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Kaieteur News
KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210
Editorial
Foreign aid and the donor impact The Guardian of London has been examining the diversion of funding from the United Kingdom to poor countries around the world. Until recently Guyana was one of those countries that benefited from such funding. The Guardian noted that local communities in Nepal have for more than a decade benefited from a British-funded support programme which allowed them to implement their own projects for schools, bridges and other needs in a way combining democratic participation with spending procedures that limited opportunities for corruption. It was a success story for British foreign aid, which surely pointed toward an expansion of the scheme. Instead the programmes have been cut by more than half, because the Nepalese central government wanted to take over the work, which will now be both more distant from those it is supposed to serve and more open to the corrupt diversion of funds. This is one of a number of telling examples in a new report on the performance of the Department for International Development (DFID), Britain’s aid agency, according to the Guardian. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) has concentrated in particular on what it sees as DfID’s failure to systematically confront everyday corruption. The bribes for access to education, healthcare, schooling, employment and justice, which strip poor people of their meagre resources, make a hard life even harder. It must be a cause for concern when British taxpayers’ money either makes little difference to this situation or, in some cases, according to ICAI, may even make it worse. Ever since aid to developing countries emerged in its modern form in the 1960s, there has been argument about its effectiveness and controversy over how much of it was being stolen. Those ideologically inclined to doubt its usefulness have seized on evidence that, in the pungent American phrase, much of it “goes down the rathole”, while those committed to the idea of development have tended to overlook the evident problems. It would be absolutely wrong to see this report as some kind of condemnation of DFID, still less to seize on it as a reason to abandon the Cameron government’s ringfencing of the aid budget. The department has had its staffing cut and its energies diverted into obsessive value-for-money exercises. Yet it still scores well on many measures, and its reputation in the aid world is high. This is instead a call for a more coherent strategy to combat corruption, making its prevention an integral part of every programme, country by country, rather than an add-on. It suggests a variety of measures to that end. Helping corrupt countries must inevitably involve some loss through corruption, unless we spend so much time protecting the money that we have no time to do the work. People who fly into a rage at the thought of a single penny of British taxpayers’ money ending up in the wrong hands may find that hard to swallow. Demands for total virtue are unrealistic. But aid programmes should be designed not only to prevent corruption and sanction it when it occurs, but to alter people’s perceptions and thereby their behaviour. The aim should be to make both those who are guilty of corruption and those who suffer from it – not of course wholly exclusive groups – think of it differently. That way lies true development. Guyana has been rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world and try as it might the government is finding it impossible to shed that perception. Indeed there are corrupt individuals in the government who think nothing of reaching out a hand for graft. Observers now believe that most of the western aid to Guyana simply disappeared because the donors responded
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur M@ilbox Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com
Is the Guyana Police Force under pressure to imprison anti-government critics? DEAR EDITOR, I have been reliably informed that the Guyana Police Force is under pressure to pursue and imprison priority antigovernment critics like Glen Lall, Freddie Kissoon, Raphael Trotman and many others. The time has come for Guyanese from all walks of life to arise from our slumber, remove our heads
from the sand in which it has been stuck in for some time and help our country to rise. We need to support good people who want to do good for our country, not by hurting and killing others, but by working together. Why the PPP is hell bent on reclaiming parliamentary majority, even if it means it has to destroy its detractors and critics instead of
to the voices of their people whose taxes were funding the projects in the poor overseas countries. To its credit, Guyana has been able to attract aid from countries other than the traditional donors. China, with perhaps the deepest pockets, is one of the aid donors to Guyana. India is another. Sadly, both countries are not known to be immune from corrupt deals and practices.
focusing its energies and partnering and collaboration is anyone’s guess. What is clear is that the PPP Government is stuck in a 1960s time warp. The world has changed, collaboration and partnering for national development is no longer a choice, it is mandatory. The concept of power distribution has also changed. The State is not the epicenter of power, and the more the PPP administration tries to hold on to this old concept of power, the more violence, murders, fabricated scandals and dastardly acts Guyana will experience. One thing is certain, those in the PPP
Government and party administration are shooting themselves in the foot. The more they use political pressure and death threats, the more they abuse the power and ethics of public offices such as the GRA is the more unlikely tourists and investors will come. This will in turn have devastating effects on the quality of life people experience in Guyana and will also produce even more violence and crime. We need to really see what is happening around us and the persons involved and understand their rationale for provoking this country to instability. Mike Archer
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
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PRESS FOR THE RETURN TO PARLIAMENT AND LET THE PPP FACE ITS INEVITABLE DESTINY THERE DEAR EDITOR, I read former Clerk of the National Assembly Frank Narain’s letter (“Clerk of the National Assembly has acted impartially…” SN - November 1, 2014) and I am disappointed, at best, on the degree to which the writer missed the opportunity to tie his commentary on precedent to the current context of the situation upon which he chose to write. Most fundamentally, Mr. Narain’s intervention curiously ignores any comment on the unprecedented reality of a [post-Independence] government of Guyana with a legislative minority, something that one would think relevant to his historic decision at intervention via public correspondence.
I suppose I am unqualified to speak to the precedent Mr. Narain refers to, particular considering that even he admits that his narrative surrounding said precedent was incomplete within his letter. That said, perhaps the most important part of Mr. Narain’s intervention has to do with the events of 1963: “No-confidence motions in the Speaker and in the Government were submitted. The Speaker requested the Clerk to call the next meeting of the Assembly… The Speaker went ahead, and caused the date proposed by him for the sitting to be announced. It was reported that the Government did not want the sitting and made the Clerk take away the Mace from the Office of the Legislature.”
Shakespeare’s ‘A midsummer Night’s Dream’ in 2012 and in 2013 DEAR EDITOR, With reference to the article ‘Hamlet at the NCC: Civilization still alive in Guyana’, published in Kaieteur News on Sunday 26th October 2014, I would like to bring to your attention one error in the columnist’s critique. Mr Freddie Kissoon, in this article stated that, “Shakespeare hasn’t been done here in decades either at the Theatre Guild or at the NCC.” This is inaccurate. There was an introduction to Shakespeare in Guyana, and it wasn’t ‘many moons ago’ or when the remnants of the ‘civilized class’ in Guyana were younger. In fact, the Theatre Guild of Guyana produced William Shakespeare’s ‘A midsummer Night’s Dream’ on May 4th - 6th 2012, and remounted the production on May 3rd- 6th 2013. A total of fifty (50) persons were involved in these productions. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was staged because the play was one of the set texts for the CSEC English B Examination, and the Theatre
Guild desired to help students have a greater appreciation for Shakespeare by viewing a live performance of the play. Furthermore, in 2012, the second year Communication Studies students of the University of Guyana were required to see the performance and write a review as part of their coursework. The critic Mr Al Creighton wrote a review on the performance which was published in the Guyana Stabroek on May 12th, 2013. The Theatre Guild will be mounting Julius Caesar in 2015; the current Shakespearean play on the CSEC syllabus. The Public is invited. Keon Heywood (Puck)
On Friday afternoon, when the first reports were posted online that the Parliament Mace went missing, that the Speaker had reported it as stolen to the police, and that the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Facebook page of the Parliament of Guyana posted the status: “Please be informed that the Parliamentary Mace has not been stolen as was reported. The Mace was taken to the Clerk’s Office for cleaning, as is customary, and also for a new housing box to be made for it. It will remain in the Clerk’s Office over the weekend and then returned to the Speaker’s Office on Monday, 3rd November, 2014.” I posted a message enquiring whether it was standard practice for the Clerk to remove as important an item as the Mace from the Office of the Speaker without informing the Speaker beforehand – that query was unanswered up to the time this letter was sent off. The former Clerk’s recollection of
the events of 1963 now puts some possible perspective of what might be at play here – a direct instruction from a beleaguered government to deliberately thwart parliamentary procedure. Mr. Narain says that he is not a politician, and neither is Mr. Isaacs – this is the same argument that Ms. Carol Sooba could make and indeed has made and it is a simplistic one that ignores the reality of overt political influence on public servants in every sphere of the public service in Guyana. Mr. Isaacs’ Sooba-esque assertion that the Speaker of the National Assembly should have enquired of him about the missing Mace not only smacks of arrogant subordination, but his excuse for removal of such a critical ceremonial item for cleaning
and the construction of a new holding case’ rings hollow considering that he had months while Parliament was in recess to do so. This is the reality of the situation – over a month after Parliament is supposed to have resumed, the executive government of Guyana, facing an historical no confidence motion, has refused to exercise the prerogative it says to be invested exclusively within it to reconvene Parliament, a position in effect supported by Mr. Isaacs and now Mr. Narain. A little over a week ago, the public was treated to a bit of absurdist political
theatre with the lead parliamentary opposition APNU holding extraparliamentary meetings with the executive under the broad agenda of ‘governance’ with a priority being placed on having the government commit to a date for local government elections, while its chief whip, Amna Ally, accused the government of duplicity in settling upon a date on which parliament would reconvene. Ms. Ally’s counterpart, Gail Teixeira someone whose credibility has increasingly been found wanting – retorted that Ms. Ally was misleading the (Continued on page 6)
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Kaieteur M@ilbox
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur M@ilbox
The road accident involving the Press for the return to... President’s son and my nephew DEAR EDITOR, I received a number of emails from foreign based Guyanese on what I wrote in my column yesterday about the traffic incident involving my nephew (pedestrian) and the son of Donald Ramotar, Alexei. All of then wanted to know about it because they haven’t read about it When the accident occurred, I contacted Denis Chabrol of Demerara Waves. He didn’t carry the item. Stabroek News refused to do so also. Only my Kaieteur News column carried a description of the accident. And Mark Benschop on his web page, Guyana observernews.com What follows is my account. It doesn’t mean that Alexei Ramotar was in the wrong. I believe he was. And should have been charged. This is my opinion and I should be allowed to express it. Here now are all the circumstances of the accident including the subsequent behaviour of the Ramotar family including the President and his wife, the police and Alexei himself. I repeat; this is my take. Mr. Ramotar, seeing that his father the President was involved in publicly defending his soon, should give his side of the story My nephew was on the parapet next to his bridge, when Alexei Ramotar drove his SUV into him on Pike Street in Kitty. This was early afternoon. Despite repeated request to the Kitty station late into the evening, to identify the driver, they refused. I even asked Chris Ram as a lawyer to intervene to get the driver’s name since they refused that
request from Mark Benschop It was a party of Black Clothes policemen who rescued Ramotar from the crowd’s anger that gave us his name. For all the time we spent at the station, I never saw Alexei Ramotar being interviewed by the police. The next day, my nephew, his entire right limb in plaster of Paris, Alexei Ramotar, Mark Benschop and I turned up for measurements In full view of Mark Benschop Alexei Ramotar was rude to the traffic cop, Ms. Webster and noncooperative. This was the second day and after that, my nephew and I never heard anything else about this accident. My nephew spent thirteen months in plaster of Paris and another year on crutches because the leg was badly damaged. Because of his age, the healing process takes longer. He was out of income as a gas station pump attendant for over one year After this, Mark Benschop put the entire episode on his web page and there were angry responses from people who felt it was a grave injustice. Donald Ramotar called Benschop who taped him. In the conversation, Ramotar was recorded as telling Benschop that he, Benschop by posting the comments on his page could endanger his son’s life. In the background, Mrs. Ramotar could be heard denouncing Benschop I can recall Benschop telling Donald Ramotar that Kwame McKoy also endangers his son’s life (Benschop’s) by the nasty things McKoy posts. At that point Ramotar is recorded as saying he doesn’t read
anything McKoy writes because he, Ramotar, believes in moral politics. I would assume Benschop still has that tape. Readers would know that since he made that statement about McKoy, President Ramotar has retained McKoy as his communications assistant. So much for the moral politics of Ramotar Adam Harris promised to intervene with Donald Ramotar for some kind of compensation for my nephew but Ramotar refused. Neither Ramotar nor his son ever spoke to my nephew since the day of the accident Here now is the sordid part. Without informing me, my nephew and his son went to Freedom House to meet with Ramotar on financial assistance. Mr Ramotar ordered the security detail to escort them out of Freedom House. My nephew told me that Ramotar was yelling about Freddie Kissoon and told my nephew he should go to Freddie Kissoon for assistance. Ramotar didn’t know that for the two years my nephew was incapacitated I helped with his income. I don’t have to tell readers how angry I was when my nephew told me he went to see Donald Ramotar. Since that accident Alexi Ramotar became an Office of the President employee earning over half a million dollars on the Government’s e-governance cable project. I met Ms. Webster two years ago and she was apologetic saying God will judge every wrong-doer This then are the dimensions of the event involving the son of Donald Ramotar and my nephew. This event has taught me more of the man Donald Ramotar. It should come as to surprise to the Guyanese people the way he feels about the revelations in the Nandlall tape. For Ramotar, life has no value Frederick Kissoon
From page 5 public, since agreement had been reached with the PPP and APNU in which a date for the reconvening of Parliament would be settled upon subsequent to their extra-parliamentary engagement. As far as I know, there was no response from APNU to this assertion, which implies it was factual. Now, earlier this week, even as Mr. David Granger, leader of the parliamentary oppostion was asserting that his engagement with President Donald Ramotar was “bearing fruit” vis a vis a definitive date for local government elections, going as far as asserting that the government was engaged with GECOM on logistical issues, Ramotar was announcing that it would be foolish of him to set a date for LGEs. It took two days for Mr. Granger to effectively respond to express the obvious, that is, that he was disengaging with the government. In the meanwhile, pressed on their commitment to reconvening Parliament, the executive committed via Dr. Roger Luncheon, to coming to a decision by the end of the week. That week has effectively ended with still no commitment from the government. Before I return to the main thread of my argument, permit me to recount something that I believe epitomizes the mindset of the average PPP supporter at present. On Friday, HGP Nightly News broadcast a man-in-the-street feature on the Nandlall affair. It starts off with a man vehemently denying that it was the Attorney-General who was heard on the now infamous recording. “Nandlall is a gentleman. He would never do something like that,” he shouts, a position he contorts himself in defending until the reporter informs him that the AG admitted to being the
voice on the recording. In less than a minute you had someone who had invested his entire faith in the PPP, when confronted with the reality of its ugliness go through what is known in psychiatry as the five stages of grief: denial that Nandlall was capable of such a thing; anger at what he believes is a conspiracy by Glen Lall against the AG; bargaining in the sense that he wants to believe that it could have been a case of mistaken identity; depression, not verbally expressed but clear in his sudden silence and a visible slump in his shoulders; and finally quiet acceptance with the quiet words, “Nandlall did that? Then I have nothing against it.” This acceptance, this resigned complicity with behavior (corruption, discrimination, oppression, racism, impunity) that one starts out as decrying as reprehensible is the story of the PPP from 1992 to now. The very monster – both real and constructed – that the party has seen itself as struggling against in the PNC, it has both become and surpassed. That is the abstraction with regard to the character of the present government. The reality, something that should have guided any negotiation that APNU sought to engage the PPP in, is that there is nothing that Donald Ramotar has to offer that is truly his to offer. The very people that are part of his negotiation team are creatures of a higher power, his processor, Bharrat Jagdeo. When Kurshid Sattaur allegedly liaised with Anil Nandlall in releasing Kaieteur News’ tax information, it was at the behest of Jagdeo. When Nandlall sought to lure Leonard Gildharie away from Kaieteur News with promise of a place on an ‘elitist’ media team, as captured on the recording, it was pending a review by “BJ”. As I have had reason to assert before, the PPP is afraid and will try anything, including making false overtures. APNU’s power exists not on its own but within a parliamentary framework. Mr. Granger is not leader of the opposition within any
conception of the executive government - not a single person in the cabinet belongs to APNU and hence he has zero influence on its decisions, and if it is that he needed a lesson in that reality, it is when Ramotar summarily and publicly dismissed the very thing he expressed optimism in, a date from the executive for LGEs. I understand, realistically, that devoid of resources, and facing an internal insurrection, Mr. Granger, as leader of the PNC/APNU, might not be enamoured of heading into a general elections, making him susceptible to whatever lifeline the PPP might seem to throw his way. I understand also that there might be a faction within the PPP that has tricked itself into believing that it can retain executive power while working to cleanse the party of the influence of Jagdeo. This is what I’d term the delusion of Mutually Assured Relevance on the part of the PPP and the PNC, particularly in the face on an Alliance For Change that, while not performing at its most optimal, has the least to lose in absolute terms when it comes to an election, particularly one triggered by its no confidence motion. Mr. Granger is an extremely intelligent man, said to be an adept strategist. I humbly offer him the advice of Machiavelli who wrote that, “There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.” The battle to be fought for democracy in this country is against a PPP that has lost all of its democratic credentials, and the battleground is not a small table somewhere in the dark recesses of the Office of the President but within Parliament, in plain sight of the public the political opposition was elected to represent. And there is no postponing that battle - it has to be fought now because every single day that it is avoided, the country continues to bleed profusely, hemorrhaging resources, people and most importantly hope. The parliamentary opposition needs to press for the return to Parliament and let the PPP face its inevitable destiny there. Ruel Johnson
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Shortages, inflation threaten Venezuela Christmas CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela is stepping up efforts to combat shortages and rising prices so families can have a merry Christmas complete with 12cent sacks of sugar and 50cent chickens. President Nicolas Maduro announced weekend Friday that he is deploying hundreds of inspectors to enforce the government’s price regulations, which set the cost of everything from milk to toothbrushes artificially low. “Today we deploy, and in November and December you will see that we have guaranteed a happy Christmas for the people,” he said during televised remarks. The move is part of expanded effort to combat chronic shortages, smuggling, and runaway inflation that are putting great stress on consumers in the socialist Latin American country. The new initiatives come as
Maduro’s approval ratings have plunged into the low 30 percent range, and his party prepares for congressional elections next year. Maduro recently announced that his administration had taken over warehouses where “bourgeois criminals” were hoarding food and medical supplies. He also increased the maximum prison sentence for smugglers to 14 years. Officials say the state has arrested more than 1,000 smugglers since Venezuela began closing its border with Colombia each night. The administration blames shortages on blackmarket vendors who buy groceries at governmentregulated prices and illegally resell them for high profits and on an “economic war” it says is being waged by hostile, speculating companies. Critics say the problems are the result of excessive government intervention in the economy
and smuggling that is tacitly endorsed by security forces. The new inspection team will be responsible for verifying that prices remain below government-issued caps at supermarkets as well as at stores selling shoes, toys, appliances and hardware, among other goods. Maduro promised to be “relentless” in tracking down and punishing violators. Caracas Chamber of Commerce head Victor Maldonado said the inspections will do little to right the distortions in the oil country’s economy and ensure happy holidays. “There is a huge crisis of confidence in Venezuela,” he said. The commercial sector “doesn’t trust the government’s economic policies or its ability to resolve problems. Experience tells us that with measures like these, you’re left with empty shelves, little to no supplies, and closed businesses.”
People wait in line to enter a small market to try to buy hard to find items in downtown Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos
Burkina Faso opposition parties, African Union reject army takeover (Reuters) - Burkina Faso’s opposition parties and the African Union rejected the army’s seizure of power in the West African country on yesterday after the resignation of President Blaise Compaore, setting the stage for fresh protests. The military top brass named Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida, deputy commander of the elite presidential guard, as head of state yesterday. A power struggle within the armed forces was resolved by sidelining the chief of staff. Zida, who has operational control over the army’s best trained and equipped unit, had declared himself interim president in an early morning radio address, overruling military chief General Honore Traore’s claim to lead a transitional government following Compaore’s departure.
One of Africa’s long-serving rulers, Compaore stepped down on Friday after two days of mass demonstrations against his attempts to change the constitution to extend his 27 years in power. At least three people were killed after protesters stormed the parliament building and set it on fire. On the dusty streets of Ouagadougou, the capital, protesters voiced anger that they had driven out Compaore - who seized power in a 1987 military coup - only to have another soldier imposed on them. “The victory of the popular uprising and consequently the management of the transition - belongs to the people and should not in any way be confiscated by the army,” a coalition of opposition parties and civil society groups said in a statement after talks yesterday.
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Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Death threats against Knews by Minister Anil Nandlall
Commissioner General of GRA, Khurshid Sattaur INTRODUCTION In recent weeks, the Kaieteur News has been receiving a number of threats, a direct result of an orchestrated plan designed to shut down the newspaper. There were emails that actually spoke of the plot against Kaieteur News and its Publisher. This plot also includes the gunning down of Kaieteur News Owner/ Publisher Glenn Lall, and staff members. The plot became even more shockingly glaring when Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, told a senior Kaieteur News reporter, Leonard Gildarie, during a telephone call that people with weapons would attack the offices of the newspaper. That telephone call was recorded. This publication had reported on questionable duty free concessions granted by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to a Chinese Logging Company, Bai Shan Lin, and others when the authorities turned their attention to Kaieteur News and its principals. The GRA eventually instituted charges against the Publisher, his wife and two remigrants. That matter is before the courts. Below is a chronological recap of the reports in recent days which have since led to the launch of a police investigation. MEN INANIL NANDLALL’S VEHICLE TERRORIZE KAIETEUR NEWS STAFF At the end of July, this newspaper reported that the approach of a black Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and the slow lowering of the dark tinted windows sent some staff members of Kaieteur News taking cover behind parked cars. That incident immediately brought back memories of two horrific attacks on Kaieteur News in the past—the firebombing of the printing press at Eccles in 2002 and the killing of five Kaieteur News
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall
Kamal Mangal
Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall
pressmen in 2006. The black SUV turned out to be the vehicle used by Mr. Anil Nandlall. When the vehicle neared the newspaper office both the left front and rear windows were lowered. The people saw hands going up and did not wait to see the result. One man was certain that he saw a gun in one of the hands. Two minutes later the vehicle returned and the procedure was repeated. This time the vehicle stopped. The closed circuit television cameras revealed that the men appeared to be photographing the building and the vehicles parked outside. A video of the incident was posted on the Kaieteur News website. Nandlall responded that the vehicle while assigned to him was not being used by him at the time as he was in Berbice. He later said during the recorded conversation with the Kaieteur News reporter that the tempo against Kaieteur News changed after the surveillance. LAWSUIT A few days later Nandlall
filed a lawsuit, claiming in excess of $30M for alleged libel. The writ named Editorin-Chief, Adam Harris and Publisher, Glenn Lall, as the Defendants. The Minister said that the words in the article meant that he was engaged in criminal acts and is a terrorist. Kaieteur News continued, however, to focus its attention on duty free concessions and the remigrant scheme. It was later discovered that a relative of Nandlall imported a Mercedes Benz SUV through the remigrant scheme. Kaieteur News found that the uncle, Kamal Mangal, had breached the conditions of the scheme. Nandlall’s relative subsequently moved to the court and secured an interim injunction against Kaieteur News, before Justice Diana Insanally. Lall has since indicated that this publication will be contesting the injunction granted as well as the lawsuit filed, saying that “no one should be prevented from publishing the truth”. DEATH THREATS Things took a dramatic twist subsequent to the court
challenge by Nandlall’s uncle. Nandlall was heard talking about gunmen invading Kaieteur News and shooting up the place. An audio disc of Nandlall’s comments and a complete statement were handed over to Deputy Police Commissioner, Balram Persaud, and to Assistant Police Commissioner David Ramnarine. POLICE DILLY DALLYING Following the report to the Police Station, the authorities seem hell bent on persecuting this publication over the source of the recording as against investigating the contents of the audio recording, which has since been handed over to several Embassies and members of the diplomatic corps. The political opposition and the legal fraternity have all issued calls to the administration to have Nandlall immediately removed from his privileged position. The Guyana Bar Association and the Guyana Women Lawyers Association, in a joint statement, said “Even in Continued on page 11
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Dem boys seh...
Guyana got nuff Chat-3 De phone call that got Anil quiet nearly mek he commit suicide. De man wish that he nevah seh some things. Is like a man who wish that he never been to bed wid some woman. De man who resemble de devil was de mastermind of nuff plot, including couple plot in de cemetery that he give to Barbie. He plot de situation wid Anil and Anil fall in, he run way to Japan. Dem boys hear how Anil been wid he at de airport, because fuh some reason Anil believe that only de man who look like de devil can mek he de next presidential candidate suh he gun do anything fuh please that man. Dem boys hear that Anil been at de airport when de man who look like de devil was flying to Japan de other day. Wid tears in he eyes and water in he shoes Anil hug up de devil and buss a Ben E King tune, ‘Darling, Darling Stand by Me. Oh Please! Stand by me.’ When he done that one he sing, “Please stay, don’t go.” De man who look like de devil watch Anil full in he eye and call Donald and he buss de tune, “Stand by your man.” Donald get vex and tell de devil that he, Donald, can’t stand fuh no man. Then he buss de tune “I walk away from love once more.” Anil was me blue eye boy until de devil tun him into a green eye monster. Because of that same monster lawyer Boston and Stoby been in front of Judge Harnanan a few days ago. Dem boys hear Stoby mek a point like a bad man. Right away Boston Jump up and tell Stoby that “Not because you is a senior counsel that you can bully me and this court. I want yu fuh know that I am a Chat-3.” De whole court was in uproar. De judge had to lef de bench and dem boys think he had to change he pants because he laugh till he probably pee. Dem boys seh that Guyana suddenly got nuff Chat3, Chat-3 in all form, shape and description. A man walk in from de road and seh that Adam is Chat-3, too, but he is a black Chat-3. Talk half watch how Anil suffering.
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Sunday November 02, 2014
House to meet within two weeks - Pres Ramotar instructs Almost a month after the National Assembly officially came out of its three month recess; the President has finally passed instructions for steps to be taken to convene a sitting. Through a missive released by the Office of the President yesterday afternoon, President Donald Ramotar has directed that steps be taken to convene a sitting within the next 14 days. The press release stated that his decision comes after he was apprised of the Leader of the Opposition David Granger’s recent statements as reported in the media with regard to talks with him; specifically on Local Government Elections and matters directly linked to it. Granger, who is also the Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), had
said recently that all talks are off the table between him and the President as he now sees it as “pointless.” Granger’s comments were in response to the utterances of the President to the effect that he will definitely not be calling Local Government Elections anytime soon. Yesterday, the Office of the President said that since there are to be no more talks between the Head of State and the Opposition Leader there is no longer any benefit to the country for any further delays in convening a sitting of the National Assembly. The statement continued that “The Government reiterates its position that the convening of a sitting of the National Assembly must be done in accordance with the Standing Orders and long cherished parliamentary practices. The Government has a number of pending legislative matters before the House prior to the annual recess. Further, there are important financial papers relating to the development of
the country and growth of the economy that need to be urgently addressed.” Recently, there has been much drama surrounding the delay in the convening of the National Assembly to the extent that there has been a so called “clash of the whips (government chief whip, Gail Teixeira and Opposition Chief Whip, Amna Ally.” The Alliance For Change (AFC) had expressed disappointment that there has been no effort to convene a sitting of the National Assembly since the recess period ended on October 10. The AFC said that it strongly believed that the delay in the announcement of a sitting was as a result of the No Confidence Motion that it tabled against the Government. The Motion was submitted to Clerk of the Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs on August 7, last. It was filed by AFC Vice-Chairman and Member of Parliament, Moses Nagamootoo and seconded by AFC Member of Parliament, Cathy Hughes. Speaker of the House, Raphael Trotman, has since pronounced that it met the criteria for Motions. The Motion, once passed, will result in the resignation of President Ramotar and his entire Cabinet. The President will be forced to call General Elections within three months. In a letter to Isaacs dated October 10, Nagamootoo requested that it be placed on the Order Paper as a matter of
President Donald Ramotar
Clerk of the Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs
priority, to take precedence over all other business of the House and for debate at the earliest sitting. Also, there have been many letters to the Editor from citizens expressing frustration over the delay to call a sitting. One prominent citizen, Lincoln Lewis had written that Guyanese should not tolerate these Members of Parliament not showing up to work. The Speaker had last week attempted to bring an end to the delay and had instructed the Clerk of the National Assembly to make preparations to have a sitting next Thursday. But Isaacs refused. Even though Isaacs refused to comment much on the matter, the Speaker had issued a statement saying, “I was formally notified by the Clerk of the National Assembly that after
consideration, my request for the National Assembly to be convened on Thursday, November 6, 2014, cannot be given effect to by him because he is of the view that the Speaker lacks the authority to convene sittings of [the] National Assembly under Standing Order 8 (1) and (2).” But even with all this drama the President had hinted he would have soon issued instructions to have the National Assembly reconvened. This was as he spoke at the National Toshaos Conference last Wednesday. He said that it was not strange, historically, for the first sitting of the National Assembly to be pushed back. He told Amerindian Leaders “we have absolutely no interest in stymieing our Parliament from meeting and
Parliament will meet in the near feature to deal with all the situations that come before it.” In recent times the House has been plagued by drama .Trotman had reason to call the Police on Friday last after going into his office in the Parliament building and not being able to locate the Mace. He said in a statement, “On entering the Speaker’s Office I discovered that the Mace, the symbol of authority of the office of Speaker of the National Assembly, was removed from its usual place without my permission, knowledge or consent. The entire protective case in which the Mace is kept is also missing in its entirety”. According to Trotman, from time immemorial, the Mace is kept in the Speaker’s office and is only removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms for use during sittings or for temporary viewing by guests on tour of the National Assembly. He said he was forced to call in the Police after staff members could not furnish him with a reasonable response. Isaacs then sent out a statement saying that “the Parliamentary Mace has not been stolen as was reported. The Mace was taken to the Clerk’s Office for cleaning, as is customary, and also for a new housing box to be made out of prospect. It will remain in the Clerk’s Office over the weekend and then returned to the Speaker’s Office on Monday, 3rd November, 2014.”
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Man shot in head in failed execution attempt An overseas-based Guyanese survived execution on Friday night, after being shot in the head at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, by a gunman who fled in a car. Patrick Mohan, 46, of Bellevue, West Coast Berbice, and of St Maarten, was leaving the Dabit Young, Chinese Restaurant at Public Road Bush at around 20.15 hrs when a man, reportedly armed with a handgun, shot him to his head before fleeing in a vehicle. Reports are that Mohan and his two nephews had only arrived in the country on Wednesday. From all indications the shooting was a
hit as the gunman was trailing the men and had reportedly also entered the restaurant pretending to be making some orders. However, as Mohan and his companions were leaving, the suspect whipped out a firearm and shot Mohan in the right side of his head. Mohan collapsed and was rushed to the Fort Wellington Hospital before being transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital and finally to the Georgetown Hospital where he is said to be in stable condition. Police recovered a bullet casing from the scene of the attack.
Death threats against...
APNU General Secretary, Joseph Harmon
AFC Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo
From page 9 private conversation, Nandlall’s comments are deeply troubling and inappropriate.” Their candid nature, unbridled by the conventions of public discourse, calls his character and professionalism into question. They categorically denounced the actions of the Minister and said that as leader of the Bar, the Attorney General, mindful of the honour, dignity and integrity of his office, should resign. The Alliance for Change also issued a call for Nandlall’s resignation. The party’s Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo, said that Mr. Nandlall has been caught with his pants down and, sadly, he
has become a discredited Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs. “He should call it a day, before he drags the PPP deeper into the cesspit.” A Partnership for National Unity also issued a call for Nandlall’s resignation. Its General Secretary, Joseph Harmon, said that the recent scandal involving the Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has also served to further erode public respect and trust for the PPP/C regime. The Vienna-based International Press Institute also added its voice in support of Kaieteur News. Over the weekend that body by way of a public statement said “The
International Press Institute (IPI) has expressed deep concern over a recorded phone call in which a person identified as the Attorney General of Guyana appeared to suggest that staff members of the daily Kaieteur News risked deadly reprisal if the paper continued its critical reporting.” “The safety of journalists is an extremely serious matter and we are deeply troubled by the alleged contents of this recording. “Insofar as these comments risk giving the impression that violence is an appropriate response to unfavourable media coverage, such statements have an impact far beyond the individual newspaper in question: they place all of Guyana’s journalists in danger.” The administration, however, has signaled its intention to stand by its Minister. See the full transcript of the audio recording between Anil Nandlall and Leonard Gildarie on pages 12 and 13.
Page 11
Second Mahaicony smash-up victim dies Another person has succumbed following last Friday’s two-vehicle collision at Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara Public Road. Elias Ross, 25, of Zeskendren, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara died yesterday morning. Ross had sustained multiple injuries. Twenty-three year-old Torick McLennon, also of Zeskendren, had died shortly after the car he was driving collided with a truck. Hollin Roberts, 22, and Calvin Mc Lennon, 21, of Farm, Mahaicony, were also in the car. Roberts was admitted to the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital while Calvin McLennon was treated and sent away. Mc Lennon was allegedly driving at a fast rate when the collision occurred.
DEAD: Torick McLennon Eyewitnesses say that his passengers were flung onto the roadway while McLennon was pinned behind the steering wheel. One resident said that there are usually several cows
on the roads, and he had at first assumed that the truck had struck one. “When me rush out and go out, me see one of the fellow deh on the ground trembling up and the driver pin down inside there…He dead on the spot.” This accident comes at a time when the Guyana National Road Safety Council prepares to launch National Road Safety Month 2014. The Council last Thursday disclosed that drunk driving and speeding were the main causes of road accidents in Guyana. Police, in a report last month, noted an increase in road fatalities during the past nine months, with 100 road deaths from 92 accidents, as against 75 fatalities from 72 accidents for the same period in 2013.
The car involved in the accident.
Page 12
Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Conversation between Attorney General and Kaieteur News reporter The following is the audio recording and transcript of the abovementioned conversation. TRANSCRIPT OF A PHONE CONVERSATION BETWEEN GUYANA’S ATTORNEY GENERAL, ANIL NANDLALL AND LEONARD GILDARIE ,SENIOR REPORTER, KAIETEUR NEWS Call made by Nandlall…. Leonard Gildarie (LG): Hello Attorney General (AG): Hey Gildarie LG: hey wha happening AG: is who been by me amm cousin and interview he, you? LG: yes dem sen me dem send me AG: But how you misquote the man suh man LG: How the f**k I misquote the man, we got the man pun record and is not me alone, they had other staff there too AG: Who, who is the other staff, some nice girl dem sen’ LG: Man me can’t give you the name man… oww AG: De man wan f**k de girl man, the man tell me seriously he wan knock de girl LG: How he gun f**k de girl AG: No but still chief (inaudible) de man say he wan knock de ting, you can arrange LG: Man wha happening what alyuh got this thing going so far fuh man, me got me fucking job AG: well glen nah use he…eh LG: Me got me job fuh lose AG: No no me nah quarrel with you but all I am saying half wha he never tell you, de man say he never tell you that he didn’t know that he got to live in Guyana, the man
said he live here but he got fuh travel LG: The man said duh, we got it on record AG: Wha record ?the man say you nah tape nothing yuh nah write nothing LG: The man nah know bout smart phone, of course we does be taping these people there anil AG: Anyhow me ah tell you man say cuz me aint been dey, but me driver been deh LG: No but whatever it is because I had to, of course I had an input I had to do it because dem send me and the other reporter and is not me either remember is the editors dem to, I don’t see why AG: Yeah but who is the girl LG: Me gun tell you a cant tell you on the phone man oh sk**t you wan fuck me up AG: Whaaam glen nah a tap me phone man he nah got dem technology LG: No no man nah do dah, dem got people AG: uh LG: Ah cant do duh but a cant tell you who that is but is one of we staff hey AG: Oh oh some (inaudible) LG: Is a reporter dem woulda send dem wouldn’t a send me alone, you know I don’t do much AG: Eh hey LG: amm AG: Anyhow me nah know..wait no LG: Ammm AG: But hear nuh gildarie you do a story on duh , what is he gotayhing, if me uncle LG: Yea but… AG: Hear nah, if me brother, leh we say, you got brothers LG: Eh hey AG: if you brother murder somebody, wha duh mean you a go jail, me na…leh we assume that me uncle do something wrong I am not responsible.. me aint
understand what the what the theory is, I am trying to figure out what is the end game …what’s the plan LG: Uh huh AG: By publishing ah ah, the AG uncle the AG uncle, if me uncle do something wrong me uncle is liable to face the consequence of it LG: Right Right AG: So me aint understand why why is he putting that LG: (inaudible) me say leh alyuh talk to the man direct and alyuh see wha alyuh can do because this thing cant continue we as staffers get caught up in it because we gotta wuk (inaudible voice in background) AG: Hear nah, reaz is he brother, reaz use to put cocaine in shrimps and prawns and (inaudible voice in background) smuggle it all out (inaudible voice in background) ya’ll aint publish, I got details of how glen threaten fuh back track me know bout all duh budday, me nah wan disclose dem things duh but I could do it if he want fuh go down dah line (inaudible voice in background) LG: Boy me aint know wha fuh tell you boy except that I decide that i.. AG: You know wha Reaz do, you know Reaz full a container of apple and grapes off de fucking wharf …eating and go and put it at Melanie pon the side of the road and hook it up pun a GPL container, ah GPL lantern post and freeze a container of apple and grapes free for nearly three months (inaudible voice in background) you nah know and people a pass up and down pun de road and dem think dat the container just fall off the road and it full with apple and grape LG: But hear hear wha
(inaudible) AG: The president already spoke, not glen but to Bhena, right LG: I just (inaudible) AG: I am telling you boss how every effort has been made, Glen Lall is mad, he run mad LG: (inaudible) Sattaur deh going at a set of newspaper and talking he sk**t whole day he cant continue doing that AG: Yeah but if glen got to understand that we cant, look he never read nothing from Sattaur, he refused, he was asked to, to just behave good for one week, he couldn’t f**king do that LG: No but deh man run to to ting everyday, ah just telling you wha how we seeing him because I cant I cant (inaudible) AG: Now glen go an manufacture a fucking whole story about the man going an get ban from ACCA and all kinda madness LG: Because now every single day it just continuing continuing, Sattaur running till to guyana times he running to Chronicle we deh pun AG: wheh, wheh,anyway wheh you deh now LG: Me just deh at the back, I deh at the back of Kaieteur News AG: Whah you doing deh LG: Ah just come fuh tek dis call heh AG: hello LG: boy me nah wha fuh tell you but alyuh just sort it out because I don’t know how long I gun able (inaudible) AG: So why you don’t come across and come work with we? LG: Wha deh f**k you gun offer me AG: Better than Kaieteur News LG: Man we gun gaff man but alyuh need to stop
(inaudible) AG: Send me a proposal of what you working for and um LG: Ah gun have to discuss it with the wife AG: No discuss it with your wife because the president and I clear on something.. we are building an elitist press team right LG: Yall do something man because I getting lil tired but alyuh stop this fucking thing nah alyuh stop because the country.. AG: no hear nah you know how it gun stop? somebody gun go into Kaieteur, you see everybody nah gat as I told Adam today I said adam everbody don’t joust.. everybody, wait hold on…everybody doesn’t have a newspaper to use as a weapon, I told Adam, I said Adam people got weapons right, is not newspaper they gonna use as a weapon they got weapons and when you continue attack people like that and they have no way of responding they gun just walk with their weapon into that same fucking Saffon street office and wha come suh do and innocent, Peter gun gah pay fuh f**king Paul in deh one day, me ah tell you innocent, me a tell you honestly man to man that will happen soon LG: I don’t know (inaudible) AG: So the quicker you get out of deh, the quicker you get out of deh the better LG: Amm hear hear AG: This thing is ah hear, you cannot use your newspaper like that boss, you get charge, whether you feel, whether you feel you get charged wrongfully or not you can’t use yuh newspaper to drag a set of f**king innocent people in this, if and de people (inaudible) money, you know who is Kamal
Mangal, the man look stupid, one bald head f**king poor man, you know who da man is ? LG: (inaudible) AG: But but alright must find out wha da man own and what he could do with one phone call, alyuh nah know who alyuh a deal with, I had to hold back that man LG: But is why alyuh don’t stop it ya’ll (inaudible) AG: uh hmm LG: (inaudible) AG: Anyhow, the man, the man view is that he is above everybody else that he is above the law and that he own this newspaper and he could buse enrybody comrade no society works like that, none none, there is a simple way of dealing with a situation yuh know, I tell Glen already ..he knows my capacity and I know his,…me nah got to go to court everyday and issue press statement I don’t have to revert to those methods LG: I like how yall (inaudible) AG: There are far more effective methods to which I can resort… right LG: Ammm wha wha wha whats the reason (inaudible) AG: I told, I told Glen I meet with glen I sit and down and talk with him (inaudible) I use some money from the government and Glen mek and issue of it I pay back deh fucking money long before he even mek de issue and he know about it because wha it pay fuh LG: Which issue is dat AG: Remember you were going to publish something (inaudible) about my wife and so on LG: (inaudible) AG: (inaudible) months (Continued on page 13)
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 13
Marriott workers oil dumping...
EPA preliminary report says substance not waste oil The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has noted in its preliminary report that investigations into the alleged waste oil being dumped into the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of the Kingston Seawall by Marriot Hotel workers two weeks ago have proven that the substance was black ‘set retardant’. In a release the EPA said that it has also ordered the Chinese company to immediately desist from dumping, and to clean-up the area (at their own cost), while further investigations are being conducted to verify the nature of the substance and whether it had or may have any impacts on the environment, and to determine any further course of action. A release from the agency stated that the substance which was being dumped illegally by Marriott Hotel workers was being used to
delay the hardening of concrete mixture. In the statement sent by the agency earlier this week, it was noted that “following
reports in the media of Marriott workers dumping drums of waste oil at the seawall, the EPA immediately launched an investigation.”
The preliminary results of the investigation, they said, revealed that the substance being disposed of was not waste oil, but black ‘set
retardant’ used to delay hardening and ensure workability of concrete mixture in construction. They said that “There was no
evidence of any of the disposed substance along the shoreline or a plume in the sea. However, there was evidence of inappropriately disposed garbage and some of the substance spilt in the compound.” The EPA said it has also written to the Director, Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI) informing of the report of alleged dumping of waste oil, the investigations, preliminary findings, and reminding the company of its environmental management obligations under the its current Environmental Authorization. The environmental agency says that AHI is fully cooperating with the Agency while the investigation is on-going. However, local environmental group, Environmental Community Health Organization (ECHO) has expressed concern given the length of time taken to Continued on page 69
Conversation between Attorney General... From page 12 ago not now months ago (inaudible) but I just, I am not worried about what he gun publish, me I am a f**king thoroughbred , I.. I just don’t want him to publish things about me wife that is all I don’t want you understand because she is innocent LG: it goes beyond that (inaudible) AG: Yeah but boss there’s two to tango one man cant tango LG: Yeah but but how, who are we interviewing how do we because (inaudible) AG: I already, I sent a message already and I… Bhena has been in contact with the president, they are very close right but glen is not keeping up his end of the bargain, the things them that Bhena spoke, they work out an arrangement LG: But Anil, but Anil (inaudible) AG: uh huh, uh uh LG: (inaudible) AG: well I Sankar a he man in law (inaudible) all of that LG: (inaudible) but Sattaur started it..(inaudible) AG: Me aint know bout all a dat but I know what I know , wait chief, I am clean, I am clean right.. I never take a dog from any f**king body and what he is doing is to get at me through me family cause he cant find nothing on me I never thief, you understand me nah other
people you know what wha he can (inaudible) thing pun, you understand, I never tek a LG: (inaudible) AG: Gildarie me a wan rich man me tek f**king government and become poor you… understand and glen knows that, me I achieve everything I wuk in life before I tek government, I retire, I retire at age 38 when I became attorney general I don’t have to work LG: tell me so wha you wan me fuh do (inaudible) AG: I think that you should, my first advice to you is that you should move out of there… it is a dangerous f**king place to work, is a dangerous place because that, I am telling you, read between the lines this thing not going to go on for long, people not going to tek this thing just so is a lot of powerful people that this man, wait ,nobody never used to bother with he before right and he used to getaway, get through with all wha he publishing but people get, people get sensitive now, they were chatree coolie rass, you know what is chatree LG: (inaudible) AG: you don’t engage a chatree in f**king war and that is what he has done …when he start fuh publish that I go and spy pun he and all kinda fucking madness .you nah see deh fucking tempo change after that, right.
LG: I AG: me nah Jagdeo and Bobby yuh know and Brassington (inaudible) we come from a higher breed of people, you understand LG: All right let me talk, a gun mek some calls fuh you cause I aint know (inaudible) AG: Anyhow nobody nah gun listen to you man nah worry with da stupidness the thing is that amm they should, we have some things we are doing on this side LG: uh huh AG: and you should think about your, boy me and BJ does talk about you and we believe that you does still f**king leak back information but amm you will have a review LG: Alright must give me a call AG: You should come up with us (inaudible) but you see how (inaudible) but you see this thing go down this road it nah gon end good right, ego, this is share ego happening hey, this man is lynching my family for no reason at all, no reason at all, just because he want to get at me and why he want to get at me because he believe that in can withdraw these charges against him… I can’t…me nah file dese charges boss LG: But why dem went ahead and charge this man knowing that dem nah get nothing AG: Because nobody is
above the law boss, you cant… hear nah man… you cant put youself up as St Peter LG: No but hear I is no lawman but I was looking at the Act and they couldn’t a find a better way Sk**t because (inaudible) AG: No, no that’s not necessary, he got eyewitness, Sattaur tell you he got eyewitness accounts of where the vehicles are parked, the vehicle dem don’t ever park at the people house the people dem don’t even have f**king driver’s licence boss, Sattaur must know that LG: I was looking at some of the reports if the vehicle them are no longer (inaudible) AG: did what what, I didn’t hear you LG: I am no lawyer but if the vehicle (inaudible) am looking at the reports and its not appropriate (inaudible) AG: You know them got some (inaudible) nuances in the law, you know on the face of it I agree with you LG: Right Right!! AG: But when you deeper, when you go deeper into the law you just cant… you see the law, the law looks at substance and not form, you can’t by not transferring your vehicle but giving a man the vehicle fuh use everyday, defeat the whole purpose of the thing, the law is not an ass, you understand LG: (inaudible) AG: The process, the
people them (inaudible) hear we can end this tomorrow and all he gah do is go pay the duty and I could have worked out a reduced duty for him and the story done, anyway don’t give yourself too much liberty and say I talk to you and all kind of thing you know, let them believe that I you know cowering (pause) but eh man who is the girl man tell me who is de girl you a move away from you (inaudible) LG: (inaudible) AG: (inaudible) you cant give a girl name over de phone LG: (inaudible) AG: But who who is it me nah gun do nothing more wha de rass me gun do with the girl I just want know is who because the boy give a description and the girl is nice LG: (inaudible) AG: Nothing wrong with that e nah got nothing wrong with that me just wan know is who me nah got no ulterior motive, hai boss, me nah got no ulterior motive me nah (inaudible)nobody LG:(inaudible) AG: hmmm LG: (inaudible) AG: is Queen’s college people does run this country, you nah realize that (inaudible) AG: Hmm, alright good eh hey Unidentified voice: Hi um this is the guy that spoke to you the other day concerning the story that
you did (inaudible) the guy said that the story would have been in today’s newspaper but we buy the paper and we aint see it LG: That’s ok um I think we doing some investigations (inaudible) Unidentified voice: hmm yea he told me that yesterday LG: (inaudible) I am not sure what happened but I think the report is there in his office Unidentified voice: yea we spoke with him yesterday afternoon and he told me he spoke with Clifton and Clifton was very (inaudible) he didn’t say much LG: I think that’s the nature of it um, a story just doesn’t appear in the paper like that I am sure the editors have their checks and balances so I guess uh uh I can speak to them for you and see (inaudible) but you could give him a call a little later and speak to him Unidentified voice: what is his name because I forgot to ask LG: Nicholas Unidentified Voice: Nicholas, uh what’s his number LG: you got to call through the office 2258492 Unidentified Voice: Ok can I call now LG: no no no he is going to be here till after lunch Unidentified Voice: Oh oh alright sure
Page 14
Kaieteur News
Four Guyanese among eight pirates nabbed in neigbouring Suriname Four Guyanese fishermen are among eight men nabbed in neighbouring Suriname following a report of piracy committed on a fishing boat on October 15, last. The act of piracy reportedly happened at the mouth of the Copenamme River in Suriname. Whilst two of the men have given Suriname addresses, the other two have given addresses in Guyana. The four Guyanese are Roopchand Sarwan, called ‘Vishal’, 26, of the District of Coronie in Suriname; Sewchan Mahadeo, called ‘Youth man’, 21, of Lot 38 Albion, Corentyne, Berbice; Prakash Bharat, 54, of Lot 44 Annandale, East Coast Demerara; and Roy Lalas, 33, also of Coronie. The incident is alleged to have occurred around 20:00 hrs on October 15, at Plaats Waar Gepleegd, at the mouth of the Copename River in Suriname. The eight pirates are alleged to have attacked and robbed a fishing boat of one 60Hp outboard motor engine, one mobile telephone, one wrist watch and a quantity of fish, fish glue and other materials from
Sunday November 02, 2014
KNews senior reporter fearful for life …also questions impartiality of police’s investigation
Prakash Bharat left and Roy Lalas
Roopchand Sarwan, called ‘Vishal’, left, and Sewchan Mahadeo called ‘Youthman’ the boat. The boat, which was part of a fleet fishing in the river at the time, belongs to a Guyanese who is living in
Suriname. The police have since recovered a shot gun and an outboard engine suspected to the stolen engine. Following investigations, the eight men were arrested and taken into custody. They are charged with Piracy and robbery under arms, and are in custody awaiting trial in Suriname as investigations continue into the incident. Top Guyanese sleuths also visited Suriname and are assisting with the investigation.
A mini health check is the first step to donating blood
A senior reporter attached to the Kaieteur News has now expressed concerns over the non existent impartiality of the police to investigate the matter. He has also expressed a fear for his life and that of his family members. Leonard Gildarie, the reporter now at the centre of the increasing reportage following a phone call from the Attorney General, issued a public statement and cautioned that while he was advised by his attorneys not to make any public pronouncements on the matter said “I am not restrained from expressing deep fears for my safety and that of my family.” Gildarie noted too, “I am, also, because of a series of developments, deeply concerned over the (lack of) impartiality of any probe, for a number of reasons.” According to the reporter, he has seen a number of laughable news reports “that I have been on the run from the police”. Gildarie by way of his public statement said that “over the week I have been in contact with police officers, including Mr. Kingston from Brickdam (Police Station).” He went further to say that the said officer “even called me on a phone number that belonged to a family member, strange enough.” According to Gildarie, he told the police rank that a written statement is being prepared. “Much to my surprise, they issued a statement Thursday that I am showing reluctance to make contact…On Friday, I delivered a written statement
to the Police. Again (yesterday) Saturday, I was present with my lawyer…the police had some additional questions…We are in the process of submitting the answers.” He expressed his deepest gratitude to the many persons who would have called and lent support over the past few days. “It has indeed been an extremely challenging period for us…By now, my fellow Guyanese would have learnt of the telephone conversation last Saturday between myself and the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall.” He observed too that “numerous statements have come from the local NGOs and other international bodies expressing condemnation.” Contrary to reports that Gildarie was fired from this publication and was on the run from the Police, the statement issued clearly refutes this claim. In the recorded telephone conversation last Saturday between Gildarie and the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, and now public audio, Nandlall, while hurling a number of obscenities, conceded knowledge of an imminent attack against Kaieteur News, where the innocent could also be cut down as collateral damage. Nandlall also confessed to knowing of several power persons who would have become sensitive to the reportage by this publication and even pointed to a family member whom he had to restrain. In that now infamous recording, Nandlall can be
overheard telling Gildarie to get out of the Saffon Street office, which he described as a “dangerous place”. He hinted at an intended hit on Lall and the establishment. “No, hear nah, you know how it gun stop? Somebody gun go into Kaieteur…You see everybody nah gat, as I told Adam (Harris) today …I said Adam, everybody don’t just…everybody, wait hold on…everybody doesn’t have a newspaper to use as a weapon. I told Adam, I said ‘Adam people got weapons, right? “Is not newspaper they gonna use as a weapon; they got weapons and when you continue attack people like that and they have no way of responding they gun just walk with their weapon into that same f***ing Saffon Street office and wha come suh do, and innocent… Peter gun gah pay fuh f***ing Paul in deh one day. “Me ah tell you innocent, me ah tell you honestly, man to man, that will happen soon. So the quicker you get out of deh the better.” The Government has since come out in defence of Nandlall saying that it was a loose private conversation which was illegally recorded and further manipulated.
Workers attached to the Guyana Sugar Cooperation (GuySuCo) Blairmont Estate, Bath Section have once again taken strike action which is into its third day. The workers walked off the job after one of their colleagues collapsed and died on the job. On Tuesday a sugar worker attached to Blairmont Estate Bath Section died while on duty. The worker, Pearl Love, died in the backdam after he collapsed. He was left lying on the ground for almost one hour. A post mortem examination was conducted later that day at the Fort Wellington Hospital. The cause of death was Massive
Heart Attack. According to the workers, Pearl Love was working when he fell to the ground and shouted for help. They stated that a foreman on site did not render any assistance, but left the worker on the ground for almost one hour to suffer. Almost two hours after the worker collapsed he was taken by his colleagues to the Fort Wellington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Workers who witnessed the fate of their colleague stated that had the foreman assisted Love, the man might have survived. The workers are also contending that
better systems should be put in place for their safety. They stated that the lorry that brought the ill worker from the backdam was not equipped to undertake the task. The dams are bad and they had to place the sick Love to lie on the floor. The workers are also protesting what they say is a foolish system employed by GuySuCo. Workers cannot render assistance to fellow workers without management consent. They also want the foreman removed from the gang and better systems put in place to avoid a recurrence. They are calling for a full investigation into the matter.
Senior reporter, Leonard Gildarie
Sugar worker dies on Duty, colleagues strike
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 15
Govt distributes more than $110 million in cash grant in Linden In excess of $110 million was distributed yesterday when the Ministry of Education continued its $10,000 Cash Grant Distribution in Linden. The distribution, which occurred at 12 locations, saw more than 11, 000 children in this instance being able to benefit. Parents who received the grants on behalf of their children attending public schools flocked to locations including the Bamia Primary, MacKenzie Primary, Amelia’s Ward Primary, Coomacka Primary, Linden Foundation Secondary, Bat Rock Community Centre, New Silver City Secondary, Harmony Secondary and Wismar Hill Secondary Schools. Addressing the crowd of parents at the BayRock Community Center, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, implored parents to keep their children in school and be interested in their lives. She noted too that since every parent wants what is best for their children, what Government has been aiming to ensure is that “they can live a life that is better…, that they have more than you had, not just more things, but a richer, more comfortable life,
foster and maintain better relationships...I am saying to you that more is possible for your children.” Parents applauded the recommendation that should the ‘Because we Care’ $10,000 Cash Grant continue next year, it should be given on the condition that children attend school frequently, perhaps having an average percentage of attendance at school for a given school term. She admonished parents also to use the grant wisely. “Your children’s education should be your first priority,” she added. “Guyana has a reason to be proud of this programme,” Minister Manickchand said, stressing that it is the only country in the Caribbean offering financial support to every child and not children selected based on economic or social conditions. Minister Manickchand also added that the Cash Grant programme is another initiative aimed at giving parents additional support to equip their children for school. Parents have until November 30, 2014 to en-cash their vouchers at any Western Union or Bill Express location. The cash grant initiative was announced by Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh,
Minister of Education with children of the One Mile Primary School at Bay Rock Community Centre during the presentation of the 2014 National Budget. As explained by the Minister of Finance, this programme is meant to provide more support to parents with school aged children and increase the disposable income of parents with school aged children with a view to raising enrollment and attendance rates. This is in fact the first programme of its kind in the Caribbean or anywhere else
in this part of the world where every public school child is entitled to this benefit. “Cognizant of Article 13 of the Constitution of Guyana, which recommends inclusionary democracy and because of the Government’s deep commitment to making decisions based on the desires of the people of Guyana, the Ministry of Education engaged in consultations all across Guyana to hear from Guyana’s parents what
systems they believe would serve them best.” More than 55 public consultations were held where the questions were examined as to whether parents would prefer to be able to receive cash or exchange a voucher for goods in the manner that the uniform voucher programme is currently operated; and if encashing were the preferred option, which service would parents prefer to use to be able to en-cash their vouchers
(choices ranged from the Banks, Mobile Money, Western Union/Bill Express, the Post Office, Money Gram). Almost unanimously parents chose to receive cash as opposed to goods and an overwhelming majority chose to be able to en-cash at Western Union/Bill Express money services. Where, geographically, there is a limitation of financial services different arrangements are in place.
Carbon tablet is not Rat Bait and is dangerous to your health The Pesticides and Toxic Chemical Control Board (PTCCB), under the Ministry of Agriculture, is sending out a strict warning to consumers about the danger of using Aluminum Phosphide, commonly known as ‘carbon tablet’ as a Rodenticide (rat poison). According to Registrar of the Pesticides Board, Tricia David, carbon tablet is a lethal material which releases highly toxic phosphine gas. The product, which is mainly marketed as Phostixin Phospro Weevil CIDE Fumiking Al – Phos, contains Aluminum Phosphide and came into use in the 1950s and is destructive to many storage pests. Phosphine gas is notoriously lethal; it is a fast acting, systematic and corrosive killer. The lethal chemical “denatures” and breaks down a range of enzymes and proteins inside the body, including the ones responsible for moving oxygen through the body and severely damages the heart. In addition it has no specific antidote. Studies of the chemistry of the Aluminum Phosphide have shown that the material is so highly potent, that people who accidentally inhale dust from the pellet or swallow material can produce Phosphine gas internally as
- Pesticides Board
Aluminum Phosphide commonly known as carbon tablet
the compound reacts with moisture in the body or even stomach acids. It is this rather appalling picture that had led to the restriction of the Aluminum Phosphide in Guyana by the PTCCB in 2007. David said that only authorized distributors and consumers should be allowed to purchase and sell carbon tablets since its correct use is to fumigate specific products, which are to be exported. She said that the PTCCB has been involved in a continuous campaign to sensitize the public on the harmful effects of using such a product in their homes. The campaign entails Public
Service Announcements (PSAs) and seizure of the products from the marketplaces. David said that the Board has since confiscated $1.5 million worth of the illegal carbon tablets. The Registrar explained that the Board intends to stop the sale of carbon tablets, while those caught in the act will have their products
confiscated at first. Anyone caught selling the illegal pesticide without authorization more than once will be arrested, placed before the court and can face possible jail time. She said that the Board will be working with the Police as it continues its efforts to stop the illegal sale of the dangerous pesticide. Earlier this week, the PTCCB outlined in an advertisement that as a restricted pesticide, the product should only be used and handled by individuals who are trained and certified by the board to have access and use of the product. The PTCCB warned that Aluminum Phosphide is not rat bait and should never be used as one. According to the Board, the compound is only intended use is as a fumigant for the fumigation of grain and lumber in Guyana. Ever
since the board made this fumigant a restricted pesticide, it has been raising awareness on its correct use and has been urging the general public to desist from purchasing the product for use as rat bait or any other household use. The PTCCB advertisement further outlined that any use of this product by householders or anyone not authorized to do so can result in accidental
poisoning and death. It is a controlled pesticide that should only be handled by professional pest control operator. The Board urges individuals who are making this dangerous product available to the public to desist from such practices since this is a threat to their lives and that of their families. Additionally, such an act is an offence under the Pesticides Act, Number (13) thirteen of 2003 and can result in imprisonment. The general public is therefore advised to (Continued on page 67)
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Kaieteur News
Navin Chandarpal: A true son of the soil has departed our earthly shores Guyana this past week lost a true son of the soil in every respect with the passing of stalwart, Navin Chandarpal, who succumbed in a New York hospital after his battle with Cancer on Tuesday last. The many tributes that have poured in recent days stand as testimony to the character of the man he was. Guyanese in New York who know Navin Chandarpal, friends in Trinidad where he visited frequently and interacted with the large Guyanese community, and myself are saddened by the news of the passing of this remarkable person, said Vishnu Bisram. “Those of us who worked with him during the anti-dictatorial struggle will not forget his role and his contribution to the liberation of Guyana. He was a terrific guy with a broad smile never to hold spite against anyone. “He has made sterling contributions to various fields of endeavour in the nation, including serving as Minister. His contribution to the PPP cannot be measured. “He served the country with dedication and honor. For his hard work and commitment to party and nation, he deserves the highest honors and accolades. It is unfortunate that the country has not formally recognized him for
The Late Navin Chandarpal his work,” Bisram said. He said that only last July at an academic conference in Trinidad did friends inquire about his health. He had hoped to see Navin Chandarpal during his trips to Guyana this year but he was away receiving medical treatment and he was in no condition for visitors when Bisram was there the weekend before Diwali. Friends cannot believe that Navin is no more. Everywhere, they spoke fondly of and reminisced about him. Navin had a professional approach to everything and I remember him fondly visiting his Freedom House office numerous times to acquire political literature during the 1980s thru 1992. “And at times I would also
meet my friend Moses Nagamootoo. What brilliant and articulate minds they were, the latter more intellectually gifted especially in writing and social analyses! “The two were bosom friends who contributed significantly, like other stalwarts including Clem Rohee, Feroze Mohamed, Donald Ramotar, etc., to the growth of the PPP and restoration of democratic rule. “I assessed Navin as a battle hardened freedom fighter, like some of my peers in New York, who gave much of his life to struggle against the dictatorship.” Navin, as he was popularly called in Trinidad, Guyana and in North America, always found time for an exchange and never shied away from a debate defending the PPP, even when critiqued by commentators. He was never one to be angry with people. He was a down-to-earth, grass roots individual. Navin has been a very popular figure in Guyana among PPP supporters. Navin’s passing leaves a void in the PPP that will not be easily filled for few command the kind of respect people had for him. The sympathy of the nation goes out to his widow Indra and two children, and all those who mourn him. May he rest in peace!
Sunday November 02, 2014
Another Bishops’ almuna admitted to the bar
Attorney-at-Law Lauren Dundas (second from left) is flanked by Attorney-atLaw Kim Kyte-John (left), Honourable Madam Justice Roxanne GeorgeWiltshire (right), her mom Salomie Ramotar and Patricia Bacchus, Attorneyat-Law, CEO and Managing Director of Caribbean Container Inc. (far right) Former Bishops’ High School student, Lauren Dundas, is one of the most recent attorneys to be admitted to the local bar. She was admitted on Thursday by Madam Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire, before a courtroom of family members, friends and supporters. Her petition was presented by Attorney-atLaw Kim Kyte-John. Dundas, a past pupil of F.E. Pollard Primary wrote the Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (SSEE) in 2002 and was awarded a place at The Bishops’ High School. She later gained ten passes at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). She continued her Advanced Level (‘A’ Levels) at Bishops’ where she obtained passes in six Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE) subject areas and two passes from the British Examinations Board EDEXCEL examinations. The young attorney was, in the Fifth Form, the recipient
of the Anne Blue Award for Best All Round student. She had also copped the award for the Best Law Student in the Sixth Form level in 2009. Dundas’ scholastic achievements were then boosted by a pass, with distinction, from the University of Guyana’s LLB programme in 2012. On October 5, the young attorney obtained her Legal Education Certificate (LEC) at the Hugh Wooding Law School. The 24-year-old Subryanville, Georgetown resident then moved to complete a stint at the Law School’s Legal Aid Clinic, Criminal Law Specialist Clinic Attachment with Justitia Omnibus Law Chambers in Trinidad, before returning to these shores. She also completed in-service training at Fraser, Housty and Yearwood Law Office in Georgetown. Now that she has been accepted, the young lawyer has said that though she is very proud of her achievement, she recognizes that it is not only her own. Dundas believes that nothing is more fundamental to any achievement or success, than giving thanks to those who helped to make it possible. Speaking to Kaieteur News, Dundas expressed thanks to Ms. Kyte-John, who had taught her during her time at the University of Guyana, for presenting her petition. The 24-year-old
expressed heartfelt gratitude to her parents, Lawrence Dundas and Salomie Ramotar, for their years of dedication and sacrifice. She noted that it was not an easy task, but she had made it through the support of her family, friends, her church and God. God, she said, has always acted in times of need. Also present at the ceremony was CEO and Managing Director of Caribbean Container Incorporated, Patricia Bacchus. Dundas is presently employed as legal officer/ company secretary with the entity. The young lawyer also expressed thanks to Bacchus who lectured her at the University of Guyana. According to her, her former lecturer continues to give her guidance and support on the job. The ambitious young woman etched the words of Bishops’ then Head Teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Isaacs – Walcott in her mind. She said she can recall, from days at Bishops’, Mrs. IsaacsWalcott was in the habit of saying “reward for hard work is more hard work.” These are the words she has promised to live by. Dundas added that she is aware that the work has only now begun, but assured that she would not give in to the “bad practices” but will work to uphold the integrity and high standards of the noble profession.
Sunday November 02, 2014
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Kaieteur News
GOAT BITE THE POLICE? T
he media should not get too excited by the threats being made to prosecute Kaieteur News on charges of intercepting communication. Kaieteur News has nothing to fear in relation to any such charges which may be laid. In 2008, Guyana passed a law known as the Interception of Communication Act. Ironically the purpose of the Interception of Communication Act 2008 is to allow for the lawful interception of communication and to ensure that there is the capacity locally for the interception of communication. In this regard the Act allows for the acquisition of the means by which protected communications may be accessed and placed in an intelligible form. In other words, it allows for lawful wiretapping. Section 3 of the said Act prohibits the interception of a communication during the course of its transmission by means of a communication system. The clear intention here, in my opinion, is to prevent persons from eavesdropping on live communication i.e. listening in while this communication is taking place. There is no evidence that the tape recording that is at the centre of a public controversy in Guyana at the moment was obtained by someone listening in to the conversation. In any event, the said Interception of Communication Act defines “intercept” as referring to the monitoring and recording of transmissions to and from apparatus comprising the system. In other words it implies third party eavesdropping u s i n g t h e v e r y communication system in which the transmission is taking place. This clearly does not seem to be the case in terms of the recording
which is now under police investigation. The same law also defines intercept as interference or tampering with the communication system. I am therefore not worried about any laws being broken by Kaieteur News. In my humble estimation none were broken. What I am more concerned about, and what the media should be more concerned about is the fact that there is now a growing tyranny in Guyana. Unless people begin to realize this, they will not be able to make sense of what is taking place locally. One of the prime targets of tyrants is free speech. The media therefore has to believe that eventually not just Kaieteur News but all independent media houses will fall under the hammer. The media should be more worried about this. There is a sustained assault on free expression in Guyana. The government is just the handmaiden in this matter. Their assaults on the media are because certain vested economic interests are being exposed. As such the government is out to destroy the independent media in Guyana, because the interests of the economic oligarchy are being threatened. Tyrants cannot live with independent thought. I am not surprised at the reaction of the government to this tape controversy. This is the very reaction that one expects from a tyrannical regime. They have stood by their man. Nothing else was expected. Was anyone seriously expecting that the President would have done anything different? I am not at all surprised that the government would question the legality of the recording. This is the best and only defence they can muster. They have no other defence. They have been caught with their pants down
A great life is not about routine but doing something rare! To cherish and not to compare, to forgive not to be blame and to be loving without counting. Laugh at your mistakes but learn from them. Joke over your troubles but gather strength from them, Have fun with your difficulties but overcome them…
and their trophies exposed. No one should also be surprised at the action of the police. They were expected to have a 'hold me loose me' approach to this matter. Nothing that the police have done so far should have surprised anyone in Guyana. The police are not going to interview the person at the centre of the conversation. They are not. Instead, what seems to be happening is that they want to blame Glenn Lall for their own failure to do what is expected of a professional police force,
something that Guyana does not have and never had. They now say they need to interview Glenn Lall. Well when the complaint was filed by the tax chief against Glenn Lall, the police did not call in the tax chief for clarification. In fact, they turned up at Kaieteur News and spoke to Lall. How come they cannot find him now? What happen, goat bite them? I am not surprised at the games that the police are playing. The police are in receipt of a complaint by the
publisher of this newspaper. They have been provided with a statement and with evidence to support the complaint. What more clarification do they need? The complaint is not about interception of communication. It is about a physical threat. There is a recording to support the complaint and there are statements explaining the complaint. The complaint by Lall will go nowhere, because we are dealing with a tyrannical regime who will not concede
to an investigation. There will no criminal charges arising out of the complaint made by the publisher of this newspaper. You will be lucky if anyone outside of Kaieteur News is questioned. This is Guyana where equality before the law is just cliché.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
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Being differently-able is certainly not a limitation - visually impaired girl reveals why By Sharmain Grainger It was Robert M. Hensel who thoughtfully expressed “know me for my abilities, not my disability.” This was in spite of the fact that Hensel was born with spina bifida or spilt spine which simply means that the spinal cord is underdeveloped resulting in tremendous limitations. But because he was determined to overcome the debilitating condition, Hensel strove to prove to the world that “I don’t have a disability, I have a different-ability” when he claimed the Guinness World Record for the longest non-stop ‘wheelie’ in a wheelchair covering a total distance of 6.178 miles. And there are many other differently-able people in the world today who are particularly keen on showcasing their abilities rather than their disabilities. Some of these individuals have had achievements in this regard that are on par, if not better, than the so-called ‘able’ people. One such person is 19-year-old Rosemarie Ramitt. While she was not born with a disability, by the time she reached her teenage years she was classified as differently-able. Though it developed over a period of time, by the time she reached the age of 13, Ramitt was visually impaired, so much so that she was forced to leave the mainstream school. This was particularly difficult, not only for the developing lass, but her family too, as she was even then an excellent performer. But this did not stop Ramitt from becoming one of the few differently-able young people from achieving an academic dream that some might have thought impossible. With immense support she was able to go on to write five subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) May/June examination earlier this year. When the results were
Three issues continue to dominate local existence and this is going to continue for the rest of the year. The three are armed robbery on hapless people, senseless road fatalities and river accidents. In the past week all these things have happened just as I warned and I hasten to say that the coming weeks will see more of the same. ** A wounded animal can be dangerous and more often than not, it is. An issue
unveiled, Ramitt secured Grade Ones in all five subjects she wrote – English A, Office Administration, Principles of Business, Social Studies, Human and Social Biology. Her studies were conducted through the Guyana Society for the Blind, a programme that was implemented through very close collaboration with Ministry of Education. But it was no simple task to learn as a visually impaired person, said Ramitt, as she vividly recalled life before developing her disability. During an interview, she remembered growing up with her parents and siblings in busy Georgetown and attending St Agnes Primary School where she wrote the Common Entrance Examination. However by this time her family decided to move to the East Coast of Demerara, which saw her being allowed to attend Annandale Secondary. And it was while she was in second form that something that was then difficult to explain started to occur. “For some reason I started getting these terrible headaches...I remember getting them for about a week and I just couldn’t take it; even the sun was too much for me and I would cry because of these headaches,” recalled the soft spoken Ramitt. Before long her eyes started to turn red. Nevertheless, she, along with her family members, was convinced that it was merely a passing phase of her life. They however were all especially worried when the next phase turned out to be the deterioration of her vision. “It deteriorated so fast that within a week from not being able to make out faces it went to not being able to see in a book inches from my face,” related Ramitt. It was then that her parents, Regan and Sonia Ramitt, made the informed decision to remove her from
school. Hospital visits were abundant as her mother made efforts to ascertain what could have been the possible reason for the rapid deterioration of her daughter’s vision. Ramitt was eventually diagnosed with Uveitis (characterised by inflammation at the back of the eyes). Although she was told that a cure was available for the condition there was also the caution that 100 per cent vision was not likely to return. After four years of trying and testing all the possible treatments at various hospitals both locally and abroad, Ramitt was still visually impaired. The only visual ability she retained was the awareness of bright lights which did nothing but caused her headaches. “Trying to get my vision back was really a waste of time...four years had gone by and I missed school s o much; I hadn’t done anything with my life and everything was just going b y, ” w e r e s o m e o f t h e
at this time has seriously hurt the style of a leading political figure. At the same time the source of the pain has drawn attention to a serious ill in the society.
The fallout will see a partial mending of fences but there will continue to be a measure of distrust because there were broken promises in the past. ** A fraud is going to be uncovered in the Ministry of Finance. Pensions would be involved because some clever person is going to be accessing pensions intended for retired public servants. This is already going on but the problem is that some of these retired public servants are no more.
Minister Priya Manickchand shares a light moment with Rosemarie Ramitt after presenting her with a trophy for her outstanding performance thoughts that overwhelmed the teenager. There was no way she was going to be accepted into a “normal” school. However, as fate would have it her father would one day happen upon a leaflet detailing the work of the Guyana Society for the Blind. And soon Ramitt, at the age of 16, was being enrolled into the organisation. She was able to find herself again; even completing computer training programmes designed especially for the visually impaired. But adapting to the way of life of the visually impaired was still not easy to come to terms with, said Ramitt as she disclosed that while she never complained about the condition she developed “I did ask God why...It was really hard at first and I didn’t even realise how much it was affecting me until I met Ganesh Singh.” Singh, the coordinator of the CSEC programme at the Guyana Society for the Blind, was the one who was able to impress upon Ramitt that there was much more she could do in order to be a victor and not a victim of her condition. “He would tell me about all the things I should be doing and I would say no way I can do that....and then he told me I hadn’t fully moved on because of the things I wasn’t doing,” Ramitt recalled. It was after about a year at the Society that Singh was able to fully assess Ramitt’s performance and then informed her that she had a good ability to memorise things. In fact he was the one, she remembered, who encouraged her to participate
Rosemarie Ramitt and her mother Sonia in the examination. She recalled that there was a great deal of fanfare at the start of the programme as it was the first of its kind to be introduced. Preparing for the examination was not without its own challenge, but there was much forthcoming support, Ramitt disclosed. “We use to study and study and like the more we study the more we felt we didn’t know. We were like a family...working together the whole time,” said Ramitt of her colleagues at the Society. And according to her, she was especially elated when she got the news of her performance. “When I heard I screamed in disbelief...I was home and Ganesh (Singh) called me and gave me the news...I was not sure that was possible; I knew I would do well, but not so well,” she related as a smile formed on her face. She credits her success to God, her parents, particularly her mother who “stayed up with me to read past examination papers” and of course the folks at the Guyana Society for the Blind. “They really helped me....so I’m not seeing this success as my success, it is for others; to inspire other persons that they too can do whatever they set their minds to, regardless of what challenges they might have.” And since she is convinced that she has a lot to offer, Ramitt has since enrolled at the Cyril Potter College of Education to become a trained teacher. She is currently undertaking the secondary programme, with English as her major and Science as her minor. She already has plans to continue her studies at the University of Guyana. Ramitt was earlier this
week duly honoured among the top performers of the country. In fact she stood alone in a top performing category, that of ‘Outstanding Performance by a Special Needs Candidate’ during an auspicious ceremony on Thursday last at the National Cultural Centre. Her performance was highlighted by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, during a ceremony to honour the top performers. The Minister in lauding the various standouts noted that “I want to specifically recognise Rosemarie Ramitt who, for me, epitomises the Guyanese spirit and who, for me, says when a Government cares and invests in its people what the possibility are.” Minister Manickchand disclosed that the investment was characterised by the implementing of a small (CSEC) class for the visually impaired through the Government’s One Laptop per Family programme. And the outcome was exceptional, as according to the Education Minister within nine short months those who participated were prepared to write the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations. “This is something that has never happened before and this was the largest group of persons with vision impairment to have written exams in the Caribbean, and Rosemarie Ramitt (because of her performance) epitomises the spirit of Guyana and what Guyana is capable of, by getting five Grade Ones,” the Minister proudly announced. The disclosure was one that prompted a bout of resounding applause from the audience witnessing the ceremony.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Misconceptions about the Emergency Room (With Dr Zulfikar Bux, Head of GPHC’s A&E; Asst. Prof. of Emergency Medicine) Emergency rooms have been known to be among the most effective fields of medicine in resource utilization. They are able to tap into all of a hospital’s resources in one place and can do in hours what otherwise would take days if a patient was sent from office to office for testing, specialty expertise and pharmacy. As efficient as emergency rooms are, they do tend to occasionally experience negative publicity Negative
publicity in the emergency setting is an expected part of the practice and can be used constructively to improve the efficiency of function of the system. However, there are instances where the public view of an emergency room is unwarranted and creates unnecessary fear and anxiety in the population. Misconceptions or false statements about emergency rooms and its staff are of no benefit to system in general. It is therefore important that we highlight three common misconceptions about the emergency room in an effort to appease some of the anxiety
created about emergency room care. MYTH:IFYOUWANTTO DIEYOUSHOULDGOTO THEEMERGENCYROOM This is a common utterance by some in society. Patients who come to the emergency room are generally very sick or injured and even terminally ill at times. These patients sometimes wait too late to come or are sometimes neglected and brought at inopportune times to the emergency department. The emergency room staff is tasked with the difficult situation of battling to save most these patients on a daily basis. The reality is we can
never be a hundred percent successful. It is often said that we will fight for a hundred lives and lose one in the process. No one will ever hear of the ninety-nine saved, but we will be chastised for the one that died. Maybe it was a rare human error or it was that patient’s time, the reality is that we are looked at as a failure based on that one patient. MYTH:THEEMERGENCY ROOM WILL FIX ALL OF MY PROBLEMS Everyone is entitled to a courteous visit to the emergency room, just as you are entitled to a courteous visit to a pizza shop. However, if you order half chicken fried rice at a pizza shop, you can’t have it, no matter how upsetting this may be or how much you may want it. A 2012 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that higher patient satisfaction scores are associated with higher health care costs and higher death rates. Patients frequently enter into the emergency department expecting antibiotics for the common cold or a CAT scan of the head. They equate patient satisfaction with “customer satisfaction.” While it’s very trendy to say so, patients are not exactly
Dr Zulfikar Bux customers. Physicians have a fiduciary role to maintain, as most of us know what can kill humans and are ethically and legally bound not to administer it. In many emergency departments, you may be able to demand more tests, but you should know that receiving them may not always be in your best interest. We probably won’t be able to diagnose a skin rash that’s been present for three years, nor can we tell you exactly why your knee hurts if it’s not broken. The emergency room is designed to identify and treat timesensitive conditions. MYTH: I WILL BE SEEN
QUICKER IF I GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM This is not always true. Patients are seen according to their level of urgency and not necessarily by the time of their presentation. A patient that comes in with a heart attack will always be seen before a patient who was waiting two hours with knee pains. There will always be critically sick or injured patients and these patients will always have to be given priority. The reality is, average emergency patient wait times can vary from about two to eight hours depending on the country. That’s a long time, especially if you compare that to other care options like health centres, where the average wait time rarely exceeds two hours. As emergency physicians we see daily what others get to experience maybe once in their life. I have seen lives lost in moments of agony but have also seen life snatched from the jaws of death. Fighting to save a life against the odds with the expectation success is what we do. These constant life-saving acts that do occur are for the medical staff to experience and, out of respect for our patients, it will not be heard in public ears. In Emergency medicine what we do matters, and what matters is what we will always do.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
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== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==
Burkina Faso and the lost revolution in Guyana
On Tuesday evening at a UG symposium with Enrico Woolford and Dennis Chabrol, a student got up and directed his question to me. He said he strongly resents the things that students have to put up with (he mentioned that for the symposium he had to fetch a chair from another section of UG) and would like my advice as to what to do. My instruction was that the students should bring the place down. But I did caution him it has to be mass protest, because if not, he will end up being a solitary figure on the picket line. As the evening progressed more questions followed and a student asked all three panelists why Guyana’s youths were so apathetic. It is not only Guyana’s youths, it is the entire population. Countries we least expect to confront their governments over tyrannical rule are showing the world that terrible governance will not be tolerated. Very few scholars of politics anywhere in the world expected Burkina
Faso to implode and explode. But it did in spectacular ways. Hundreds of thousands of citizens stormed Parliament and burned it down, and moved from street to street targeting people close to the government. It was an outburst of revolutionary spirit nicknamed the African Spring. Most intriguing was the cause of the protest which led to the implementation of a transitional government. Rewind the tape to Thailand and the Ukraine earlier this year. The Prime Minister of Thailand was toppled, not because of some violently brutal act or a nasty display of venality. Mass protest broke out because the demonstrators accused the Prime Minister of allowing her exiled brother to be the real mover and shaker behind her government. In the Ukraine, a bloody uprising caused the President to run away from the country and his government crumbled. The reason was no brutal killing of demonstrators or no sickening act of
democratic denial. The Ukrainian President did not follow through on a trade deal with the European Union. Surprised as you may be about the cause of the violent Ukrainian demonstrations, that was the direct reason for people taking to the streets. In the situation in Burkina Faso, the revolutionary energies took over after citizens found out that Parliament was to meet to change the constitution to allow the President, who was in power for twenty years, to seek another term. Annoyed at his attempt at permanent power, they simply burned down the Parliament and now the president has been ousted replaced by a transitional government. In Thailand, the Ukraine and Burkina Faso, revolutionary uprisings brought down ruling cliques that have not done even a quarter of the things Guyanese have to put up with. There is no question about it, Thailand, the Ukraine and Burkina Faso had better governance than
Guyana by millions of miles. Enrico Woolford, Dennis Chabrol and I gave our respective answers to that student who asked for our explanation on Guyana’s apoplectic young people, but each of us knew that the youth sleep was also symptomatic of a wider problem – the apoplexy of the Guyanese people. Nothing moves the people of Guyana to vent their anger the way it was done in the Arab Spring, Thailand, the Ukraine and now Burkina Faso. And there is so much horrible governance that should move the Guyanese people. The most recent of course was the shooting to death of three unarmed protestors in July 2012 in Linden. A judicial inquiry by Caribbean jurists found the police culpable.
The officer in charge of the police on that day in Linden has since been promoted to the position where he has administrative control over the most populous region in Guyana Georgetown. Only Linden protested the killing. No one protested the promotion of the questionable police officer. We are in the midst of “tapegate.” Those who had read my three columns last week on “tagegate” would know I have refused to name the infamy, “Nandlall” scandal. It is a scandal that reaches into the heart of the hierarchy of state power. Every bit of that conversation raises the hair on your skin. For me the part that is Draculean is when the powerhouse said that when Kaieteur News is attacked
Frederick Kissoon innocent employees may die, but in life Peter pays for Paul. The Thai Prime Minister may have sought her brother’s invisible participation in policy-making. But that was all she did. The Ukrainian President got cold feet and didn’t sign the trade deal. But that was all he did. The President of Burkina Faso asked the Parliament to extend term limits. But that was all he did. All three are gone. In Guyana, the night of the generals will last forever.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Health Ministry gets support to fight Ebola “The Ebola threat is looming,” said Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud, as he accepted a quantity of medical supplies from the Food for the Poor (Guyana) Inc. organisation on Friday. According to Dr Persaud, Guyana is making preparations to combat the virus although there has not yet been any reported cases detected here. “We are doing everything in our power to prevent Ebola from getting to Guyana and so we still have to be prepared,” added the CMO as he spoke of plans to augment activities in this regard. “This week we are ramping up all of our activities...we have already established at the ports (of entry) facilities to screen people who are coming in from countries that have the threat of Ebola to identify as early as possible such cases,” said Dr Persaud. He disclosed yesterday that efforts have also been made to establish a treatment centre at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and another at the West Demerara Regional Hospital in Region Three. These facilities, he noted, will serve as quarantine facilities for persons found to be infected with the Ebola Virus.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud (left), receives the donation of supplies from Food for the Poor (FFTP) CEO, Mr Kent Vincent. They are flanked by officials from GPHC and FFTP. Moreover, he disclosed that the supplies donated by the Food for the Poor will go towards helping to operationalise the facilities. “...The need for (treating) Ebola is great, everything that we use on somebody has to be disposed of...so in competing with the other
needs of our institution – surgery and the other wards and so on – we think that these supplies will be very useful,” said Dr Persaud. Dr Persaud along with Minister of Health, Dr Bheri Ramsaran, recently met with officials of Food for the Poor with regards to the possible
support that can be forthcoming in terms of helping to combat Ebola. In fact, Dr Persaud said that Food for the Poor was the first locally-based organisation that signalled its intention to render such support. “They have delivered on a promise so that we can move our preparedness process forward and I think this will assure all Guyanese that whatever we receive here will go to the use of getting prepared for Ebola...setting up our units, setting up our quarantine stations, etc,” outlined an appreciative Dr Persaud. The donation was handed over by Food for the Poor Chief Executive Officer,
Mr. Kent Vincent, who disclosed that among the items donated were gowns, pillows, blankets, drapes, towels, linens, sheets, among others. And according to Vincent, “as more items come in we are going to be making more donations to the Ministry, as Guyana seeks to prevent the outbreak of Ebola here.” The Ebola Virus has been wreaking unprecedented havoc in sections of West Africa after being detected there earlier this year. Reports suggest that to date almost 5,000 people have already died and many more are infected with the virus which is transmitted through human to human contact with body
fluids including: blood, faeces, vomit, breast milk, urine and semen. Symptoms of the Ebola Virus could manifest similar to that of a common flu including: headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, high fever, weakness, stomach pain and lack of appetite. However, as the virus advances other symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function can develop as can internal and external bleeding. But although infected, a person may not manifest symptoms of the virus until three weeks later, based on information from the World Health Organisation.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
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My column
A lesson learnt-Don’t complain against a Minister Governments always find a way to make the news. Every Minister who cuts a ribbon to officially declare a facility open, or one who goes about shaking the hands of old people and children, want to be in the news. More often than not, they are accommodated. The media make them by putting a human face to them and they all like this. They smile for the cameras and life is beautiful for them. But as the old people would say, we have to mix the coarse with the fine. And so it is that we in the media would take those same politicians to task when they stray along a path that would do no one any good. Under these conditions the politicians, the same ones who were smiling with us just a few moments ago, suddenly bare their fangs. I suppose that life is like that; we only want our good side exposed. And so it is that we are now embroiled in an issue that exposed one side of the Attorney General. I was surprised that very
few people realized that the Samsung phone has a feature named ‘call recorder’. It is a useful feature because it allows everyone to record all calls. As a reporter I found it so useful because I could not misquote. And there is nothing to worry about, because the calls are deleted and life goes on. What caused the problems in this case was the threat of physical harm to the staff of Kaieteur News. People get annoyed with us and threaten us with harm. At no time when we got angry with politicians did it cross our mind to threaten that politician. Of course, some of those we offended would simply not talk to us. For example, we questioned the construction of the Marriott Hotel. Many things were said to us by the people behind the construction and these things turned out to be less than true. So we challenged the messenger, Winston Brassington. We even made jokes that annoyed him. In turn, he simply said
that he would no longer speak to the people at Kaieteur News. That was fine because we approached other sources, sometimes none better than President Donald Ramotar. The hotel is still being constructed and the questions remain, but life is going on. No one threatened us. One unfortunate aspect of hostile political reactions, is that the world immediately sits up and takes notice. Globally, the media are seen as the sources of information of a country. Historians rely on the media for their research. This is why people always say that the media should not be restricted unless they step out of line with attacks on people or deliberately falsify events. Under such conditions there is always recourse to the courts and not to violence. So it is that most people feel that the Attorney General crossed the line, and for the country’s chief custodian of the law to do that was found to be shocking. For his part, he is saying
nothing, although a statement would do wonders. Perhaps he feels that he has done nothing wrong, that he simply issued a warning to one of his friends working at Kaieteur News. But the big question is that since he is aware of what he said is an impending attack on the newspaper, why has he not stepped in to avert it? He has access to the security mechanisms in the country and he took an oath to protect every citizen. However, he chooses to remain silent, and that is his prerogative. Things get ugly when the state mechanism rallies to his defence. A report was made to the police and suddenly Kaieteur News becomes the focus of attention. The consensus of the police and the state is that Kaieteur News had no right to shout out that it is about to be attacked. A wild animal attacks someone and that person has no right to cry out. One would have expected the police to ask the Attorney General whether he did utter the words and to question
him about the nature of the ‘imminent’ attack. The police would have needed this information to protect the people at Kaieteur News. But this is not the case. I went with one of my colleagues to Brickdam Police Station and learnt that the investigation is about the recorded phone call. Of course, the investigation was operating under the pretext that the call was intercepted. Before I left, I gave one of the ranks the feature. Needless to say, he was excited and he even proclaimed that this was a great thing. He must have shared this by now with hosts of colleagues. Immediately my mind went back to 2006 when telephone calls between the then Police Commissioner and others were really intercepted. The very Attorney General penned a letter that said that whoever did th a t interception did the country a great favour. He even quoted laws to support his contention. Indeed, the laws pertaining to
Adam Harris interception were not in place, but from what the Attorney General wrote, even if that was the case, the interception was in the interest of the nation. I do not know what has changed now; perhaps it is because the shoe is on the other foot. Do as I say and not as I do. The police owe us an explanation, but then again, in this country officialdom does not have to say anything to anyone. The police can detain anyone for seventy-two hours for no reason; the police can charge even if there is no reason to charge. And so it is that I look on in awe at what passes for protection by the state. The question is protection for whom? Surely not Kaieteur News at this time.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
AG’s conversation confirms abuse of public purse
In Guyana we have a common saying; “mouth open – story jump out”. By now, the Attorney General is surely ruing the minute he opened his mouth to speak with Leonard Gildarie of the Kaieteur News. What is significant is that the Government has not refuted, whether in part or in its entirety, the content of the conversation. From the transcript of the conversation as published by the Kaieteur News, we now have, in the words of the Attorney General, proof that the Government is dipping into tax dollars for private use. The Alliance For Change has repeatedly spoken and written about this abuse of the public
purse by the PPP Government and now the AG ‘open e mouth’ and confess to the abuse. In the conversation, Nandlall says clearly that he, “use some money from the government.” Though he said he “pay it back”, Nandlall’s confession raises more questions on the practice of Ministers ‘borrowing’ from the government. Where did the PPP Government get the money to lend Nandlall and how many others are ‘borrowing’ from the Government? Nowhere in any of the budgets can one find the Line Item “Loan to Ministers and Government Officials” so, how was this loan processed and under
what conditions and out of which fund? The Consolidated Fund is supposed to be the central repository of all public monies, and only by way of what is approved by the National Assembly at the end of the Budget debate can withdrawals be made or under circumstances that can be considered of national importance. Surely, whatever circumstances befell the Attorney General cannot be considered of national importance! The AFC has been calling ad nauseam for all public monies to be paid into the Consolidated Fund. The Lotto Fund, NICIL, earnings from State Corporations etc. all must be paid into the Consolidated Fund. Needless to say, the PPP Government has blatantly refused to pay over these monies thus leaving open the opportunity for questionable and highly irregular ‘borrowing’. Did the “loan” to Nandlall come from NICIL? Is the PPP selling off state resources and ‘lending’ the proceeds to Ministers and other Government Officials? How many other Ministers have ‘borrowed’ from the
Government? Have they all repaid their loans? What seems to be unfolding here is a practice where Ministers can access the public purse for their private use. We see many of these Ministers building mansions across Guyana, some have more than one. Are they ‘borrowing’ taxpayers’ money to erect their mansions while ordinary Guyanese have to struggle and take mortgages from the banks to build their modest homes? How many of those grand homes owned by Ministers were built with money from NICIL, the Lotto Fund or some other fund that the PPP has refused to pay over into the Consolidated Fund? While many citizens find it hard to travel to another part of the country for a few days or to make a quick trip to nearby Suriname or Trinidad to visit relatives, our Ministers could be using taxpayers’ money to take family vacations at exotic locations the ordinary Guyanese only see in movies. This wrongdoing by both the AG and the PPP Government in permitting the extraction of some $6.5M from
taxpayers, and only reimbursing it when journalistic sunshine made it visible, ýalso reveals the hypocrisy and greed of the AG who said he made his money at age 38! Why did he not initially extract that sum from his own bank account? Why rush to the almost bankrupt people’s account? Who are the favoured Ministers that can borrow from the Government and when did this practice start? How much have Ministers ‘borrowed’ over the years and how much has been repaid? We do not need to list them individually, but the public surely knows the Ministers that have built mansions since coming into office and whose children drive expensive vehicles. What seems to be coming clear now that the AG has opened his mouth is that it is possible for Government Ministers to ‘borrow’ from the Government. Can bus driver Dalip, Nurse Gwen or Ms. Williams selling at the market also ‘borrow from the Government? And look at the abusive conduct exhibited in that display with Gildarie?
Such expletives and profanities from ýone who always put on a show as to the extent of his vocabulary! It was a shame and disgrace. This apart, his attempted sexual predation of that “young, nice female reporter” stinks. This is conduct of a quack and pseudo Kshatriya. The top brass of the PPP now is made up of a set of rogues and vagabonds. That Party has expelled, shelved and frustrated out from its precincts the genuine and responsible leaders and potential statesmený. It is hoped that now the consciences of its supporters have been rankled sufficiently to see a greater exodus from that party into the ranks of the AFC. Only the other day that self same AG was in Berbiceý mocking that the AFC can’t come up with a Cabinet to run the country. Look at what the PPP Cabinet has produced? This most despicable and dishonourable performance is least expected from any Cabinet member. He must know, like all of Guyana, that such a performance like he delivered can be easily bettered.
Sunday November 02, 2014
SUNDAY SPECIAL SATTAUR FAILS TO ACT AGAINST CORRUPT OFFICERS Despite glaring evidence of corruption, the Guyana Revenue Authority appears to be deliberately shielding two Customs Officers who according to reports are favoured by those at the very top of the organization’s administration. The officers, who were found to be guilty of colluding with a local businessman to defraud the state of taxes, remain on the job and there is no indication that action will be taken against them soon. This situation flies in the face of Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur, who has been openly boasting that as Head of the GRA, he runs a tight ship and will not tolerate corruption by his officers. But reliable sources have told this newspaper that the officers fingered in the scam are enjoying the protection of the GRA Commissioner General, who for some strange reason played no part in ordering the probe, although he was fully aware of the scam. In fact, it was left up to Sattaur ’s Deputy, Clement Sealey, to initiate action that led to the investigation that exposed the corrupt officers. The two Customs Officers are accused of facilitating the removal of a quantity of goods from the Laparkan Trading Co. Ltd. Customs Bond located at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri without the payment of applicable customs duty and taxes to the GRA. An investigation found that the officers accepted a sum of money to allow the businessman to evade taxes. MONDAY EDITION SATTAUR COLLECTED FULLRETIREMENT PACKAGE IN 2012 - WHO AUTHORIZED HIS DUTY FREE VEHICLE ONE YEAR LATER? Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Khurshid Sattaur, had his retirement package approved and paid to him in 2012. He had applied for his retirement package the year before. Today he continues to head the GRA. Last year, Sattaur imported a 2010 Toyota Jeep Land Cruiser in his personal capacity. The vehicle which was declared at a cost of just under $1.5M, (US$7,500) was registered on April 29, 2013. Online checks revealed that the average price of such vehicles range from US$31,000 to US$40,000. All Members of Parliament and judges are
Kaieteur News
exempt from all taxes on the vehicles they import. They are also allowed to import vehicles of an unlimited engine capacity. Public servants do not enjoy the same privilege as judges and Members of Parliament. They can only import vehicles with an engine capacity of 2,000 cc and under. This can be waived by special permission from Office of the President. They are not fully tax exempt. They have to pay a percentage of the import tax. Sattaur, a public official, was not entitled to full tax exemption. His vehicle attracted a 30 percent import tax because of its age. It was under four years old. In light of the fact that Sattaur collected a handsome retirement package and is now working on contractual terms at the GRA, questions have surfaced as to whether the tax boss is entitled to enjoy another duty free concession of this magnitude. If so, did Office of the President authorize his importation of vehicle with engine capacity beyond the 2000cc limit for public officials? Additionally, there have been calls for the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma to investigate Sattaur’s vehicle. TUESDAY EDITION ATTORNEY GENERAL HINTS AT ‘HIT’GLENN LALL, KNEWS - POLICE PROVIDED WITHAUDIO, TRANSCRIPT OF PLOT Mr. Anil Nandlall, Guyana’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, has revealed chilling plans for the execution of Kaieteur News publisher, Mr. Glenn Lall. This is unfolding as the most bizarre, criminal twist in an ongoing feud between the State and this newspaper. Alluding to an imminent attack, Nandlall advised a senior reporter of the newspaper to get out of the Saffon Street office, which he described as a “dangerous place”. He hinted at an intended hit on Lall and the establishment. “No, hear nah, you know how it gun stop? Somebody gun go into Kaieteur…You see everybody nah gat, as I told Adam today …I said Adam, everybody don’t just…everybody, wait hold on…everybody doesn’t have a newspaper to use as a weapon. I told Adam, I said ‘Adam people got weapons, right? “Is not newspaper they gonna use as a weapon; they got weapons and when you continue attack people like that and they have no way of responding they gun just walk with their weapon into that
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GRA Head Khurshid Sattaur same f***ing Saffon Street office and wha come suh do, and innocent… Peter gun gah pay fuh f***ing Paul in deh one day. “Me ah tell you innocent, me ah tell you honestly, man to man, that will happen soon. So the quicker you get out of deh the better.” Describing himself as a “thoroughbred” and as a “Kshatriya” (pronounced Chatree), a reference to an upper social class in India, known to be united by their claims to rulership, the pursuit of war, or the possession of land. Nandlall hurled a string of expletives in his almost 19minute harangue on the intended plan against Lall. HOUSE SPEAKER SETS DATE FOR FIRST SITTING SINCE JULY Admitting that there is an existing “untenable and unhealthy” situation which is that the National Assembly has not met since July 10, House Speaker, Raphael Trotman, has made moves to secure a sitting next week. Trotman wrote the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, Monday requesting that he should make necessary arrangements to facilitate a sitting next Thursday, November 6. Trotman acknowledged that the Parliamentary Management Committee had decided unanimously to allow Government and Opposition Chief Whips to continue in their efforts to agree on a date for the next sitting of the National Assembly. He said however that recent communication with the Whips, and pronouncements in the media attributed to both Gail Teixeira and Amna Ally, clearly lend to the view that the positions are intractable and that the likelihood of a date been agreed upon soon, is unlikely. The Speaker said that there is therefore gridlock, “and we are faced with the untenable and unhealthy situation of the National Assembly not meeting since
July 10, 2014. I am sure that you will agree with me that this cannot be allowed to continue any longer as there is no state of national emergency, or otherwise, that prevents the Assembly from not meeting. In fact, on the contrary, I make bold to say that there are myriad issues of national importance that require our immediate attention.” Trotman told Isaacs that notwithstanding the process in which the Whips were involved, he chose to engage Isaacs and the former Speakers of the National Assembly with a view to enquiring how best things could be resolved. He acknowledged receipt of opinions from Isaacs, and Messrs. Sase Narine, O.R., S.C., and Ralph Ramkarran, S.C. WEDNESDAY EDITION PRESIDENT RAMOTAR MUST DEMAND NANDLALL’S IMMEDIATE
RESIGNATION - MINISTER HAS BROUGHT THE AG’S OFFICE INTO DISREPUTE – AFC The Alliance For Change in a statement released Tuesday says the party is “shocked beyond disbelief” at the recent revelations in a conversation between a Kaieteur News reporter and the Attorney General (AG), Mr. Anil Nandlall. The party said that the transcript of the conversation “which the AG has most recently admitted as having said, highlights that he has proven himself wholly unfit to hold the office of Attorney General of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana”. “President Donald Ramotar must demand the immediate resignation of Mr. Nandlall, as his failure to act swiftly on this issue would be an endorsement of such behaviour by persons who
represent our country at the highest level in Guyana and internationally. “It is now clear to the AFC that our party, civil society organisations and the citizens of Guyana cannot continue to do business with this Government if it holds persons in the ilk of Mr. Nandlall as its representative. Only his immediate resignation could save this country the embarrassment of having one of its highest offices brought further into disrepute and disgrace.” RAMOTAR DEFENDS AG’S THREAT ON KNEWS MERE HOURSAFTER REVELATION Mere hours after Publisher of Kaieteur News, Glenn Lall, released a recording of Attorney General Anil Nandlall vocalizing a threat of violent proportions, President Donald Ramotar and the (Continued on page 49)
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
The PPPC is monkeying around with parliamentary democracy The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration is monkeying around with parliamentary democracy. That Party, since the start of the 10th Parliament in January 2012, has attempted to diminish the authority of the National Assembly. It has challenged the Assembly’s legitimate decisions in the High Court, ignored recommendations of experts, failed to assent to bills and attacked the Opposition through the state media. The PPPC has been using every device at its disposal to hold back the ‘wave of change’ that surged since the general and regional elections of November 2011. That ‘wave’ submerged it into a minority i n t h e National Assembly. The threat to parliamentary democracy is real. Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman
warned the Executive of the danger of a “constitutional crisis.” He said: “The continued resort to the High Court to question legitimate decisions of the National Assembly points to the grave and gathering danger of a constitutional crisis which has the potential to assume proportions the likes of which the nation has never seen and may be unable to handle.” President Donald Ramotar took the extraordinary step to announce publicly, on 13th June 2012, that he had no intention of supporting any bill piloted by the Opposition. He said, “That is not the function of the opposition. They must respect what is their role…I am making it very clear that I will not assent to any bill that they carry unless it is with the full agreement of the executive and the full
involvement of the executive.” It must have been as a result of this thinking that the President’s assent to three local government bills – the Local Government Commission Bill, the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill and the Fiscal Transfers Bill – was not granted until three months after they were passed. The Local Government (Amendment) Bill and others still have not been assented to. The Speaker had to warn the President that he could be in “gross dereliction of his constitutional duty” for not approving Bills that have been passed by the National Assembly. He said, “The Office of the President is cautioned not to provoke a constitutional crisis as there is no winner in such a scenario but, rather, to respect and recognise the reality, authority and legitimacy of the 10th Parliament.” The PPPC has studiously ignored the most important recommendations of several reports and studies which pointed to the democratic way forward. The United Nations Development Programme earlier this year [2013] published a report – Assessment of Committees System of the National Assembly of Guyana – by Robin James and Dr David Ponet.
The Report concluded that the National Assembly still lacks sufficient autonomy and resources and advised that it was “high time that Guyana’s political culture reflects this ideal of powersharing.” Several earlier studies made similar recommendations. The Needs Assessment of the Guyana National Assembly by Sir Michael Davies; Advisory Papers on Needs Assessment of the Guyana National Assembly by James Pender and Guyana Fiduciary Oversight Project-Phase 1: Inception Report by Bradbury & Associates, all recommended greater autonomy for the National Assembly. The Report of the 35th conference of the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Trinidad in July 2010 declared, “Autonomy is needed for Parliaments to function freely; Parliaments should therefore seek Administrative Autonomy; Institutional and Political Autonomy and Financial Autonomy; A weak feeble and subservient Parliament is a threat to democracy.” Recommendations on autonomy of the National Assembly by these studies generally reflect the Commonwealth (Latimer
House) Principles on the Three Branches of Government endorsed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria in 2003. Among those principles were that Parliament should be serviced by a professional staff – independent of the regular public service – and that an all-Party committee of members of parliament should review and administer parliament’s budget which should not be subject to amendment by the Executive. The PPPC’s other tactic has been to resort to the courts of law. Attorney General Anil Nandlall, starting his campaign of litigation in March 2012, filed a Constitutional Motion in the High Court seeking to overturn a parliamentary vote on the composition of the Committee of Selection. He then moved to the courts in an attempt to have the 2012 National Budget cuts reviewed and reversed and, again, to set aside the Speaker’s order prohibiting a government minister from speaking in the National Assembly and referring consideration of the matter to the Committee of Privilege. The state-owned media – the National Communications Network (NCN), Government Information Agency
(GINA) and the Guyana Chronicle newspaper that is published by Guyana National Newspapers Ltd (GNNL) – have relentlessly attacked opposition members of the National Assembly for the past twenty months since February 2012. The state media have described Opposition Members and the Speaker on some occasions in scurrilous terms such as “irresponsible and reckless,” “vindictive and unprincipled” and “power drunk.” The Opposition has been accused of exercising “reckless and blatant opportunism.” The National Assembly was called a “sham and a veneer” and “an unruly horse.” Such has been the Executive branch’s contempt for the legislature! The PPPC, clearly, is monkeying around with parliamentary democracy by disparaging the National Assembly. By so doing, it is turning Guyana into a less free country. *A Partnership for National Unity, in light of the current crisis caused by the refractory approach of the Clerk and the PPPC administration’s antagonistic attitude to the National Assembly, is obliged to reprint this column that was first published by Kaieteur News on 10th November 2013.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Walter Rodney COI…
‘I examined equipment confiscated after the explosion’ Retired Superintendent of Police, Trenton Roach, told the Rodney Commission of Inquiry, (COI), on Friday last that he handled and examined the communications equipment, confiscated after the explosion that killed Dr. Walter Rodney. The witness recalled that he had handled hundreds of radios and walkie-talkies during his career in the Guyana Police Force (GPF). Dr. Rodney, a scholar, social activist and founder of the Working People’s Alliance was killed after a device, said to be a walkietalkie, exploded in his car on June 13, 1980. Roach told the Commission that he has been a member of the police force from December 1975 until May 2003. He recalled that this was not the first time that he was testifying in relation to the death of Dr. Rodney; he had participated in an inquest into the death in 1988. As a member of the GPF, Roach recalled that he was attached to the Communication Branch where he was responsible for maintenance of equipment. During his career, Roach said that he has had the opportunity of examining and testing hundreds of walkietalkies. After being deemed an expert in the field of electronic devices and communication, Roach told the commission that at the branch, officers were responsible for monitoring, maintaining and installing the communication equipment. He was at the time responding to questions posed by lead Counsel, Glenn Hanoman. Speaking specifically about the monitoring of the radio frequency, Roach explained that any unauthorized transmission was reported to the police to ensure that the network was working adequately. He recalled that he was on duty between June 13 and June 14, 1980. He said that on June 13, he was at the Kitty Police Station, when he heard that there was an explosion. When asked whether he was in a position to monitor what was being said on the police secure line or if he had hear via the network that Dr. Rodney had been killed, the witness said that there was an explosion, but that he could not recall if he heard Dr. Rodney’s name mentioned on the frequency. He said, however, that after the explosion there were rumours that Dr. Rodney had been killed. Roach said that there was a discussion in the
- says ret’d cop
Trenton Roach, Superintendent of Police (Rtd) testifying Police Station, but nothing was confirmed. Roach said that he was a Police Corporal at the time. Asked whether he relayed the information to any of his superiors, he explained that sometimes there were rumours, which turned out to be true, but he wouldn’t take the information to his superiors unless it was confirmed. Speaking about his involvement in the investigations surrounding the death of the Guyanese politician, the witness said that on June 14, 1980 he was instructed by his officers to return to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Headquarters of the GPF. Once there, Roach said that he met Cecil ‘Skip’ Roberts, the officer in charge, who instructed him to speak with Assistant Superintendent Marlon Gentle. Gentle showed him some equipment (three domestic radio sets, receivers, and one monitor) and four handheld walkie-talkies, to determine if they were working. They were escorted to the workshop to conduct a thorough investigation of the equipment. “Did you learn where the equipment came from?” the witness was asked. “No,” he responded. “We worked on a need-to-know basis.” He also said that as a corporal, therefore he couldn’t ask questions but only take orders. Roach said however that he sensed that it was a highprofile matter, but did not make the connection that the equipment had anything to
do with Dr. Rodney’s death. He said that he knew this since the usual procedure was not followed; usually there’d be tags and labels on items, but the items were in an unsealed cardboard box. He explained that some time after that, it became clear to him, that the equipment had something to do with Dr. Rodney’s death. Roach told the commission that he later learnt that the equipment had been removed from the home of Mr. Rowe, which is also the home of Gregory Smith, (the person who was subsequently fingered as the prime suspect in the crime). He said that he came to know Smith while attending a course with other members of the Armed Forces. Roach recalled that no wanted bulletins were issued for Smith after Dr. Rodney was killed; there were radio communications that someone was wanted, and up to 1988, he had never seen any bulletins. Under Cross examination by Attorney-at–Law, Christopher Ram, the witness recalled that he had attended WPA meetings. He said that he had pledged his loyalty to the State; the PNCR was the ruling Party at the time. The witness said that as a member of the GPF, he was cautioned not to attend WPA meetings and that he also knew that persons lost their jobs because of their association with the party. As a result of the warning, he stopped attending the WPA meetings. In response to questions posed by the Attorney, Roach told the commission that he was also concerned about the network being tampered with, since whenever there were WPA meetings, the communication frequencies were jammed. “I was concerned about our network being breached. The police network was less than… receiving transmission very clearly… this was very serious because we felt that the police transmission was compromised; it could cost people to lose their lives; we could run into an ambush.”
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Gifted calypsonian, Rudolph ‘Sweet Kendingo’ Kendall, is a ‘Special Person’ By Leon Suseran Rudolph ‘Sweet Kendingo’ Kendall is nothing short of a real home-grown Guyanese musical masterpiece. He has spent all his life performing, writing music, singing and making others feel that amazing feeling that soothing music does for one’s ear and mood. His ‘specialness’ is more than what meets the eye—it meets the ear to be exact— since he has held several coveted titles. In fact he has won all three major titles at national level - Soca Monarch, Calypso Competition and Road March. Our ‘Special Person’ this week boasts that he started to sing from his mother’s womb. He is the only person to represent the country in a World Soca and World At the King of Kings show in 1993
“I was a natural. I was a guy who always liked to create things and think I am ‘it’everything I did, I always want to think I do it better than anybody else! That’s one way to achieve some measure of success.” Calypso competition, in Barbados (1996) and Trinidad (1992) respectively. Born to carpenter, Randolph and cash-crop farmer Anne Kendall at Dingwall Farm on the Corentyne, young Rudolph was quite the performer in his village, church and school. His childhood days were also spent planting rice and picking coconuts. He vividly recalled his headmaster placing upon his shoulders the school’s Annual Christmas Concert every year. He related that school concerts could not go on without him. “When I left
school, the headmaster, Mr. Mootoo sent and called me and asked me to run the whole concert—year after year—people from right through the Coast would come to hear Eversham School concert.” The young artiste would plan and execute this event which drew large crowds from Eversham and elsewhere in Berbice. He also played an active role in the Eversham Church Choir as well as the Anglican Church and played bass guitar for the local Nazarene Church in the area. The point is, young Kendingo was multi-faceted and multi-talented, and his skills were utilized by everyone. After finishing his studies at the Eversham Primary School, he took to the stage, pursuing a life-long dream in singing and music. If you want, you can say that the love he developed for music sort of rub off from his parents, since they were also musicians in their own respect. His mother played the piano and his father played the cello in a band back then. “My mother was very reluctant (to play)—she would play when somebody comes (to the home)… something classical. Daddy was a good player also,” he recounted. Then a friend of his at Eversham Village, Harry Satnarine, encouraged him to participate at Guyfesta. Guyfesta in 1975 was his first big gig, where he took a few
During the winning performance in 2004: Nat’l Calypso Competition
girls from the community, and they performed—songs which he wrote himself. He performed at other such competitions in 1979 and 1980. “We didn’t do too well in 1975 but in 1980, boy, we tear up the place in regional folk music!” He performed three original songs then, one of which is ‘Small Days’ (which he performed during the interview). Afterwards, Stanhope Baird, a musician/driver employed with the Ministry of Culture back then, encouraged him to develop his skills in Calypso. “He said, ‘Must come and sing calypso! You could write!’” He participated in the Mashramani Calypso Competition in 1981. He made it up to the Semi-Finals. He reflected that the song did not go down to well with the then administration. The song was ‘We don’t Like That‘. In 1984, he decided to make another try in the competition at Mashramani, “and I beat them!” His winning song was ‘Is Facts we Facing’. The next occasion he won was in 1992 and finally in 1994, “never again—they do me all kinds of things!” He also won the Soca Monarch in 2000 with the song ‘Awee Ah Goin’ Down’ and the Road March in 1991 with a song name ‘Tee Tee Boopsie’. That very year, he brought second with the song, ‘You Gotta Sing Calypso.’ “Calypso was the ‘in’ thing,” he stated. “Calypso is all about badtalk—you have to be satirical—and it’s not a nice type of music—real Calypso— we’re out to ridicule and nothing (is) wrong if a dog bites a man, but if a man bites a dog— that’s something!” He boasted, too, of his song-writing skills, “having grown up in the days of sweet soul music.” “People like Johnny Braff, Otis Redding, Arthur Cholmondeley and James Brown, were all outstanding when I was a kid.” SERVICE TO THE NATION’S ELDERLY Currently, Kendall is giving immeasurable service to the nation’s elderly. Since October is designated as Month for the Elderly, the musician is taking concerts to several senior citizens homes across the country. Now in its second year, Kendall has been visiting the senior citizens and playing music for them, bringing back lots of memories from the olden days, and allowing them to have a good time-free of charge. “I’m going to do it every year. It’s a real nice feeling, singing for the
Rudolph Kendall elderly,” he added. Some of the entities visited include: Nazareth Home, Good Samaritan Home in Berbice; Mother Teresa Sisters’ Home for Elderly Men; Dharm Shala; Indigent Home; Gentle’s Home; St. Vincent de Paul and Ivy Hall, in Georgetown. Kendall is also busy working on a new Christmas Album which he expects to
Another trophy to add to the cabinet
take the nation by storm in a few weeks. And for the proposed launch at the Theatre Guild, his desire is to honour the organizer of the show, Chief Librarian, Ms. Gillian Thompson, who passed away a few months ago, “and for her, quietly, I have planned a show.” Even he was personally offended by calypso, (Continued on page 47)
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Farmers seek intervention as retailers take over Stabroek Market spots By Zena Henry Several farmers are seeking the intervention of market authorities as they claim to be losing money since their usual sale spot next to the Stabroek Market is being taken over by retailers. The farmers who recently visited Kaieteur News explained that they are losing thousands of dollars in spoiled and unsold goods, while they are being bullied out of the space which, between certain hours of the day, is designated for them to conduct business. Of the almost 15 persons who visited this publication, Elizabeth Nelson of La Harmony, in the Demerara River, explained that persons like herself are most affected by the situation since she not only sells her goods, but she also grows her produce. Nandranie Agard said that her children plant the crops and she would usually sell on a daily basis at the market. However, some of the farmers, like Nelson, come to the city twice weekly to sell the goods they grow. “I can’t come every day,
because I have to farm,” Nelson said. She explained however that it is difficult to plant the food and when she comes to town, there is no space for her to sell her goods. Agard explained that the same day she visited Kaieteur News she had to dump over $12,000 in bananas, because she was unable to get it sold two days in a row. Nelson said she too is losing money because of the ‘invasion” of retailers. The farmers say they are being harassed and threatened by those persons who are illegally occupying the spots. Nelson explained that she has been a farmer almost all her life and has been selling her goods at the market for 35 years. A named wholesaler, she said, has been at the market for six years and started her operation by buying goods wholesale and then reselling it retail. Each farmer, she explained, is given two pallet spaces to conduct their business and everyone pays a fee for the space they occupy. If the farmer has more goods to sell than can fit on
By late afternoon farmers commence preparation for evening sales the pallets, then they pay extra depending on, for example, tubs of bananas, bags of eddoes or other produce. While the spaces that are occupied are not designated to any farmer, it is understood that a particular spot would be the regular position of a particular farmer. This is so, she said, because the farmers cannot sell in the
market whole day so they quickly occupy their usual spot and conduct their business. Nelson went on to say that farmers begin to offload their goods at the side of the road in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market in the wee hours of the morning; by a certain time, when the road begins to get busy, around 7:30 hours, they ought to be off the street with their goods. Again in the evening, as the day slows down, around 17:30 hours, the farmers would again offload their items to start selling. Nelson claims however that the retailers have no farms to tend to, so they are often laid out on the farmers’ spots before they (farmers) arrive. Additionally, more persons are starting to take over the area designated for farmers, as they are now buying items wholesale and are retailing where the farmers operate. In some cases, the retailers are renting spots to other persons, the farmers
complained. One named retailer, they said, took over several spots that were previously occupied by farmers and is now renting it out. Two other spots that were being used by farmers were also taken over and given to that retailer’s family members, who are not farmers, but conduct retail business. The farmers are peeved however, since despite numerous complaints to the City Council’s market authority which is located a stone’s throw from where the confusion is ongoing, there has been no redress. They claimed however that the market authorities seem to be turning a blind eye to the matter since, “dem does go and get their stocks” from the retailer. Nelson alleged that since the retailer took over her spot, she was held at knifepoint when she placed her goods in front of the retailer’s items. The Constabulary who had intervened in the matter did
nothing about it, she said, and this has led to the farmers feeling helpless about the situation. “I cannot come to sell every day. I have to plant my crops. That is my livelihood. This is what we do to survive and if every time we come to sell our goods we cannot get space, what will happen to us?” Nelson asked. The farmers said they have made complaints to market authorities over a period of time since the matter is getting worse by the month. Public Relations Officer of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) Royston King said that the only person authorized for the sale or rental of spots is the Clerk of Markets. The M&CC is the body responsible for the municipal markets. King said that the Council is however unaware of the challenges the farmers are facing and urged that they visit the Council to have the matter addressed.
Not only cricket but West Indian... From page 24) personal avarice. All of this is why Prime Minister Gonsalves is right that, addressing the devastation that events surrounding West Indian cricket has caused, it is an extraordinary enterprise which takes us “beyond the boundary". Throughout the West Indies people are an-
gry. They feel a deep sense of being let down and of being deprived of something precious to their souls. Yes, the matter is about the West Indian cricketers; yes, it is also about the administration of West Indian Cricket and the WICB; but beyond everything else it is about the ethos and self-worth of the West
Indian person. That is what is at stake – and all the parties should keep that foremost in their minds. (The writer is a Consultant, Senior Fellow at London University and former Caribbean Diplomat) Responses and previous c o m m e n t a r i e s : www.sirronaldsanders.com
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
NAACIE, GPSU issue one-month ultimatum to GPL over wage negotiations Owing to constant battles over wage negotiations and other human resources matters, between the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), the Guyana Public Service Union, (GPSU) and Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), the Power Company has been issued an ultimatum to start negotiations for wages, salaries and better working conditions for employees. The unions have accused GPL of placing workers concerns on the back burner and trying to remove its members by placing them on contract jobs. The unions represent more than 700 senior and junior staff at GPL. In a release to the press yesterday, NAACIE made specific reference to a meeting held at the Ministry of Labour on October 24, 2014 between the parties comprising representatives of both Unions (GPSU and NAACIE) which have recognition for different categories of workers of the Guyana Power & Light, Management of GPL and the Ministry of Labour, confirming their position taken at the meeting and serving on Management of GPL an ultimatum of one month’s (31 days) notice, that
General Secretary of NAACIE Kenneth Joseph they must start the negotiations or face necessary industrial action. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Labour, General Secretary of NAACIE, Kenneth Joseph, outlined that the unions have made all attempts to meet with the Management jointly to negotiate salaries and wages along with conditions of work for its members; after one year this request is still to be agreed on by the company. Joseph called on the Minister of Labour, Nanda Gopaul, to intervene in the matter, bringing about redress, thus paving the way for Collective Bargaining process to take place jointly between the unions and the
Immigration INFO: Immigration... From page 58 the $5000 if the ex-detainee shows up for all his court hearings. If he misses a court hearing, then the $5000 will be forfeited. In any case, the immigrant or his attorney can also request a bond from an immigration judge. Depending on the region of the country where the person is detained, requesting a bond hearing may be the fastest way to get a person released from immigration detention. Once a formal request for a bond is made, the immigration court will calendar a bond hearing. At the bond hearing, the judge will set a bond amount after making a determination of whether the detainee is a flight risk or danger to persons or property. The immigration judge considers many factors, on which evidence may be presented by either party. These include: the immigrant's family and community ties to the United States, length and seriousness of criminal history, financial stability, history of immigration violations, length of residence in the United States, and history of appearances before courts. Even at bond hearings, you or your attorney may be able to negotiate a bond amount with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When an agreement as to the bond amount is reached, the immigration judge will often accept this number.
Management of GPL. “We have explained our reason for this action, but the GPL continues to refuse our demands. Their only reason is that the two Unions represent categories of workers…This leaves us with no other alternative but to inform you that our two Unions have indicated to the Chairman of the meeting and representative of GPL, Mr. Bal Persaud, of our intention to take industrial action if the company refuses to negotiate with the workers’ representatives of GPL collectively,” the correspondent outlined. According to the G e n e r a l S e c r e t a r y, t h e ultimatum served on the Management of GPL is in keeping with the provisions of Public Utility Undertakings and Public Health Act chapter 54:01, that should the Company refuse to negotia t e w i t h t h e unions for wages/salaries and other conditio n s o f employment, for 2013, no later than 31 days after receipt of the letter, it will result in the union taking necessary actions they see f i t t o d e m o n s trate their displeasure; the two unions shall authorize their members to ultimately take appropriate Industrial Action a gainst this contemptible treatment and total disregard for their Labour. “We will be forced to take whatever action we feel necessary according to the Act which could include but not limited to taking strike action,” the letter stated.
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President bemoans lack of “genuine partners on the other side” By Abena Rockcliffe As he spoke at the recent opening of the National Toshaos Conference, President Donald laid an impression that the opposition recklessly resists any participation in projects that will reflect major developments in Guyana. The President said that the People’s Progressive Party administration is trying its best to forge a prosperous Guyana, but members of the joint parliamentary opposition are refusing to be “genuine partners” in this venture. The Head of State, as he addressed a gathering of 350 Amerindian leaders, said that the government recognizes the need to take Guyana to a “higher level. He said that to do this, there must be new infrastructure and hydro power so as to generate cheap energy and create a vibrant manufacturing sector. He added that, “We need to revolutionize transport not because the country demands it, but because of
what is taking place internationally.” The President told the indigenous leaders that even as they congregate, work is ongoing to widen the Panama Canal and that means revolution in shipping in the world. In this regard, the President said that “we therefore need to have deep water harbour, we need to have road paved from Brazil so that Guyana can become a hub in maritime transport in South America and the Caribbean.” President Ramotar said that if the government is to enhance tourism, there will be an absolute need for a new airport. He said, “we can’t have an airport that when a plane arrives and it rains, the passengers cannot come out of the airplane.” He emphasized that there must instead be modern facilities in place to attract visitors and for Guyana to become an air hub as well. The Head of State said that the development that the government is trying to put
in place will impact directly on “you” (the indigenous people of Guyana). He told them that even if they reside in areas that might not get electricity from hydropower, having hydro will save the $9B subsidy “we now pay.” The President added that hydro power will allow the government to save in on the money it spends on the importation of fuel and, instead, invest the money in other projects. “So you see how important it is for the country as a whole, but sometimes unfortunately I feel like I do not have development partners on the other side of the political spectrum,” Ramotar lamented. “How else can I explain that they (members of the opposition) consciously knocked down the hydro project?” Nevertheless, the President told the gathering, “I will say today, as I said before, I am determined we will have the Amaila project. “We need to have genuine partners on the other side.”
The Panama Canal: The steep price... From page 38 in some cases and the difficulties of adjusting to life upon returning to Jamaica are revisited; so too are the culture wars, the rape of innocence, the traffic of bodies to medical institutions, the rise of the nouveau riche, and aversion to American Exceptionalism. Unquestionably, Senior proves his salt. He is deliber-
ate, academically rigorous and richly exhaustive. His is an oeuvre of scholastic and prosaic excellence. Throughout this seminal work there is a prophetic underpinning, subtle, but ever present and instructive. It is a warning, no less, that echoes the provocative counsel of George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
F e e d b a c k : glenvilleashby@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby Dying to Better Themselves: West Indians and the Building of the Panama Canal by Oliver Senior, 2014 (pp 415) Publisher: University of the West Indies Press ISBN: 978-976-640-457-4 Available: amazon.com Rating: Essential
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
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Gifted calypsonian, Rudolph ‘Sweet... From page 34 something he realized while listening to one of his CDs recently. “But you want to win and you say what the people want (to hear),” he added. Kendall believes calypso is dead in Guyana. “Soca is more peaceful,” he added. As a result, over the years, Kendingo’s passion for calypso has dwindled since he believes that not many Guyanese have been receptive enough to the words and messages conveyed by that genre of music. His music, he believes, has angered some politicians and sections of the populace. In 1992, prior to the current administration’s entry into political office, Kendingo won the National Calypso Competition at the National Park with a song that poked satire at the Desmond Hoyte Administration: ‘We want Mo’ Money’, and in 1993, the song ‘Nothing’ brought him third place, which took jabs at the Cheddi Jagan Administration. He won the competition, too, in 2004 with ‘Get Ready’. “Calypso is a type of music that steps on a lot of people’s toes, so to speak, and I pounded whatever administration was in office at the time whenever I performed at the National Park. It was all in good humour.” But he is very disappointed in the way the calypso business has been evolving in Guyana. In a letter to this publication (Dec 14, 2011) captioned, ‘Calypso Always in Trouble’, Kendingo expressed disappointment in the manner in which calypsonians like himself and others are treated by the body that looks after that genre of music. “As usual the treatment meted out to us
calypsonians was synonymous with that meted out to lower class of animals,” he said in the letter. “Over the years, organizers have behaved worse than monkeys and the treatment handed down to calypsonians has been more appalling than that given donkeys,” he lamented. ON THE FAMILY SIDE On the family side, Kendall has ten children. He says he has ensured that they are getting what he was deprived of, a full education. In his spare time, he enjoys tending to his cash-crop garden at his home. He sells the produce to the local villagers. His days are spent very busily going to and from Georgetown, visiting the elderly and performing for them. He also enjoys playing his guitar and singing in his home. “Everybody around here knows that I am crazy,” he joked, “and I know that too, so it’s no big deal.” “Music makes me happy. I just sing, play my guitar and be happy. In the morning, I go jogging, and people ask me what advice I can give to young singers, and I tell them that they should exercise a lot.” The best sight in the world for him is seeing children going to school, and “the icing on the cake is on Common Entrance (National Grade Six Assessment) morning when everybody is well- dressed.” He writes much of his music and would wake up during all hours of the night, to jot down the notes and lyrics. He showed me his music notebook. Above each entry, is the date and exact time in which he made the entry. “Most times they (the ideas for songs) wake me up at night, and as soon as the dream comes, you have got
Performing at the Nat’l Calypso finals in 1993
Strumming a rendition of one of his favourites at home
to put them on paper,” he added. “Whether day or whether night, if you don’t scribble, you are in trouble….it (the idea) goes away…sometimes four or five a day, no time to sleep, and you wake up in the morning tired, but you jog and you feel better.” “I WAS A NATURAL” It should be noted, too, that Kendall has performed internationally, in Canada for the Commonwealth Games, in British Columbia, Alberta and Vancouver in 1994. He did eighteen one-man shows, singing on stage. Kendall said that he was born a natural leader. “I was a
natural. I was a guy who always liked to create things and think I am ‘it’— everything I did, I always want to think I do it better than anybody else! That’s one way to achieve some measure of success.” His stage name ‘Sweet Kendingo’ was formed from the name ‘Kendall’ and him being born at Dingwall’ – ‘Sweet Kendingo’. It should be noted that Kendall worked at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) when that entity first opened in Berbice, as a clerk. He also worked at the then Guyana Electricity Corporation (GEC) at Rose
Hall Town Power Station (1973-1978) and unfortunately lost fingers on his right hand during an accident. His work experience continued at the Aroaima Bauxite Company, as a foreman in 1991. He also was instrumental in opening a music school on the Corentyne from 2000-2001 where he gave free music classes at Kiltearn Village. He provided entertainment during the interview at his home, by stopping at intervals to play
renditions of his popular, winning calypsos and even gave a sneak preview of a Christmas song in his upcoming holiday album. His final words in the interview were that the best of Kendingo is yet to come. “One was born to live to die. Between birth and death, one should do good things to leave a good name. We come empty and go empty. In true professionalism, one has to discover one’s self: work on your weaknesses, then add to your strength.”
Doing his thing on the streets of Alberta, Canada
Kendingo with the Mighty Chief
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Is Cuba caring too much? By Fei Huang Research Associate at the Council On Hemispheric Affairs While Ebola is threatening some economic giants away from the African continent, brigades of Cuban doctors have boldly marched to the frontline. Already 165 health professionals (63 nurses and 102 doctors) have been deployed in Sierra Leone to help fight the virulent epidemic. The Washington Post described Cuba as “punching far above its weight.” Moreover, Havana is planning to send specialists to Nicaragua as part of a national plan to combat Ebola. On October 20, Raul Castro declared that two health brigades would be dispatched to Liberia and Guinea to contain the epidemic. Correspondingly, 53 healthcare workers were sent to Liberia and 38 to Guinea on October 21, which was originally announced at the Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) meeting. This should not come as shocking news. Since the Cuban Revolution (1959), medical diplomacy has become a mainstay of Cuban foreign policy strategy, and Africa was one of the first continents where Cuba’s health missionaries had arrived in the time of Cold War. DOCTORS AS DIPLOMATS Countries around the world will not easily forget Cuban doctors’ devotion to providing healthcare in times of need to some of the poorest nations in the world. Dating back to the early days of the Revolution, Cuba sent a large number of healthcare personnel to disaster stricken areas, from the 1960 deadly earthquake in Chile, to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in
China. Currently, there are approximately 30,000 Cubans working in Venezuela, and 4,500 Cuban doctors working in the rural areas of Brazil, in support of the countries’ local public health system. Cuban doctors treating Ebola have been trained according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Before departing for Africa, the staff is trained for a minimum of two weeks on appropriately treating patients while assuring that they are protecting themselves from the virus. Besides reaping goodwill from partners of the Global South, Cuba also gains considerable financial benefits. When Hugo Chávez took office in Venezuela, Cuba began to practice an “oil for doctor” model. Dating back to 2000, agreements were signed between both countries. The one signed in 2005 indicated that Venezuela would provide a fixed number of barrels of petroleum per day in exchange for Cuban doctors, medicine and medical training. This initiative garnered a good deal of political capital as the medical care was highly appreciated by the recipient countries. Cuba’s medical diplomacy contributes to overwhelming international support in the United Nations for the United States to dismantle its embargo towards Cuba. El Salvador’s President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, for example, called for an end to the US economic blockade against Cuba at the 69th General Assembly this September. The New York Times also published an influential editorial “Obama should End the Embargo on Cuba,” arguing that normalization of the relations with Havana will be beneficial to the future of US-Latin American relations. While the direct export of
Sierra Leone’s government welcomes the 165 Cuban health-care workers who came to fight Ebola. medical personnel around the world remains highly stable, medical training serves as a means for Cuba to extend its diplomatic model. Each year, Cuba attracts large numbers of students from around the world to study medicine. For instance, the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, the largest medical school in the world, provides free training for students mainly from Latin America and the Caribbean. Cuba has also sent medical professionals to train and educate students at local institutions, better preparing them to care for members of the communities. The Cuban medical training programs even extend to the South-West Pacific. By 2009, 186 Timorese students were trained locally, with a larger cohort of 658 such students being trained in Cuba. In addition, the Faculty of Medicine of East Timor National University was strongly supported by Cuban medical professors. THE CONTROVERSIAL LEGACY OF CASTRO Cuba’s healthcare system has long been lauded by the
rest of the world for its free and high quality healthcare. According to 2012 statistics from UNICEF, the life expectancy at birth in Cuba is 79.1 years, exceeding that of most countries in the Western Hemisphere — including the United States (78.8). According to the National Statistics Office, with 82,065 doctors, one for every 137 people, Cuba has one of the best-staffed medical networks in the world. The island’s outstanding achievement in healthcare is attributed to the socialist power of “mass organization,” and the capacity to “mobilize the entire country in a nationwide campaign to do what needs to be done.” Healthcare that covers the country’s entire population is a tremendously ambitious project, which involves the participation of all mass organizations. For instance, in 1964, the trade unions, Cuban Women’s Federation, the neighborhood Committees for the Defense, among others, promoted the distribution of anti-polio
Malaria Day in the Americas 2014 (From the desk of the Vector Control Director, Dr Reyaud Rahman) Malaria has been found in Guyana for decades in the hinterland regions and most likely has been here even before our first people. The Regions in which malaria is found are regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine. These are known as the endemic malaria Regions. It has caused many deaths, much suffering to persons, and loss of income and directly affects our gross domestic product. There are many strategies used in the fight against malaria. However, for the past three years there has been heavy investment in Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs), and more operations
Dr. Reyaud Rahman in the endemic regions to actively seek out cases and treat them early in order to break the disease transmission. Collaboration
with other related or unrelated sectors are in place to assist in different aspects of disease awareness to maximize resources and make emphasis on surveillance to direct resources to the most affected areas and populations. Every year since 2003 Guyana has celebrated Malaria Day to highlight our achievements throughout the year which brought interest to eliminate the scourge the disease sometimes attracts. An increase in awareness and understanding of the disease to the targeted population has created change-agents to promote best practices in order to break the disease transmission and generate advocacy or support from the policy makers, stakeholders
and patients. Malaria Day is celebrated on November 6th which commemorates the day French Physician Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran discovered parasites in the blood of patients who had fever back in 1880 and realized that the parasites were in fact the cause of malaria. For his discovery and other discoveries he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1907. At the 27th Pan American Sanitary Conference held in Washington DC in 2007, the proposal made by Guyana was reviewed and the motion was fully approved. It was agreed that every year on November 6th, Malaria Day in the Americas, would be celebrated.
vaccine to 2,450,000 children under the age of 14 in 1964, and 1,407,000 children under six in 1966. Cuban doctors are entirely accessible to the masses so that they can find one within a few blocks from their home. A strong domestic healthcare system is the foundation of Cuba’s remarkably consistent medical collaboration with other countries, which has been carried out for over half a century. However, the export of doctors from the island has been criticized as being more political than humanitarian. Amauris Smartino Flories, a doctor and an anti-Castro activist, pointed that Cuba was sending more doctors to oil-rich Venezuela rather than Haiti, the hemisphere’s poorest country. While curing the wounds of people around the world, the Cuban doctors are unavoidably suspected of disseminating propaganda into the minds of those they interact with. Anti-Castro critics insist that security concerns arise while Cuban presence grows. It is claimed by sources close to the Martelly government of Haiti that, by collecting intelligence in the countries they serve, the Cuban medical corps are “playing a double game.” However, it should be noted that the United States and other politically engaged nations carried on the same range of activities, even on a more intense level. FRIEND OR FOE? As the United States pours money into West Africa, the small island state of Cuba is contributing with medical care, filling the medical vacuum by dispatching doctors and nurses to nations needing them. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, said late last month regarding the situation of the situation, “Money and materials are important, but those two things alone cannot stop Ebola virus transmission.” The region is in urgent need of medical personnel, and
Cuba was one of the first governments to send health care workers prepared to combat Ebola. Despite the suspicion that one of Cuba’s main aims is to spread ideology rather than medicine, Cuba’s performance has gained praise from the Ebola-stricken countries. On October 8, President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone expressed gratitude and appreciation to Cuba: “This is a friendship that we have experienced since the 1970s and today you have demonstrated that you are a great friend of the country.” As the high-flying symbol of the South-to-South partnerships, the CubanAfrican cooperation model is transforming post-Cold War hegemony posed by the United States. The collaboration between Cuba and Venezuela has long been considered a challenge to US dominance in the region. As the applause for Cuba increases, the US is struggling to maintain its “global giant” profile. According to an interview with Julie M. Feinsilver conducted by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, this should be considered as an appropriate opportunity for the United States, United Kingdom and Cuba to collaborate in stemming the Ebola epidemic. “The US and UK are providing medical facilities while Cuba is providing medical staff,” Dr Feinsilver said. “Our principle has been to share what we have and not to give what we don’t,” said Dr Jorge Pérez Ávila, the director of the Pedro Kouri Institute for Tropical Medicine in Havana. “The little we have, we share. Our principle resource is human capital.” This is a campaign purely based on medical boundaries, not political ones. Cuba deserves recognition by the international community for its prompt response to the Ebola epidemic.
Sunday November 02, 2014
From page 31 government came out in defence of the Attorney General. In the recording, Nandlall is heard talking about an imminent attack on Kaieteur News that would see the innocent paying for the guilty. He also made an offer of employment to the reporter who he said was working in a “dangerous place”. In the expletive-laden conversation, Nandlall talks of the heightened confrontation with Kaieteur News after the newspaper threatened to release details of his wife. In a statement, the government sought to accuse the newspaper of manipulating “a private conversation of a Government Minister, whose conversation was illegally recorded, and distorted, and broadcast.” The government’s questionable claim of illegality was not supported by Nandlall during the release of a previous recording some years ago when Winston Felix was Police Commissioner. THURSDAY EDITION CLERK REJECTS SPEAKER’S DIRECTIVE TO RECONVENE PARLIAMENT …SITTINGS CANNOT BE BOUND BY THE WHIMS OF THE EXECUTIVE – TROTMAN The brouhaha surrounding the first sitting of the National Assembly since it emerged out of recess on October 10, last, continues to escalate this time with the Speaker, Raphael Trotman and Clerk, Sherlock Isaacs, at loggerheads over whose power it is to reconvene. Trotman recently publicized his decision to have the House reconvene next week Thursday but the Clerk has voiced his consternation over the move by Trotman, saying that he was acting outside of his jurisdiction. Trotman, in a statement to the media Wednesday said that it is “not for the first time in the 48-year history of the National Assembly, the Speaker and the Clerk are at odds over the power of the Speaker to convene the sittings of the National Assembly.” According to Trotman, he was Wednesday formally notified by the Clerk of the National Assembly, that after consideration, his request for the National Assembly to be convened on Thursday, November 6, 2014, cannot be given effect to by him because he is of the view that the Speaker lacks the authority to convene sittings
Kaieteur News
of National Assembly under Standing Order 8 (1) and (2). “I will be writing to the Clerk to register my disagreement with his interpretation of the Standing Orders and his consequent position adopted…I will also so advise, in writing, as well as to the Leaders of the political parties in the House.” According to Trotman, “This is a most unfortunate position arrived at, and obviously arises out of a very narrow interpretation of the Standing Orders, and of the prevailing circumstances whereby the National Assembly entered into recess and has emerged from that recess, and a majority of Members desire to meet.” FRIDAY EDITION RAMOTAR’S SUPPORT FOR NANDLALL PROMOTES GOV’T SECRECYAND LACK OF TRANSPARENCY – GHRA The following is an excerpt from a statement from the Executive Committee of the Guyana Human Rights Association. “The tirade of threats, coarse language, suggestions of misuse of public funds and anti-women comments by AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, during a recent telephone call to a Kaieteur News reporter, has generated public astonishment and calls for his resignation. Almost as shocking as the incident itself, however, is the hapless defense of Nandlall by President Ramotar on the flimsy grounds that the taping of the conversation was illegal. The failure of the President to distance the Cabinet and himself from the
content of the call has effectively elevated Nandlall’s action from a personal rant to being the latest step in the increasingly desperate official response to the campaign by Kaieteur News for greater official transparency on public funds involved in a range of controversial projects. These include the secretive government agency NICIL, ownership of the Marriott Hotel, the privileges enjoyed by the companies which benefitted from the Sanata Complex give-away; telecommunications deals and the Bai Shan Lin contract. Efforts by Government to resist providing Parliament and the public with this information have spiralled downwards over the years. Along the way, secrecy and lack of transparency has taken its toll on a number of Government mechanisms. These include the politically-poisoned implementation of broadcast license distribution; years of foot-dragging over establishing the Procurement Commission; appointing a Commissioner of Information who views his role more as guard-dog than gatekeeper, together with comprehensive and continuous abuse of the State-owned media. TOP PERFORMERS REWARDED A drum roll compliments of the Guyana Police Force Band signaled the start of the auspicious moment when Guyana, through the Ministry of Education, officially honoured the top performers of the 2014 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination, who were named among the top regional performers.
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Guyana was this year able to secure four of the eight top regional awards offered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) for the examination this year. Among the outstanding performers honoured Thursday was Elisa Hamilton who, with her 19 Grade Ones and 1 Grade Two, was named the overall top performer at both the national and regional levels. Also honoured Thursday were Hamilton’s schoolmates, Aliyyah Abdul Kadir, who with 13 subjects was named the Region’s Best Performer in Humanities, and Ryhan Chand with 13 subjects, who was named the Region’s Best Performer in Business Education. Kishan Critchlow of the New Amsterdam Secondary School was recognised as the Region’s Best Performer in Technological/Vocational Education. He secured passes in 12 subjects. The top regional performers were all presented with awards by Head of State, President Donald Ramotar, which was in fact the high point of the Ministry of Education’s 18th National
Award Ceremony held Thursday at the National Cultural Centre. The awards ceremony, which is held annually, is listed among the activities to mark Education Month. Hamilton was also named Best Senior Secondary School performer along with her classmates Larissa Wiltshire (who was also named Best Science Performer), Lisa John, Sarah Hack, Varsha Boodram and Aliyyah Abdul Kadir. Also awarded Thursday were the top performers of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) including: Best Performer Deowattie Narine; Cecil Cox, Andy Sattan, Prashat Shivdas, Keleshwar Singh and Benedict Sukra, all of Queen’s College. SATURDAY EDITION ‘ILLEGAL INTERCEPT’ CHARGES AGAINST KNEWS ‘UTTER NONSENSE’ …WOULD CONSTITUTEA GRAVE ATTACK ON PRESS FREEDOM— WOOLFORD It has been condemned as illegally obtained by none
other than Head of State, Donald Ramotar—an audio recording of Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, making threats against this publication—but for the administration to pursue charges against Publisher Glenn Lall and Editor-in-Chief, Adam Harris, under the rubric of illegal interception would be “utter nonsense.” This is the view of veteran broadcaster and executive member of the Guyana Press Association, Enrico Woolford. Yesterday, Woolford said during a candid interview, that should this course of action be pursued it would result in Guyana becoming the laughing stock of the Caribbean, “if we continue along this slope of jackassery.” “This country is going crazy; somebody is going crazy where these laws are being used whimsically and flippantly.” Woolford said that it would be utter nonsense to use the Interception of Communication Act to deny journalists and media houses of the tools of their trade.
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Kaieteur News
Why you need to exercise if you have diabetes By Dr. Kumar Sukhraj Lifestyle change (Diet and Exercise) is the foundation of any successful management plan for diabetes. In this article emphasis is be placed on Exercise. Exercise plays a very important role in managing diabetes. Once a diabetic combines exercise, diet and medicine (when prescribed) they are on their way to take control of their weight and blood sugar level. This will improve the quality of life and prevent complications of diabetes. Exercise helps control diabetes by: · Improving your body’s use of insulin · Burning and reducing excess body fat, helping to decrease and control weight (decreased body fat results in improved insulin sensitivity) · Improving muscle strength · Increasing bone density and strength · Lowering blood pressure · Helping to protect against heart and blood vessel disease by lowering ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and increasing ‘good’ HDL cholesterol · Improving blood circulation and reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke · Increasing energy level and enhancing work capacity
· Reducing stress, promoting relaxation, and releasing tension and anxiety Exercise tips · Aerobics, dancing, brisk walking, riding and swimming are some good choices for people with Diabetes. The chosen activity should be safe, enjoyable, repetitive, challenging and regularly done (4-5 times per week). Safe equipment and clothing are essential, and in many cases, certain medical checks will be needed before starting an exercise regime. · To reduce the risk of hypoglycemia if you have diabetes, follow a regular routine of exercising, eating your meals, and taking your medicine at the same time each day. · Prolonged or strenuous exercise can cause your body to produce adrenaline and other hormones that can counteract the effects of insulin and cause your blood sugar to rise. If you are participating in strenuous exercise (exercising at your maximum capacity) or prolonged exercise (lasting for several hours or more), your insulin and/or oral diabetic medicine or your calories may need to be changed. Talk to your health care provider about how to adjust your medicine. · Exercise with someone who knows you have diabetes and knows what to do if you have a low blood-sugar reaction.
· Wear a medical identification tag or carry an identification card that states you have diabetes. · Check your sugars before, during and after exercise and always carry a small carbohydrate snack such as a fruit or fruit drink since low blood sugars can occur. · Depending on the time of exercise, reducing your dose of either long-acting insulin or short-acting insulin may be necessary. Your doctor can recommend how to make this adjustment. It is important to get started. Exercise is safe and highly recommended for most people with diabetes, including those with complications. Patients sometimes get intimidated (feel pressured) when they are told that they need to exercise. Please do not worry. Exercise in not costly and does not require you to spend any money in excess. Just a little determination and guidance and you are on your way to a healthy lifestyle. Please feel free to send an email to kumarsukhraj@yahoo.com or call 6228032 for further enquiry and discussion on the topic. Patient education plays an important in the diagnosis and management of diabetes and any other illness. Please look forward for a continuation of the discussion on health issues in the next publication.
Individual genetic differences may affect Ebola survival: study Scientists have been puzzling for years over why some people survive Ebola while many others perish. A new study provides strong evidence that individual genetic differences play a major role in whether people die from the disease. Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle reported their findings on Thursday in the journal Science. They compared conventional lab mice, which typically just die when infected with a mouse version of Ebola, with genetically diverse lab mice that developed a wide range of symptoms in much the same way that people infected with the virus do. Mice used in the study were generated from eight different strains of the animal and were bred to represent human genetic diversity. Symptoms in these
genetically diverse mice ranged from mild weight loss to full, hemorrhagic fever, including internal bleeding, swollen spleens and changes in liver color and texture. “We infected these mice with a mouse-adopted strain of Ebola virus,” said Angela Rasmussen, a microbiologist at the University of Washington who helped lead the study. “In classical lab mice, this strain of Ebola kills the animals but it doesn’t produce hemorrhagic disease,” she said. Researchers think the findings may help answer some questions about the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which has killed about 5,000 people. A major question has been whether Ebola survivors have had some prior viral exposure that enables their immune systems to fight the
infection or whether there is something genetically unique about survivors that makes them resistant. The mouse study cannot address the issue of prior immunity but makes a strong case for the idea that an individual’s genetic code plays a role in surviving Ebola. “There is definitely a genetic component,” Rasmussen said. The study shows that host genes influence which cells become infected and how much the virus replicates, said Professor Andrew Easton, a virologist at the University of Warwick, who was not part of the study. “Most of these genes are involved in the very earliest stages of our immune response to infection,” something that has also been seen with other viruses, he said in a statement.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Sleep apnea tied to memory problems The ability to remember locations and directions may suffer when deep sleep is disrupted by breathing difficulties, a new study suggests. People with sleep apnea tended to score worse on spatial memory tests after sleeping without their breathing aid, compared to mornings after they’d used their breathing aids at night, researchers found. “There had been some evidence in animal models that REM sleep or dreaming sleep is important for spatial memory, but no one had shown or proven that in people,” said Dr. Andrew Varga, the study’s lead author from NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. “Spatial memory” helps people remember how to get to their children’s schools, or where they left their keys, for example. It’s thought that people may have difficulty forming new spatial memories if their deep sleep and shallow sleep are interrupted, according to Varga. People with sleep apnea some 18 million Americans, according to the National Sleep Foundation experience numerous pauses in breathing that can last from seconds to minutes. As a result, people with sleep apnea are often tired when they wake. To see whether individuals with sleep apnea tended to have more difficulty forming new spatial memories, the researchers recruited 18 such people to spend two nights in their sleep center, about two weeks
apart. The volunteers had always slept with a so-called CPAP machine to eliminate sleep apnea. During one night in the sleep lab, they slept with CPAP. The other night, their CPAP was reduced or turned off during deep sleep to induce apnea. On each of the two nights, before they went to bed, participants were asked to complete a video game maze. The next morning, they completed the maze again. After a night of sleep with their CPAP machine, the time it took the volunteers to complete the maze improved by about 30 percent. They also traveled farther in the maze and spent less time backtracking. But after a night with sleep apnea, the volunteers were about 4 percent slower at completing the maze, compared to the night before. “People had no improvement and actually on average they got a bit worse,” Varga said. “We interpret that to mean their consolidation in spatial memory wasn’t as good when REM (deep) sleep was disrupted.” The researchers can’t say
whether the worse performance is directly from the disruptions in sleep caused by the apnea, or whether it’s the lack of oxygen the condition causes. Varga said they are testing the apnea or oxygen question now. They are also looking at whether apnea during shallow sleep affects spatial memory. “The thought is that you need both (deep and shallow sleep),” he said. “If you don’t have one or the other, you don’t’ have the ability to consolidate the information.” Varga said he hopes the results of the study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, will encourage more doctors to treat sleep apnea early – instead of waiting until the condition worsens. “Apnea is very common and has a variety of deleterious effects that have to do not only with cardiovascular health, but also there is an emerging dataset - of which this paper is only one piece - to suggest there are really cognitive effects also,” he said. (Reuters Health)
Having controlling parents may affect later relationships Teens whose parents use guilt or withholding have trouble working out disagreements well into adulthood, according to a new study. “To maintain healthy relationships, it is important to be able to assert one’s own beliefs during a disagreement while also continuing to be warm toward the person,” said lead author Barbara Oudekerk, a psychologist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Previous studies have found that teens who struggle with confidently expressing their opinions during a disagreement are at risk for using hostile methods
in their own relationships and experiencing depression and loneliness in close relationships in adulthood. Experiences with parents do seem to “cascade” into future friendships, the authors found. For the study, 184 teens were interviewed at age 13 and again at age 18, answering questions about how often their mother or father exerted psychological control, such as using guilt, withdrawing love, fostering anxiety or employing other manipulative techniques. Some parents used psychological control by saying, for example, “If you really cared for me, you
wouldn’t do things to worry me,” or by becoming distant when their teens didn’t see eye to eye with them. Researchers also assessed the teens’ ability to reason, to “be their own people” and to express confidence, as well as their ability to show warmth and connection at ages 13, 18 and 21, partly by recruiting and surveying the teens’ close friends. Researchers watched the subjects and their friends or romantic partners have disagreements and discussions on tape and coded their interactions for confidence, warmth and collaborativeness.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
ABC News takes over ‘The View’ from network’s entertainment division
ABC News has taken control of the gabfest, which, for the last 18 seasons, has been operated by the network’s entertainment television group, the same division that handled soap operas and prime-time programming. The hope is that the same top managers who were able to make “Good Morning America” the most watched morning show on television can inject some of that DNA into “The View.” Plans for the change have been in the works for months, production sources said, but since the show recently relaunched with new hosts and a new production team, the plan was to wait a few weeks until the new “View” settled into a rhythm. “Now it’s beginning to
gel,” the source said. No layoffs are planned because of the shift and no further major overhauls are in the works, ABC News spokeswoman Julie Townsend said. “At this point there aren’t going to be any more sweeping changes.” A major benefit of the shift will be that it allows “View” producers to tap into the news division’s vast resources, including booking teams and video libraries, sources said. “The View” will be the first live programming to fall under the ABC News’ non-fiction programming group. The group, which produces shows for both ABC and other networks is behind shows like “New York Med” a recent special on the Ebola
virus for Discovery Channel and Oprah’s “Surgeon Oz,” on the OWN channel. Until Thursday, top members of ABC News had been “unofficially consulting” for the show - as evidenced by their attendance in the audience when the new edition launched earlier this fall. ABC News chief James Goldston broke the news about “The View” joining ABC News to staffers Thursday in an internal memo obtained by The News. “Moving The View to our non-fiction programming group now allows it to fully draw on the vast resources of ABC News and our team in New York, especially now that the show is based right next to the Barbara Walters building,” Goldston wrote.
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Three very big secrets from the set of ‘The Big Bang Theory’
TV’s number one comedy “The Big Bang Theory” kicked off its eighth season this year, and ET was on set to get some juicy gossip from the show’s stars. #1: Is Kaley Pregnant? Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco, who play engaged couple Leonard and Penny on the show, talked with Frazier about their on-screen relationship, but the conversation quickly turned to Cuoco’s real-life romance. The actress married tennis player Ryan Sweeting at the end of last year, and baby rumors are beginning to fly. “I knew I shouldn’t have worn this!” Cuoco laughed about her choice of a loose draped blouse, as pregnancy talk started immediately. “The
short haircut isn’t helping the pregnancy rumors by the way,” Galecki teased, pointing out Cuoco’s new pixie cut. The actress fired back, “What does that mean?” Galecki attempted to answer, “I don’t know. Women always seem to get their hair cut...they don’t...I don’t know...I’m staying out of it,” before thinking better of it and trailing off. Classic Leonard. #2: The Secrets of Sheldon’s Seat When Frazier asked Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik, nerdy couple Sheldon and Amy on the show, for some set secrets, they pointed him to Sheldon’s “special spot,” a seat on the couch that the character believes is optimally oriented for his
sitting pleasure (and no one else’s!). “There was an episode where something got on that cushion,” Parsons dished. “It was so established, that they were very scared they would ruin the cushion, so they made a whole other cushion.” Parsons showed ET the fake pillow which surprised even Bialik, who exclaimed, “I didn’t even know that and I sit on it!” “We rehearse with this so that we don’t ruin the other one,” Parsons revealed. #3 Indecent Exposure Frazier’s conversation with Simon Helberg (Howard), Kunal Nayyar (Raj), and Melissa Rauch (Bernadette) got off the rails quickly, as Helberg thought Frazier was asking for “sex secrets” from
War’ wasn’t set; ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ wasn’t out yet.” he said. “Guardians,” which came out in August, is the biggestgrossing film of the year. Robert Downey Jr., who plays Iron Man, and Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, were on hand for the
presentation, along with Chadwick Boseman, who will play Black Panther. “I’m blessed to be a part of this Marvel universe, and I’m looking forward to making magic happen,” Boseman said. The actor portrayed Jackie Robinson in last year’s “42” and recently played James Brown in “Get On Up.” However, Cumberbatch was a no-show. “If it were confirmed, we would have introduced him today,” Feige said at the news conference. Cumberbatch is currently on a hot streak. In addition to his well-received “Sherlock” series, for which he won an Emmy this year, he’s earned a great deal of Oscar buzz for his performance as cyberpioneer Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game,” a drama about World War II codebreakers.
‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ many others on Marvel movie slate Marvel announced a huge slate of forthcoming films at a recent news conference — including a two-part “Avengers,” “Infinity War” — but left out a bit of “Strange” information fans were waiting for. At an enthusiastic gathering at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre, Marvel chief Kevin Feige reeled off announcements for a new Captain America film, a “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequel and the two-part Avengers adventure. The company also plans to introduce some of its other characters on the big screen, including Black Panther, Captain Marvel and the Inhumans. Drone villains: A message to Washington Stan Lee: king of comics 2012: Anatomy of a summer blockbuster
Although a “Doctor Strange” film was announced, Marvel didn’t bring out Benedict Cumberbatch, who has been widely rumored to be in negotiations to play the powerful magician. Benedict Cumberbatch reportedly to play Doctor Strange “We’re opening up an entire new corner of the (Marvel) cinematic universe: the mystical,” Feige said. “Doctor Strange” is scheduled for release November 4, 2016. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and made his first appearance in Strange Tales No. 110 in 1963. He’s a former neurosurgeon who rises to become the Sorcerer Supreme and protect the planet from magical threats. Scott Derrickson is set to direct.
“Strange” wasn’t the only film to get a spot on the Marvel calendar. The new Captain America film, “Captain America: Civil War,” will be released May 6, 2016. A “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequel is slated for May 5, 2017, and the next Thor movie will come out in July 2017. “Black Panther” will follow in November 2017, “Captain Marvel” in July 2018 and “The Inhumans” in November 2018. Captain Marvel will be a female superhero, the alter ego of Carol Danvers. Marvel tweeted concept art for “Black Panther.” In addition, Marvel announced a two-part “Avengers” film, “Avengers: Infinity War,” due in 2018 and 2019. “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the sequel to 2012’s “The Avengers,” comes out
in 2015. Its trailer has already lit up the Internet. Feige said Marvel’s plans — and the opportunity to make a big announcement — have been the works for a while. “We wanted to do this at Comic-Con this year, and things were not set: ‘Civil
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Interesting Creatures...
The Arowana A
rowanas are freshwater bony fish of the family Osteoglossidae, also known as bony tongues (the latter name is now often reserved for Arapaimidae). In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is covered by large, heavy scales, with a mosaic pattern of canals. The dorsal and anal fins have soft rays and are long based while the pectoral and ventral fins are small. The name "bony tongues" is derived from a toothed bone on the floor of the mouth, the "tongue", equipped with teeth that bite against teeth on the roof of the mouth. The arowana is a facultative air breather and can obtain oxygen from air by sucking it into its swim bladder, which is lined with capillaries like lung tissue Osteoglossids are basal (primitive) fish from the lower Tertiary and are placed in the actinopterygiid order Osteoglossiformes. As traditionally defined, the family includes several extant species from South America, one from Africa, several from Asia, and the remaining two are from A u s t r a l i a . To d a y t h e Arapaimidae is often regarded as a separate family, which includes the arapaimas and the African arowana. Consequently, the South American genus
Osteoglossum, and the Asian and Australian genus Scleropages are the only extant genera that remain in the Osteoglossids family. Arapaimidae and Osteoglossidae split about 220 million years ago (Mya), during the Late Triassic. Within Osteoglossidae, the South America Osteoglossum arowanas diverged from the Asian and Australian Scleropages arowanas about 170 Mya, during the Middle Jurassic. The Osteoglossidae are the only exclusively freshwater fish family found on both sides of the Wallace Line. This may be explained by the theory that Asian arowanas (S. formosus) diverged from the Australian Scleropages, S. jardinii and S. leichardti, about 140 Mya, making it likely that Asian arowanas were carried to Asia on the Indian subcontinent. At least five extinct genera, known only from fossils, are classified as osteoglossids; these date back at least as far as the Late Cretaceous. Other fossils from as far back as the Late Jurassicor Early Cretaceous are widely considered to belong to the arowana superorder Osteoglossomorpha. Osteoglossomorph fossils have been found on all continents except Antarctica. These fossil genera include Brychaetus,
Joffrichthys, and Phareodus. Osteoglossids are carnivorous, often being specialized surface feeders. They are excellent jumpers; Osteoglossum species have been seen leaping more than 6 ft (almost 2 m) from the water surface to pick off insects and birds from overhanging branches in South America, hence the nickname "water monkeys". Arowana species typically
grow to around 2 to 3 ft in captivity. Several species of osteoglossids exhibit parental care. They build nests and protect their young after they hatch. All species are mouthbrooders, the parents holding sometimes hundreds of eggs in their mouths. The young may make several tentative trips outside the parent's mouth to
investigate the surroundings before leaving permanently. Arowanas are solitary fish and only allow company while young; adults may show dominance and aggression. Some compatible species often partnered with this fish are clown knifefish, pacu, oscars, plecostomus, jaguar cichlids, green terrors, gar, tinfoil barb, Siamese
tigerfish, and any other somewhat aggressive fish that cannot fit in the arowana's mouth. These fish are best kept with live or frozen feed and they easily outgrow the tank within 8 to 10 months. An aquarium of at least 150 gallons is preferable. Australian species are best kept alone in aquaria. (Source: Wikipedia – The Free Online Encyclopedia)
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
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Is there any depth to the depravity of the PPP Govt.? By Ralph Seeram I am reading this transcript and my blood is literally boiling. Is this for real? Is this really the Attorney General of Guyana speaking; the guardian of the constitution; the guardian of the people’s rights, the guardian of the Rule of Law and Democracy? Is this the person talking about “when you continue to attack people like that and they have no way of responding they gun just walk with their weapon into that same f**king Saffon Street office and wha come suh do and innocent Peter gun gah pay fuh f**king Paul in deh one day?” By now you must have read that famous transcript of a conversation between a reporter of this newspaper and the Guyanese Attorney General, which from press reports the AG has acknowledged is authentic. This conversation confirms what this newspaper has been saying all along, that the PPP Government is bent on silencing Kaieteur News, Guyana’s largest selling newspaper, and one that has the largest online readers in the Guyanese Diaspora.
Could it get any worse than this? Do the Guyanese people need any more evidence of the arrogance of this government which feels that it is not accountable to its people, that it must not be criticized in any way, shape or form for its corruption? That conversation, if it was coming from anyone else in Government, might have been almost insignificant, but coming from the Attorney General of the country, one has to take the threats seriously. There are some aspects of this conversation that have not been highlighted, like the AG allegedly breaking the law. “I use some money from the government, Glenn mek an issue of it. I pay back deh f**king money long before he even mek de issue and he know about it because I pay it back.” Now is he saying that he converted some taxpayers’ money to his own use? If so then he is guilty of a serious crime; it does not matter if he paid back the money. Many public servants have been jailed for converting public funds to their own use. But then again who is going to charge the Attorney General? Shalimar
Ali-Hack can you really “try devil case in hell”? This might have been hilarious had the issue not been so serious. Is the AG “pimping” for his friend or uncle? AG: “Who who is the other staff? Some girl dem see”…..he went on …”De man wan f**k de girl, de man tell me seriously he wan knock de girl.” “You can arrange”? Seriously, doesn’t that sound like a pimp at work? Remember this is the Attorney General. Still not satisfied, later on he will ask three times again about the girl, later saying he got no ulterior motives. What is amazing is the PPP coming out defending the Attorney General, despite clear evidence of law breaking. The party did not doubt the authenticity of the recording, but came out with this piece of nonsense for a defence. “We stand by the Attorney General, as the Government of Guyana goes out of its way to foster peace and goodwill. We believe in the INTEGRITY and PROFFESSIONALISM of the Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall, and stand by
him. “Today, to our utter consternation, the public listened to a voice recording and was shocked at what the nation heard. Broadcast on social media, the recording contains a distorted, manipulated conversation between a Minister and Leonard Gildarie, a reporter from the Kaieteur News.” What distorted or manipulated conversation? Here the man is ranting in gutter language, boasting how superior he is. I thought the caste system died when indentured labourers arrived in this country. But here the man claims he is a higher class, a higher breed, but pimping and behaving worse than a “chamar”. If the AG’s behaviour is the PPP standard for Integrity, then the PPP has really lost its way, lost the moral right to rule this country. The PPP always defends the indefensible, taking the Guyanese public for asses and insulting the intelligence of Guyanese. The PPP defenders are focused on how the tape was obtained rather than the message. The MESSAGE is what is important here, not the
MESSENGER. The PPP is more focused on the messenger (Kaieteur News) than the message. Here is the problem for the PPP and why it could lose the next election. On my recent trip to Guyana I was in Crabwood Creek on the Corentyne, a PPP stronghold dominated by IndoGuyanese. I was perusing the voters’ list posted on the shop when a young Indo Guyanese in his 20s, let’s call him Ramesh, engaged me in a political conversation, and told me he would be VOTING FOR PNC. Why? Because the PPP has let down the sugar workers and the people. I was shocked. Here in PPP stronghold this young Indo Guyanese is declaring he is going to vote for the opposition PNC. That is where the PPP problems lie; not Glenn Lall or Kaieteur News; not the messenger. Glenn Lall only has one vote. It is that young former PPP supporter, and you can bet there are thousands like him, totally disillusioned with the PPP. That is where their problem lies. That is what the
PPP focus should be on because if more of its supporters stay away from the polls like they did in the last election or switch to other parties, the PPP will be history at the next election. In other societies the AG would not only have had to resign, but would have been charged with a crime; but not in Guyana. Nandlall boasted that “I am clean….I never tek a dog from any...f**king body….I never thief”. Is this an indirect admission that others in the Government are thieves? Just asking. Before I close I want to express my deepest sympathy to the family of Navin Chandarpal. He was one of the few in the PPP with integrity. I knew Navin way back. He was from New Amsterdam like me. In my last conversation with him less than two years ago, he thanked me for coming to his defence when former President Bharrat Jagdeo tried to smear his character. May he R.I.P. Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: ralph365@hotmail.com or Facebook.
Natural Resources Ministry working in hinterland to ensure sustainable livelihood Amerindian leaders are being urged to work closely with agencies under the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to ensure they continue along a path of sustainable livelihood. During an interactive session with Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Robert Persaud, the importance of the NTC was underscored as it is very rare regionally and hemispherically for any grouping to interact with the Cabinet. “I want to reinforce the importance of this activity and to indicate that it shows the commitment, as well as the dedication of the PPP/C in ensuring that the welfare and development of the hinterland region is given equal attention as we pursue development in our communities, country wide.” Minister Persaud, speaking on his sector, noted its importance to the existence of hinterland communities, as well as every other citizen. “If you look at our policy documents, the National
Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud addressing Amerindian Leaders at the NTC 2014
Development Strategy document and the Low Carbon Development Strategy, the welfare and wellbeing of our Amerindian brothers and sisters continue to be central and be given due attention, given the importance of the need for this positive interaction.” The Ministry of Natural
Resources and the Environment has a work base in more than 197 communities, of which 35% have issues as it relates to development and natural resources. “We are working to have those matters addressed; we have developed an approach and continue to develop that
approach whereby we want to be more proactive in addressing your concern, not to wait until we have conflict.” The Minister pointed out that this approach which the Ministry is working towards targets community involvement and dialogue through the various agencies.
These agencies include the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission and Wildlife department. The Leaders were reminded that these agencies
are mandated to engage with them, to address issues in their respective communities with the aim of finding possible solutions. The proactive efforts are also intended to ensure concerns are readily addressed. Amerindians are given the opportunity to (Continued on page 66)
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Man remanded for robbing Muneshwar’s security guard of $3M Yusei Grant, who was unrepresented in court, faced Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry to address the charge of robbery under arms on Friday afternoon. It is alleged that on October 27, 2014, along with others and being armed with a gun, Grant robbed security guard Naresh Raghoorash of one haversack containing $3 million dollars, property of Muneshwars Trading Co.
Police Prosecutor Michael Grant said that on the day in question the virtual complainant was about to go to Muneshwar’s wharf when he was confronted by the defendant and two others who were armed with a gun. A scuffle ensued which resulted in the security guard being shot. It was then that the bag was released. The prosecutor also stated that the defendant admitted to the crime upon his arrest.
However, he pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge when it was read to him in court. The prosecution objected to bail based on the seriousness of the offence, amount of money involved, evidence offered, the fact that someone was shot and also because the defendant might interfere with the police’s apprehension of the other suspects. The defendant was remanded to prison until November 14.
Seaman and poultry farmer on remand for robbery under arms Two men were remanded to prison when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya-Sewnarine Beharry on Friday to address the charge of robbery under arms at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. It is alleged that Samuel Duncan and Kevin Braxton, armed with dangerous weapons, robbed Navindra Sarwan of $18,000 and a blackberry cellular phone valued 40,000 on October 30, 2014. Police Prosecuter Michael Grant said that on the day in question around 23:30 hours, Sarwan was walking along Camp Street when he was approached by the two defendants on a bicycle. Duncan allegedly had an icepick and Braxton a screwdriver, and both dealt several stabs to Sarwan before relieving him of his articles. Sarwan was picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Co-operation (GPHC) by public spirited citizens.
Yusei Grant
Seaman: Kevin Braxton
Acting on information received, the defendants were arrested and charged. The virtual complainant is still hospitalized in a stable condition. Samuel Duncan is a poultry farmer and construction worker. He is not married but has two children. Duncan pleaded not guilty to the charge. Kevin Braxton is only nineteen years old and is employed as a seaman, and has pending matters of a
similar nature in court. Prosecutor Grant objected to bail based on the seriousness and gravity of the offence as well as the fact that someone was stabbed and injured during the robbery. Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry objected to bail and ordered statements. The defendants who were unrepresented were remanded to prison until November 18.
Natural Resources Ministry... (From page 65) develop the natural capital, but at the same time do so as custodians of Guyana’s biodiversity while maintaining a level of stewardship. Further, Minister Persaud noted that the Ministry has been working with other international partners to ensure that Amerindians continue to benefit from initiatives that will provide sustainable livelihood. Some of the collaborative ventures include the Norway LCDS fund and the Global Environment Facility. Under the latter, several communities in the Rupununi have benefited from grants for developmental projects. Under the Norway Fund, Guyana, because of the excellent management of the forest, has been able to secure another US$35 M, making it a total of US$150 M for a threeyear period. “It is as a result
of the work we have done, it shows good stewardship of the forest and you have played a part in ensuring that we qualified for this payment. Another example too, at the time where we are seeing expanded mining we have been able to reduce the rate of deforestation,” he stated. “For 2013 given the same year where we recorded the highest gold production we moved the deforestation rate to 0.086 % from 0.097 %. This is as a result of what the government has been doing, as a result of the type of interaction we have had with your communities.” Nevertheless, the Minister noted that there are still some issues that continue to arise from Amerindian communities as a result of not enough awareness. “In many instances we have found that there is the need for a greater understanding of the guiding
legislations that speak to the rights and privileges of all Guyanese in the utilisation of our natural resources.” Hence, the Minister reiterated the need to raise the level of education and awareness. He called on Amerindian leaders to be more aware of persons and groups that are bent on creating distrust and confusion on issues. “I want to alert you that these people have made this their objective of sowing confusion and mistrust among certain communities, but generally in Amerindian villages, and you have to be on the alert and we too have to work to bring more awareness.” Further the Minister pledged his Ministry’s continued support to Amerindian communities for their further development as he called on them to utilise the services on the agencies in place to serve them.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
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US$3.1M for hinterland housing development Family life in several Amerindian communities in Regions One and Nine will be further strengthened with the provision of secure comfortable housing accommodation by the Ministry of Housing and Water. Housing Minister Irfaan Ali, on Thursday, announced that Government has garnered US$3.1M to expand its Hinterland Housing Project that has already benefitted over 200 families in its pilot phase. Addressing Toshaos at the National Toshaos
Conference, Ali said that efforts are being made to enhance the lives of the Indigenous population. The Minister said that the annual conference was held at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal. The Minister said that this initiative would become a reality next year once the allocation is approved in the National Assembly. Some of the communities that will benefit include Whitewater, Sebai, Kamwatta, Massara, Potarinau, and Karasabai. He believes that
- Minister Ali community settlement and expanding housing in Amerindian communities is an important part of future development. Delivering a presentation on the initial Hinterland Housing Project was Donnell Bascom, Senior Community Development Officer. The Hinterland Housing Project was created to improve the living conditions of Amerindians and promote healthy family life. It commenced in 2009 and
Carbon tablet is not Rat Bait... (From page 15) desist from purchasing and using the product. Illegal vending of the product is an offencepunishable under the laws of Guyana. According to the advertisement, the Board will be embarking on a series of other e n f o rcement activities targeting all marketplaces, supermarkets, pharmacies, as well as street vendors to adequately address this issue. “We need to teach everyone to safeguard themselves against the deadly implications of compounds of this nature so that when someone we know suggests using carbon tablet for rats, roaches or to fumigate their homes, there’s always someone to remind that this is a very very bad idea.� The Board has since provided a list of rodenticides which are registered to be
used in Guyana. The list includes Brigand, Brodifacoum Cuomafen Wax
Block, Eagle , Klerat Wax Blocks, Storm rat bait , and Raticate Bait Blocks.
after careful planning and designing with input from residents, the first disbursement of subsidies was made in 2011. Initially, the project targeted 200 families but with labour and affordable materials an additional eight families benefited. Some of the communities that benefited are Manawarin, Ornoqoue, Annai, Katoka and Apoteri. According to Bascom, 122
families are now living in newly constructed houses equipped with rainwater harvesting systems and have access to sanitary solutions. Eighty-six families benefited from roof replacements and rainwater harvesting systems. Bascom praised the partnership between the Ministry and the communities. She explained that labour was provided by the villagers.
More than 100 villagers were employed with the project. Materials to construct the houses were purchased from within the communities, effectively contributing to the village economies. She said that the workers took great pride in their work and delivered excellent houses. The communities, particularly village leaders, took ownership of the projects.
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SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.–CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. Spare for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call: 225-9032, 647-2943 Just Arrived! A new shipment of combine parts, Italian made - Call: 660-0342, 222-3538, 335-3100,3353434, 335-4122 1 Model M Bush Truck with Winch & dump, 1 Honda ATV 4-wheel bike used only for prospecting, 250 hours, excellent condition. Contact: 672-4536 New American Made Warmer, aluminum ladders 32FT -$55,000, 24FT- $40,000 Call: 609-7257,602-5794 DELL/HP Computer complete with LCD’s - $59,000, laptops from $55,000, Blackberrys $15,000 @ FutureTech – Tel: 231-2206 Dry cow mould available only at: The #1 Plant Shot, 70 Sheriff Street – Call: 2278094 3000 PSI Karcher pressure washer – $110,000 - Call: 6097257, 602-57943000 D6R Caterpillar Bulldozer, D8K Caterpillar Bulldozer, Price to go – Call: 611-4775 Brazilian 100% human hair final sale, 18"- 30" length in curly, loose wave and straight, low pricesContact: 622-4215, 626-6335 1 enclose canter $750,000, work and pay- Contact: 6760455 Foreign use Yamaha Outboard, engines, various sizes and parts, 3 cylinder, Perkins engine – Call: 6580337 Shimano 7/8 speed rear derailleur $10,000, Shimano hyper- glide 8 speed cassette (11-32 teeth)- $12,000, original XBOX games$2,000- Contact: 642-9901 One Suzuki Grand Vitara, bought brand new, one owner, excellent condition, must be sold – Call:600-2689, 254-0048 Empty 50 Gallon Steel drum for sale, going cheap – Call: 628-1756, 228-5655 One Grocery Stall at Stabroek Market- Tel:669-1151, 2257794 One double stall with overhead storage in Stabroek Market – Call: 6197925 (can be inspected)
FOR SALE 1 Toyota Allion, fully loaded and I Carina 212 - Tel: 6702608 Ducklings French Moscove - $600 each – Call: 661-3659 Fashionable high end denim jeans, sizes 3-11, wholesales only, very low prices, 12 per cartoon- Contact: 622-4215 Mobile wheel chair, excellent condition, new batteries and charger, low prices- Contact: 626-6335 2 compressors, fruit dying machine, electrical stove with grill, water dispenser machine, Price negotiableContact: 231-5171, 619-7134 7 weeks old German shepherd pups- Contact: 685-7027 Perkins engines 1000, 1100, 4236 & 6 cylinder complete on bed, 320 BL excavator$14M- Contact:691-2921 Lincoln generator welder$850,000, pallet jacks, fork lift, model M truck- Contact: 691-2921 Games for PS2, PS3, XBOX360, WII, consoles also available - Call: 672-2566, 265-3232 On Sale at Roxie’s Fashion are: Leotards & Tights, dance attire/costume, Ballet Shoes, etc – Call:227-8538 On sale at Roxie’s Fashion are: School Uniforms, Leotards, gym & swim wear – Call: 227-8538 Pools table, original, cloth, cue stick, balls, pocket, coinshute, coin, rubber, spring, chalk – Call: 669-9927, 616-1886 Business property, Liquor restaurant @ 107 Middle Road La Penitence – Contact Lovin: 225-7796 Sheep for sale in a large quantity – Tel:695-6139, 639-1572 Cosmetic Close out sale: Mixed lot foundation, sun screen, mascara, eyeliners, anti wrinkle (top brands) – Tel: 626-6335 4 Blocks in Mahdia, no reasonable offer refused – Call:227-5500, 694-8150, 6234045 One set Komatsu PC200 excavator bottom rollers, reasonable price – Contact: 619-5357, 667-7836 Massey Ferguson 390 4X4fully renovated – Call: 6886274, 691-3851, 678-8698 Two super scoop bass box with two R.C.F P300 18 inch speakers – Tel: 623-9679 Tibetan Terriers pups for sale (Straight & Curly long hair). Contact: 621-7766, 220-0770
Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call Sabita: 225-6496, 662-6045 Guyana Passport & Visa Forms Application, USA, Canada and England. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. Repairs & spare, fridge, freezer, A/C, washers, stoves. Contact Nick: 683-1312, 6273206 Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call :225-9032, 647-2943 Hibiscus Jewellery & Pawn Shop, 15-16 American Street, Best price offer, open from 9:00-4:00 – Tel: 225-7252 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer Call Omar: 2310655, 683-8734 For professional and affordable landscaping services, grassing, leveling, perorated & drainage, system, supply of earth- Call: 626-1044, 656-1326 Repairs to refrigerators gas stoves washing machine, A/ C units – Call Lindon: 6411086, 694-2202, 227-8907 We refurbished all HP Printer Cartridges for $2,000 Cannon - $2,500 – Call: 650-7699 Spray painting and body work - Call: 694-1258 Services offered at Roxie’s Fashion includes: custom made clothing, flowering mosquito nets etc – Call: 2278538 Three business advice for young adults at M&R Enterprise, Church Street, more info – Call: 614-4047 BrianMoe@642-3543; Computer Technician; FB:Brian.Moe.165; Home and office visits at your comfort!! Shop Online for Christmas @ Cybertron, Vreed-En-Hoop – Call: 264-3057 Computer services in homes & offices, ink refilling, virus cleaning & internet service. Email & Facebook set up. Call:675-7292, 218-5591 Now Open – Diamond Auto Spa “where everything sparkles” – 186 Durban & Smyth first three cars wash daily free. Promotion ends November 10th. FOR SALE “Wealth & Riches belongs to the righteous” Get your copy from Smile Gas Station; Austin’s Book Store – Call: 229-6104
Sunday November 02, 2014
VEHICLE FOR SALE
SALON
First Class Auto: In stock Premio, Spacio, 212, Sienta, Rush, Fielder, Bluebird- Tel: 609-8188/ 602-6307 1999 International Hauler Truck, double axel, 10 speed, Cummings engine, air bags, immaculate condition, lately registered - Call: 609-7257, 602-5794
Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad Call: 647-1773/6605257
2007 Ford F150 4X4 Extended Cab, fully loaded Auto 22 inch Rims and tyres, excellent condition- Call: 610-5370 1 Honda 2004- 600 RR Toyota Raum, Rav4, Fun Cargo, AT212, AT192, AT170, EP71 Starlet, Tacoma - Call: 6445096, 697-1453 Unregistered Premio fully loaded - $2.3M negotiable Owner Leaving CountryCall: 226-5473, 226-2623 2005 Honda Airwave, fully loaded, immaculate condition, no reasonable offer refused - Call: 685-1231 Pitbull Bus ($3.1M) unregistered, Noah, Regius ($2M) unregistered - Call: 603-9700 2006 Toyota Tacoma, excellent condition, first owner, price negotiable - Call: 253-3362, 622-7234 1 Toyota Landcruiser Prado PMM Series Call: 219-5354 Monday - Friday 8:15-4:15Pm & Saturday 8:15-1:15PM Toyota Raum, Contact Devika - Tel: 264-2954, Cell: 628-2634 1- 2001 new model 212 stick shift - $2M, 1 -2000 year model Tacoma with 3RZ engine- $2.1M – Call: 6165974, 618-8703 One Lorry and Hilux SurfContact: 621-4740 AT192, 212, Allison, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154 Mercedes Benz CLK200 Kompressor, mint condition, serious enquiries – Call: 6235492 One pit bull 19 Seater BNN, Excellent Condition- Call: 6520709, 276-0556 1- Mercedes Benz, good condition 230E, no reasonable offer refused- Call: 683-4803, 225-9871 1- Volks Wagon Van, ideal for cargo – Call: 683-4803, 2259871 1-Mitsubishi RVR- Call: 2259871, 683-4803 Titan 4X4, fully loaded, GMM Series- Call: 227-5500, 6234045, 694-8150 RI Yamaha - Candy Red, no reasonable offer refused – Call: 623-4045, 227-5500, 6948150 One RZ mini bus, good working condition- $700,000 negotiable – Call: 680-3370
WANTED Land to buy in Parfaite Harmonie, Eccles, Providence, Herstelling, every low income area – Call: 675-7292, 218-5591 Sawmill workers and wood mizer LT 40 operator – Call: 653-9752, 688-6579
VEHICLE FOR SALE One Toyota Raum with AC, CD & Mags, in excellent condition, $975,000- Call: 619-1047 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 Tacoma- Call: 680-3154 F250- 424 Double exhaust matte black, big road tyres, GRR Series – Call: 227-5500, 623-4045 Nissan Wing Road, PSS Series, price - $1.5M negotiable – Excellent Condition – Call: 698-5949 Blowout Sale! – Unregistered 2007 Madza Axela - $2,395,000 – Crystal Lights, Alarm, Steering Wheel Audio Control . Call: 643-6565, 2269931 Toyota Premio- $2.3M, New model Spacio - $2.150M, never registered. Call: 6172891 One Nissan Pickup – GG Series and one Mini Bus – JJ Series, in excellent road worthy condition- Call:2335108, 233-5023
CAR RENTAL DOLLY’S CAR RENTAL CALL: 225-7126/ 2263693 DOLLYSAUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM/ WWW.DOLLYSAUTO RENTAL.COM PROGRESSIVE AUTO RENTAL: CARS & SUV FOR RENTAL-$4,000&UPPERDAYCALL: 643-5122, 219-3900, EMAIL: PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM Aidan’s Car & Pickup rental, cheap rate, low security – Tel:698-7807/ 690-6494 Wings Car Rental- Call:6906494/ BBM pin: 24E17558
MASSAGE Happy Touch Day Spa: Come & Experienced heavens touch, visit us today! – 668-4554
One general domestic- call between: 9am-5pm – Tel: 233-5477 Salesgirls & cashiers apply in person with written application at Nirva Supermarket – Call: 227-5771 Salesgirl & Sales boy, apply at Christine’s Variety Store, on Lombard Street – Contact:227-8529, 626-8003 One live in maid – Call:6755256, 656-3241 Handy man needed for cleanup work at Streem Café, Robb Street- Contact: 2319785, 658-6938 Live out domestic, Live in / Live out babysitter- Call: 219-5354, Monday – Friday between 8:15-4:15PM. One part time or full time gardener/ handyman – Call Between Monday – Saturday: 219-5354 One Secretary; One cashier. Pay $20,000 -$25,000 per week respectively Call: 610-9493 Persons to sell local products 20% commission M&R Enterprise, Church Street – Call: 614-4047 Female worker needed, 3 CXC subject or sound secondary school education- Call: 612-1607 Drivers for yellow cabs at 007 Taxi Service, Lot 71 Middle Road La Penitence – Call: 223-5615 Experienced taxi driver & dispatcher @ Princess Hotel – Tel: 616-5419 Experienced Diesel Mechanic to work in Georgetown, apply in person. Call: 218-5105 Girls to sew from West Coast/ West Bank DemeraraCall:626-2629 or 676-6312 One day security and one night security guard, between ages 35-55yrs, preferably from Georgetown – Call: 623-3231 or 225-3198 One assistant salesgirls E.C.D- Contact: 622-3250, 665-9747 NOTICE If you own a land in Parafaite Harmonie, someone maybe trying to sell it, urgently call: 675-7292 PEN PAL Ageable man from U.S.A Looking for a good woman for marriage, please call Ali: 649-4189 (Continued page 69)
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 69
International course against Ebola to be hosted in Cuba - GCSM President
President of GCSM Haleem Khan Ebola prevention held in Havana this week underscored the participation of over 270 specialists and directives form 34 countries. There were 168 Cubans who came to the agreement that the Havana-based Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute will be the venue to the first International Course for the prevention and fighting against Ebola in the Americas, according to President of the Guyana Cuba Solidarity Movement (GCSM) Haleem Khan. He explained that the meeting wound up after
issuing a series of proposals such as the keeping of epidemiological surveillance on persons coming from areas where the ebola virus can be transmitted and have been at risk; gathering complete information on passenger transport means, crews and travelers arriving to countries; exchanging experiences among different countries on learned lessons about Ebola and define the ways to send samples to laboratories of international reference. Khan further emphasized that the experts also agreed on the need to standardize criteria on the use of personal protection equipment and make them available at preferential prices; to foster communication with vulnerable population through different media services, among other proposals. It was further noted that the meeting on the prevention and fight against Ebola, held in Havana this past week, revealed the need for the countries of the region
EPA preliminary... From page 13 update the public on the potential environmental hazard. The company which has international ties is currently in discussions with lawyers to ascertain what legal steps could be taken to hold those involved in the illegal dumping responsible. Head of ECHO, Royston King told this publication yesterday that “After more than two weeks there has been no public report on the matter.” He told the newspaper that the agency is obligated to inform the public about such environmental matters and to provide the necessary information to be used against those culpable. Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI), the Government-controlled company that manages the Marriott-branded hotel project, said in a release that the oil dumping incident was done by labourers acting without the authorisation of the contractor. AHI’s statement last Wednesday evening said that it conducted an immediate and preliminary inquiry following the report which
appeared in this newspaper’s Tuesday 21st October article captioned, “Marriott’s Chinese workers caught dumping drums of waste oil at seawall.” According to AHI, Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) reported that labourers employed by SCG, without authorization of SCG’s management, disposed of the contents of three barrels of cement retardant material, which were in storage pending removal from the site as expired material. The company said that it had since instituted measures through its site administration to prevent the repetition of the incident. The Alliance for Change (AFC) has, however, called for “appropriate sanctions” to be made against Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) for the dumping of the substance. The Party Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan was adamant that legal measures need to be taken against the company for the potentially hazardous waste dumped into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Quest for Knowledge refreshes the mind, recreates the spirit, and motivates the body. It creates enthusiasm and desire to live an exciting and full day in spite of the routine.
to join efforts for their benefit and allowed to deepen knowledge and share experiences to be in better conditions to face the disease and assist African countries. The Cuban government, Khan asserted understands the importance for unity in the face of other challenges posed on health, such as climate change, the food situation and poverty.
FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 GT TOOL RENTALS: COMPACTOR; CHIPPING HAMMER RANSOM & FLOOR SANDER, (SALE) AND MORE, SAWS & DRILLS -$10,000 - CALL: 675-0767, 667-2535 Business place for rent 3000 SQ FT W.C.D – Call: 6901740 Land for rent @ Covent Garden on Lot 1 Public Road E.B.D – Size 40X100 – Contact: 645-1976, 613-8966 Lawyer offices at Lot 220 South Road- Contact: 2271042 Rooms & Apartment in Eccles- Call:225-3234
LAND FOR SALE 15 Acres transported land bearing fruit trees @ West Bank of Demerara River, newt to Kamuni Creek- Call: 222-4708 Blankenburg @ The Back Of Gas Station (3) Lots @ 75' X 76' Each. $20M for all 3 Lots. (1) Lot for $10m - Contact 650-0402 Prime Land @ Corriverton, 1.3 Acres, roadside land suitable for gas station/hotel/ shopping mall, etc- Call: 626-6245 Parika (Butcher Shop Street) – One (1) Lot 38' X 150' $ 7m - Contact 650-0402 - for serious inquiries Diamond/Grove, New Scheme, land with foundation & post, corner lot, $7M (neg) - Call: 603-9700 ECCLES: Build your own home in a modernize gated community, lot size 60X100 - $7.5M – Call: 227-2913, Cell: 689-3033 Parfaite Harmonie (100ftX50ft) high income $2.5M, Grove (with foundation) $2.5M, Parfaite Harmonie - $1.3M & $1.5M – Tel:675-7292, 218-5591 ECCLES: Commercial Lots - $14M – Call: 227-2913, Cell:689-3033 Three Acres transported house lots and 1 Acre rice land @ Golden Grove M.C. – Call: 603-2095 One land Located at Cornelia Ida W.C.D, Phone, water & light – Contact: 652-0709; 2760556
ACCOMODATION Harmony Inn: Furnished apartments in Georgetown and Parfaite Harmonie W.B.D, Your Luxury Hide Away…. Call: 668-0306, 2181400, 694-7817 VEHICLE FOR SALE Toyota Prado, Price$5.5M Neg. Call:643-2403
EDUCATIONAL Roxie’s Fashion, six weeks beginners sewing classes, starting October month end, to registered call: 622-4386 CXC Classes for adults/ students, repeater, Grade 6, slow learners in Mathematics, All Science & Business Subjects – Call: 231-5678, 6905008 Graphic Artist Course at your own pace. Training Tutorials $5,000 - Call:646-0589 Graphic Designing Course, one-on-one training by UK Trained Professional. Call: 646-0589 Learn Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Windows 8 & QuickBooks. Video training tutorials available- Call:6460589 Diploma in Computers, 9 Courses - $30,000, free job training @ Micrographics Technology, Vreed- EnHoop, Tel:264-3057 (November Promotion)
(From page 68)
TO LET Brand new spacious one bedroom apartment located in Eccles E.B.D - Call: 675-5261 Newly constructed house and safe environment – Call:698-6496
PROPERTY FOR SALE 1- 2 Storey wooden concrete building, 3 bedrooms upper flat, 2 bedroom lower flat, Public Road Grove E.B.D – Tel:657-0880 Two storey house at First Street, Foulis EnmoreContact: 258-0392 (between 6-9pm) 1 – 2storey wooden & Concrete house with 5 bedrooms upper flat & lower flat 4 apartments located@ Shell Road, kitty - $30M – Tel:642-7898 Property for sale – Contact: 669-0366 One 3 storey business property @ Middle St. Georgetown, opposite GPHC- Contact: 619-7134, 225-6481 2 Business properties on Whim Public Road, ideal for business- Contact: 619-7134 House & Land for sale by owner at Cemetery Road Helena No1 Mahaica E.C.D, for details call: 689-0820, 6743902 Albouystown: Corner Spot Business and residence, 3 bedrooms upstairs, parking $10M negotiable – Contact:227-0583
VACANCY Vacancy for Plant Shop, Must be physically fit, pleasant, age18-30yrs – Call: 646-2108 Experienced dispatcher, interesting person contact confidential cabs on Tel# 231-8601, 231-4000 One handy woman, 1 sound engineer (must know to build rhythm, edit songs, etc) - Call: 265-3586 Experienced cashiers, sales girls and porter, apply with written application & passport size picture to Survival, 173 Sheriff StreetContact: 227-5286-9 Work from home; earn $5,000- $20,000 dailyContact: 233-6517, 622-1957, www.jobfairworldwide.com Waitress to work at hotel/ bar in Essequibo CoastContact: 226-9768 Bartenders to work at hotel/ bar in Essequibo Coastcontact: 226-9768 Cashiers @ Shell Service Station Providence EBD. Must be able to work shift (5am-3pm & 3pm-12pm) – Tel: 265-7305 International Cruiseline Purser officer, waitresses, waiters, cooks, receptionist, storekeeper, cleaners, electrician, carpenter, plumber, musicians etc – Tel: 231-6296, 650-9880 Tractor operator, to work and live in Mahaicony River, must know about rice- Call: 6446905, 225-6571 ONE FEMALE CLERK $120,000 MONTHLY, ONE FEMALE RECEPTIONIST $100,000 MONTHLYCALL: 223-0595
Two storey business building at the corner of Ketley and house Street Charlestown- Call:623-9679
LEARN TO DRIVE Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj BuildingTel: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997 Joshua’s Driving School – Call: 665-1534, 667-3772
DRESSMAKING Roxie’s Fashion offers sewing of shirts, pillow cases, curtains, chairs & Cushion Covers etc, 301 Church Street – Call: 227-8538 FOR SALE/FOR RENT Located @ Lot 5 Block ‘K’ Walkers’s Delight W.C.D - 4 bedrooms all self contain. Price $25M/ per month $100,000 Tel: 674-4929/ 662-0187
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Tourism Awareness Month to be Threats are tantamount to filled with countless activities Attorney General’s despicable conduct...
Mafia behavior — GTUC
The GTUC condemns in the strongest possible term the content of Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall’s recorded conversation with a media reporter. In a press release, the GTUC said that the abuse of privilege vested in our elected officials must not be tolerated and every citizen, regardless of political persuasion, ethnicity or creed, has a responsibility to protect our laws and avoid the transgressing of rights and privileges. A clear message ought to be sent to those in the Government who seek to justify or defend the AG’s despicable conduct, it said. The question before us is not whether the conversation was illegally taped as the
government seems preoccupied with. This is fake concern and diversionary tactic coming from a government who used similar act- as conducted by Roger Khan- to condemn and call on former Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix to resign because of the content of a taped conversation involving him. What we are witnessing here is not only double standards, but downright wickedness, contempt for others and abuse of public office. When the Attorney General can flaunt his caste status with contempt for others he clearly perceived as lesser than, in a society whose Constitution says all are equal, but moreso his access
Albouystown man slain in drive-by A 24-year-old man was gunned down shortly after 21.00 hrs yesterday in Cooper Street, Albouystown, reportedly by unidentified men in a car. Kaieteur News understands that Lloyd Bourne, of Lot 57 James and Barr Streets, Albouystown, was drinking with a friend in Cooper Street when the occupants in a passing vehicle opened fire, shooting Bourne in the left side. The friend reportedly took Bourne to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was pronounced dead. Relative said they knew of no motive for the executionstyle killing.
to the corridors of power and the abuse of such power in furtherance of a chokehold on society, it says we are living in dangerous times. The AG’s threats as heard in the recording are tantamount to Mafia behaviour. The claimed knowledge/threat to the use of weapons in the building of Kaieteur News would obviously bring destruction to lives and property. We condemn it and call on all Guyana to be vigilant in the face of this provocation. THREATTO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS What is driving the defilement of our public offices is the intent of the office holders to silence the independent press. The never-ending assault on press freedom has become characteristic of the Jagdeo/ Ramotar administrations, which seem hell bent on silencing some sections in the media fraternity, in their desire to control the nation’s narrative and determine how the citizenry interpret reality. Freedom of the press is integral to maintaining this openness in the fight for an equitable and just society. This freedom must not be stifled or silenced. A free press must be allowed to bloom because it is a critical pillar for good and accountable government.
Guyanese can look forward to inventive activities during the observance of Tourism Awareness Month 2014. At the launch this past Thursday night, it was announced that the month of November will be filled with countless activities that will increase awareness for Guyana’s tourism industry. The event was hosted at the Amerindian Village in the Sophia Exhibition Complex. It was stated that some of the activities will include bird watching tours in the Botanical Gardens, sport fishing, the South Rupununi Safari and Rupununi Expo, along with the introduction of the Restaurant Week. The latter was touted as a ‘culinary experience’ which will showcase the absolute best that Guyanese cuisine has to offer. Restaurant Week, according to the Chairman of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Shaun McGrath, will have restaurants offer inexpensive deals to their patrons. “We will see restaurants with special pricing that will be dramatically lower than normal,” explained McGrath. He related that the introduction of this project was due to the success of similar initiatives around the world. “In New York, Restaurant Week was such a huge
success that it carried over to a second week. It is hoped that Guyana will receive the same success,” said McGrath. Restaurant Week will be held from November 10 to 16. The THAG Chairman also announced that the organization has plans of launching a social media campaign. This campaign is aimed at improving booking services for tourists to the country. Moreover it was said by McGrath that this initiative will contribute to the larger “Guyana Homecoming 2015” campaign. According to Minister of Tourism, Irfaan Ali, “Guyana Homecoming 2015” will focus on appealing to overseas based Guyanese to revisit their homeland. The Minister said that if the campaign is a success then the sector can see the return of up to 100,000 Guyanese, who will contribute to the Tourism Industry, thus reminding citizens of the importance that the industry has in developing the country’s economy. Meanwhile, a tourism ambassador’s programme will be introduced to multiple sectors of the industry. The
THAG official elaborated that it was modeled after a similar Trinidadian initiative. The ambassador ’s programme will incorporate local and international Guyanese figures. It will even integrate a student exchange programme between Guyana and Brazil in the near future. The ambassador’s programme falls under another tourism campaign: “Guyana, South America Undiscovered”. It is targeted at fostering international interest for Guyana as the destination with “two experiences in one,” according to the Minister. To increase awareness, the Tourism Ministry has also planned educational programmes. These programmes are directed at schools and are titled as ‘School Talks’ in the Ministry’s agenda. Yesterday officially began observations for the month. To welcome the month THAG, along with the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) unveiled this year’s theme. Tourism Awareness Month will be observed under the theme “Tourism Entrepreneurship and Awareness Mobilized”.
A mini health check is the first step to donating blood.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
G2K calls for AJ Nicholson’s removal as leader of govt. business in the Senate KINGSTON, Jamaica — Generation 2000 (G2K) the young professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has dismissed Senator AJ Nicholson’s apology over his “flexi-rape” comment and is calling for the veteran Parliamentarian to be removed from his position as Leader of Government business in the Senate. G2K’s call comes against Senator AJ Nicholson “flexi rape” retort made Friday in the Upper house during the presentation of Opposition Senator Marlene Malahoo Forte and his subsequent apology tendered, yesterday morning. According to G2K President Floyd Green, “Senator Nicholson’s belated
AJ Nicholson apology smacks off insincerity and arrogance and should be disregarded by the people of Jamaica. In fact it is clear that the Senator does to truly believe that it is unacceptable to joke about
rape under any circumstance.” G2K in a statement yesterday afternoon noted that the Senator’s utterances show the tendency of some individuals to trivialize and disregard the issue of rape and gender-based violence and undermines the nation’s push for the matters to be given the level of respect they deserves. “Nicholson can no longer command the respect of the Upper House or well thinking members of society and the Prime Minister should send an unequivocal signal that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated and immediately remove the senator as leader of government business,” said Green.
Argentina’s Kirchner launches new attack on US Buenos Aires (AFP) Argentine President Cristina Kirchner warned the United States of “grave implications” amid claims a US official is lobbying for a group representing the socalled “vulture funds” being contested by Buenos Aires. Kirchner said Nancy Soderberg, who heads the Public Interest Declassification Board advisory committee that promotes access to national security archives, is also the co-chair of the American Task Force Argentina (ATFA), an organization “specifically created to attack and slander the Argentine Republic and its president.” “If confirmed by you, (this) would have grave implications for relations between our two countries,” Kirchner wrote in a letter to US President Barack Obama.
Cristina Kirchner “As you are certainly aware, the functions of the PIDB encompass sensitive issues of national security and include giving advice to the president and to other US executive branch officials.” Kirchner posted her latest attack against the US on Twitter. She claims the ATFA takes money from a group that manages a “vulture
fund.” Her letter comes as Argentina, Latin America’s third-largest economy, struggles to get back on track with deals to restructure the debt it defaulted on during its 2001 crisis. A US court has ordered Buenos Aires to halt interest payments to creditors who agreed to take steep losses until it settles a $1.3 billion dispute with the “holdout” hedge funds refusing to accept a write-down. Two of those groups NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management - stand to make huge profits, earning them the label “vulture funds” from Buenos Aires. Argentina argues that paying the hedge funds in full would trigger a flood of claims from other creditors under the Rights Upon Future Offers, or RUFO clause, putting it on the hook for up to $120 billion.
US university study links drugs and tourism to HIV in the Caribbean NEW YORK, United States - CMC – A new study released by a United states-based university finds that drugs and tourism combine to raise HIV risk in the Caribbean. The research, headed by New York University (NYU), notes that the Caribbean has the second highest global HIV prevalence in the world outside of Sub-Saharan Africa, with HIV/AIDS as leading cause of death among people aged 20–59 years. Particularly hard-hit are the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti, on the island of Hispaniola, which account for about 70 per cent of all people living with HIV in the Caribbean region. But the study suggests that how the intersection of drugs and tourism as contributing factors to the region’s elevated HIV/AIDS risk hasn’t gotten enough attention. “Caribbean studies have almost exclusively focused on drug
transportation. The roles that drugs play in tourism areas, which may be fueling the Caribbean HIV/ AIDS epidemic, seldom come up.” The new study in Global Public Health seeks to address this gap by conducting in-depth interviews with 30 drug users in Sosúa, a major sex tourism destination of the Dominican Republic According to NYU, the study’s results suggest three themes: Local demand shifts drug routes to tourism areas, drugs shape local economies, and drug use facilitates HIV risk behaviors in tourism areas. “We know that the DR is located on a primary drug transportation route and is also the Caribbean country with the most tourist arrivals, receiving over 4.5 million visitors in 2012,” said Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, professor of social work and global public health and a co-director at NYU’s Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR).
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Iraqi Kurds reinforce Kobani; U.S. planes pound Islamic State targets
Kurdish peshmerga fighters wave Kurdish flags atop an army vehicle as they move towards the Syrian town of Kobani from the border town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province. Credit: REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (Reuters) - Syrian Kurds welcomed the arrival in Kobani of Iraqi Kurdish fighters with their heavy weapons, hoping they might tip the balance in the battle to defend the town against Islamic State, as U.S.-led air strikes continued to bomb the ultra-hardline group in Iraq and Syria. Air strikes have helped to foil several attempts by the al Qaeda offshoot, notorious for its beheading of hostages, to take over Kobani. But they have done little to stop its advances, in particular in Sunni areas of western Iraq, where it has executed hundreds of tribesmen. Islamic State fighters have mocked the U.S. air strikes as a campaign against Islam that they say has angered Muslims and helped the group win followers across the globe. The arrival of the 150 Iraqi fighters, who have yet to participate in the battle, marks the first time Turkey has allowed ground troops from outside Syria to reinforce Syrian Kurds, who have been defending Kobani for more than 40 days.
The fighters - known as peshmerga, or “those who defy death” - were preparing themselves for the battle and are expected to take part in action in Kobani later on Saturday, Kurdish officials said. “What was lacking is the weapons and ammunition, so the arrival of more of it plus the fighters will help tip the balance of the battle,” Idris Nassan, deputy foreign minister of Kobani district, told Reuters by telephone from Kobani. “The whole issue is the weapons and ammunition. Of course more fighters will help.” The U.S. military said it had carried out 10 air strikes against IS militants, five near Kobani and five in Iraq, since Friday. The Kobani strikes “suppressed or destroyed” nine Islamic State fighting positions and a building. In Iraq, air strikes destroyed an Islamic State vehicle southwest of Mosul Dam and hit four vehicles and four buildings used by militants near Al Qaim, the U.S. military said in a statement. Undeterred by the air strikes, the Islamic State
fighters continued a mass killing campaign in Iraq to wipe out resistance against the group. They executed 85 more members of the Albu Nimr tribe, according to a tribal leader and security official. Tribal chief Sheikh Naeem al-Ga’oud told Reuters that Islamic State had killed 50 members of Albu Nimr who were fleeing the group in Anbar province on Friday. In a separate incident, a security official said 35 bodies had been found in a mass grave. The group has executed a total of more than 300 tribe members in the past few days, Ga’oud and the official said. Albu Nimr had held out for weeks under siege by Islamic State, but finally ran low on ammunition, fuel and food. The militants have lost hundreds if not thousands of fighters since the Islamic State was declared in June, in battles against other Sunni rebels, Islamist groups, forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and in U.S.led air strikes. But fighters inside the group say that it was receiving hundreds of volunteers every month, which was helping it carry our more attacks. It was also receiving pledge of allegiances from Islamist groups in the world including Pakistan, Africa and some Arab states. In another sign of the group’s relentless efforts to expand despite the U.S.-led attacks, dozens of residents of the Libyan town of Derna have pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the group and selfproclaimed Caliph of all Muslims, according to a video posted online and residents.
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“Trusting West Indies’ Leaders!” Colin E. H. Croft “Great leaders are not easy to find”; noted Rem Rieder, writing in USA Today, paying tribute to famed, former Washington Post’s Executive Editor Ben Bradlee, who was buried last week, having died aged 93. “A great leader”, continued Rieder, “makes people believe in the mission. A great leader makes you want to please him (or her). A great leader gets you to play at a higher level than you knew that you could. A great leader has your back!” Almost exact words had been repeatedly used when West Indies ruled the roost of world cricket, describing especially captain Clive Lloyd,
and his immediate successor (Sir) Vivian Richards, as their teams comprising dynamic fast bowers and enterprising, exciting batsmen fully dominated the firmament. Nearly forty years later, several leaders, great and small, are required to bring West Indies cricket back from that brink it now finds itself on! I never get credit for things I originate, not even honorable mentions, but some might remember that, as St. Vincent’s Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonzales reiterated afterwards, Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell and former Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson have been earmarked to be on that
special committee to be convened to look into this still very fluid and volatile situation in WI cricket. No stress. We all do whatever we can do to help! But if you are not fully aware of whom Ben Bradlee really was, if that name vaguely rings a historical bell, Bradlee was very integral to the situation that caused the downfall and resignation of Richard M. Nixon, 37th President of United States of America, portrayed in the great film “All the Presidents’ Men!” Bradlee backed his investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to the hilt as they pursued happenings from 1972’s
Sunday November 02, 2014 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Be careful about being too boisterous and chipper around people who don't exactly feel the same way, Aries. Be sensitive to other people's feelings, and don't make jokes that are too harsh for the occasion. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Your mood should be quite good for the most part, Taurus, but there's apt to be some tension in your relationships. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): There's a deep longing to be comforted and reassured, Gemini. You may want nothing more than for someone fix you some warm, homemade soup. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): You may feel like you desperately need something, Cancer, yet you're unsure as to what it is exactly. Someone close to you may be trying to fit the missing puzzle piece into place, but this may be next to impossible if it's unclear which piece is actually missing. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): You may want to remedy every situation by talking things out or taking some sort of action, Leo. Be careful of making any sudden moves before you really understand what you're feeling. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22): Compliments are apt to feel like gold to you, Virgo. There's nothing you need more than love and affection on a day like this.
LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): If you find that there's tension in a close relationship, you may get the feeling that this isn't the right partner for you, Libra. Don't automatically assume that the problem lies in your partner. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 Nov. 21): When tension builds, your sense of security is likely to falter, Scorpio. You may have a hard time dealing with other people. You could be tempted to turn to food or alcohol for inner nourishment. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21): You might have difficulty expressing your needs, Sagittarius. The bottom line is that there's no right or wrong way, although it may be difficult to see this on a day like today. .********************* CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): Although you may find it hard to express yourself in some ways, Capricorn, the one avenue that's completely wide open today is art. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 Feb. 18): You might be feeling rather insecure when it comes to your peace of mind, Aquarius. Because of the insecurity, it may seem like your relationships are on the rocks. ********************* PISCES (Feb. 19 March 20): You may feel more reserved than usual, Pisces, especially when it comes to romantic relationships.
“Watergate Complex” breakin in Washington DC, at a time when confirmation of any such undertakings took much more of gut feelings than today’s world where almost everything can be technologically verified immediately. Bradlee always had the backs of Woodward and Bernstein! Dave Cameron, West Indies Cricket Board President, the aforementioned Caribbean political honchos, and the other sporting and business leaders due to feature in this general overview, will have to accept that whatever happens, this bad situation must be deemed temporary, WI cricket continuing forward. Great trust must be executed if WI cricket is to move on, with much alacrity, to the immediate future of touring South Africa next month with a team worthy of having that moniker, and even more so, for ICC World Cup 2015. These next two weeks are as important to WI cricket as any period in its short history! That Marlon Samuels is the only senior player already confirmed for that SA tour, which must happen, indicates that even as shadows are being passed over our visages, understandings, decisions and comingstogether are much more distant between the respective warring parties than meet the eyes. Total trust in sport is everything. Without that, no sport would be successful, especially team sports. Last week, San Francisco Giants won USA’s baseball “World Series,” courtesy of tremendous late seventh game pitching from “Most Valuable Player” Madison Bumgarner, who was not supposed to have been pitching that night, at least not for as long as he eventually did – five full energized innings. SF Giants were leading 32, just hanging on, as Kansas City Royals seemed destined to rally and win their second “World Series” ever, since their only win way back in 1985. KCR were really steaming! Then Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy did the unimaginable, almost unthinkable. He placed massive trust and belief in his much used, excellent, but not sufficiently rested ace pitcher, Bumgarner, to bring home San Fran’s eight “World Series” success. Only great leaders have that sort of trust and belief in
their teams and players! Many Caribbean citizens have already intimated that all true, really great leaders of anything worthwhile of our region are already dead: WI captain Sir Frank Worrell, Barbados’ Prime Minister Errol Barrow, Jamaica’s Premiers/Prime Ministers Sir Alexander Bustamante, Noman Manley and Michael Manley, Trinidad & Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams, Guyana’s Presidents Forbes Burnham and Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Most of those were either very active when most of the Caribbean was becoming independent, or indeed, actually overviewed independence for their respective countries. Of course, Sir Frank is still considered as probably the best WI captain ever, if you ask old timers. But what made them so special? All had one clear objective and mission – overall well-being of the Caribbean! Most kept their words! Our present lot are mostly
Colin E. H. Croft says: coined and considered as parochial, provincial, insular and selfish. Hence, our present diaspora and especially cricketers are thusly regarded in that same dismal light too. That must change immediately, if anything is to be achieved by these difficult ensuing discussions. Most present WI senior cricketers are relatively well off anyway. One suspects that they are much more concerned about proper principles and clear communications being forthcoming than full finances, even if they are important too. Trust in one’s word is worth so much more than millions in the bank. Enjoy!
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Soccerex stirs debate over Caribbean Super League By Santokie Nagulendran Soccerex, an organisation aiming to grow football around the world by holding events with the game’s leading administrators, business leaders and former players, recently staged a high profile forum in Barbados from October 21st-22nd. The ‘’Soccerex Americas Forum’’ looked at helping to develop the game in the region of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and featured delegates from around the world in attendance. The event was a milestone and a step in the right direction for the region. Attending the conference were top European, American, and Brazilian club owners, as well as directors, managers, scouts, equipment manufacturers, marketing executives, and also football agents who were present and available to talk or offer advice. Guest speakers at the forum included CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb, and Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber. A key debate raging at the event was the idea of forming a multi-national Caribbean League featuring the best teams from each respective nation in the region. Caribbean football officials in attendance at the event suggested that there could potentially be a “Caribbean Super League’’ within the next two years, despite the hurdles of launching such a venture. “It is just a question of time,”
David John Williams, owner of leading Trinidadian club W Connection said, “I think we have a very unique opportunity - we have sun, sea and sand and if we can marry sports with that, the sky is the limit for us.” CONCACAF seem to be open to such an idea: in March they setup a taskforce to look into forming such a league, although only one meeting has been held since. CFU President Gordon Derrick took to the stage at the forum to say that such a league was vital for the region: “The task force has to do its job but we definitely need to do this [because] we need a sustainable league so that our future generation of kids will always have something to aspire to and develop their football [through].” However some officials at the forum felt that a “Caribbean Super League’’, made up of the best teams in the region, would have a damaging effect on local leagues, “The issue for me is going to be the structure of it,” said Oliver McIntosh, CEO of Digicel Sportsmax, the region’s leading sports television network. “The local leagues are already suffering and struggling, if you form a regional competition, taking the best teams or best players out, then what is left at the local level? If you take a lot of the sponsorship money and television money out to a Caribbean league then what is left?”
Santokie Nagulendran Says:
Club owners and FIFA officials discuss key events at Soccerex. Jamaican-born Liverpool legend John Barnes questioned the logistics of the proposed league, stating that travelling would mean, “You are going to have fly teams from one country to another, which can be a four or five hour flight from Jamaica to Trinidad. Is that feasible?” Barnes went on to offer a solution, suggesting that development of youngsters in Europe would be more beneficial to the region’s National teams:”the younger you can get Caribbean players to the top teams in Europe, the better that would be, not for the league, but for the national team. Do you
BCCI demands $42m in... From page 79 treat this notice as a formal demand in that regard.” Although SLC has helped fill in the breach caused by West Indies’ withdrawal by agreeing to play a five-ODI series, Patel said it was not enough to “offset the loss” incurred. “This is because the Sri Lanka Cricket Board has not committed to any additional tour of India but has only advanced its 2015 Tour to 2014. In return, the BCCI has agreed to tour Sri Lanka in 2015 whereby it has permanently and irretrievably lost a
valuable home tour.” Patel slammed the WICB for cancelling the tour “in complete disregard of your legal commitments” despite knowing the damages it would cause. “The adverse financial ramifications and the negative impact of your action to unilaterally cancel the remainder of the Tour was well within your understanding, yet you still went ahead and cancelled the Tour in complete disregard of your legal commitments. “The WICB is also aware
that each National Board is committed to touring each other in a given period such that the schedule of tours between each of the Boards is fixed 8 years in advance. Such touring obligations are on a reciprocal basis so as to reflect not only fairness in ranking but also equal opportunity to each Board. As such, given the limited windows of opportunity and the long-term schedule of tours as between the National Cricket Boards, rescheduling of Tours within the 8-year period becomes impossible.”
want to develop a good league or have a strong national team? I don’t think you can actually do both in developing football countries.” Despite some objections, the general opinion seems to be that a Super League will be a great positive for Caribbean Football, with FIFA in full support. For GFF Super League champions Alpha United, regular games against other major teams in the Caribbean would be beneficial: having won last season’s Guyanese league with a 100% record, Alpha went on to struggle in the CONCACAF Champions League against highly organised, professional sides that contained world-class players. An initiative like the Caribbean Super League could offer teams such as Alpha the chance to develop by playing more challenging opposition on a weekly basis, and this would help them prepare more sufficiently for tournaments such as the CONCACAF Champions League. A Caribbean Super League would boost revenue for the region much in the same way the UEFA Champions League has for Europe, and there is the possibility that teams
taking part can still be involved in their countries’ own domestic league. There is also the fact that it will attract major sponsors and along with the TV rights (both in the Caribbean and internationally), would generate massive income for the region. There will also be job opportunities provided from the venture and tourism created by supporting fans following their team across islands. The quality of players attracted to such a league would also improve, and thus all players taking part will benefit from a higher standard of competition. With Jeffrey Webb seemingly behind the idea, it seems like the Caribbean Super League will eventually happen and could be the biggest development to ever happen to Caribbean football. It is important that the Caribbean has a high profile event such as Soccerex to share and exchange these ideas that could develop the game in the region. I caught up with Faizal Khan, a FIFA licensed agent from Guyana, whilst he was on football business in London, and he has spoken about the importance of the event for the Caribbean after attending
Soccerex: “It was a wonderful learning experience for the Caribbean Footballing region to have SoccerEx held here,” he said. “Football is evolving, and Soccerex highlighted what the Caribbean needs to do to catch up with the modern game, the Caribbean football stakeholders that attended the event and took the time to sit in on the presentations and network, left more informed and have a better understanding on how to move their individual clubs, tournaments, associations and federations forward. The event has helped to show those from the Caribbean how to develop the game of football in a business capacity, and Khan went on to say: “Soccerex is a combination of football and business, and those that attended now understand how Football has become a multibillion dollar international industry. As it was such an informative, engaging and powerful event, my only regret is that more stake holders involved in Caribbean football did not attend the 2 day event endorsed by FIFA.” With the event now finished, delegates in attendance will go back to their respective nations and share the ideas discussed during the two day forum. For football in the Caribbean, it could mean the beginning of some landmark changes. CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb addresses the crowd in Barbados. [* File contains invalid data | In-line.JPG *]
Five-week countdown... From page 80 Saturday November 15 at Skeldon, Upper Corentyne; last year it was held at Port Mourant. The event is being organised by Mr. Linden Murray assisted by Flex Night Berbice Coordinator, Rahim Ali. “Gyms from New Amsterdam, Central and Upper Corentyne will be taking part. Activities start at
18:00hrs and we believe that it is going to be a good show for all Berbicians to attend and enjoy.” The categories that will be contested on the night of December 7 are Male: Men’s Physique (Open); Bodybuilding – Under 143lbs (64.8kgs), Under 154lbs (69.8kgs), Under 165lbs (74.8kgs), Under 176lbs (79.8kgs), Over 176lbs (79.8kgs+). The Male evenets will be pre-judged.
Female: Short class (Under5ft. 4ins. – 162.6cms), Tall Class (over 5ft.4ins. – 162.6cms), Miss Best Legs (Open). Registration will close on Saturday November 22 while Pre-judging will commence at 09:00hrs on December 7 with the finals flexing off at 18:00hrs on the same day. Information packages were distributed to all present yesterday.
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Digicel 2014 Guyana Open Golf Tournament Charwayne Walker stirs the knowledge of our readers this week with the 1964 tour by Trinidad and Tobago to Guyana. Did you know that Trinidad and Tobago led by Sedley Joseph thrashed British Guiana National Team 4 – Nil in a five match series in 1964? Trinidad and Tobago deplaned Atkinson Airbase with three members that toured the United Kingdom with the West Indies Football team in 1959; Doyle Griffith, Ronnie Gray and Tyrone DeLa Bastide. British Guiana led by Hubert Braithwaite (Snr.), who was also a member of the 1959 West Indies Football Team toured to the UK, lost the series opener by 2 goals to one at GCC Bourda, the goal scorers for the Soca Warriors were Andy Aleong and Ronnie Gray while Ingram Layne netted for British Guiana. In Game 2 played at the same venue, Trinidad and Tobago led by helmet-trick (4) by star winger Andy Aleong destroyed British Guiana 6 – 1. Patrick Britton scored the
consolation goal for the Land of Many Waters. The visitors wrapped up the series with a 4 -1 victory in the third match. Richard Nieves led the assault with a double, while Christian (Bugs) Mendes and Ronnie Gray scored a goal each. Edmond (Screw) Richmond scored the only British Guiana goal displaying a vastly improved all round performance. British Guiana drew the fourth match one all. The prolific Andy Aleong was the Trini goal scorer, while the British Guiana hit man was Patsy Pieters. The Soca Warriors won the fifth and final match by two goals to one. The series was contested at the world famous GCC Bourda. The 1964 Trinidad and Tobago National Team that toured British Guiana: Sedley Joseph – Captain Richard Nieves Andy Aleong Jerry Brown Ronnie Gray Tyrone DeLa Bastide Lincoln Phillips – Goalkeeper Mervyn Joseph –
Goalkeeper Kelvin Berassa Henry Quanvie Christian Mended Hilton Watts Aldwin Ferguson Fred Rodrigues Doyle Griffith Son Baptiste Arthur Browne Eric James – Manager Geoff Chamber – Coach British Guiana Team 1964: Hubert Braithwaite – Captain Birdette Marshall – Goalkeeper George Niles (deceased) Patsy Pieters (deceased) Monty Hope (deceased) George Greene Alvin Braithwaite Ovid Henry Imgram Layne Edmond Richmond (deceased) Winston DeHaarte (deceased) Patrick Britton Cosmo Layne Frankie Forde Maurice Moore Colin Nurse Amigo Dyal Robert Fernandes
Avinash Persaud in line to regain title
Deo, Webster joint leaders in Ladies category Avinash Persaud playing off a 2 handicap and a gross 74 led the field at the end of day one in the Digicel 2014 Guyana Open Golf Tournament which is being played at the Lusignan Course. Persaud finished the day on a net 72 and who is a multiple times champion, leads a strong field that also includes defending champion Avinda Kishore. Trailing Persaud heading into today’s final session is another Guyana Open winner Alfred Mentore, who closed the day on a gross 76 and a net 70 after starting on a 6 handicap and Rishi Sukhram with a gross 76 and a net 69 from a 7 handicap. Imran Khan and Brian Glasford follow with a 79 and 81 gross and a similar net of 72 after beginning the day with a 7 and 9 handicap
respectively. In the 10-18 category, Seepaul Suknanan playing off an 11 handiap and a gross 76 and net 65 leads this category and he is followed by Roy Cummings with a gross 79 and a net 69 off a 10 handicap and Colin Ming with a gross 84 and a net 70 off a 14 handicap. In the 19-28 Flight, Patangilee Persaud heads the field with an 87 gross and a 60 net off a 27 handicap, while Mahendra Bhagwandin lies second on a gross 91 and net 65 off a 26 handicap. Occupying the third spot is Richard Haniff with a gross 94 and a net 73 off a 21 handicap. In the Ladies segment, Joann Deo and Shanella Webster are joint leaders with a net 74 after starting the day with a 20 and 22 handicap respectively.
Reigning champion Christine Sukhram trails them with a net 75 after commencing the day with a 5 handicap. Meanwhile, Digicel CEO Gregory Dean, who hit the first tee to signal the start of the tournament in brief remarks said that the Company has always enjoyed being part of the Open, club and golf and thanked the host for allowing them to get on board. President of the club David Mohamed first thanked the members for the hard work they put in to make the tournament possible, while extending thanks to Digicel for its patronage before promising a great tournament. The final day of competition is today and the presentation of prizes is anticipated to be done at 17:00 hrs.
From page 74 anything but a team riding high after starting the season poorly, while the confidence gained from beating Spurs and then Manchester City in the League Cup was visible. Having threatened with a Cisse header, which was cleared off the line by Glen Johnson, they finally broke through thanks to Perez’s
second successive league goal. The Spaniard, on for Cisse, again showed a striker’s instinct of being at the right place at the right time, when he slammed in from Dummett’s delivery. Another summer recruit, Cabella should have added a second when he broke forward with Perez before firing a goalbound shot that
was pushed wide by Simon Mignolet. After one draw and four wins - including one in the league cup - calls for manager Pardew to be sacked seem like a distant memory. In other results: Arsenal 3 - 0 Burnley, Chelsea 2 - 1 QPR, Everton 0 - 0 Swansea, Hull 0 - 1 Southampton, Leicester 0 - 1 West Brom and Stoke 2 - 2 West Ham.
From page 78 wicket to Babar, lifted his head as he did so, and was beaten by a little turn that diverted the ball to hit off stump. A tally of 37 from 28 balls can win a Twenty20 match; in a Test it is barely a cameo. Rahat was continuing to move the ball both ways, and an inswinger burst through Lyon’s defences after 85 stubborn balls. Smith was the token batsman dismissed before getting settled as can happen, beaten by another lovely delivery from Babar that struck the top of his back pad and was, according to Hawkeye, going on to hit enough of the stumps. Clarke played with energy and intent to the interval, but when play resumed he was bewitched and then dismissed by Imran, who gained sharp reverse swing that Clarke seemed unable to adjust to. After twice miscuing balls that bended in
to him, he missed a third completely, and middle stump was knocked flat on the ground. Haddin was inconvenienced by the AC joint problem he suffered on day two, but was dismissed rather simply by Yasir, who spun one leg break past his outside edge before bowling the wicketkeeper via inside edge with a flatter ball that did not turn. Johnson skied a slog at Yasir the ball after
being dropped by Sarfraz Ahmed behind the stumps, and Marsh fell short of a century by falling on Australia’s devil’s number 87. The closing passage of the day saw Ahmed Shahzad and Mohammad Hafeez defeated, but it mattered little. The series is decided. Scores: Pakistan 570 for 6 declared and 61 for 2 lead Australia 261 (Marsh 87, Imran 3-60) by 370 runs.
Force India make US Grand... In-form Newcastle beat... From page 77 Mallya said: “I have not had any conversation with any team about any boycott but I have discussed with Lotus and Sauber our extreme disappointment at the loss of both Marussia and Caterham.” The Texas race is one of the most important on the calendar in commercial terms because it provides a foothold into the largely untapped potential of the vast US market. The event is in only its t h i r d y e a r, a n d w a s established following five years without a race in the States - Indianapolis failed to renew its contract beyond 2007 following the catastrophic 2005 race there, in which only six cars took part because of a row over tyres. Challenged on the wisdom of such a plan in that context, Fernley said: “Look, those team owners are three of the most dedicated Formula 1 fans in the world and don’t want to hurt F1. But at the moment, F1 is hurting them.” He said further news would emerge later on Saturday. Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez said: “There is a lot of frustration up and down the paddock. It is a big thing but some people have probably tried to make
a conspiracy theory about it. For sure we’re going to race this weekend and that’s it. “We now need to stop talking about stuff and do something. I hope something can be done in the next couple of weeks.” Lopez added that “unless someone breaks and engine or a gearbox, there is going to be 18 cars on the grid tomorrow”. Mallya told BBC Sport h e e n d o r s e d L o p e z ’s remarks. F1 has revenues of $1.8bn (£1.1bn) and 63% is passed to the teams, but it is the way that money is shared out that causes problems for the less successful outfits. The money is split according to a complicated formula related to a team’s recent results and historic success, and which is heavily skewed in favour of the big teams. Ferrari have received more than $200m (£125m) from F1’s owners this year - including a payment of about $90m just for taking part - while Marussia are believed to have received only about $14m (£8.8m). Marussia and Caterham are not racing in the US or Brazil next week and although they are said to be hoping to return for the final race in Abu Dhabi, this is considered unlikely.
Adding to the smaller teams’ problems is the fact sponsorship money has been hard to generate since the global financial crash at the end of the last decade, and the increased costs caused by the new turbo hybrid engines this season, which have at least doubled in price compared with last year. Force India have also long complained that they are excluded from decisionmaking because they do not have a presence in the strategy group of six teams that proposes rule changes. But they will be promoted on to it next season because they will finish sixth in the c o n s t r u c t o r s ’ championship, and will therefore take from Lotus the slot reserved for the best-placed team not among the five permanent members, who are Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams. The contracts signed by the teams mean that Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren may have to run third cars in 2015 if the grid is below 20 cars - it is now at 18 following the demise of Caterham and Marussia. Ecclestone said he had proposed that the big teams supply cars to the smaller teams if the grid dropped below 20 cars, but that he would rather the grid stayed at least at that level.
Pakistan bowlers extend dominance
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Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
Footballer Ricardo Ferreira handed In-form Newcastle beat Liverpool 50-year ban after referee attack BBC Spot - A Switzerlandbased amateur footballer has been banned for 50 years after kicking a ball in the referee’s face and spraying him with water. Portugal Futebol Clube defender Ricardo Ferreira has already served a 45-game ban for assaulting opposition players. “I had expected one or
two years maximum. But 50 years? Football’s my life,” Ferreira, 28, said. The fourth-tier league’s lawyer Robert Breiter said: “We do not want such a player in our league.” Speaking to Swiss newspaper Blick (in German), Breiter continued: “Unfortunately we encounter
such cases about once a year.” Ferreira had been an unused substitute in his team’s match against SC Worb in the Bern league when he attacked the referee after the final whistle. Ferreira will be free to return to footballing activity on 5 June 2064, by which time he will be 78.
Nico Rosberg beats Lewis Hamilton to United States GP pole Ayoze Perez (centre) scored Newcastle’s winner for the second successive league match. (Getty Images)
Nico Rosberg (left) and Lewis Hamilton shake hands after the qualifying round. (Getty Images BBC Sport – Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position at the United States Grand Prix to revive his title hopes. The German, who is 17 points behind his Mercedes team-mate in the world championship, was an impressive 0.376 seconds clear of the British driver. The Mercedes were well clear in Austin, with Williams’s Valtteri Bottas 0.839secs behind Rosberg in third. His team-mate Felipe Massa was fourth, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Rosberg said going into this weekend that he knew he needed “strong races” in the remaining three events (including Austin, which begins at 20:00 GMT on Sunday) to try and regain the lead from Hamilton, who has won the last four grands prix. And his performance came despite a troubled time in final practice , in which he was more than 0.8secs slower than Hamilton. Rosberg said: “Great day. Very happy. It worked out really well. I arrived with a car I was really happy with. The balance was good. “It was quite a challenge because the wind was changing and this morning the track was a lot colder. The track kept changing so it wasn’t easy to get a balance.
BBC Sport - Newcastle’s revival under Alan Pardew continued as they picked up a fourth successive victory against a Liverpool side who continue to struggle for form. Substitute Ayoze Perez, who scored in the Magpies’ win at Tottenham last week, netted the second-half winner from close range after the visitors failed to clear Paul Dummett’s cross. Newcastle also went close through Remy Cabella and Papiss Cisse as victory their first at home over the Reds in five attempts - moved them to a point behind their opponents. Defeat for Brendan Rodgers’s side left them nine points behind leaders Chelsea, who kicked off later on Saturday. But more worryingly is that they are six points shy of where
they were at this stage last season. While the defence is a continuing concern under Rodgers’ stewardship - they have kept only one clean sheet in the last 12 matches far more worrying is at the other end, where summer signing Mario Balotelli, a “calculated risk” as Rodgers labelled it, has not worked so far. There was a small fanfare when he was brought in to fill the void left by Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona, but while the Uruguayan managed 31 goals last season, the Italian will be lucky to get half that total on current form. He has only scored twice for the Reds and has yet to hit the mark in the Premier League. Here he always seemed a
willing outlet for his teammates, but Newcastle’s defence had him under lock and key for much of the match. Balotelli’s game revolves around explosive power and instinct rather than guile, but he barely fired, only threatening with a first-half free-kick and a curling shot which Tim Krul easily held. His team-mates provided little support and rarely troubled the Newcastle defence, with only headers from Martin Skrtel and Philippe Coutinho, which produced a marvellous save from Krul, causing jitters in the home backline. Despite being handicapped by injuries to winger Gabriel Obertan and striker Cisse during the match, Newcastle never looked (Continued on page 73)
New Zealand thrash USA at sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago Nico Rosberg during qualifying. But the race is what counts.” Hamilton praised Rosberg for a “great job”. “I really struggled with braking,” he added. “The left front brake was always around 100C less than the right front brake and it just kept catching, even if I braked earlier. Even if I didn’t have that I think Nico was perhaps too quick today.” McLaren’s Jenson Button was seventh, one place ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen, but the 2009 world champion will drop five places as a result of a penalty for changing a gearbox before it had done the requisite five races. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took ninth, ahead of Adrian Sutil’s Sauber, the first time the team had made it into the top 10 in qualifying all year. It gives Sauber a great chance to score their first points of the season - so far,
either Sutil or team-mate Esteban Gutierrez have spun out every time they have been close to scoring. World champion Sebastian Vettel will start from the pit lane after fitting a sixth engine this season teams are restricted to five. And Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kyat will start last despite qualifying 14th because he has a 10-place penalty for changing his engine and taking his seventh of the season. Events on track are taking place against the backdrop of a row over F1 finances in the wake of the collapse of the Marussia and Caterham teams in the last two weeks. The Force India, Lotus and Sauber teams, who are not involved in the rulemaking strategy group, are unhappy about their lack of voice and what they see as an inequitable split in F1’s income.
New Zealand were dominant against the US. (Getty Images) BBC Sport - New Zealand secured a resounding win over the USA in front of a capacity crowd at Chicago’s Soldier Field. The All Blacks ran in 12 tries, with Sonny Bill Williams and Julian Savea both touching down twice. Over 61,000 fans were in attendance, more than three times the previous best crowd for a rugby match in the USA.
New Zealand fielded an inexperienced line-up but were impressive ahead of their meeting with Stuart Lancaster’s England at Twickenham next Saturday. The match was broadcast live on NBC in America. Bob Latham, chairman of USA Rugby, described the match as “monumental” for rugby in the United States.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
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Raonic beats Berdych to Defending champion St. Pius reach Paris Masters final survives penalty shootout Courts/Petra Organisation Pee Wee Schools Football Tournament
Action in the clash between Stella Maris and St. Margaret’s which the former won. Current champion St. Pius scraped past F.E. Pollard 4-3 on penalty kicks to reach the semi-finals of the Courts/ Petra Organisation Pee We e S c h o o l s F o o t b a l l To u r n a m e n t which continued yesterday, at the Thirst Park ground. The two teams had played to a 1-1 stalemate to send the contest into a penalty shootout which the defending champs prevailed. Stella Maris earned a similar win over St. Margaret’s in their matchup after they too ended in a 1-1 deadlock. The game of the day came when last year ’s beaten finalist West Ruimveldt succumbed to a narrow 1-0 loss to South Ruimveldt. In the day’s full results: Game-1
St. Margaret’s-1 vs Stella Maris-1 Stella Maris won 4-3 on sudden death kicks Stella Maris scorer Own goal-10th St. Margaret’s scorer Josiah King-20th Game-2 F.E.Pollard-1 vs St. Puis-1 St. Puis won 4-3 on sudden death kicks St. Puis scorer Brendon Solomon-26th F.E. Pollard scorer Quincy Williams-2nd Game-3 West Ruimveldt-0 vs South Ruimveldt-1 Royston Louis—8th Game-4 Tucville-1 vs St. Angela’s-0 Kevaughn Adams-3rd Plate Section (9-16) Game-5 Enterprise -0 vs East La
Penitence-3 Tyrese Singh-3rd Bevon James-5th Nivek Boyce-29th Game-6 Marian Academy-1 vs North Georgetown-1 North Georgetown won 7-6 on sudden death kicks North Georgetown scorer Nigel Low- 13th Marian Academy Reshawn Washington-26th Game-7 Smith Memorial-1 vs Green Acres-2 Green Acres scorers Sion Jeffers-12th Lebron Wickham-33rd Smith Memorial scorer Omali Henry-13th Game-8 Ketley Primary-0 vs St. Stephen’s-2 Wesley Thompson-8th Hosea Parkinson-18th
Nicol David reaches squash world rankings landmark BBC Sport - Malaysia’s Nicol David has become the first person to hold the world number one ranking for more than eight years. The 31-year-old first reached the top of the World Squash Association (WSA) world rankings in January 2006. Although she slipped to number two in April 2006, she reclaimed pole position in August of that year. Her winning run now includes 77 WSA World Tour titles, a record seven World Championship titles and two Commonwealth Games golds. “To be the number one in the world for 100 consecutive months is simply remarkable,” said WSA chief executive officer Tommy Berden. “Nicol’s achievements are unique within the global sporting community and it’s great for the sport to have an ambassador like her.”
Nicol David
PARIS (Reuters) Canadian seventh seed Milos Raonic reached a Masters final for the second time when he beat Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 3-6 7-5 in the semi-finals of the Paris event yesterday. Raonic, who qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday, will take on either world number one Novak Djokovic or Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori in the showpiece match. The big-serving Raonic, runner-up at the Toronto Masters last year, followed up his quarter-final defeat of second seed Roger Federer impressively against the 2005 Paris champion. After firing down 21 aces against Federer, Raonic had to wait until the fifth game to serve his first on Saturday but by that time he had already broken Berdych for a 3-1 lead. Although Berdych read his serve pretty well, Raonic held and bagged the opening set when his opponent’s sliced backhand sailed long. Berdych, however, broke in the second game of the second set as Raonic netted a backhand, before holding
Milos Raonic of Canada celebrates defeating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in his men’s singles semifinal tennis match at the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Bercy sports hall in Paris, yesterday. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier serve to level the tie. The third set was a much more balanced affair until Raonic set up the first couple of break points, which were also
match points. He needed only one, wrapping it up when Berdych netted a backhand before smashing his racket on the ground in frustration.
Force India make US Grand Prix boycott threat
Force India’s team principal Vijay Mallya has said he is not aware of any discussions about a boycott. (Getty Images) BBC Sport - Force India say they are considering boycotting the US Grand Prix in protest at a failure to address what they see as a financial crisis in Formula 1. The smaller teams are struggling to make ends meet and believe the split of revenues, which is skewed in favour of the top teams, is to blame. The Marussia and Caterham teams have recently gone into administration. Force India said they, Lotus and Sauber could make a stand by skipping the race in Austin but Lotus dismissed the talk. Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley said: “The bottom three teams are
considering it.” But asked whether the boycott threat was real, Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane said: “It’s not real from us. It’s not even been thought about or discussed.” And insiders say that despite Fernley’s remarks, there will be a full 18 cars on the grid on Sunday. And the chances of Sauber not racing must be considered very small after their driver Adrian Sutil made it into the top 10 in qualifying for the first time this year. That gives the Swiss team a good chance of scoring their first points, which go down to 10th place in the race, in what has been the least
successful season in their history. It is suspected Fernley is keen to fire a shot across the bows of F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone, who came up with the current split in revenues and has struck individual financial deals with the teams in the past few years. But Fernley’s approach has been criticised by Christian Horner, team principal of world champions Red Bull, who said: “If you are going to threaten something, you have to be prepared to go through with it.” And on Friday, Force India team principal Vijay (Continued on page 75)
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GNRA year-end Fullbore National C/ships start today By Franklin Wilson The battle lines will be drawn from today at the Guyana Defence Force Fullbore rifle ranges when the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA) yearend Championships shoot off bringing together the best marksmen of the sport in Guyana. The likes of reigning national champion, Ransford Goodluck, Caribbean individual champion Lennox Braithwaite, National Captain Mahendra Persaud, Dylan Fields and Leo Ramalho will
battle in the league of the big boys, X-Class. The O-Class will bring together among others, Peter Persaud, Sherwin Felicien, Chevlon Velloza and Terrance Stuart. Competition today is anticipated to get cracking from at 11:00hrs with the competitors shooting 2x10 at 300 yards. They will then move to the 500 and 600 yards ranges before pulling the targets for the day. Day two will be next Saturday when activity will be
had at two ranges before the final day, Sunday when the final three ranges will be contested. The title of national champion at the X and O Class levels will be on the line. There is no clear cut choice as to who will take the title given the form that has been displayed by the shooters at the Recorded Shoots over the past few weeks. One thing is for sure; a riveting three days of shooting is anticipated, beginning today.
Pakistan bowlers extend dominance ESPNcricinfo - Sometime in the next two days, Australian ineptitude on slow wickets will very likely have delivered Pakistan a richly deserved series victory after the visitors’ first innings melted away in Abu Dhabi. Mitchell Marsh offered the only resistance in an innings that more or less sealed the series for Misbahul-Haq’s men, moreover the most convincing since a 3-0 hiding in 1982 - the selector on duty Rod Marsh will remember it all too well. Misbah chose not to enforce the follow on despite a lead of 309, and two early wickets to Mitchell Johnson were too little, too late. More pivotal was the fact that Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah all delivered vexing spells, on a surface that seemed far more lively in Pakistani hands than it ever did when Australia’s bowlers allowed their opponents to run up to 570 for 6 declared. The gambit of placing Glenn Maxwell in the top order worked only briefly, his rapid 37 ended with an unsightly ran down the wicket to Babar, who once again showed the wiles of a high class left-arm spinner by also defeating Steven Smith. David Warner began the day’s wickets with a spendthrift swish at Rahat, who placed Australia’s pacemen in the shade by gaining movement both ways. Imran followed suit after lunch to swerve through Michael Clarke, and Yasir Shah’s beguilement of Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson left Marsh alone with the tail. Lyon and Warner began the day well and truly behind in the match but with the hope of establishing a foothold on Australia’s first innings. Lyon played commendably straight, though he was fortunate to escape an lbw appeal from Babar. Warner needed to reprise his Dubai hundred, but the
Imran Khan produced some key breakthroughs. (AFP) Mitchell Marsh raised a fifty amid a batting collapse. (Getty Images)
subtle movement being gained by Rahat drew him into chasing a wide delivery that was caught at backward point - Warner himself having missed a similar chance from the bat of Younis Khan the previous morning. Maxwell thus went out to bat to join a nightwatchman rather than a batsman, but quickly demonstrated that his hurtling method would not
change in any circumstances. Briefly it worked, as he advanced the scoreboard more rapidly than Australia have managed at any time in the series. But Misbah and his bowlers remained patient, reasoning that this could not last. Logically and almost inevitably it did not, as Maxwell danced down the (Continued on page 73)
Sunday November 02, 2014
Guyana Softball Cup four
Wolf’s Warriors, Floodlight, Savage Masters book final berths By Zaheer Mohamed Wolf’s Warriors (open), Floodlight and Savage Masters (over-40) have secured their places in the finals of the Guyana Softball Cup four after recording victories in their respective semifinal games yesterday. Regal played Petema Enterprise in the second semifinal last night at Demerara Cricket Club; Petema Enterprise overcame New York All Star at Bourda to book their semifinal place. Wo l f ’s Wa r r i o r s thumped Farm XI by nine wickets in their semifinal encounter. Farm XI were bundled out for 85 in 12 overs, batting first at Everest. Shafeek Ishmile made 19; Amir Nizamudeen captured 3-10, Azaad Azeez claimed 3-11 and Mark Harold 2-6. Wolf’s Warriors replied with 86-1 in nine overs. Safraz Karim led with 35 not out and Amrit Rai an unbeaten 26. In the over-40 division, Floodlights trounced We l l m a n b y 5 8 r u n s a t Everest. Floodlights batted first and rattled up 198-2 after the game was reduced to 15 overs. Yunnis Yusuf stroked 104 not out and Wayne Jones 37. Wellman were restricted for 140-9 in 1 5 o v e r s i n r e p l y. S . Prashad made an unbeaten 61; Jones snared 2-17, Imtiaz Mohamed 2-21 and Rajendra Singh 2-33. At Bourda, Savage defeated Parika Defenders by nine wickets in their semifinal game. Parika Defenders took first strike and mustered 93-8 in a reduced 15- over affair. R. Rambharose got 18 as Nandalall (only name given) picked up 4-20 and Rudy Samaroo 2-19. Savage responded with 99-1 in 10.5 overs. Lakeram Barlow slammed 46 not out, while Robert Comach ended on 37. Meanwhile, in the final preliminary round games in the open segment, Uprisers w e n t d o w n t o Wo l f ’s Warriors by six wickets at Bourda. Uprisers managed 96-9 off their allotted 15 overs. Ramo Malone scored 19; Amir Nizamudeen and Vishnu Tammechandra took two wickets each. Wo l f ’s Wa r r i o r s reached their target in 11.2 overs, ending on 98-4. Rai scored 25 not out and
Yusuf slams ton for Floodlight
Amrit Rai
Lakeram Barlow
Robert Comach
Mark Harold
Karim an unbeaten 24. Chris Patadin and Greg Singh snared two scalps each. New York All Star beat South Florida by three runs at the said venue. NY All Star posted 113-8 in 15 overs, batting first. Mo Khan slammed 32; Shalindra Ramnauth had 38 and Ian Sanichar 2-19. South Florida replied with 110-8 in 15 overs. Balram Samaroo made 28; Amit Moonsammy grabbed 5-25 and Bobby Prahalad 2-19. At Ogle, Regal hammered Parika Defenders by nine wickets. Parika were bowled out for 82 in 11 overs, taking first knock. Travis Drakes scored 21; Rohit Dutchin grabbed 3-16, Balram Roopnarine 2-3, Richard Latiff 2-9 and Fazal Rafiek 2-17. Dutchin then returned with the bat to crack 42 as Regal knocked off their target in 7.2 overs, ending on 84-1. At MYO, Petema Enterprise went down to Karibee Boyz by four wickets. Petema Enterprise took first turn at the crease and
scored 102-4 off their allocation of 10 overs with Zamad Mohamed scoring 34. Karibee Boyz replied with 103-6 in 8.4 overs. Bisham Deolall struck 34; Lionel Persaud took 2-9. In the over-40 division, a t D C C , We l l m a n b e a t Regal Masters by seven wickets. Regal made 121 all out in 14.4 overs, batting first. Clyde Butts and Longsford Klass scored 18 apiece; Lloyd Harper snared 4-19. We l l m a n r e s p o n d e d with 123-3 in 14.3 overs. Lakeram Rooplall and S. Persaud were their leading run scorers with 42 and 40 respectively. Ontario Masters conquered New York Better Hope six runs. Ontario Masters batted first and posted 155-7 in 15 overs. Jaimini Singh stroked 47 and Desmond Chummely 29. Ronald Evelyn and Farrog Quyaam took two wickets each. NY Better Hope made 149-7 in 15 overs in reply. Shameer Sadloo scored 40; R. Parsram had 3-15. The competition concludes today.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 79
Windies A fall short on D/L in 1st “ODI” Sebert Blake formally confirmed Dambulla, Sri Lanka - West Indies A fell just six runs short off their revised target in a rain-hit 1st One Day versus Sri Lanka A at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium yesterday. After rain hit, the regional side were given a revised target of 78 runs from 20 overs after Sri Lanka A had scored 245/8 from their 50 overs. The West Indies A could only muster 71/2 before they ran out of overs. Kraigg Brathwaite scored a patient 24 runs from 44 balls while fellow opener, Nkrumah Bonner,
was equally cautious in his approach, hitting 21 runs from 45 balls.Earlier, Lahiru Thirimanne led Sri Lanka A’s charge after the hosts were put in to bat. Thirimanne top scored for Sri Lanka A with 74. There were also halfcenturies for wicket-keeper, Dinesh Chandimal (60) and Thilina Kandamby (58*). Sri LankaAnow lead the three matchseries1-0. SummaryScores: SriLankaA:245/8(50Overs). Lahiru Thirimanne 74, Dinesh Chandimal 60, Thilina Kandamby 58*, Kithuruwan
Vithanage 29; Ronsford Beaton 10-1-40-2, Carlos B r at h w a ite 1 0 - 1 - 5 4 - 2 , Nikita Miller 10-0-57-2, Shannon Gabriel 10-1-47-1. West Indies A: 71/2 (20/20 Overs; Target 78). Kraigg Brathwaite 24*, Nkrumah Bonner 21, Jermaine Blackwood 14, Jonathan Carter 1*; Lakshan Sandakan 1-0-1-1, Dushmantha Chameera 5-022-1, Nisala Gamage 6-113-0, Jeevan Mendis 4-0-120. Result: Sri Lanka A won by 6 runs(D/Lmethod).
as level three star boxing coach
BCCI demands $42m in damages from WICB ESPNcricinfo - Calling We s t I n d i e s ’ p u l l - o u t midway into the India tour a “monumental disaster”, the BCCI has slapped a US$41.97m damages claim on the WICB. The BCCI also suspended bilateral relations with the WICB till the dispute was resolved, and threatened legal action if the West Indies board didn’t respond within 15 days. Scheduled to play five ODIs, a Twenty20 and three Tests, the West Indies players pulled out of the series after the fourth ODI in Dharamsala on October 17. They cited the failure of We s t I n d i e s P l a y e r s ’ Association (WIPA) and WICB to respond convincingly to their questions related to the memorandum of understanding and collective bargaining agreement signed by the two parties in September. In a stern four-page letter addressed to WICB president Dave Cameron, a copy of which is in possession of ESPNcricinfo, BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel on Friday indicated that if the WICB failed to respond within 15 days about how it intended to compensate the losses in “acceptable terms”, the BCCI would initiate legal proceedings. “Pending resolutions of all disputes the BCCI suspends all bilateral cricketing relations with the WICB,” Patel’s letter stated. Patel’s missive arrived even as Cameron and senior WICB officials were engaged in meetings with p l a y e r s a n d W I PA i n Trinidad to resolve the dispute. The meeting was facilitated by Prime Minister o f S t Vi n c e n t , R a l p h
President of the GOA, Juman Yassin (L) when he had handed over the sponsorship package to Blake just before his departure to Cuba. GBA President, Steve Ninvalle also witnessed the occasion
The damages claim made by the BCCI against the WICB could bring the West Indies down to its knees © BCCI Gonsalves, who helped resolve the dispute between Chris Gayle and the WICB three years ago. As soon as Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies ODI captain, said that the players would be forced to take extreme steps unless they got clear answers from WIPA and WICB regarding the new MoU/CBE, Patel said the BCCI understood the seriousness of the issue and attempted to avert the debacle. Patel pointed out that Bravo and his team-mates continued to play till the fourth ODI only because of the intervention by him and the other senior BCCI officials. Patel stressed that the consequences of the West Indies pullout were “multifold and crippling” to the Indian board. “The BCCI is faced with huge revenue losses, a loss of reputation and is at risk of losing valuable commercial partners,” Patel wrote. “The consequences of cancellation of a committed home Tour during the biggest festival season
Diwali in India is a monumental disaster for the BCCI. It is during this season that our partners derive the most value from their rights. “Our broadcaster had committed to its advertisers during this season and on account of your actions, is facing a severe crisis the effects of which are felt by the BCCI. The BCCI holds the WICB responsible and liable for all such consequences and intends to enforce its rights to seek compensation from the WICB to the fullest extent permissible in law.” Patel demanded a written assurance from the WICB explaining how it intended to pay damages claimed by BCCI and warned a failure would mean further sanctions. “In the event the BCCI does not receive such a proposal in acceptable terms, within a period of 15 days from receipt of this letter, please note that the BCCI has peremptorily instructed its attorneys to initiate steps for recovery of the losses by filing appropriate legal
Having participated in a one week Extraordinary APB/WSB Certification Course from August 2027 in Havana, Cuba, F o r g o t t e n Yo u t h Foundation (FYF) boxing coach, Sebert Blake has added another accolade to his collection when officials of the International Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) officially confirmed his success and he is now elevated to a level three star coach. This is the highest level that any coach can attain under the ruling boxing association and qualifies Blake to a position where he can coach and second boxers at all levels of c o m p e titions under the auspices of the International Amateur Boxing Association (IABA). Shortly after receiving the good news Friday afternoon, Blake was sumamoned to the office of President of the G u y a n a B o x i n g Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle, where the latter individual hosted a press
briefing to inform of the new developments. Mr. Ninvalle showered praise on Blake while labeling the feat as another injection in the developmental aspect of the sport. The GBA President said that the feat becomes even more meritorious when it is noted that Blake’s elevation is only the second such in all of the Caribbean (the other being Terrence Poole) and would further strengthen local boxers’ chances at international competitions. Blake said that he is elated with the new status attained and pledged to use the newly acquired accolade towards the betterment of the sport. He also said that though the course lasted for just one week, it was trying and demanding. He said that the acquisition of resource material was a major challenge but in the end it was worth it. Blake expressed heartfelt gratitude to his bosses at the Guyana Power and Light for their support. He said that they have been rendering such
support since 1989 when he first ventured into his new field and such support has indeed been a major catalyst to his eventual success. Meanwhile, Mr. Ninvalle said that already the local boxing fraternity has begun to benefit from Blake’s recent sojourn. He said that Blake has been tutored on the use of t h e C a v e l o n Cream, authenticated for use by elite boxers, and his expertise has been helpful to his charges and other local pugilists. Blake had earlier earned a Diploma in Sports when he travelled to Hungary under the auspices of the Guyana Olympic Association and ever since, the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) boxing coach has been an asset to the boxers under his care. His participation in the Cuba held course was facilitated by three entities, the Guyana Olympic Association, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the National Sports Commission.
Page 80
Kaieteur News
Sunday November 02, 2014
MCYS/EBFA U-13 League
Grove Hi Tech claim top spot playing unbeaten, Herstelling Raiders cop second Grove Hi Tech Football Club team have continued their dominance of football of the East Bank of Demerara by adding the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports (MCYS) sponsored East Bank Football Association (EBFA) Under-13 League champion’s trophy to their 2014 collection. This is the club’s fourth title in as many tournaments under the auspices of the EBFA for 2014 having already added the Trophy Stall Under-15, CULT Under-17 and Stag Beer Division One League titles.Grove sealed the title in their last game when they hammered Kuru Kururu Warriors 6-2 to win their fifth consecutive match. Joint leading goal scorers Threvon Pluck (52, 56) and Kevin Padmore (25, 46) netted a double each to end the one round league with 5goals apiece. Rasheed Evans also netted a brace; he was on target in the 35th and 37th minute. Kuru Kururu Warriors got their goals form Jonathan Bailey who opened the scoring in the 15th minute, Kevon Scott converted the other in the 40th minute. Agricola triumphed over Diamond United by a 2-1 margin compliments of goals from
The inaugural MCYS / EBFA Under-13 Champions, Grove Hi Tech FC. Michael English (35) and Keon Narine, five minutes later. Diamond got their goal compliments of an own goal by Agricola. Herstelling Raiders won via the walk over route from Kuru Kururu Warriors, the latter team would be their final game against Diamond on Saturday at the Grove Community ground from
11:00hrs. It would be the final game of the league which would be followed by the presentation of prizes. The top four teams would all receive trophies with medals going to the top two teams. Medals will also be presented to the Most Valuable Player, Leading Goal Scorers and Best Goalkeeper.
Five-week countdown to Flex Night 2014 has begun Athletes and Gym Owners briefed By Franklin Wilson With the aim of giving the audience something to talk about for the next year after this year’s International Flex Night at the National Cultural Centre on Sunday December 7, athletes, gym owners and the media were briefed on what is expected of them by the organisers at Olympic House, High Street, yesterday afternoon. According to Executive Director of Flex Night, Donald Sinclair, he informed that the athletes were given all the information that they would require too assist in their preparation for Flex Night 2014. “We talked about the categories, the prizes, the competitors from other gyms
and other information that they would need to enhance their own preparations. We were very pleased with the turn out and we know that word would reach other gyms.” Sinclair and team said that they are leaving no stones unturned to ensure that fans get their monies worth come December 7. He would be in neighboring Suriname today to attend a meeting with the Suriname Bodybuilding Federation. “The Surinamese will be having their event on November 29 to select their team for Flex Night Guyana, they are planning big.” Flex Night Berbice, an annual event is set for (Continued on page 74)
Directors of Flex Night Inc. (at head table) briefing athletes and Gym Owners yesterday at Olympic House.
Sunday November 02, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 81
Ninvalle faces tough Jamarj Assanah stars run for AIBA post in Friday action GT&T Indoor Hockey Championships
Guyana could have a major voice in international boxing if President of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association Steve Ninvalle is elected to the AIBA Americas Executive Committee but the race to that position wouldn’t be easy and is long from over. Ninvalle is among eight persons vying to become an AMBC Executive Committee member when the AIBA Congress is held from November 11 to 14 on Jeju Island, South Korea and yesterday he revealed that the road ahead is expected to be rocky. “It is basically a David versus Goliath scenario. You are going up against the might of the boxing world. It’s a lot of politics being played out and a lot of resources being pumped into winning. Quite frankly neither Guyana nor the Caribbean is capable of matching the resources of some of the opponents,” Ninvalle declared. “It’s not an easy road but Guyana and the Caribbean
Steve Ninvalle would be giving it the best shot. You only fail when you stop trying and our best attempt is yet to come.” The GABA head is among several members listed from countries vying for positions on this key sporting body. Among the other members vying for positions on AIBA include: Osvaldo Bisbal (Argentina), Pat Fiacco (Canada), Rafael Vega Rodriguez (Costa Rica), Alberto Puig De La
Barca (Cuba), Alex Gonzalez Gutierrez (Ecuador), Ray Silvas (USA) and Fran Lopez Almeida (Venezuela). Once successful, Ninvalle will be a vice president in the Americas area, which is led by AIBA vice president and area President Dr. Domingo Salano. This is the first time that a representative from the English speaking Caribbean has been nominated for this crucial election of the World amateur boxing body (AIBA). Ninvalle and the other Caribbean heads are scheduled to this week fine tune the modus operandi for the Congress. The Americas region, headed by Salano, is expected to support Ninvalle along with the Caribbean area, while the two areas mentioned are in support of Salano to retain his post. But Ninvalle will also need support from the other members if he is to the clinch the closely contested post.
UCCA XI defeat GCC in fund raiser
The UCCA XI pose with their winnings after the presentation. The fund raising cricket match between an Upper Corentyne Cricket Association invitational XI and the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) was successfully staged on Sunday last at the No69 Vikings Ground. The UCCA XI made sure that the defended their turf successfully when they won the encounter by six wickets. Winning the toss and deciding to take first strike the visiting GCC team were dismissed for 204 in 43.3 of the allotted 45overs. Batting for the visitors, Captain Jeetendra Sookdeo led from in
front with a classy 102 (12x4). Apart from Sookdeo only Elon Fernandes with 39 (4x4, 1x6) offered any real support as they put together 80 for the third wicket. Bowling for UCCA XI Sean Perreira with 4-36 and Kennard Kamdeen 2 were the main wicket takers. The UCCA XI in reply were off to a very good start with openers Shimron Hetmyer and Akash Homraj blazing to 112 in 16 overs before they were separated. National player Shimron Hetmyer hammered a quick fire 92 (11x4, 1x6) and Homraj made 34 (4x4). Imran
Mohamed 29, Lakeram Latchman 19 not out and captain Ishwar Singh 15 not out steered their team home in 31.3 overs. Bowling for GCC, Sookdeo returned with the ball to finish with 2 wickets. The winning team was presented with their trophy and cash incentives by President of the UCCA Dennis D’Andrade. D’Andrade thanked both teams for coming forward to play the match and GCC for offering them the opportunity to participate in the game. The two teams will clash in a return fixture shortly.
Jamarj Assanah owned the show when the Hikers men’s first division team came up against the youthful under-19 nationals in their high paced duel as the GT&T National Indoor Championships resumed on Friday evening, 31st October. The Hikers showed why they are top of the table and remained unbeaten in the men’s first division by upstaging the under-19 nationals by 6-4. Assanah’s penalty corner goal for the Hikers in the 8th minute fueled a relentless battle between the two sides as Aroydy Branford replied just one minute later by evading two Hikers defenders and sending his diving shot high into the net. Assanah showed his quality once again as he capped off a blistering counterattack with a wellplaced shot to give Hikers a 2-1 lead in the 11th minute. Colonel Heywood joined the Hikers goal charge as he extended the lead by one four minutes later. Although the under-19s, led by an Aroydy Branford hat-trick and Keon McKenzie lone strike, fought b r a v e l y, t h e H i k e r s controlled the match and the score. It was Assanah who fittingly scored the final goal of the match following a double by veteran Devin Hooper. In the other men’s first division battle, Old Fort showed Saints their class as they cruised to a 4-0 victory. Chris Low netted a double for Old Fort while Shaquille Thomas and Andy Gouveia, who scored the goal of the match with lightening reflexes to be first on the end of a crossed ball, rounded out the score sheet. The Tigers maintained their dominance in the ladies competition with their second 9-0 victory of the competition, this time at the expense of Old Fort shooting Stars. Ashley DeGroot, Aliyah Gordon and Kerensa Fernandes each scored doubles while Ulrica Sutherland, Trisha Woodroffe and Shebiki Baptiste completed the sheet with one each. The Hikers ladies staved off an early scare against the under-19 minis by recovering from a three goal deficit to draw even just three minutes from full time.
Jamarj Assanah After an Aliyah Gordon double and Macaela Harding single for the Minis, the Hikers had to dig deep, led by two penalty corner goals from seniors Maria Munroe and Latoya Fordyce, to recover the deficit. Dynamic young striker Latacea Chung saved embarrassment for the experienced Hikers when she netted a pass to draw even at 3-3 just before the final whistle. Old Fort picked up the full three points in the men’s second division giving GCC its first loss by 3-2. The two clubs would return to draw their matchup in the veteran’s competitions 3-3 keeping both their hopes alive for a place in the final. The Hikers lead the M e n ’s f i r s t d i v i s i o n competition going into the penultimate day with 6 points followed by Old Fort and the Under-19 Nationals on 4 each. GCC has 3 points and Saints are yet to secure a point. The ladies competition sees the GCC Tigers on top with 9 points followed by Spice on 6. The Hikers and Under-19 Minis follow with 4 points each and the Old Fort Shooting Stars on 0. T h e M e n ’s s e c o n d division competition finds Old Fort with 9 points followed by GCC on 6. The Hikers have secured 3 points while Saints and Kingston are yet to get off the mark. The veteran’s competition sees GCC in the lead with 5 points, Hickers on 3 and Old Old Fort on 2. Matches continue until today with the four finals
Robert France set to begin at 17:00hrs. Full results for the evening were as follows: Men’s second division: Old Fort defeated GCC 3-2 Goal scorers: Old Fort – Dwayne Allen 2, Shaquille Thomas. GCC – Eric Hing, Keon McKenzie Veterans division: GCC drew with Old Old Fort 3-3 Goal scorers: GCC – Devin Hooper 2, Alan Fernandes. Old Old Fort – John Abrams 2, Chris Low-Koan Ladies division: Hikers drew Under-19 Minis 3–3 Goal scorers: Hikers – Maria Munroe, Latoya Fordyce, Latacia Chung. Under-19 Minis – Aliyah Gordon 2, Macaela Harding GCC Tigers defeated Old Fort Shooting Stars 9–0 Goalscorers: GCC Tigers – Kerensa Fernandes 2, Aliyah Gordon 2, Ashley DeGroot 2, Ulrica Sutherland, Trisha Woodroffe, Shebiki Baptiste Men’s First division Hikers defeated U19 Nationals 6–4 Goal scorers: Hikers – Shaquille Assanah 3, Devin Munroe 2, Colonel Heywood. Under-19s Aroydy Branford 3, Keon McKenzie Old Fort defeated Saints 4-0 Goal scorers: Old Fort – Chris Low-Koan, Andy Gouveia, Shaquille Thomas
t r o p S
GNRA year-end Fullbore National C/ships start today P.78
National Captain Mahendra Persaud (right) and Lennox Braithwaite.
Reigning National Champion Ransford Goodluck.
Digicel 2014 Guyana Open Golf Tournament
Avinash Persaud in line to regain title
Leaders in the respective categories of the Men’s category after Day One are Avinash Persaud (centre), Seepaul Sknanan and Patangilee Persaud.
Shanella Webster Joann Deo
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