified the members who should comprise the AFC’s negotiating team. On the home front, the Executive Council pointed out the need to strengthen the party’s internal structures as preparations for the 2018 Local Government Elections move into high gear. The enhanced structures should also be geared towards strengthening the capacity of the Centre of Change (head office) to coordinate the movement of information and general operations more efficiently. They insisted that all changes must take our interactions with members of the public to a higher level, be it at the Centre or in the communities and diaspora during increased public outreaches.
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My column
Animals do not kill as rampant we now do I was a young man when the news broke that Charles Manson and a group of mainly women entered a California home and killed a number of people. I distinctly remember a pregnant Sharon Tate and a family headed by a man named Leno LaBianca. The year was 1968 and the hippie revolution was well and truly on. Those murders gained international coverage and the name Charles Manson was never forgotten by me. The victims never met Manson and his group of girls, but that meant nothing. Manson and the girls killed people they never knew, stabbing some of the victims more than two dozen times. Manson died last week at the age of 83, never to walk the streets again. He kept seeking to be paroled as recent as 2012, but was denied in each case. There is a famous movie of the trial. It is named Helter Skelter after the Beatles song that prompted Manson to do some of the things he did. Decades later there were equally gruesome killings. There was the mass shooting at The Quebec City mosque that occurred on the evening of January 29, 2017, at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Que-
bec City, a mosque in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Canada. Six worshippers were killed and nineteen others injured when a lone gunman opened fire just before 8:00 pm, shortly after the end of evening prayers. The recent shooting at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, which killed 26 people, pushed the total of victims lost in mass killings this year to 208. There was the Columbine school shooting in 1999 that killed many children, the mall shooting during which a lone gunman just killed even more people, and the Sandy Hook school killings in 2012 in which nearly two dozen children were killed along with six teachers. This past week a story jumped out at me from the foreign news package that is posted every day. Some gunmen entered a mosque and killed 235 people. This was so shocking that I wondered whether the world is continuing on its road to madness. People are just killing others for no known reason. In this latest mosque shooting, the victims may have been members of another branch of Islam, but they were simply praying. I grew up believing that one of
the safest places to be was a place of worship. Police did not enter a house of worship to make an arrest. A lot has changed. People are robbed in churches as was the case in St Philip’s and St Sidwell’s. People are robbed on their way to church to pray for themselves and for the sinners of the world. Now they are killed like lambs to the slaughter. I grew up believing that life is sacred and people should not kill. In fact, there are associations that rail against governments for seeking to enact the death penalty. There is a United Nations Conventions against the death penalty. Lawyers have moved to the courts to halt executions. Even in times of war there are conventions that determine when a soldier is allowed to kill. There are limits to the guns he can use, although these days guns are so powerful that a bullet could miss a man and still rip his arm off if it passes close enough. Soldiers kill outside the ambit of the war, as was the case in the M Lai Massacre. This was the Vietnam War mass killing of between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in South Vietnam on
March 16, 1968. Indeed this was just before the Manson murders. How could a person simply kill someone he never met before? Even in Guyana we have had people kill others unknown to them for no known reason. Some kill in the execution of robberies, but the United Nations rules determine that the killers should not be killed. President David Granger is on record as saying that he intends to execute no one. He believes in the sanctity of life. One widely held view is that parents are to be blamed. They are expected to bring up their children in the straight and narrow, with the fear of God. They are expected to instill in their children the Eighth Commandment. However, another school of thought is that the environment is often stronger than the admonitions of parents, so we have gang killings and the senseless mass killings. Is there so much anger in the society that people kill at the drop of a hat? Men kill their wives simply because of a misunderstanding; siblings kill each other after a quarrel. I always say that a person has only one life and he should live it to the fullest. He
should do good, reach out to the less fortunate and protect each other. Recently, a woman came to me in tears to report that the police were hounding her teenage son. She swore that her son was just a boy going about his daily life doing whatever odd job he could land. On this occasion he was in the Sparendaam lockups “for no known reason.” I intervened and the police eventually released him because they had no hard evidence to keep holding him. A few months passed then the woman came back to me with the same complaint. I believed her. She told me that her son was in custody and that he escaped. It turned out that the police linked him to a series of robberies. They caught him in a car recently and this innocent boy had a large handgun in his possession. It had no bullets, but it was a gun. He was 17. He pleaded guilty to armed robberies and I now wonder where the mother was and how could she not know that her son was a criminal. A neighbour’s son was killed, shot in a water tank in South Ruimveldt. After his death people talked how this young man got a job and when he got his first pay he
Adam Harris A. A. said that he was going to buy a gun. He did, then went on a robbery. He was prepared to kill. The police got him first. Something must be horribly wrong with the society. I refuse to think about Jamaica where there have been more than 1,000 murders so far for this year. By August there were 1,005 or an average of more than four murders a day. Trinidad has had more than 400 murders for the year and I believe that most of them were drug-related. Killing is out of hand worldwide and we in Guyana, while far behind the global madness, are doing our best to keep abreast. Is there a solution? Is the world coming to an end?
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Blueprint for the green state By H.E. David Granger Guyanese are proud of their country. Our national anthem sings of a “…land of rivers and plains, made rich by the sunshine and lush by the rains, set gem-like and fair between mountains and seas…” Guyana’s green grandeur is not a mere figment of its citizens’ imagination. Its grasslands, highlands, islands, wetlands, lakes, coastal mudflats, rainforests, rivers and waterfalls are spectacular. Its immunity to earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes and stormy weather are something to sing about. Guyana is part of the Guiana Shield, one of the world’s last remaining blocks of pristine rainforest. The ‘Shield’ is the source of 15 per cent of the earth’s freshwater reserves; its biodiversity provides ecosystem services such as food, freshwater and medicinal products. It provides environmental services such as the regulation of the water cycle, water quality and pollination. Its forests capture and store carbon, thereby mitigating the greenhouse effect. The ‘Shield’ provides environmental and ecological services that are essential to life on earth. Guyana, itself, is a net carbon sink. More than 80 per cent of our country is covered by forests which are the habitat of some of world’s rarest and most unique flora and
fauna. Guyana, through its environmental conservation policies, has been one of the guardians of Mother Earth. It pledged – at the Heads of Government Conference of the Commonwealth in Malaysia in 1989 (28 years ago, long before Rio) – that it would set aside, for posterity and in perpetuity, 371,000 hectares of its forests to be used as a model of conservation and sustainable forest management. The area, now known as the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development (IICRCD) – an area larger than Malta – was an early expression of concern over the degradation of the earth’s environment and the threat which this posed “to present and future generations.” The Paris Agreement on climate change, which I signed in April of 2016 at the United Nations, committed Guyana to place an additional two million hectares – an area almost as large as the State of Israel – under conservation. Guyana is signatory, also, to the: - Amazon Cooperation Treaty; - Convention on Biological Diversity; - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and, - Vienna Convention for
the Protection of the Ozone Layer. Guyana is moving towards becoming a ‘green state’. This country, in so doing, needs to develop a ‘total’, transformative plan at the household, community, regional, national and international levels. The Department of the Environment, established in 2016, was a step in this direction. It represented our resolve to ensuring a holistic and rationalized approach to environmental conservation and management through the coordination and integration of agencies with an environmental mandate that could effectively respond to the challenge of the ‘green economy’ and realise the concept of sustainable development. The Green State Development Strategy is intended to impact on the livelihood of every citizen by allowing for: - protection of our biodiversity and the promotion of eco-tourism and ecoeducation; - promotion of energy generation from renewable sources and the introduction of low-emission, low-carbon manufacturing; and - preservation of our wetlands, waterways and lakes and the extension of the protected areas system in every region. The Green State Development Strategy is expected to build greater economic resilience by diversifying production and reducing our depen-
dence on fossil fuels and generating renewable energy from a number of sources – biomass, hydro, solar and wind; emphasise low-carbon manufacturing. It will add value to production through cleaner, cheaper and renewable energy generation and propose plans to move closer towards the goal of full, renewable energy by the year 2025, thereby reducing our exposure to the volatilities of oil markets. The Green State Development Strategy will define the purpose, principles, policies and the processes which will guide our path towards becoming a ‘green state’. A better understanding of the need for a strategy requires an appreciation of the rationale behind the ‘green state’. Guyana’s economy has been dependent for far too long on the six sisters – bauxite, fisheries, gold, rice, sugar and timber. These traditional sectors have served us well but many of them are now aged and ailing. Guyana’s high dependence of commodity exports, coupled with our heavy reliance on the importation of fossil fuels, exposes our economy to exogenous shocks. The economy will also be rebalanced by reducing poverty and promoting greater equality between the coastland and the hinterland and between rural and urban areas. Guyana is rich in natural resources. These resources are our national patrimony. They must be developed for the benefit of this and all future generations. The ‘green state’ will pursue the sustainable management of our natural
President, David Granger resources. It will ensure that these resources will be developed in such a manner that will not result in resource exhaustion or extinction. The Green State Development Strategy is not a whim or fancy. It is intended to become a rational roadmap to guide Guyana along the pathway towards the ‘green state’ and show how the ‘good life’ can be assured. It will develop the pathway towards a diversified and resilient economy; promote the sustainable management of our economy; protect the environment and steer the country towards the creation of happy households and happy people – the ultimate measure of the ‘good life.’ The Green State Development Strategy Multi-
stakeholder Expert Group, therefore, is an essential element in the consultative and cooperative process. It is expected to help to produce a ‘blueprint for a green state’ which leads to the eventual development and adoption of a green development strategy. The multi-Stakeholder Experts Group will help us to move from imagination to implementation, from reverie to reality. The ‘Group’ is expected to provide technical expertise and experience into the process of developing an inclusive and comprehensive strategy which will enjoy national ownership. I expect that its efforts and exertions will enable everyone to better understand why Guyana is pursuing the practices, policies and projects to become a ‘green state’.
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Facts about heart failure By Dr Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Have you ever thought about what happens to your heart when it starts to fail? Developing heart failure is usually a sign of impending death. It is increasing in prevalence and affects approximately 26 million people worldwide. It’s the reason why persons have heart transplants and “artificial heart pumps”. Today we will discuss heart failure, so that you can understand this devastating condition and minimize your chances of dying from it. WHAT IS HEART FAILURE? Heart failure, sometimes known as congestive heart failure, occurs when your heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. Certain conditions, such as narrowed arteries in your heart (coronary artery disease) or high blood pressure,
gradually leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump efficiently. Not all conditions that lead to heart failure can be reversed, but treatments can improve the signs and symptoms of heart failure and help you live longer. Lifestyle changes — such as exercising, reducing salt in your diet, managing stress and losing weight — can improve your quality of life. One way to prevent heart failure is to control conditions that cause heart failure, such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity. WHATARE THE SYMPTOMS OF HEART FAILURE? If your heart does not pump well, at first you might have no symptoms. But as the condition gets worse, it can cause: - Tiredness or weakness, or make you feel lightheaded or dizzy - Trouble breathing, which might lead you to be less active or to need extra
pillows at night to sleep - A racing heartbeat, even while resting - Swelling in your feet, ankles, and legs or in your belly - Persistent cough or coughing up blood - Chest pain if your heart failure is caused by a heart attack. IS THERE A TEST FOR HEART FAILURE? Yes. If your doctor thinks you might have heart failure, he or she will examine you and might order some of the following tests: - An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) – This test measures the electrical activity in your heart. It can show whether you have an abnormal heartbeat or had a heart attack in the past. These are some of the things that can cause heart failure. - A chest X-ray – A chest X-ray shows if there is fluid in the lungs. It also shows the general shape of the heart and large blood vessels in the chest. - An echocardiogram –
This is a special ultrasound that shows how the heart beats. It shows the size of the heart chambers, how well the heart is pumping, and how well the heart valves are working. - A stress test – During a stress test, you might be asked to run or walk on a treadmill while you have an ECG or other heart tests. Physical activity makes the heart pump harder an d increases the heart’s need for blood. This test helps doctors see if the heart is getting enough blood when it is under stress. If you cannot walk or run, you might instead get a medicine to stress your heart. HOW CAN I DECREASE MY CHANCES OF GETTING HEART FAILURE?
The key to preventing heart failure is to reduce your risk factors. You can control or eliminate many of the risk factors for heart disease — high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, for example — by making lifestyle changes along with the help of any needed medications. Lifestyle changes you can make to help prevent heart failure include: · Not smoking · Controlling certain conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes · Staying physically active · Eating healthy foods · Maintaining a healthy weight · Reducing and managing stress · Ensuring you get good sleep especially if you are
Dr. Zulfikar Bux waking up fatigued. · Avoid abusing illicit drugs and medications Once you get heart failure, then chances of living more than five years are very slim. You should therefore focus on getting regular heart checkups and taking preventative measures to decrease your chances of getting heart failure.
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Sunday November 26, 2017
People& Places THAT MADE THIS WEEK’s NEWS
Corporal Derwin Eastman when he was awarded the National Best Cop runner-up
Town Clerk, Royston King
Georgetown Mayor, Patricia Chase-Green
Continued on page 33
Sunday November 26, 2017
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People& Places THAT MADE THIS WEEK’s NEWS
From page 32
Chief Education Officer [CEO], Marcel Hutson
AFC’s leaders, Raphael Trotman and Khemraj Ramjattan
Cultural Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Mr. Ruel Johnson
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Sunday November 26, 2017
People& Places THAT MADE THIS WEEK’s NEWS
From page 33 relationships with female students,” Johnson outlined. He further disclosed that after inquiries, a former student confirmed that she had entered a sexual relationship with the educator in question while she was yet in Fifth Form at the school in question. “She related that he made sexually inappropriate contact with her a month before her 16th birthday, reminded her a few days before her birthday that she was approaching the age of consent and a few weeks after that, began a sexual relationship with her inclusive of penetrative sex. This would be a pattern I would come to recognise from multiple victims who have confided in me since,” Johnson noted. According to Johnson, the alleged incident took place sometime after the passage of the Sexual Offences Act (Cap. 8:03) of 2010. He noted that “What is infinitely more troubling to me as a [former] senior advisor within the Ministry of Education is the evidence so far of the massive scope of [the teacher's] predatory activities. I have been contacted by former victims and friends and relatives of former victims who were subject to or aware of his targeting of young students through several educational institutions.” Johnson added too that the stories of abuse started in the late 1990s beginning at another city secondary school, and followed the teacher's career through attachments at several other schools. “I've also gotten reports of his activities extending to private lessons. His victims altogether may very well be in the hundreds over the past 20 years. By my estimation, this is the worst single incident of teacher sexual abuse that I have encountered globally, on par – perpetrator to victim ratio – with the worst excesses of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal of recent history,” said Johnson.However, the most disturbing allegations are the most recent which were perpetrated at a school that the teacher has served for some 10 years, Johnson noted. He disclosed that “Not only do most of his victims seem to come from this institution, but I have received multiple reports, some posted publicly on social media, that accusations of harassment and predation by [the teacher] have been systematically met by mockery, disapproval, and even condemnation by the school administration,” said Johnson.
The protest action outside the Bishop’s High School.
report, noted that approval was granted by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the award of the contract for the construction of Nurses Hostel, Port Kaituma Hospital Complex. The contract was awarded to the lowest evaluated bidder in the sum of $52.771M against the Engineer's Estimate of $56.030M. The contract was signed on August, 9, 2016 with duration of four months and defects liability period of six months. Works began 14 days after the signing of the contract. The contractor was granted an advance payment of $13.193M. This represented 25 percent of the contract sum. By the end of 2016, the contractor was paid $36.939M. The Audit Office carried out a physical verification at the end of August this year and found that the works were incomplete and the contractor was not mobilised on site. It was further noted that there were changes to the design and layout for the building and only preparatory works for the pouring of concrete for the foundation was completed at the time of the verification. The steel reinforcement which was installed to the foundation was seen
unprotected and exposed to the weather. So, while the contractor was paid $36.939M representing 70 percent of the contract sum, he did not even complete 50 percent of the work. Based on the assessment made by auditors, the actual value of works completed at the time of the physical verification was only $2.686M – a difference of $34.253M. At the time of the physical verification, several works were still to be completed. These include the pouring of concrete for the foundation; pouring of concrete for columns, beams, floor slab; construction of kerb wall and sand filling; construction of internal and external walls, roof, electrical and plumbing installations; installation of windows; and external works and finishes. It was also discovered that only one 'L' shaped building is being constructed instead of two independent buildings, as per original contract. Further, no variation order, revised designs or costing were seen for the changes. WEDNESDAY EMBATTLED BISHOPS' TEACHER DENIES SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH STUDENTS
Accompanied by his team of lawyers Tuesday, embattled Bishops' High School teacher, Coen Jackson, denied having any sexual relations with his under age students. Jackson, 39, instead told media operatives that he is now a target of Cultural Advisor to the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Ruel Johnson, over a young woman with whom they both shared a relationship. He noted that Johnson had threatened and stated among other things, that if I were to ever maintain contact with a particular person with whom he now enjoys a relationship, he will destroy me publicly. The teacher further said that Johnson promised to use his connections to destroy him. Mr. Johnson recently went absolutely berserk when he learnt that this person with whom he has close and personal relationship was still in close contact with me. He (Johnson) stated that my removal from public education is merely a matter of procedure and he threatened and warned me to desist from further contacting her (his friend).” “He said, 'I can guarantee you I am going to use my considerable connection in the media to pointedly identify you and have you removed as teacher in the public education system.'” Jackson admitted that he shared intimate relations with at least two former students of Bishops' High School. Admitting that it does not look good from a moral stand point, the teacher said both relationships started after the young women left the school and were legally adults. He claimed that nothing existed between him and his students before that but they later fell in love. “You can't stop people from falling in love … (Unlike) the impression that Mr. Johnson is trying to give of me, this was not some slam bam relationship, I shared with this young lady,” the teacher added. He said that he and his then partner had travelled to several destinations. Jackson told reporters that he was never involved with any other former students. He said too that during his teaching Continued on page 35
CONTRACTOR PAID $36M FOR $2.6M FOUNDATION WORKS If one is to judge by the various findings of the Audit Office of Guyana, as reflected in its most recent report, the Ministry of Public Health is no prudent manager of the state's financial resources. The Ministry has been given just about the worst report on its use of billions allocated to it in the 2016 Budget. For instance, the ministry has paid over $36M to a contractor who carried out foundation works for a building he was supposed to build. The Auditor General, in his 2016
Jackson (second from right) is flanked by his team of attorneys Jerome Khan, Priyanka Sookraj and Siand Dhurjon
Sunday November 26, 2017
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People& Places THAT MADE THIS WEEK’s NEWS
From page 34
The Sheriff Street corridor that is to be rehabilitated.
Continued on page 36
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Sunday November 26, 2017
People& Places THAT MADE THIS WEEK’s NEWS
From page 35
Police Corporal, Derwin Eastman
New GECOM Commissioner, Desmond Trotman being presented with his Instrument of Appointment by President, David Granger
Godfrey 'Sagga ' Scipio
Continued on page 65
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Suicide among key issues discussed as sensitisation programme concludes in Region Two The Ministry of Social Cohesion on Friday concluded its three-week training and sensitisation programme in Pomeroon/ Supenaam, Region Two. Some 600 persons participated. The final session which was hosted at WD’s Mall, Charity, managed to attract more than 100 stakeholders. Attendees included Government officials, members of civil society, business and indigenous communities, as well as youth, religious and other special Organisations. Also present was Coordinator at the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Miss Sharon Patterson. Patterson explained that the central focus of the Ministry is to work towards the enhancement of social interaction, integration and harmony within and across the various groups in Guyanese society. “A key aspect of the Ministry’s 2017 work programme is a series of training and sensitisation sessions on Social Cohesion. The aim is to provide an understanding of Social
The final sensitisation session in progress
Cohesion and assist stakeholders to understand their roles in enabling the process.” Over the past three weeks, the Ministry worked feverishly, in spreading its sensitisation on Cohesion from Supenaam to Charity. The Ministry also extended its networking system to riverain communities in the Pomeroon, and indigenous areas along the Coast. In the
process, some 41 Secondary School students and teachers benefitted from a recent session of Training and Diversity Education. Patterson said that the show of interest in Region Two over the past three weeks was commendable. As the session unfolded yesterday, the issue of suicide surfaced. Religious leaders stressed the fact that Region Two still has the highest rate
of suicide in Guyana, making it the biggest social issue in the Region. Leaders of the Christian faith suggested there be a centre setup to tackle suicide. One Pastor pointed out that, “With the centre, we will be able to meet persons in various areas who are affected by suicide. Schools can be targeted so as sensitise and enforce counselling sessions with affected youths. Suicide affects people of every ethnic
group; as such the fight against suicide is the best way to promote cohesion, since it is everyone’s interest.” Residents also made an appeal to the Ministry, for a Cultural Centre to be setup in the Region. Many believe that as Essequibians, they have been robbed of the opportunity, to have their culture freely expressed. Miss Patterson assured stakeholders yesterday that
the Minister will be consulted on the matter of setting up a Cultural Centre. She explained that the Ministry is relatively young, and as such, evidence of its effectiveness will not yet be noticeable. “Social Cohesion is a process, if you are looking for immediate results; you are not going to see it. We have to wait to see behaviour change before we can measure our effectiveness.” [Romario Blair]
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Sunday November 26, 2017
No bail for repeat offender charged with attempted murder Remanded: Lennox Cort
Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman on Friday remanded a repeated offender on a charge of attempted murder and robbery underarms. Thirty-three-year-old Lennox Cort, a labourer, of La Parfaite Harmonie, was not required to plead to the charge which alleged that on June 19, at South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, he discharged a firearm at Jamal Lewis, with intent to murder him. It was further alleged that on the same day in question, armed with a gun, he robbed Takru Persaud of a Samsung phone valued $80,000. Police Prosecutor Shawn Gonsalves objected to bail being granted to the defendant citing the serious nature of the offence, the
penalty the charge attracts, and the fact that a gun was used to commit the offence. The Prosecutor added that the defendant has a matter of robbery under-arms before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, and it was while being out on bail, he allegedly committed the new offences. The Prosecutor stressed that if bail is granted to the defendant he would not return to the court for the trial. The objection was upheld by the Magistrate and the father of six was remanded to prison. He was instructed to make his next court appearance on December 5, when he will appear before the Chief Magistrate.
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Sunday November 26, 2017
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The Booze You Choose Can Sway Your Mood
The booze you choose can frequently steer your mood, according to a new global survey. About half of those who drink red wine and beer said it makes them feel relaxed and mellow, results from the Global Drug Survey show. Roughly two of five beer drinkers said the suds make them feel confident, while one-quarter of red wine drinkers said they feel sexier after a glass. Hard liquor causes the wildest mood swings, the researchers found. Nearly 60 percent of liquor drinkers said the booze makes them feel energized and confident, but they also were more likely to feel aggressive, ill, restless or tearful compared with people drinking red wine or beer. For example, nearly onethird of hard liquor imbibers said they were more likely to
feel aggressive after a shot or two, compared with 2.5 percent of red wine drinkers and just under 7 percent of beer drinkers, the findings showed. Advertising “pushes the positive emotions people might look for from drinking, but it is important to understand the negative ones as well,” said researcher Mark Bellis. He is director of policy, research and international development with Public Health Wales NHS Trust in Cardiff. “If people are to make informed decisions about their drinking, they need to know the full picture of how alcohol affects moods and emotions,” Bellis added. The survey results provide clear evidence that people often pick their drinks based on the mood they want to achieve, said Dr. Scott Krakower, assistant unit chief
of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. “They clearly lay out that sometimes people will use alcohol to regulate their emotions — not only negative emotions, but positive emotions as well,” Krakower said. The Global Drug Survey gathered responses from nearly 30,000 people in 21 countries speaking 11 different languages. The survey ran from November 2015 to January 2016. Bellis said that it makes sense that different types of drinks would work differently on the brain and emotions, given how alcohol levels vary. “Spirits are often consumed more quickly and contain much higher concentrations of alcohol. This can result in a quicker stimulating effect as blood alcohol levels increase,” he explained.
Babies Start Connecting Words Early On Babies apparently have a better understanding of adults’ language than you might think. New research reveals that they can identify the meanings of some words and even recognize that some words are more connected to certain words than to others. The finding is based on an analysis that used eyetracking software to see how approximately 40 babies reacted when certain words — and word pairs — were uttered in their presence. “Even though there aren’t many overt signals of language knowledge in babies, language is definitely developing furiously under the surface,” said study author Elika Bergelson, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. “Even in the very early stages of comprehension,
babies seem to know something about how words relate to each other,” Bergelson said in a university news release. “And already by 6 months, measurable aspects of their home environment predict how much of this early level of knowledge they have.” The findings could eventually point the way toward fashioning “potential intervention work with children who might be at risk for language delays or deficits,” she said. In earlier research, Bergelson found that even babies as young as 6 to 9 months old are able to follow words related to food and body parts. The current follow-up investigation was conducted in both a lab setting and in each participating infant’s home. In one instance, the baby’s eyes were tracked
while facing a computer screen that flashed various image pairs and their caregiver said the words for each pair out loud. Some image pairs were related, such as a hand and a foot, while others were not, such as a foot and a milk carton. The babies appeared to recognize when images were related, Bergelson said. In-home testing involved recording both audio and video of parental interactions with their infant. In the end, the recordings suggested that babies seem to better follow the meaning of a word when its utterance was accompanied by a clear visual cue, the study found. That meant, for example, that saying the word “pen” while showing a pen appeared to make more of an impact than, say, uttering the word “lion” without any indication as to what a lion might be.
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
Kate Middleton Shows Off Tiny Baby Bump Kate Middleton looked beautiful in blue on Friday evening. The expecting Duchess of Cambridge showed off her growing baby bump in a gorgeous light blue embellished dress, designed by Jenny Packham, while attending the Royal Variety Performance in London. Middleton was accompanied to the event, held at the Palladium Theatre, by her husband, Prince William. In pictures from Friday e v e n i n g ’s event, Middleton, who is expecting her third child with William in April 2018, can be seen sporting a small baby bump. It was announced that the royal couple is expecting their third child back in September with an announcement from Kensington Palace. “Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child,” the statement read. “The Queen and members of both families are delighted with the news.” The palace also revealed that Middleton was suffering from acute morning sickness at the time. William and Kate were delayed arriving to the event Friday evening, reportedly
due to an incident around Oxford Street where police “received reports of shots being fired,” according to
BBC. After arriving on the scene, officers found no evidence of gunfire.www.eonline.com
Uma Thurman Lashes Out at Harvey Weinstein Uma Thurman is grateful for a lot of things in 2017—chief among them, the downfall of Harvey Weinstein. S h e ’s s h a r e d c r e d i t s with the disgraced producer in seven movies, including her Academy Award-nominated role in Pulp Fiction and Quentin Ta r a n t i n o ’s K i l l B i l l , Vols. 1 and 2, and after the first wave of sexual misconduct allegations against him came out in October, Access Hollywood asked Thurman how she felt about them. “I don’t have a tidy soundbite for you, because I have learned, I am not a child. And I have learned that when I’ve spoken in anger, I usually regret the way I express myself,” she said at the time, carefully choosing her words. “So, I’ve been waiting t o f e e l l e s s a n g r y, a n d
when I’m ready, I’ll say what I have to say.” Thursday was the day Thurman decided to say something. Sharing a still of herself as Beatrix Kiddo, a.k.a. The Bride, from Kill Bill, she wished her Instagram followers a happy Thanksgiving. “I am grateful today, to be alive, for all those I love, and for all those who have the courage to stand up for others. I said I was angry recently, and I have a few reasons, #metoo, in case you couldn’t tell by the look on my face. I feel it’s important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so...Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!” Thurman wrote. “Except you Harvey, and all your wicked cons p i r a t o r s . I ’ m g l a d i t ’s going slowly. You don’t deserve a bullet.”
C r y p t i c a l l y, t h e 4 7 year-old actress said, “Stay tuned.” Thurman, who is making her Broadway debut in Beau Williamson’s The Parisian Woman, exited CAA after two years earlier this week. As for Weinstein, he voluntarily checked himself into an outpatient treatment facility in Arizona as a growing number of women, led by Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, publicly accused him of sexual assault—and, in some cases, rape. A spokesperson for the producer previously told E! News that in addition to denying any non-consensual sex ever occurred, he also maintained “that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”WWW.EONLINE.COM
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People& Places THAT MADE THIS WEEK’s NEWS
From page 36
Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud
Acting Top Cop, Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
Mango man murder trial put on hold to facilitate constitutional ruling
Kumar Singh called ‘Mango Man’ The trial of Bartica Massacre killer, Royden Williams called ‘Smallie’ and Sherwin Nero called ‘Catty’ for the August 2007 murder of Kumar Singh called ‘Mango Man’, is likely to commence until another session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes. The decision was taken last Thursday, by Justice Brassington Reynolds after the matter came up for the second time before the High Court. The delay is as a result of a pending matter that is before acting Chief Justice Roxane George, which was brought on by defence counsel Nigel Hughes on behalf of Nero. During his appearance last Thursday, Hughes informed the Court the acting Chief Justice’s ruling on the matter could be handed down by year-end or early next year. Justice Reynolds, in acknowledging receipt of the prosecution’s response to Hughes’s submissions, further noted that his court “ought to await the pronouncement by the constitutional court.” As such, the Judge deferred the matter to be heard in another session of the Demerara Assizes. Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes had presented arguments for the indictment to be discharged against the two murder accused, (Nero) during submissions at the High Court in Georgetown last month. The trial was aborted in June 2014, after Williams sacked his state-assigned Attorney-at-Law.
Among those reasons for the indictment to be discharged, Hughes cited Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana which guarantees Williams and Nero a fair trial within reasonable time. The Attorney-at-Law also cited a recent ruling made by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the case of convicted drug trafficker Vishnu Bridgelall and the State of Guyana. In that case, the CCJ ruled that it was entitled to examine the circumstances of the delay in the determination of Bridgelall’s appeal by the Court of Appeal and found that the delay was inexcusable and a violation of Bridgelall’s Constitutional Rights. Hughes argued that his clients were first charged in 2008 for the offence and were committed to stand trial at the High Court in 2012. The lawyer contended that the men spent nine years on remand pending trial—this he noted was unreasonable and a breach of their constitutional rights. Hughes indicated to the court that he filed a Constitutional Motion on behalf of Nero, outlining that the delay in getting his trial started was unconstitutional, since a witness who would have been called in his defence died some two years ago. According to reports, Singh, who was 51 year-old at the time, was shot after gunmen stormed his home at 51 Craig Milne, Cove and John, East Bank Demerara on August 30, 2007, and terrorized his family. The gunmen also shot at his family members during the ordeal before escaping on foot. Singh sustained several gunshot wounds and died while undergoing surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
STANDARDS IN FOCUS
Consumer Tips for shopping this Christmas Season With just about a month to Christmas Day, the shopping hype has already begun for the holiday season in Georgetown and the other commercial districts across Guyana. Usually this is the time when consumers buy all sorts of items, including gifts for loved ones and items to improve their home decor. It is also a fact that at this time of the year more than any other time, businesses increase their advertising and sales promotion to encourage customers to buy their offerings. Likewise, consumers must be very vigilant in their choices. From this week to the end of the Christmas season this column will focus extensively on providing tips that will guide consumers towards making informed purchases during the season, especially relating to products monitored by the GNBS. As consumers, spending money in a very smart manner this Christmas season is definitely possible! Shopping for products that are of quality and making comparisons to find the most reasonable prices offered by different business establishments are the ways to go. Products that are produced according to or are conforming to the requirements of National or International Standards are usually of good quality. Most of these products are tested to ensure conformance to specified requirements and carry one or many standards marks, such as: UL, CE, CSA, NOM, CCC. For example, on our locally manufactured PVC Pipes and gold jewellery manufactured by the certified jewellers, you can find the Guyana’s National Standards Mark – GNBS in a double wall circle. Don’t shop in a rush and become confused. Take a moment to carefully understand your expectations of the products you intend to buy. Aspects to be considered should include quality, durability, performance, usefulness, alternatives and price. “Sales” are generally enticing and consumers tend to buy products for which they have no need. Shopping smart takes time, skill and practice. Each of us needs to practice smart shopping to get “A Fair Share in the Market
Place”. To get your fair share in the market place try these shopping reminders: · Think before you buy! Ask yourself …Do I need this item? Will it fit into my budget? Spending only $3,000 a week on things you don’t need will cost you $156,000.00 in a year. · Check it out! Find out all you can about a product before you buy it. Read about the product. Talk to people who own or know about the product. Ask the salesperson to show you how the product works. See if the product really does what the commercials say it does. Check products for standards marks and other labelling information. · Consider the facts! Think about the facts you read or are told about the product. Which facts are the most important to you and your family? Remember that companies may not consistently produce the same quality of products so the product you bought last year might have a better quality than the one you intend to buy this year. Smart shoppers consider the facts before they buy. · Compare! Smart shoppers shop around. Visit or call at least three reputable stores to compare the prices of the item, the different models of the item and the return rules of each store. Buy from the store that gives you the most for the money you spend. You must also compare quantity with quality. Ensure that you are given a warranty on item you have selected. · Choose! Be picky! It’s your money. Think about what you are getting for your money. Remember if a product or a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is! · Check expiry dates and bar codes! By doing this you will avoid using products that are unsafe to you and your family. Some businesses may be unscrupulous enough to put items on sale which are about to expire. The Guyana National Bureau of Standards encourages all consumers to always plan your purchases and buy quality products to get the best value for your money. For further information please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 219-0069, 219-0065, 2190062 or visit the GNBS website www.gnbsgy.org.
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Teen on attempted murder charge An unemployed teenager who allegedly used a knife to inflict several stabs wounds on a resident has been committed to stand trial at the next sitting of the Berbice High Assizes on a charge of attempt murder. Stephan Fordyce, called” Blacka”, 18, of Marcy Dam, Rosignol, West Bank Berbice, is accused of attempting to kill Richard Edwards, 33, a fisherman of 101 Rosignol, West Bank Berbice. The incident occurred last April. The man appeared before Magistrate Rondell Weaver at the Fort Wellington
Magistrate’s Court where a prima facie was made out. Prosecutor Corporal Rochelle Mars told the court that during the day in question the two had a misunderstanding. Later the same day the men were in the vicinity of the Sweet Lips Disco when Fordyce walked up to Edwards and stabbed him with a knife. Edwards collapsed, was picked up and rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was admitted. A report was made and Fordyce was arrested the following day at home with the knife in his possession.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
CONSUMER CONCERNS
PROTECT YOURSELVES
by PAT DIAL
We are now in the Holiday Season with Christmas Week just four or five weeks away. This is a time when consumers, indeed, most citizens, are vulnerable to exploitation as they embark on their holiday shopping or
have to employ tradesmen. It is a time when criminals believe that they could easily prey upon citizens, especially those from the countryside. In today’s offering, we shall remind consumers of some of the ways to protect themselves. In going to the Banks or ATM service booths
to withdraw money, always assume that one is under observation by criminals. Accordingly, be always circumspect. If one senses that one is being followed, quickly retreat into another building. In any case, do not walk around with large sums of
money. If one must walk around with large sums, then try to arrange to be accompanied by one or two other persons. Also, keep large sums in different parts of one’s person and in different handbags. In shopping, one needs to thoroughly examine whatever one is buying since in the busy atmosphere of Christmas shopping, one could easily buy an item which is defective. For instance, in buying crockery or vases or other earthenware products, one may not see a hairline crack except with careful examination. And such advice is very necessary when buying electrical fittings or equipment - always ascertain that such purchases are working efficiently. Also, if one is buying consumer durables, ensure that one collects the manual and the guarantee or warranty. Warranties for most such items are for at least six months. One must insist that one is given a receipt (bill) with all purchases, no matter how busy the store may be. In many East Asian and
Brazilian stores, they do not give bills except one asks for them. Remember that a receipt ensures that one could return defective goods since, without a receipt, stores will invariably refuse to receive such goods. In addition, a receipt protects the purchaser in that it ascertains his/her ownership of the item purchased. A final caution to buyers - only buy what one requires and don’t be mesmerized by attractive packaging and presentation; do not fall into the syndrome of compulsive buying. Most people travel by the public transport, mainly the minibuses. At this time, pickpockets and snatchers come out in force. Snatchers operate wherever crowds are thickest and they tend to loiter around shop entrances or on the pavements. Hold handbags securely, and even in a moving crowd, be on the lookout for any suspiciouslooking persons. When travelling on the minibuses, one should always be on the alert for pickpockets and bag-slashers.
Pickpockets tend to wedge themselves among commuters where they could operate without their victims feeling their searching hands. Others, usually wearing spectacles or sunglasses, would walk with a large cardboard chart of some kind which they would rest on their knees under which their hands could operate unseen. Many of these slash bags with practised deftness, removing money and other valuables and the victims only realize their loss when they would have gotten home. The late Eileen Cox, the Caribbean’s most prominent consumer advocate, had such an experience where she lost a large sum of money. The slasher was a woman sitting near to Ms Cox. One should therefore be on lookout for women pickpockets. Protecting the home is most important at this time: Lock windows and doors when one is going out and lock the gates. Do not leave untended clothes which are being dried after washing Continued on page 69
Sunday November 26, 2017
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Kaieteur News
PROTECT YOURSELVES
FOR RENT
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION, W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyana passport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 6267040; 265-4535. INNOVATIVEMARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, busi ness cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. PASSPORT, PERMANENT & VISITOR VISA APPLICATION, PROFESSIONAL IMMIGRATION CONSULTANT – SABITA IMMIGRATION SERVICES. CALL: 613-3920/625-3767. Eagle’s: Re-gas –low prices, washing machine repairs, gas stove, plasma flat Screen, computer repairs & more. Call: 697-2969/646-0966 I N S TA L L AT I O N S , REPAIRS AND PARTS FOR AC, FRIDGE, WASHING MACHINE, STOVE ETC: CALL NICK 627-3206, 630-1600 Repairs at affordable prices: fridge, air conditioner, washing machines, dryers, TV, microwaves & freezerCall: 610-5846 or 661-8158 Repairs to refrigerators, gas stoves, A/C units, washing machines. Call Lindon: 6411086/ 694-2202 Want your house to clean for Christmas? Call:673-2484
FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY- $19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-2274754. Video games and consoles at affordable price. Repairs to video game system .Call:6722566/265-3231 Spare for washing machine, microwaves,fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, motors, etc. Call:225-9032;647-2943;6045198 One Hilux Surf in excellent condition. Cost $2,200,000 negotiable Contact : 612-2592 Used Yamaha Outboard motor 200 just arrived from USA, also flat screen computer monitor 20" Please Call: 6725830,671-9169
- Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, etc. -CosmetologyCourses:$90,000 Technician Course: $35,000. Call: 647-1773/660-5257 LEARN TO DRIVE C. Persaud & N. Outar Driving School formerly Soman & Sons Driving School @ Maraj BuildingCall: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997 (affordable packages).
Property for rent - 2 storey house at Republic Park, E.B.D$1200US. Call 647-1773 Apartment for rent, 2 bedrooms bottom flat, Lot 6 Houston back street. Tel: 6216427. 1-Two bedroom apt, fully furnish, AC Room, situated in Eccles, EBD Tel: 667-2536 One two bedroom cottage 574 East Riumveldt. Rent: $45,000 Contact: 648-7621. 3 bedroom bottom flat apartment W.B. Demerara #641-5704/609-4810 One apartment for rent Mon Repos E.B.Dem First Street. Tel: 220-2330/ 614-0005 Apartment to rent. $30,000: 3 month deposit.
One three (3) year old purebred German shepherd male for breeding. Call: 6199203 One 12V-6000 lbs rolling winch,2000 lbs pulling capacity,brandnew, one miller welding generator 6000W Call: 699-4300, 228-2734 One 70 AMP ark welder 120V 20AMP, brandnew, one MIG 170 wire feed welder, Brandnew 240V. Call: 6994300,228-2734 One Press drill, one US made diesel generator 10-15KVA, brandnew Call: 699-4300, 2282734 One small fridge for sale Call: 216-2658, 661-6282 Pitbull mixed with Rottweiler puppies. 5 weeks old. Contact 269-0711/666-7895 or 622-2201 $40,000 each.
TAXI SERVICE GR TAXI SERVICE. CALL: 219-5000; 227-1982 & 225-7878 (24HRS)
3 Set of table with 4 chairs each, 1- Queen size bed Call: 690-4300, 668-4500 Toyota Raum PVV, Toyota Ronex PTT Call: 6904300,668-4500 Pit Bull pups, vaccine & deworm $45,000 Tel: 680-3101 ask for Jason. FOR SALE/RENT American Pool Table. Call: 277-0578
Chefs, Bar attendant, waitresses. Trinidad & Tobago. Tel#868-372-9787/ 868-744-5766 Wanted Minibus driver. 50 yrs and older. Tel#666-6991. 45 Route.
VACANCY Confidential Cabs. Vacancy exist for one experienced dispatcher. Tel#231-5784 6951961. Cook/ baker and Kitchen Assistant for interior location. Applicants must have experience. Call:618-2020 Chef and assistant cookpreferably Carnegie trained. Call 225-7933, or visit 173 Sheriff Street. Vacancies exist for Cashier, Supervisor & Ice handlers to work @ Crystal Ice House, Blairmont, Berbice. Call: 6183800/642-9191 Salesboys & Girls. Apply: Avinash Complex Water Street. 226-3361/227-7828
CAR RENTAL DOLLY’SCARRENTAL-CALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM PROGRESSIVE CAR R E N TA L : S U V F O R RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL:6560 0 8 7 , 6 4 3 - 5 1 2 2 ,EMAIL:PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM Cars for long term rental (suitable for working taxi) Call Ms.London 699-6715 or 6874655
Vacancies exist for Security and operators to work @ Del Ice Company, Meadowbank. Call: 231-1408/642-9191. Experienced Pharmacy Technicians to work flexible hours @ reputable pharmacy in Diamond & Kitty. Call: 6453422/ 227-0630
VEHICLE FOR SALE Allion, Primo, Fielder Wagon, Spacio, Bluebird, 212 Carina, NZE, Honda CRV, Toyota IST, RZ & Pit-bull – Call: 650-7501
EDUCATION Day Care and Pre-K classes available in Diamond Call Canadian School 2166921,216-6922
Fridge, freezer, stove, beds, washing machine, microwave, furniture. Call 6713004. 1-Single & double door cooler, 1- food glass case Call: 6904300,668-4500
SALON
PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.-CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620
WANTED Experienced bartender and waitress wanted. Tel: 6829457 Live-in waitress wanted at Caribbean Temptation Bar W.C.D Tel: 693-0618/604-466. Accounts Clerk- Knowledge of Payroll and QuickBooks. 614-4358
PROPERTY FOR SALE Aubrey Barker $30M, Diamond, Schoonard $1.5M, North $17M, Bel Air $31, Lamaha Springs $7.5M. GME Realty 231-2200, 618-7483
LAND FOR SALE One cornerlot for sale 50x100 in gated community @ Land Of Canaan, Canaan Gardens. Tel: 694-7817, 612-1351 Eccles (Corner Lot) Main road with 12 massive columns & foundation $8M Tel: 656-0701/651-1969 Farm (East Bank) $3M Parafaite Harmonie (High income area 100ftX50ft) $2M & $1.3M Title ready. Tel: 6671960/ 651-1969. 1500 Acres at No 70 Corentyne with house, good for rice and cattle farming. Call: 592-657-0992
Business Property for sale. Lot 11 Middleton Street Campbellville Georgetown, Guyana. Contact owner at 240-605-8877 USA. 1 two storey building 8.2 Neg. Patentia WBD. 671-2689, 6722120. Good location.
Lot 51 New road Vreed-enhoop. West Coast Demerara. Contact Andy on 671-4420.
New building with two apt downstairs for sale. 10 mins from Georgetown. Tel: 6751510, 613-7964.
21 acres of land at Moblissa, Linden Highway. House on land (need repairs) $15M Contact: 600-6182, 604-7209.
28 Acres of Land @ Soesdyke Public Road by owner. Interested persons send information to P.O 101184 Georgetown.
From page 68 since clothes thieves go about with folding sticks with which they gather up clothes or even booty through windows. If one has dogs, have them on the loose both night and day. Neighbours should inform each other if they would be absent from their homes. Many thieves have been challenged and scared away by watchful neighbours. Householders who have security cameras should be prepared to cooperate with each other in the event of a burglary occurring in their vicinity. Recently, for example, two teenage bicycle bandits attacked a maid who was reporting for duty in the morning at a Subryanville home. The neighbour’s camera photographed them and the Police were enabled to apprehend them in Sheriff Street. One of the worst security problems which have afflicted Georgetown over the last year is the bicycle and motor-cycle bandits. The bandits are all young persons, many of them teenagers. They attack pedestrians or persons going into or exiting their gates. The motorcycle bandits pounce down on persons entering or coming out of their cars and seize the cars, the pillion-rider usually driving it off. These motorcycle bandits carry firearms. The Police are still to formulate a programme to control or eliminate this form of crime. Citizens must realize that they have to rely on their own efforts to protect themselves and be prepared to resist the bandits.
1-Twinsteer Double Axle DAF and 4 Flatbed Leyland DAF, 1-620-240 DAF engine. Excellent condition. Owner migrating 649-8449,228-5655 Toyota Belta. Excellent Condition, AC, PVV, Like new. Good for bank purchases. 1,850,000. 639-2490. 19 seater pitbull. Excellent condition. Never worked passenger. Original seats. 6640802 2015 Ford F150 EXT Cab 4X4 fully loaded Auto V6 3500CC 5800km Excellent Condition. 610-5370. Unregistered Axela 2011 $2.5M, dark interior, fully loaded, Nissan pickup extra cab $2.1M. Call: 617-5536 2010 Toyota Rush (PVV) Excellent Condition $3.3M negotiable . 2005 Toyota Vitz PPP Excellent Condition $1.3M Negotiable. Contact 641-2906. Toyota RAV 4 in good working condition- Lady driven Price$1.5 Negotiable. Contact #218-3463 or 6238759.
PEN PAL Male, Age 52, Single, need a friend. Call: 690-1405
VEHICLE FOR SALE Mercedes Benz 2009 C200. Immaculate Condition- Call 616-5933 X-Mas deal-unregisterd 2010 Allion, low mileage , rock bottom price $3.175,000 Contact : 610-4184,220-1988 One(1) Mitsubishi Canter 14 feet 7.5 ton 50% down payment and no interest. Contact 650-0402 or 603-1402.
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Pegasus taxi driver murder trial set to commence A mixed 12-member jury has been empanelled at the High Court tooverseethemurdertrialofLorenzo Forde. Forde is facing the Court for allegedly murdering Pegasus taxi driver, Rudranauth Jeebo, in December 2013. Jeeboo’s battered body was found in a refuse heap in Caneview Avenue,SouthRuimveldt,daysafter he went missing. The victim, of 25 Delph and Craig Streets, Campbellville, was found dead on December 28, 2013. Reports suggested the taxi
driver was attacked outside the vehicle after he travelled to the Caneview area to make a drop. Alongwithhisbody,thevehicle, expect for the number plates and taxi logo, was recovered at the back of the said area. Forde was subsequently arrested for the murder. Forde has since pleaded not guilty to the charge. Defense counsel, Hughley Griffith and Rachael Bakker will be representing the accused while the case will presented by State
Rudranauth Jeboo Counsels, Lisa Cave, Shawnette Austin, and Tiffini Lyken. The trial is scheduled to commence on Monday before Justice Brassington Reynolds.
Sunday November 26, 2017
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
Gunman in woman’s dress, accomplice shoot Berbice boutique owner -second attack on victim’s life In what appears to be a second plot on his life, two gunmen, including o n e i n w o m a n ’s a t t i r e , shot businessman Rajendra Prasad, after invading his Rose Hall, Berbice boutique around 15.45 hrs yesterday. The intruders shot P r a s a d, called ‘Bobby,’ who is the owner of Bobby’s & Son Boutique, in the abdomen at close range. Another bullet grazed the back of his head. He was admitted to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where he was still undergoing surg e r y. His attackers, who reportedly did not dem a n d m o n e y, e s c a p e d on a CG motorcycle in the direction of the Rose Hall To w n backlands. The drama unfolded when a man in a green dress and wig and another wearing a motorcycle helmet, rushed into the boutique and headed straight to the cashier enclosure where Prasad normally sits. The one with the helmet pointed a gun at the
b u s i n e s s m a n a n d discharged three rounds, two of which hit Prasad. Prasad’s wife and son who were present saw him collapse to the ground. Leaving money that was on the counter and other cash in the businessman’s hand untouched, the gunmen hopped on to their CG motorcycle and escaped to the Rose Hall backlands. Another eyewitness told this publication that the men ordered the victims, “Don’t move” while they carried out the attack. The eyewitness stressed that the gunmen made no attempt to rob anyone. Prasad was rushed to the Anamayah Memorial Hospital. He was subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital for emergency surgery. Up to press time police were still in hot pursuit of the gunmen. In March, police investigated what appeared to be a plot to execute Prasad. The alleged plot unraveled after a man on a motorcycle accidentally
rode into a car at Albion. A detective who was driving in the area became suspicious after the motorcyclist, whom he recognized as an exconvict, abandoned his bike and entered a car. The detective trailed the car to Hampshire. On realizing that he was being followed, the suspect allegedly threw a firearm out of the vehicle before the policeman intercepted the vehicle. While in custody, the suspect alleged that a Jamaican national had hired him to rob and kill Rajendra Prasad, aka ‘Bobby’. The alleged ‘hit man’ was later slapped with possession of firearm and possession of ammunition charges. The Jamaican was later arrested, questioned and released. But Prasad stated that the Jamaican was his “close friend.” Prasad also said that he did not believe the Jamaican would want to kill him. He also denied owing money to the Jamaican.
Jamaica to host labour market forum next month KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC – The Jamaica government is to h o l d a Labour Market Forum next month that will examine the key recommendations from a recently completed labour market study. The Ministry of Labour
and Social Security said it is hoping to engage stakeholders including employers, policymakers, curriculum developers and students to the December 13 event that will be held under the theme “Jamaican Employers and Educators, Working Together to
Close the Skills Gap’. Director of the Planning, Research and Monitoring Unit, Andrea Patterson-Morris, said the forum aims to facilitate a conversation among stakeholders about the existing skills gap, and establish solutions.
Top Cop sent home to allow... From page 9 Persaud had been on accumulated leave since July 10. He should have resumed official duties on Friday. He was then to proceed on pre-retirement leave next year with retirement by April 2018. Minister Ramjattan said that he had spoken with Persaud on November 23, a day before he was expected to resume duty, about the decision to have him proceed on ‘special leave’. Ramjattan made it clear that Persaud did not report to duty. Assistant Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine, has been performing the duties of Commissioner in Persaud’s absence and will continue in the role for the further 56 days. Sources have confirmed that this is likely the end of Persaud’s tenure, and that the coalition government will move to have a new commissioner installed shortly. Leading up to the letter, Persaud, Guyana’s 31st Commissioner of Police, faced a scathing report from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the alleged assassination plot against President David Granger.
The CoI, headed by retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe, recommended that Persaud should be made to resign his position as Commissioner under such terms and conditions that the President considers appropriate. Failing which, the Commission had recommended that proceedings be initiated in accordance with Article 225 on the Constitution to have him removed from office for misbehaviour. Persaud was accused of inserting himself into the police investigation of the assassination plot while he was on leave. The report found that the Top Cop should have recused himself from the matter. Persaud was accused of bypassing the chain of command when he instructed that Nizam Khan, who was a suspect in the alleged assassination plot, be sent on bail. Persaud, who hails from the Essequibo Coast, took the oath of office on March 10, 2015. He served the force for over 30 years and held many top positions including head of the Police Anti-Narcotics Unit and Crime Chief.
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
After meet & greet first meeting…
GECOM Commissioners buckle down to review critical fraud report The Secretariat of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is set to provide a full blown report, including that of the alleged $100 million fraud, for the consideration of the seven-member Commission at its next scheduled meeting on Tuesday. GECOM Chairman Justice James Patterson (ret’d) held his first meeting of the Commission on Friday. It was essentially described by some commissioners as ‘a meet and greet session’ with no major decisions taken. The commission paid tribute to the late Commissioner Sandra Jones and also welcomed her replacement, Desmond Trotman. Kaieteur News has learnt that the Secretariat’s report will cover all decisions undertaken for the period starting from the Commission’s last meeting in February, under former Chairman, Steve Surujbally to its current work plan. Since the February meeting, Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, investigated an alleged $100M fraud that surrounds the purchase of communication equipment. The audit report was handed over
to Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, who is also the accounting officer, but without the meeting of the Commission, further action has not been taken. Sharma has indicated a willingness to use the powers of his office to call in the police if the Commissioners fail to act on the recommendations in his report. The GECOM Secretariat, which is headed by Lowenfield, is being accused of overseeing a system of procurement frauds involving hundreds of millions of dollars in purchases– from radios, to pliers and batteries, to toners. The Auditor General had descended on GECOM’s office after a series of articles pointed to what appeared to be worrying procurement frauds at GECOM that oversees General and Local Government elections. One of the purchases for the 2015 general elections was the purchase of several communication radios. It was found that less than 90 percent of the radios were used despite the strong reasons advanced by GECOM to the administration for the purchases. Some $100M was be-
ing spent. It was found that the radios arrived too late to be deployed for the May 11, 2015 elections. The radios were purchased from Mobile Authority, owned by Water Street businessman, Michael Brasse. The report found that on top of that purchase for the radios which were all outdated, GECOM went ahead
and bought 12 satellite phones for use in case the radios could not be put into operation. When Local Government Elections were held in 2016, the radios were not used. Checks on the radios found that six of the 50 radio sets were not working. The Audit Office found GECOM breached procurement regulations when it went ahead and evaluated the quotes for the radios without
first seeking the approval of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). This was done after. In fact, the audit report found that GECOM signed the contract for the radios six days before the elections, making it impossible for the radios to be sourced, delivered, and installed in remote locations and for staffers to be trained.
GECOM, in its defence, said that it could find nowhere in the report where anyone could be found culpable and that it would be difficult therefore to engage the police to pursue criminal indictments. Among other things, the police are being asked to find out how a quote from Massy Technology ended up in the system. The company has denied it ever submitted one.
Tributes flow for late minister, Ali Baksh
The late former Minister, Alli Baksh It was a somber occasion yesterday as many gathered at the Baksh residence, Cottonfield, Essequibo Coast, to bid their final farewells to former Junior Minister of Agriculture, Ali Baksh. Baksh passed away Thursday morning at the age of 70, after a relentless battle with cancer. At the funeral, yesterday, were friends, families, former Presidents Donald Ramotar and Bharrat Jagdeo and other political dignitaries of the
People’s Progressive Party. Many described the former Minister as a humble, patriotic and people oriented person-always wearing a smile wherever he went. Baksh started his Political career as a party organizer for the People’s Progressive Party [PPP], in the 1990s, working closely with Dr. Cheddi Jagan. He later served as Regional Chairman for Region Two for over 20 years. Baksh, through his visions as a PPP/C party
Several high-ranking PPP officials were among those gathered at the funeral on the Essequibo coast, yesterday. member, made several changes to the Essequibo Coast. According to former president Bharrat Jagdeo, Baksh was a patriot who fought for ideals and values that were bigger than the PPP/ C. In his speech Jagdeo noted, “Baksh was a part of something bigger, he was a part of something that must
capture all of us, and that is the struggle that Cheddi Jagan started in this country to achieve a few ideals. He was driven to see change, because he saw need for changes, and he saw the consequences of unnecessary policies.” Alli Baksh’s years as Region Two Chairman, were
recollected as years of great productivity. Bharrat Jagdeo recalls, “As I was minister of finance, Alli Baksh would by September complete implementing his Region’s budgets for the year and would move on to request supplementary funds. Most regions on the other hand would only be at 35% in
implementing their budget.” Baksh was quite family oriented. As his four kids recalled during their eulogy, Baksh was a man who enjoyed spending time with his wife and children. His kids noted that as their father drew nearer to death, he urged them to hold on to his legacy and his life’s values.
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
Maduro signs off on gas agreements with T&T Trinidad Guardian - Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, confirmed the signing of the agreement with T&T for the exploitation of “mineral and gas resources in the Caribbean Sea.” “We have ratified the signing and validity of joint exploitation agreements in joint blocks of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela,” he said during his participation in the IV Summit of Gas Exporting Countries (FPEG), which takes place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in Bolivia. The Venezuelan president claimed that the signing of the agreement took place amid the threats that exist against the countries that have energy resources, and despite the political, financial and economic attacks to which he claims Venezuela is being subjected to. “Instead of imposing in-
trigue and confrontation, peace and shared development are imposed,” he said in a Venezuelan state run tv, VTV broadcast. He also invited all international investors to approach Venezuela. “We have achieved important investments that enjoy all the legal and constitutional guarantees,” he stressed. Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino reported Friday that Venezuela was finetuning the details to sign an agreement with T&T to export gas through the border fields. “With Trinidad we have been advancing the agreements to export our gas through the border fields, to use idle capacity and to remain there in Trinidad,” he said during an FPEG seminar. Maduro announced that before 2019, Venezuela could be certified as the fifth larg-
est gas reserve in the world. “Venezuela is moving forward, and I hope that by 2019, we will be completing the process of certification of gas on land and the high seas, which could be the fifth gas reserve on the planet.” At present, the nation has 202 trillion cubic feet of gas and with the certification process it is foreseen to raise the reserves to 460 trillion cubic feet. Pdvsa plans to execute two ambitious gas exploitation projects: the Mariscal Sucre Project, in the Sucre state, in the east of the country and the Rafael Urdaneta Project, on the western coasts. The state company plans to export gas to nations such as El Salvador, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Aruba, Curaçao and Trinidad and Tobago.
Gold Board must improve on... From page 14 Goolsarran noted too that forensic auditors have recommended the use of a single daily rate with which he agrees with. The Chartered Accountant said, “The Gold Board appears very weak in the exercise of its regulatory functions, especially in terms of monitoring compliance with the terms and conditions under which licences are granted to dealers. The forensic audit report listed 11 licensed dealers, some of which are not incorporated under the Guyana Companies Act.” Goolsarran added that unincorporated entities are not obliged to have audited financial statements. He agrees that licences should only be granted to dealers whose businesses are incorporated under the Companies Act. Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, has also noted that the coalition administration believes that the Gold Board should continue to retain its role. The Minister told Kaieteur News, recently, that there is always a suggestion about the role of the Board. He noted that Cabinet however considered this matter and believes that the board should continue purchasing in order to guarantee the supply of foreign exchange while paying more attention to the regulatory functions.
Trotman said, “That is the direction we are going in…The gold board ran up a huge debt during the tenure of the last government and we have been slowly working to bring order and discipline to the board. Our efforts are paying off. “Our new measure of introducing a processing fee has already shown benefits in cost recovery.” The Natural Resources Minister noted that his Ministry will be working closer with dealers in 2018 to have greater cohesion and regulation. IRREGULARITIES A forensic audit report prepared by Ram and McRae Chartered Accountants, details a n u m b e r o f worrying financial irregularities by the Guyana Gold Board. The report says that Section 5 of the Gold Board Act provides t he mechanism for the purchase price and the selling price for gold used by the Gold Board and requires notification in the Gazette. However,
auditors said that there has been non compliance with this requirement since 1983. The forensic auditors noted that the Board consistently failed to monitor compliance with the conditions under which licences are issued to dealers. Furthermore, forensic auditors noted that from 2012 to 2014, the Board made losses totaling $10B. Of this the Board recorded a gross loss of $9B in 2013 compared with a gross loss of $281.4 million in 2012 and $79.6 million in 2014. At May 2015, the Gold Board owed the Ministry of Finance $8B for advances received in September 2012. At the same date, the balance on the Gold Board’s current account with the Bank of Guyana was an overdraft of $8B, making a total of $17B. The auditors said that it does not seem that the Gold Board would be able in the foreseeable future to discharge its obligations to the Ministry of Finance or to liquidate its overdraft with the Bank of Guyana.
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
Ousted Zimbabwe finance minister Chombo faces corruption charges HARARE (Reuters) Former Zimbabwe finance minister Ignatius Chombo, among those detained by the military before Robert Mugabe resigned as president, was charged yesterday with corruption, including trying to defraud the central bank in 2004. The court appearance was the first time Chombo had been seen in public since being detained after the military seized power in “Operation Restore Legacy”, which it said was meant to remove the “criminals” around Mugabe. Chombo, a Mugabe ally who had been promoted to finance minister in October, told the court that he was kept blindfolded for nine days after being arrested at his home on Nov. 15. His lawyer has said he was beaten in detention, although Chombo made no mention of that and had no injuries visible as he stood before magistrates in Harare. Several members of a group allied to Mugabe and his wife Grace were detained and expelled from the ruling party, including Chombo, the ousted head of the influential ZANU-PF youth league
Ignatius Chombo Kudzanai Chipanga and a deposed leader in the party’s youth wing, Innocent Hamandishe. Some supporters of the new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, have been calling for unspecified action against the so-called G40 group that backed Mugabe and his wife. Chombo, Chipanga and Hamandishe were allied to the G40. Before his inauguration, Mnangagwa on Thursday urged citizens not to under-
take any form of “vengeful retribution”. The state prosecutor said Chombo was charged three counts of corruption, including attempting to defraud the Zimbabwean central bank in 2004, when he was local government minister. He was not asked to enter a plea by the state. Chombo showed no emotion while the charges were read. The court ordered Chombo detained until tomorrow when his bail application will be heard.
Pakistan Govt. calls in army after police, Islamists clash
A demostrator detained by police gestures after being hit by a policeman as he is led to a police van yesterday. REUTERS/Caren Firouz ISLAMABAD (Reuters) Pakistan’s government yesterday called on the army to help clear a sit-in by Islamist hard-liners blockading the capital after police clashed with activists and religious protests spread to other cities. Dozens of people were injured in yesterday’s clashes, including many police, according to reports from hospitals. Protesters said four of
their activists had been killed, but police said there had been no deaths. By nightfall, protests spread to other main cities with activists brandishing sticks and attacking cars in some areas. New demonstrators had joined the camp in Faizabad, just outside Islamabad, in a stand-off with police, Private TV stations were
ordered off the air, with only state-run television broadcasting. Activists from Tehreeke-Labaik, a new hard-line Islamist political party, have blockaded the main road into the capital for two weeks, accusing the law minister of blasphemy against Islam and demanding his dismissal and arrest. “We are in our thousands. We will not leave.
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Putin signs ‘foreign agent’ media law Iran’s Rouhani says Sochi summit Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed into law new rules on international media organisations present in Russia being termed “foreign agents”, following US pressure on the Kremlin-backed RT television channel. Already approved by both houses of parliament, the legislation was published on the Russian authorities’ official website and comes into force immediately. The law allows any international media outlet operating in Russia to be classified under the controversial for-
eign agent label by the Ministry of Justice. The law is in retaliation to the United States registering Moscow-controlled RT Television by the same term. The Kremlin’s council for human rights has denounced the bill, saying it was vaguely worded and difficult to reasonably enforce. “Any foreign media could be labelled a foreign agent quite arbitrarily by the justice ministry of the Russian Federation,” the council said in a statement. Highly criticised by Human Rights Watch and Am-
nesty International, US and other foreign media will have to present themselves as foreign agents on all paperwork and submit to intensive scrutiny of staffing and financing. The 2012 law, which had applied only to non-governmental organisations, has now been formally extended. The Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, funded by the US Congress, are the first foreign media to have been warned by Moscow they may need to register under the new classification.
Trump asserts legal power in fight over consumer bureau WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has the power he needs to put his top budget aide in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), federal officials said yesterday, weighing in on a battle for control over the powerful agency. The leadership of the independent regulatory agency was thrown into question on Friday when its out-
going director Richard Cordray, a Democrat, named his deputy as his acting replacement until the U.S. Senate confirms a new director. The CFPB was created by former Democratic President Barack Obama in the wake of the financial crisis and has imposed steep penalties on banks, auto dealers, student lenders and credit card companies for alleged predatory lending practices.
Sacked Catalan leader challenges EU to respect election outcome OOSTKAMP, Belgium (Reuters) - Catalonia’s former leader challenged Spain and the European Union to respect the result of Catalan regional elections in December, saying Madrid would have to end direct rule if separatists win. Speaking from Belgium where he fled earlier this month, Carles Puigdemont said the vote was the most important in Catalonia’s history. “Will you accept the results of December 21 if the pro-independence camp wins? “he asked after supporters chanted “Puigdemont, our president” during a speech to unveil his list of candidates for the vote. “Do you commit to ending (direct rule) if that is the result?” said Puigdemont, the public face of the move for independence who is wanted in Spain for rebellion and sedition. After dissolving Catalonia’s parliament and sacking the regional govern-
ment in response to the region declaring itself independent on Oct. 27, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoysaid a new election would be held in Catalonia and called onPuigdemont to take part. Pro-Catalonia independence parties are expected to win next month although they may fall short of a majority of seats in parliament needed to revive the secession campaign, polls show. “On December 21 we must tell Madrid, the EU and the tripartite support for direct rule that democracy in Catalonia must not be undermined. Never again in Catalonia!” Puigdemont said from the town of Oostkamp near Bruges, part of Belgium’s Flemish region that has its own separatist aspirations. EU leaders are extremely wary of Catalonia’s search for independence because it has stirred separatist feelings far beyond Spanish borders. European Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker this month in Madrid called on Europe to reject what he called separatist poison. A Belgian court has granted Puigdemont conditional release but he is barred from leaving Belgium without a judge’s consent.
‘right step, at right time’ for Syria
LONDON (Reuters) The trilateral meeting between Iran, Russia and Turkey in the Russian resort of Sochi last week was “a right step, at the right time” for stability in Syria, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. Russia’s Vladimir Putin won the backing of Turkey and Iran on Wednesday to host a Syrian peace congress, taking the central role in a major diplomatic push to finally end a civil war all but won by Assad. “Sochi summit … was a right step at the right time,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA yesterday in a phone call with Tehran’s main regional ally. He said a national congress to hold face-to-face talks between government and opposition could be “a step towards stability and security of Syria.” Iran has signed large economic contracts with Syria, reaping what appear to be lucrative rewards for helping Assad in his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants. “Tehran is ready to have an active role in reconstruction of Syria,” Rouhani added. The chief commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who has sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to prop up Assad’s regime, also said on Thursday that their
Hassan Rouhani forces were ready to help rebuild Syria and bring about a lasting “ceasefire” there. Syria’s six-year civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee in the worst refugee crisis since World War Two. In a joint statement in Sochi, the three leaders called on the Syrian government and moderate opposition to “participate constructively” in the planned congress, to be held in the same city on a date they did not specify. Saudi Arabia, Iran’s arch rival in the Middle East, also sponsored a meeting o n We d n e s d a y a t a luxury hotel in Riyadh for the Syrian opposition groups. Regional tensions have risen in recent weeks between Sunni Muslim mon-
archy Saudi Arabia and Shi‘ite Iran. Saudi Crown Prince called the Iranian Supreme L e a d e r Ay a t o l l a h A l i Khamenei “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday. Israel also views Iran as the main threat in the region, and a cabinet minister said this month Israel has had covert contacts with Saudi Arabia. “It is very odd that a regional country considers Iranian nation as its enemy and the Zionist regime as its friend,” Rouhani told Assad in the call. The next round of U.N.backed peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the Syrian civil war will begin Tuesday.
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Minister wants Barbados to function as a 24/7 society BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - CMC – A senior Barbados government minister says he is disappointed that the island has not yet adopted working hours beyond the usual “eight to four operation”. Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development Minister, Donville Inniss, said it is time that Barbados operates as a 24/7 society. “Many of us would wish to visit stores after 5:00 p.m. and also on weekends, rather than take three-hour lunch breaks that affect our own productivity. So, please let us get on with Barbados being a 24/7 society,” he told the official launch of a new store of a regional conglomerate. Inniss said that Barbados must be able to afford customers an enhanced shopping experience. “The state has provided the legislation to give effect to such. You just need now
to make your own internal arrangements and market accordingly. “Those who continue to oppose a 24/7 society invariably have never run a business and have the luxury of long lunch hours. Of course, let me also add that when I say 24/7 society, it must mean being online and doing things in real time,” he added. Noting that there seemed to be a challenge and some reluctance in some quarters, the Minister said he was simply reminding business folks that the enabling environment was there in terms of legislation, and they just needed to grab hold of that and make the arrangements with staff and customers. “Right now as far as I am concerned, there are just too many Barbadians who feel compelled to take two and three-hour lunch breaks in order to go and do business,” he said, noting that his re-
marks were not aimed solely at the private sector. “You go to government departments and the length of time you have to spend to get things done is still unacceptable in some quarters. We have made some strides with technology in some areas, but we still have ways to go to get things done – to get a licence renewed, to get an application form submitted; you are just taking too long because you’re waiting in line for a long time and then it means some other department suffers. “So government, itself, has to go that route of extended opening hours as the private sector does. I am firm in the view that it would lead to increased employment opportunities; it would reduce the unit cost for doing business here in Barbados and however you look at it, it is a win-win situation,” Inniss said.
Govt. mum on incident involving diplomat KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent - CMC – The St. Vincent and the Grenadines government says it will not now comment on media reports in the United States that one of its diplomats had punched his wife, who is also a diplomat in the face at their Brooklyn home on Friday. A government spokesperson told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that members of the Ralph Gonsalves administration were aware of the media report about the alleged incident. But the spokesman said that the government would investigate the matter before commenting. The New York Post reported Friday that Sehon Marshall, 43, a counsellor at the Permanent Mission of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations allegedly punched his 36-year-old wife, Xandra Marshall, in the face; Mrs. Marshall took up a post as Deputy Consul General at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Consulate in New York, a post her husband previously held. Police officers who responded could not arrest Marshall because he has diplomatic immunity. Marshall is no stranger to controversy and apologised in 2014 for an undiplomatic statement he made about St. Vincent and the Grenadines nationals in New York, even as he was in discussions with Kingstown about represent-
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur News
Jamaican Bar Association Wants Process Of Selecting Chief Justice Reviewed The Gleaner - The Jamaican Bar Association (JAMBAR) has cautioned that the search for the nation’s next chief judge should begin with the post being widely advertised. Zaila McCalla, the current chief justice, is due to retire at the end of January next year. However, the president of JAMBAR, Jacqueline Cummings, said that her association has noted that no advertisement inviting candidates to apply for the position has been published. Cummings said that given the fact that the judiciary constitutes one of three arms of government that has an impact on the life of the citizens daily, it is “of paramount importance” that the process of judicial appointments accords with best practices. Such best practices, she indicated, are outlined in the Commonwealth Principles, which stipulate, among other things, that judicial appointments at all levels “should be designed to guarantee the quality and independence of mind of those selected”. Cummings acknowledged that under the Jamaican Constitution, the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister, after consultation with the leader of the
Zaila McCalla opposition, but argued that the Commonwealth Principles can be applied without departing from this provision. “Against that background, the process of appointing a new chief justice should start with advertising the post and receiving as broad a field of candidates as possible. Further, the appointment of any judge, let
alone the chief judge, must be merit-based and consistent with the current demand for transformation of the judicial system,” she argued. Cummings urged Prime Minister Andrew Holness to show his commitment to the hallowed principle of judicial independence, starting with the appointment of McCalla’s successor.
Nurses end sick-out
Sehon and Xandra Marshall ing the ULP administration in New York. Speaking on Cross Country Radio in late August 2014, Marshall said that before the ULP came to office in March 2001, civil servants used to quit their jobs and migrate to the United States and become nannies and dog walkers. The statement outraged Vincentians in New York, who, through remittances contribute significantly to the Vincentian economy. Marshall apologised two weeks later, saying, “at no time […] did I intend to hurt, shame, diminish people’s effort, ridicule people’s effort in my statement, but I think very often I get passionate, and in that particular instance, my passion went too far and I used some words that were unnecessary, were a bit strong, the language was a bit robust…” Mrs. Marshall’s appointment as the her
country’s Deputy Consul General in New York became public last week Sunday when Consul General Howie Prince introduced her to nationals at a town hall meeting in New York that was addressed by Tourism Minister Cecil “Ces” McKie and head of the Tourism Authority, Glen Beache. Prince said he was pleased that Kingstown had seen it fit to augment the staff at the consulate. “Tonight, I am pleased that the government listened to our call for help and have provided us help,” Prince said and introduced Bernadette Ambrose Black as the investment and trade officer, and Mrs. Marshall, as deputy consul general. Mrs. Marshall told the gathering that she felt a “deep sense of humility” at being chosen to represent the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in New York.
Jamaica Observer - The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) yesterday conciliated an agreement between registered public nurses and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, which should guarantee a full resumption of the nursing service, starting Friday night.The agreement is for a restoration of normality, commencing with the 10 o’clock shift Friday night. In the meantime, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service is to indicate in writing to the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), tomorrow, a specific date to continue negoti-
ating a new 2017 - 2019 wage agreement, based on claims submitted by the NAJ. The MLSS had invited the parties to conciliatory talks at its North Street offices in Kingston in response to a sick-out by some registered nurses, represented by the NAJ, in protest against delayed negotiations for the new wage contract. The registered nurses are part of the unionised public sector workers group seeking an increase in salaries as part of a new agreement with the Government to replace the 2015/17 package, which expired on March 31.
Senior police officer develops new initiative to lessen violence KINGSTON, Jamaica - CMC – A violence interruption and prevention initiative geared at promoting kindness to combat destructive thoughts, words and actions has been developed in Jamaica. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Novelette Grant, who is behind the initiative, dubbed the Acts of Random Kindness (ARK), said that that an increasing number of people need to be aware of the “power of words, of the power they have to be transformative in other people’s lives. “We know that there are lots of acts of random kindness that happen daily, but those are buried. They are like treasures buried, but we pull the rubbish and the worst of us, and we highlight and propagate it, especially on
social media. We really want people to be more conscious of the kindness they engage in. Brag about doing kindness,” she urged. The project builds on the Youth Empowerment and Mentorship (YEM) Programme, which has among its core values, kindness. The YEM Programme, which encouraged positive attitudinal changes among participating students, was also developed by Grant, who told the Jamaica information Service (JIS) that doing acts of kindness can be useful, especially in preventing persons from doing harm to themselves. Statistics provided by the senior police officer indicate that “in the last five years (there) have been 26 young children who have committed suicide.
Kaieteur News
Sunday November 19, 2017
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Mayor’s Cup Football 2017 Edition
Which two teams will continue G/town vs. Linden rivalry?
Tyrone Khan
-answer today at MSC Which one of the Georgetown teams will face either Winners Connection or Milerock will be answered today when the semi-finals of the Mayor’s Cup Football 2017 Edition kicks off, at the Mackenzie Sports Club in Linden.
In the opening encounter, the in-form Police led by former national player Dwain Jacobs collide with Soesdyke from 19:00hrs, while the feature clash pits Winners Connection against Milerock in what is anticipated to be a bruising
Tyrell Khan engagement. The outcome of these two games sets up a highly anticipated final with the historical Linden / Georgetown rivalry being the incentive for a large turnout on Thursday, at the same venue. Police has been the most prolific team in competitions this year,
Sunday November 26, 2017 Aries: Mar 21 - Apr 19 Expect to get some fabulous news today. You'll finally get your due. It may be a promotion, raise, challenging new project, or some combination of these.
Libra: Sep 23 - Oct 22 Keep your wits about you today. You could be privy to some important information. You might get a good investment lead or a hot tip on the stock market.
Taurus: Apr 20 - May 20 It's time to brush up on your computer skills. Technology is here to stay, so you might as well embrace it rather than resist.
Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21 As you get older you'll find that they become even more so. Today you may enlarge your circle of friends by one or many.
Gemini: May 21 - Jun 20 Vi s i t o r s w i l l s t o p b y unexpectedly, houseguests will move in or out, or workmen will swarm the place doing repairs.
Sagit: Nov 22 - Dec 21 You're feeling conflicting emotions today. It's possible that you enjoy your activities but feel that you aren't good enough to stick with one in particular.
Cancer: Jun 21 - Jul 22 Today you may receive some interesting news. It could come in the form of a call or email and will be from someone close to you. Leo: Jul 23 - Aug 22 Some good news on the financial front could open a world of possibilities today. Perhaps you'll decide to spend some money sprucing up your home. Virgo: Aug 23 - Sep 22 This is bound to be an exciting day. Certainly it will be busy. You're in the mood to do something different, as your sense of adventure is heightened.
Capri: Dec 22 - Jan 19 No matter how esoteric or strange, give yourself the luxury of following an interest that could turn into a passion. Aquar.: Jan 20 - Feb 18 Answer your phone and open all mail today, because money may come your way from an unexpected source. Pisces: Feb 19 - Mar 20 While you're ready for a change, don't jump at the first opportunity that comes along. What you're being offered is a long-term commitment, if not a lifelong one.
Quincy Holder making the final or semifinals on numerous occasions and their rich vein of form and confidence combined with the quality of players in their line-up make them clear favourite to p r o c e e d t o t h e championship. Apart from Jacobs, players the likes of Quincy Holder, Kester Dundas, L e s c h a r l e s C r i t c h l o w, Steffon Ramsay, Dwayne Wilson and the in-form Darrius Frank between the uprights are all proven match winners. Soesdyke’s chances of winning will rest on the shoulders of the skilful Tyrone Khan, the only player with a hat-trick in the competition. Players such as Colin McLean, Tyrell Khan, Alvin Batson, Colin Holder and Kelson Benson form the supporting cast and they will need to put together strong performances to guarantee a place in the final. What more could be said of the feature encounter between the two Linden heavyweights. Rawle ‘Boney’ Gittens, who will certainly be one of the more experienced players on the pitch will lead Winners Connection bid for a place in the final. His support could come from Marmalique Davidson and Keon Sears, both proven contributors in the goals c o l u m n , w h i l e Tr a k e l Thomas and Derrol Dainty has been a two-man Rock of Gibraltar at the back. Joel McKinnon, Denzil Fordyce, Nellon Walcott and Lorenzo Miller performances are crucial for Milerock’s chances of advancing, while Oswald Benjamin and Akeem Green have the formidable duty to snuff out Winners Connection attack on goal. Over $1million in total prize monies are up for grabs with the winners set to receive $500,000 and the
Ministry of Citizenship trophy, while the runner-up takes home $250,000 and the Busta trophy. The third and fourth placed finishers will walk away with $150,000 and
Rawle Gittens $100,000 along with trophies donated by John Fernandes Ltd and Cummings Electrical respectively. A mouthwatering double header is anticipated.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
Kaieteur Sports Week in Review participants were girls from across Guyana inclusive of Kwakwani, Lethem, East Bank, Georgetown, Bartica, Orealla, Berbice and West Demerara. Trim, captain of U-15 Kwakwani Strikers, was proud of her team's performance and had encouraging words for her peers: “I am grateful that we won today. I think if more females showed up to more ATC games they would be successful.” U-17 MVP, Tiandi Smith, while being thrilled for her nomination, was also proud of her team. She said that, “We knew what we were capable of and we did our best, while having fun.” Outstanding Player Awards went to the Lady Jags' Kendra Thomas and U-15 Fruta Conquerors' Hasha Holder.
Sports Week in Review Today we look back on some of the main local events that made the sports pages of the Kaieteur News. Here are the highlights: GRENADA'S DANIEL COPS OVERALL AND OVER-177 TITLES AT STAGE OF CHAMPIONS 2 The second edition of 'Stage of Champions' bodybuilding competition proved to be a resounding success with athletes from Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Suriname and the host nation thrilling their fans as they flexed their muscles to selected music at Theatre Guild in Kingston, Georgetown. The event, which entailed compulsory poses and individual routines in the respective categories, also includes Men's Physique and Miss Bikini segments. The night's activities saw Damion Daniel of Grenada stealing the spotlight- he first won the Over 177 lbs category and went on to take the Overall title. Despite being pushed somewhat by Suriname's duo of Anthony Nekni, who finished second, and Tohid Melvin (3rd), Daniel managed to prevail. Anthony Rodrigues, sporting decent mass, of Trinidad and Tobago was fourth, while Guyanese Christopher Miller placed fifth. Daniel was in the limelight again when he took to the stage to compete in the Overall segment. He outshone his rivals much to the delight of the fans to add to his prizes. Emmerson Campbell gave Guyanese fans something to cheer about by winning the Men's Physique title ahead of Rafael Kromokanjo of Suriname, Brendon Francis of Trinidad and Tobago, Ridolph Getrovio Costa of Suriname and Guyanese Cdel Crum-E-Wing in that order. Sudarshinck Persaud beat fellow Guyanese Zallim Bacchus and Greyson Forde respectively to win the Bantamweight (U143lbs) segment, while Marlon Bennett copped the Lightweight (U154lbs) division. Eybo Orford finished second and Donald Lindie placed third. The Miss Bikini segment was an all Suriname affair - this event was perhaps one of the most difficult for the judges. Stefini Jjon-A-San triumphed ahead of her rivals, Militia Gulimo, Suelle Sheppherd, Singodjojo Jannelle and Priscella Atmopaniro. The U176 lbs category was taken by Guyanese Nolun Smith winning ahead of his countryman Odel Crum-E-Wing. FORGOTTEN YOUTH FOUNDATION CROWNED CHAMPIONS OF NATIONAL UNDER-16 BOXING C/SHIPS After the last bell was rung in the 2017 edition of the Guyana Boxing Association's (GBA) national under-16 championships held at the Andrew “Six Head” Lewis gym in Albouystown, the Forgotten Youth Boxing gym came out victorious, while the Savannah Boxing Gym's (SBG) performances was quoted as worthy by technical director of the GBA, Terrence Poole. Poole noted that this 16-bout, one-day tournament was a fitting way to close off junior amateur boxing for the year. Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) won 11 of the 16 fights to come out ahead of the other five gyms that participated for the championship trophy.
SURINAME FOR TERRENCE ALLI NATIONAL OPEN AS THOMAS, AMSTERDAM TO RENEW BATTLE
The Multipurpose courts under construction in the compound of the National Gymnasium. Julicia Rodney of Savannah Boxing Gym based in Lethem won the lone female fight. Poole posited during an interview that, “Rodney's victory will allow her to be a role model for not only her boxing peers but active and aspiring female boxers. We need to get more females involved in amateur boxing and this can be a opening.” The technical director further noted that the tournament was a big success and, “I'm sure that two Olympics from now, Guyana will be represented by one of these boxers from this tournament.” PMTC 1 AND PORT MOURANT FEMALES WIN BERBICE VOLLEYBALL ASSOCIATION COMPETITIONS The Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA) interclub tournament Volleyball tournament held at the GuySuCo Apprentice Training School Hostel Compound, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice saw Port Mourant Training Centre (PMTC 1) and Port Mourant Females emerged the respective winners. After a round robin play off in both categories, PMTC 1 and PMTC 2 emerged the top teams in the male grouping. The two then emerged in a play off to decide on the winner in a best in three finals. After three fiercely contested sets where no quarters were given and none asked. It was the PMTC 1 team that came out winners 2-1 after losing the first set at 14 -25. They then clawed their way back to take the following two sets 25-18 & 15-11 after a keen tussle. The female category saw Port Mourant females romping home by defeating the Corriverton Jets 30 - 18. The teams received trophies, while the most valuable Player awards went to Joshua Jagmohan and Candacy Mentore. GREEN MACHINE COMPETING IN MEXICO CITY IN RAN SEVENS Ten men's and sevens women's teams from the Rugby Americas North region including Guyana squared off in Mexico City over this weekend with places at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 up for grabs. A confident Guyana camp is hoping to come out on top after two days of grueling competition in cold conditions. One men's and one women's team will qualify for next year's Rugby World Cup Sevens and the HSBC World Rugby Sevens
Series qualifier in Hong Kong, while places at the Commonwealth Games and Central American and Caribbean Sports Organisation (CACSO) Games are also on the line. Playing at the picturesque, Campo Marte, a military and equestrian venue in the heart of Mexico City, the RAN Sevens features 10 men's teams, split into three pools, and a seven-team, round-robin women's tournament. Six-time men's champions Guyana started as one of the favourites to claim the coveted title and a ticket to San Francisco for RWC Sevens 2018. Dwayne Schroeder is the captain following the absence of regular captain Ryan Gonsalves. STATE-OF-THE-ART MULTI-PURPOSE COURTS TAKING SHAPE The multi-million-dollar multi-purpose courts which are currently being constructed in the compound of the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue are taking shape. Construction of the two courts commenced on October 11 and is said to be more than 50 percent completed. The facility will allow for several disciplines including lawn tennis, futsal, basketball, and volleyball. The second court will facilitate futsal, basketball, and volleyball. It will be accompanied by two bleachers 30ft in length and 6ft in width. Contractors were given three months to complete their task from the date construction commenced. The multipurpose courts will be outfitted with lights to facilitate athletes who are desirous of training at night. Additionally, there will be a designated area created for senior citizens to participate in recreational activities and a WIFI friendly environment. SUCCESSFUL CONCACAF WOMEN'S DAY HELD National U-15 member, Jaladi Trim, and U-17 Tiandi Smith were the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) of their respective categories in the 3rd annual CONCACAF Women's Football Day hosted by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) at the National Training Centre, Leonora. The programme saw The U-15 competition being won by Kwakwani, while Senior Fruta Conquerors won the U-17 edition. The
The Terrence Alli National Open boxing competition is expected to have an international flavor as Suriname is scheduled to send three fighters to participate. The tournament is set for November 28, 29 and 30th at the National Gymnasium and is the Guyana Boxing Association's last statutory event for the year. GBA president Steve Ninvalle explained that he has been in discussion with his Suriname counterpart Remie Burke who has promised to make three of his boxers available. The three overseas athletes will join over 40 from Guyana who will be vying for a place on the national team scheduled to take part in the Caribbean Championship. The regional tournament would be held in St Lucia from December 13-16. According to Ninvalle, a potentially scorching affair is the matchup between Diwani Lampkin, a policeman and Caribbean junior w e lte r w e ig h t g o l d me d a l i s t C o l i n `Superman' Lewis of the Guyana Police Force. The GBA boss also pointed out that there is more unfinished business between Police and GDF in another division. Middleweights Dennis `Menace' Thomas of Police and Desmond Amsterdam will renew their dislike for each other inside the ring, Ninvalle disclosed. The Guyana Defence Force is the reigning National Open Champion Gym. KOBRAS GRAB FINAL QUALIFYING SPOT FOR ROAD TO MECCA IV The 4th edition of Guyana's national basketball club championship, which bounces off on Friday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), saw the line up for the 10-team tournament, which will have over $2million in cash and prizes, being completed. Four clubs within the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association battled for the final spot: Kobras, UG Trojans, Pepsi Sonics and Republic Bank Nets; and Kobras came out on top after easing past nets 61-55 led by a game high 20pts from their skipper Travis Burnett. Head of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation, Nigel Hinds, said the Championship is set to be the biggest in terms of cash incentives with the winners claiming at least $1.2million dollars. Banks DIH through their PowerAde and Coca-Cola brands are the platinum sponsors of this tournament, after pledging $1million in support. Continued on page 75
Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
Nedd 5-wkt haul, Barnwell unbeaten half century hand Georgetown 8-wkt win E’bo beat EBD by eight wickets
Christopher Barnwell Kemol Savory Ashmead Nedd Left arm spinner Ashmead Nedd grabbed Opener Robin Bacchus struck two fours five wickets, while Christopher Barnwell before he nicked medium pacer Dambuka struck an unbeaten half century to guide Ngqondo (1-18) behind to depart for 15, while Georgetown to an eight-wicket victory over Hemraj (1-19) had Raymond Perez (05) lbw East Coast Demerara (ECD) when the Guyana as Georgetown were restricted to 22-2 in Cricket Board/Cricket Guyana Inc Jaguars reply. However, Leon Johnson and Barnwell 50-over franchise league continued yesterday. consolidated in an unbroken third wicket Nedd finished with 5-14 from nine overs stand of 102 to give their team victory. The as ECD were dismissed for 120 in 42.5 overs duo rotated the strike nicely and was quick to after they were inserted on a moist pitch at dispatch the wayward balls as Georgetown Enterprise. Pacer Paul Wintz (1-8) trapped finished on 124-2 in 31.3 overs. Barnwell Rajendra Chandrika (02) lbw, while Barnwell slammed eight fours in a top score of 57 off 66 (1-13) sent back Brian Sattaur (00) in similar balls, while Johnson made 37 off 77 balls with fashion to reduce ECD to 5-2. Vishwanauth one four and a six. Ramlakhan and Chanderpaul Hemraj At the Imam Bacchus ground, Essequibo attempted to repair the early damage with a beat East Bank Demerara (EBD) by eight third wicket stand of 37, but medium pacer wickets. East Bank won the toss and decided Derwin Christian struck in quick succession- to bat but could only muster 104 all out off he first removed Ramlakhan for 14 and had 45.2 overs. Ronaldo Alimohamed made 37 Bhaskar Yadram (05) caught behind, leaving and Sachin Singh 18. Bowling for Essequibo ECD in trouble at 52-4. Ricardo Adams grabbed 3 for 17, Anthony Hemraj struck two fours in a top score of Adams 3 for 17 and Akini Adams 2 for 13. 27, but after he was removed by Robin Essequibo in reply, reached 105 for 2 off Bacchus, only Kamesh Yadram (15), Ameer 26.4 overs. Kemol Savory smashed 64, while Khan (18) and Steve Ramdass (12*) reached Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 20 not out and double figures as Christian provided support Kevin Boodie 15. Trevor France and Bernard to Need with 2-30. Bailey took one wicket each. Continued on page 75 JOSEPH AND ALPHONSO REIGN IN LUCOZADE HANDICAP SQUASH TOURNEY When the curtains came down on the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) Ansa Mcal Lucozade Handicap Squash Tournament at the Georgetown Club courts, Nyron Joseph and Michael Alphonso were crowned champions in their respective categories, but both had to work extremely hard to achieve their victories. The respective winners turned out to be: Open category Nyron Joseph - Winner Jonathan Antczak - Second Daniel Islam - Third Theron Mohabeer - Fourth Category A Michael Alphonso - Winner Abosaide Cadogan - Second Kirsten Gomes - Third Gianni Carpenter - Fourth Open category plate Adam Alves - Winner Nicholas Narain - Second Dougals De Groot - Third Category A plate Mohryan Baksh - Winner James Mekdeci - Second
Zachary Persaud - Third BOXING DAY BOXING IS BACK WITH “SONS OF CHAMPIONS” AMATEUR CARD For almost a decade, 'Boxing Day' in Guyana has been void of a Boxing Day card. This year, that will change with the staging of an amateur event on December 26 with potential international flavour dubbed 'Sons of Champions'. The event starts at 19:00hrs at the National Gymnasium and will be a collaborative effort involving CEO of Brisso Promotions, Seon Bristol, and the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA). President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle, explained the reason for the name of the card as simply because, “There will be many sons of former national champions participating.” Alex Murray, the son of Andrew Murray is one of the pugilists that will be fighting on the card. Ninvalle said, “I think we owe it to the people and we owe it to the boxers, of course it's a part and parcel of us showcasing them and giving them much needed competition and it is our intention for it to have some international flavour. We are speaking with St Lucia, Suriname and Jamaica.”
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GFF Elite League, Match day 2
East Coast Boys win in Linden Experienced Elite League Clubs, Buxton United FC and Victoria Kings FC, dominated their first-time counterparts, Ann’s Grove United FC and Milerock FC respectively, in the second round of double-header matches held last Friday at Mackenzie Sports Club Ground (MSC), Linden. Buxton United FC defeated Ann’s Grove United FC 1 – 0 in the first match that kicked off at 16:30hrs, while Victoria Kings FC defeated Milerock FC 2 -1 in the second game which got underway at 19:30hrs. Keen rivalry ensued at MSC in the first match between the two visiting clubs, Ann’s Grove United FC and Buxton United FC. New comers Ann’s Grove did well to keep Buxton at bay but all of this was undone by Dillon Wright in the 69th minute. In an invited comment, Wright said, “We went into the game with a single purpose, to win. Despite the ups and downs I think our reward was exceptional.” The much anticipated fourth match of the tournament and second between the visiting Victoria Kings FC and Linden’s very own Milerock FC ended in disappointment for the “mining town”. Milerock’s Akeem Greene broke the ice in the 11th minute but Aubrey Gibson quickly demonstrated Victoria’s seniority by scoring in the 19th minute. U l t i m a t e l y, i t w a s K e n n e t h Oparametuche who sealed the deal for Victoria in the 47thminute. Oparametuche, while thanking God for their victory, posited, “I’m glad we won this first game, we need the
Kenneth Oparaemetuche Victoria Kings FC - Deciding Goal Scorer points. We worked hard for this.” Similarly, Victoria Kings’ Coach, Winston Williams Pompey, while stressing how hard his team worked, said: “We were playing an attacking 4-3-2 system. Our players are still coming into shape and learning the formation. We didn’t get it right the last time but they came through and got it right tonight.” Matches 5 and 6 of the Elite League will be at #5 Ground, Berbice today, November 26th and will feature Den Amstel FC vs. Cougars FC at 18:00hrs and Guyana Defence Force FC vs New Amsterdam United FC match will kick off at 20:00hrs. Entry fee for all Elite League games is $500.
Caribbean C/Chip team to come from National Open – Ninvalle The upcoming Terrence Alli National Open boxing tournament will see the best local pugilist on show and is a prerequisite for selection to represent Guyana in the Caribbean Championships slated for St Lucia in December. The tournament which punches off on Tuesday at the National Gymnasium is expected to give the national selectors the ideal forum for judging abilities and a National team will go into camp soon after, Guyana Boxing Association President Steve Ninvalle has disclosed. The Terrence Alli National Open runs for three days and concludes on Thursday. “Guyana was crowned champions of both Caribbean Development tournaments since
its birth here in 2015. We are aiming to do the same now that the tournament has been renamed the Caribbean Championships,” Ninvalle said. “We have registered to send a team of 13 boxers to St Lucia. Last year we sent a team of 11 and returned home with 10 gold medals and one silver. My hope is that this year we can better our gold medal haul,” the GBA president added. The Guyana Defence Force is the reigning National Open champion but is expected to have strong competition from the Republican Gym, Forgotten Youth Foundation and Guyana Police Force. Approximately 14 fights are scheduled for each night of the competition with the first punch set for 7 pm.
Indonesia sink Guyana 2-1 in comeback victory The Golden Jaguars managed to score first in their second consecutive international friendly of the month, this time against Indonesia in their historic match in Asia, but couldn’t hold on to the lead as the host didn’t just equalizer but completed a superb fight back. The thousands of home fans that packed the Patriot Stadium in the city of Bekasi, played a major role as men from the largest archipelago in the world managed to cancel out Shaquille Agard’s opener. Agard who plays the left attacking position and outfits for Durham United FC, a league one team in Canada, broke the deadlock early in the ninth minute of the match with a calm finish. He showed great balance and strength to shrug off a challenge
from a defender within the box before gently slotting home a right-footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right of goal. Indonesia equalized during the first half of the game which began at 07:30hrs local time after Ilija Spasojevic converted a penalty that was awarded to the hosts in the 37th minute of the game with a right-footed strike left of the goal. As both teams pressed for the winner as the match elapsed into the second half, Spasojevic completed a brace after firing home from close range in the 75th minute. The effort winded the Guyanese and the Asians held on during the remaining 15 minutes of normal time to record success in the friendly encounter.
Kaieteur News
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Sunday November 26, 2017
Ambris, Hope plunder Kiwis with hundreds LINCOLN, New Zealand, CMC – Sunil Ambris wasted little time in pressing his claim for a spot in the West Indies Test side with an exhilarating, better than run-a-ball hundred against New Zealand A here yesterday. The right-hander
smashed a stroke-filled 153, while Shai Hope gathered a composed 110 as the Caribbean side amassed 451 for nine on the opening day of the three-day tour match at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Roston Chase chipped in with 49, wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich scored 35, while
captain Jason Holder got 31, to ensure the tourists’ domination in excellent conditions. We s t I n d i e s h a d struggled early on, however, slumping to 45 for three in the morning session before the recovery came. Impressive fast bowler
Shai Hope carves the ball towards cover. (WICB) Lockie Ferguson, who finished with five for 67, removed both openers Kraigg Brathwaite (17) and Kieran Powell (7), before seamer Logan van Beek (260) accounted for Shimron Hetmyer (12). Brathwaite fell half-hour into the session with the score on 28, nicking a defensive prod behind and the left-handed Hetmyer lasted nine balls before he was taken in the cordon by Todd Astle with 45 on the board. Approaching the hour, Powell departed when he was lbw to Ferguson, leaving West Indies with a rebuilding job. Hope, classy and composed, then inspired the Windies fightback, adding 81 for the fourth wicket with Chase and a further 155 for the sixth wicket with
Ambris. All told, the righthanded Hope faced 133 deliveries in 218 minutes and counted 20 fours and a six. Unbeaten on 20 at lunch with West Indies on 108 for three, he reached his halfcentury in the second session, to be 94 not out at tea. He raised three figures soon afterwards off 122 deliveries. Chase, meanwhile, unbeaten on 41 at lunch, perished in the sixth over afterwards – caught at second slip by captain Tom Latham off Ferguson at 126 for four. Jermaine Blackwood followed cheaply for four but Ambris arrived to plunder the hosts’ attack in an innings that required 145 balls, in just under 3-1/4 hours and included 24 fours
and a six. He was not out on 51 at tea and eventually brought up his landmark off a mere 85 balls with 18 fours and a six. On 247 for five at the last interval, West Indies swiftly gathered 204 runs in the final session as Ambris went on a rampage against a tiring attack. The 24-year-old, who struck two hundreds in the recent Windies A series against Sri Lanka A in the Caribbean, displayed his superiority as he put on a further 89 with Dowrich for the seventh wicket and 53 for the eighth with Holder. Scores: WEST INDIES 451 for nine (Sunil Ambris 153, Shai Hope 110, Roston Chase 49, Shane Dowrich 35, Jason Holder 31; Lockie Ferguson 5-67, Logan van Beek 2-60) vs NEW ZEALAND A.
Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
Rugby Americas North Sevens Championship
Green Machine unbeaten to top Group A; Women win one lose 2 Guyana’s Green Machine scrummed their way to two wins in as many matches ending as the top nation in Group A on day one, yesterday, of the annual Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens tournament being played in Mexico City at the Campo Marte athletic grounds. Going into the championship as they #1 seeded nation, the Guyanese looked a well oiled machine in recording wins over the Cayman Islands 26-14 and Barbados, 28-21. The Guyanese which scored first against the Bajans to 7-0 up, had to fight back twice as the fast Bajans took the fight to the #1 side.
Trailing with two minutes to go in the second half (each half being 7 minutes) the Green Machine displayed why they are the best by converting 14 unanswered points to wrap up the win as well as the top place in the group. Guyana will face off with the Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago today as they chase another title. The Guyanese women after going down to Jamaica 9-12 and Trinidad and Tobago 5-12 rebounded in fine style to clip the Dominican Republic 17-12. The seven nations in the female segment of the competition are playing using
Women Jamaica v Guyana Dominican Republic v Guyana Guyana v Trinidad & Tobago Mexico v Dominican Republic Trinidad & Tobago v Bermuda Mexico v French Guiana Jamaica v Bermuda French Guiana v Trinidad & Tobago Jamaica v Mexico Bermuda v Dominican Republic Men - Group A Guyana v Cayman Barbados v Cayman Guyana v Barbados Group B Jamaica v Dominican Republic Bermuda v Dominican Republic Jamaica v Bermuda Group C Mexico v Curacao T&T v British Virgin Islands Mexico v British Virgin Islands T&T v Curacao Mexico v T&T Curacao v British Virgin Islands
12-9 12-17 5-12 17-7 24-0 14-26 34-0 14-24 7-22 0-40 26-14 14-21 28-21 26-0 19-14 35-0 61-0 38-0 66-0 70-0 19-12 7-31
the round-robin format; the nation securing the most wins will come away winner. Trinidad and Tobago were flawless on the day with three wins in as many matches, Mexico recorded two. The Guyanese lasses will play Mexico, Bermuda and French Guiana today and will be seeking to win all three matches. This year’s international competition is a qualifier for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization (CACSO) Games, 2018 Hong Kong Sevens, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 and Commonwealth Games. Following are the full results from yesterday’s matches:
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Men's Pool Positions after Day 1: Pool A Total Points 1 Guyana 6 2 Cayman 4 3 Barbados 2 Pool B 1 Jamaica 6 2 Bermuda 4 3 Dominican Rep. 2 Pool C 1 Mexico 9 2 T&T 7 3 British Virgin Islands 5 4 Curacao 3
Kaieteur News
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Sunday November 26, 2017
GCB 50-Over Franchise League
Tagenarine Chanderpaul all-round performance helps W/Dem to thrilling last over win By Sean Devers Led by a useful all-round performance at Bush Lot by Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who followed up his 4-31 with an unbeaten 56, West Demerara beat West Berbice by one wicket in a thrilling last over victory after the host elected to bat on a slow track in hot conditions. West Demerara fell for 173 in 36 overs with Sherwin McPherson top scoring with 44 from 36 balls with five fours and a six. But only Steffon Adams with an unbeaten 30 with four fours passed 20. Chanderpaul, known more his left-handed batting, captured 4-31 in his new role as off-spinner, while fellow off-spinner Rich Looknauth captured 3-11 for West Demerara who replied with 174-9 to snatch victory from the Jaws of defeat with their last pair at the crease and just two balls to spare in the intriguing contest. Chanderpaul was run out for 56 from 122 balls with just three boundaries as he again struggled to score freely, while Safaz Esau supported with 47 from 73 balls decorated with three fours and two sixes before an
important 48 with four fours and two sixes from 52 balls from Mahendra Dhanpaul batting at number eight, ensured that the team from the West side emerged victorious. When Tevin Imlach (2) was forced to retire hurt after being struck on his foot from West Indies ‘A’team pacer Keon Joseph with just two runs on the board. The few fans in the ground most have been harbouring high hope of a home team win, but Esau and Chanderpaul dashed those hope with a carefully constructed 88-run partnership with Esau dominating the union. The pair batted carefully although Esau hit Joseph for six as their partnership prospered under a clear blue sky before Krishandat Ramoo struck in the 18th over when he had Esau stumped at 90-1. Imlach returned but did not last long as Ramoo had him LBW without addition to the score before West Demerara slumped to 98-6 as they lost six wickets for eight runs. Dhanpaul and Chanderpaul revived the position by taking the score to
Tagenarine Chanderpaul had 4-31 before top scoring with 56 to help West Demerara to a thrilling last over win over West Berbice at Bush Lot yesterday.
168 with a 70-run stand before three wickets tumbled for two runs including Chanderpaul who was run out at 170-9. With the scores tied with three balls to go last man Keshram Seyhobian hit Joseph for three to spark wild celebrations in the West
Demerara camp. Earlier, a very small Saturday turn out watched Raffel Estraido got going with a boundary in the first over off National pacer Romario Shepherd before Looknauth struck when he got rid of Leon Andrews (4) at 24-1.
The 22-year-old Shepherd removed Estraido (12) six runs later and West Demerara were soon in further trouble as they slipped to 38-3 when Kevin Sinclair (2) edged pacer Diquan Murray to the Keeper. Arthley Bailey, who hit three fours in 18, joined McPherson and the pair staged a mini recovery on the rough outfield and added 38 for the fourth wicket before Bailey fell to Akshaya Persaud and when McPherson was caught off the 21-year-old Chanderpaul when four short of a fifty, the home team were in deep trouble at 116-5. More trouble was in store for the Region Five team when Chanderpaul, known more for his left-handed batting, got rid of Guyana player Gudakesh Motie who hit a 23-ball 20 and Ramoo (1) to leave West Berbice on 130-7. Joseph (1) was bowled by Chanderpaul at 144-8. Adams was joined by Steven Harris who threw his bat around and connected with a couple of sixes and a four in his 10-ball 19 and added 29 for the ninth wicket with Adams. But Looknauth,
whose action and bowling have improved tremendously from last year, wrapped up the innings when he bowled Harris and Wasar Hassan for a duck as the last two wickets fell at 173 as Adams ran out of partners. The fourth round has just two games and is scheduled for today from 09:00hrs with We s t B e r b i c e h o s t i n g Georgetown at Bush Lot and three-day Champions Essequibo facing off with East Coast at the beautiful Imam Bacchus ground on the Essequibo Coast. Meanwhile, at Port Mourant Upper Corentyne were dismissed for 141 in 35.3 overs with Rajiv Ivan making 55, Anthony Bramble 28, and David Latchaya 18. Nial Smith had 3- 26, while Royston Crandon (316) and Kassim Khan (2-30) bowled well for Lower Corentyne who reached 1432 from 24 overs. Jonathan Foo hammered an unbeaten 79, while Sharaz Ramcharran supported with 55 not out, as the two shared in an unbroken partnership of 129 to see Lower Corentyne to an eight-wicket win.
Kaieteur News
Sunday November 26, 2017
PAGE 83
Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival
Queens Park Hockey Club take honours on night three Trinidad and Tobago based Queens Park Cricket Club’s (QPCC) Hockey team took the first round of the highly anticipated men’s duel when they met defending champs, Georgetown Pepsi Hikers on Thursday evening in the Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival. The two 2016 finalists did not disappoint the crowd as the high-scoring affair saw many lead changes with the game hanging in the balance until the very end in their 8-7 victory. The Woodpecker Hikers ladies were also in top form as they downed sixtime champs Pizza Hut GCC 4-1 in an impressive performance. And, Queens Park took the lead in the Carib Veteran’s competition by spoiling the unbeaten run
of GCC Vintage to cap off a successful evening for the Trinidadian visitors. Bounty GCC turned an evenly matched game into a comfortable victory by midway through their clash with Old Fort. With the two teams both creating good scoring opportunities and getting to half time at 2-2, GCC scored three more in the second half to Old Fort’s one, giving GCC the 5-3 win. Kareem McKenzie, Peter DeGroot, Orland Semple, Dwayne Scott and Kevin Spencer all got onto the score sheet for GCC, while the Old Fort goals were scored by Jael Gaskin, Jason Clarke and Ascofu Simon. The ladies’ matchup of the evening saw the Woodpecker Hikers cruise to
Road to Mecca IV launched; 10 clubs will bounce for $600,000 top prize The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation’s (GABF) National Club Championships which is dubbed “Road to Mecca IV” was officially launched yesterday at Palm Court. At the small but significant gathering, representatives from the GABF and their respective member associations from Berbice, Linden and Georgetown were present. It was revealed during the launch that a total of 1.5 million dollars will be awarded in cash prizes in this tournament that bounces off on Friday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), the venue that will host all of the matches. A total of 24 games will make the CASH a hive of activity that will last three weeks with the grand finale set for Christmas Eve night. Nine of the ten clubs participating in this premier basketball tournament will try to usurp Bounty Colts who emerged as champions in the 2016 edition, Mecca III. The other nine clubs are
Dyna’s Ravens, Amelia Ward Jets, Half Mile Bulls, Rose Hall Jammers, Victory Valley Royals, Retrieve Raiders, Pacesetters, Plaisance Guardians and for the first time, Kobras. These clubs will be divided into two groups with round robin action that will allow the top two teams from each group to advance. The winning club will pocket $600,000, 2nd place $400,000, 3rd $200,000 with cash prizes for the Most Valuable Player and other novelty awards. It was also mentioned during the launch, which many fans will gladly accept, is the presence of Cheerleaders during each game night with free admission during the round robin stage; from the semifinals onwards, admission will be $500. Head of the GABF, Nigel Hinds, related that the easy admission “Is a great aspect of this tournament since fans will have the opportunity to see the best basketball players in the country free of cost.”
a 4-1 victory over the highly fancied Pizza Hut GCC. Former world top 20 squash player Nicolette Fernandes was first to score as she intercepted goalkeeper Briawna Gordon’s pass into the circle to deflect the ball into the far corner. It took GCC nine minutes to
equalize through a skilful bit of individual play by striker Gabriella Xavier who finished with a powerful shot past the left arm of goalkeeper Latoya Fordyce. GCC seemed to have run out of ideas at this point as Nicole Eastman put the Hikers up 2-1 just before the
half with a counterattacking finish off a Maria Munroe pass. Left back Allana Lewis and Maria Munroe then got into the act with a goal each for the Hikers in the second half, to complete the 4-1 victory. QPCC capped off a productive evening by
defeating the GCC Vintage by 5-3 in the Carib veterans’ competition, while Antonio’s Hickers put in their best performance in the competition by dominating Malvern of Trinidad & Tobago by 8-2. The finals begin tonight from18:00hrs.
t r o Sp Rugby Americas North Sevens Championship
Green Machine unbeaten to top Group A; Women win one lose 2
Claudius Butts in the process of bringing down this Cayman Islands player.
Green Machine in control against the Cayman Islands.
Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival
Queens Park Hockey Club take honours on night three
Old Fort’s Jason Desantos trying to fend off GCC’s Kevin Spencer.
Pizza Hut GCC’s Kerensa Fernandes avoiding the tackle of Hikers Maria Munroe.
Ambris, Hope plunder Kiwis with hundreds Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210