Kaieteur News

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October 06, 2015 - Vol. 08 No. 40 - Price $80

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

US has not ruled out military support for Guyana Territorial controversy…

CPA launches Dr. Van WestCharles named probe into child new GWI boss molestation at GPHC Narrow Escape: A driver barely escaped after a twovehicle collision on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive saw this car bursting into flames.

Amaila road New govt yet to could now reach address judicial

Kaieteur Falls backlog

- Problem much more than the shortage of Judges

Govt. green lights US$50Mplus Hope Beach Wind Farm

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Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Water treatment surveillance system to help combat gastroenteritis

S

e a s o n a l gastroenteritis outbreaks in some remote communities are expected to become a thing of the past or, at least, be considerably reduced in the very near future.

This, of course, will be dependent on the successful implementation of a water treatment surveillance system which is set to be introduced shortly in remote areas of the country where people are predisposed to gastroenteritis.

The project is one that is being spearheaded by the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GAFDD), with support

from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

Food and Drug Director, Mr Marlan Cole, who, during a recent interview, told this publication that in order to fast track the initiative a five-day training programme was recently held.

The training programme, which also focused on a number of issues including food chemistry and food microbiology, saw the attendance of several regional environmental officers and inspectors, some of whom were drawn from remote areas of the country.

Wi t h s u p p o r t f r o m PAHO, it is expected that the efforts soon to be employed will allow for a marked improvement in the water quality in the remote areas.

“What we are aiming to do is to ensure that there is constant monitoring, and we will feed that information into a database to see if and when there is trouble to submit samples to our laboratory, so that we can see the trend and recognise if there is a problem with the water quality that people drink and use,” informed Cole.

Tr a i n i n g t h e r e f o r e , represented the initial stage of efforts to implement a long term solution to a problem that has been constantly surfacing – seasonal gastroenteritis.

The renewed efforts at working towards improved water quality is premised on a recommendation of the World Health Organisation which has emphasised the need for countries to put in place a water system and safety plan.

“In Guyana we have an abundance of water but if it is safe and accessible to all is another question...” said the GAFDD Director who however disclosed that a water treatment surveillance system was long under consideration.

“This is linked to a programme where we distributed water testing kits to the inspectors in the regions earlier this year,” informed Cole.

That programme, he explained, was intended to prepare inspectors to engage in activities to quickly acquire water quality information to be fed into a database for analysis.

The inspectors were exposed to training on how to use portable Del Agua water-testing kits that were donated by PAHO. “We have trained them (inspectors) and we have distributed the kits now because we didn't want to just distribute but we wanted to distribute them with training. We have completed those and while some of

them (inspectors) have started to utilise their training in some areas, others are preparing to do so,” said Cole.

Aided by the testing kits, it is expected that concerted efforts will be made, mainly in remote areas, to test the quality of water available to the water consuming public.

While the inspectors are slated to be the primary personnel tasked with testing water quality from various water sources in the remote areas, it is expected that this will be done in collaboration with the Guyana Water Incorporated which was also furnished with a testing kit.

It is expected that bacteriological analysis of mainly drinking water in the remote areas will be conducted on a regular basis.

This process, it is believed, will address the water quality challenges that give rise to the prevalence to gastroenteritis.

With the support of the regional personnel it means that “the Food and Drug

Marlan Cole, GAFDD Director Department is not centralised as it might be perceived to be. We actually appointed inspectors in the regions to work on our behalf,” said Cole of plans to effectively tackle water quality concerns.

This, however, does not mean that GAFDD does not have a staff limitation, Cole noted, as he alluded to a human resource augmentation plan to help boost the work of the Food and Drug Department.

The Ministry of Health was, on repeated occasions, (continued on page 6)

Tuesday October 06, 2015

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Kaieteur News

New govt yet to address judicial backlog - Problem much more than the shortage of Judges

By Abena Rockcliffe The government, the Minister of Legal Affairs and the professionals working in the judiciary are aware that the system is clogged by an overwhelming number of unfinished cases. But the public still awaits a proactive response.

Chief Justice (Ag), Ian Chang and a retired Judge yesterday told Kaieteur News that if the proverbial bull is not taken by the horns, soon, the situation will get “too out of hand.”

The backlog is nothing new. Some cases date back to more than a decade. As a result, suspects languish in

prison much longer than the length of time they would have spent had they been convicted.

Acting Chief Justice, Ian Chang, admitted that the situation is in dire straits. He said that in dealing with it, consideration needs to be given to a change in the leave system.

Currently, there is a rotating 10 weeks and three weeks leave system per year for Judges. He said that with such a backlog, Judges should not be off the job for 10 weeks.

Chang said that there is almost never a case where Judges, after returning from 10 weeks leave, return with a

number of judgments ready to be handed down.

“Let them work,” Chang declared. He said that priority has to be given to those cases that have persons in custody, “They should be given a fair hearing.”

While the backlog exists mostly in the civil and criminal courts, Chang said, “No court is without work.”

He added that everyday more cases are laid and there is a huge huddle of lawyers in the system. Many of them, to get work, recommend daily that a number of cases be taken to court.

All in all, Chang said that an opportunity still exists to reduce the backlog but that

GRDB loan…

Audit exposed $100M transaction - Sharma

T

he Government of Guyana was never told of the transaction when it entered office, and may have never known about it had it not been for the forensic audit, currently taking place.

This is according to Junior Finance Minister Jaipaul Sharma, who bears oversight for the forensic audits. The audit into GRDB was undertaken by Nigel Hinds and Associates and was ordered by the Government back in June of 2015.

Last week forensic auditors combing through GRDB books, discovered that $100M was ‘borrowed’ from the agency by Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA) General Secretary Dharamkumar Seeraj, reportedly to pay farmers who had supplied paddy but were left being owed for extended periods. According to Sharma, the loan

RPA General Secretary Dharamkumar Seeraj

Min. within the Min. of Finance Jaipaul Sharma

agreement constituted just three paragraphs, complete with the signatures of former Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, former GRDB General Manager Jagnarine Singh and Seeraj, who at the time was the Vice President of the GRDB. The Junior Finance Minister went on to note that the loan agreement was

drawn up in such an ad hoc way, that there was no mention of the purpose of the loan. In addition, there was just a promissory note to repay signed by Seeraj.

Sharma went on to relate that the present Government was not updated about the arrangement, which was brokered in July 2014, when (Continue don page 21)

can only be successfully done if the competent Judges develop a positive attitude towards work.

The CJ stressed on competence. “When you know the work, you often do not have to adjourn the case before making a ruling.”

Attorney General (AG), Basil Williams, while in opposition, had spoken much of this judicial abnormality in the dispensation of Justice but since he assumed office, Williams has done nothing to remedy the situation except, of course, to make numerous promises to do so.

During his budget speech, Williams said that the government will “Set its face against excessive delays in the court trials whether civil or criminal.”

Also, Williams promised the Guyanese people that the “APNU and AFC government will implement measures to reduce and eliminate the backlog of cases is the Civil courts and improve the capacity and skill of Judges in areas of case management and case

Chief Justice (Ag), Ian Chang disposition.

Those promises were made early August, but since then nothing about the progress in this regard was heard from Williams. It is not a case where information about the progress made or lack thereof was not solicited.

Kaieteur News literally explored all avenues available to get a hearing with the Minister. After exhausting the means of accessing him via his mobile phone, Kaieteur News reporters visited the Minister’s Carmichael Street Office. He initially refused to meet with them.

Persistent lobbying with his Personal Assistant then landed the reporters an

Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Basil Williams opportunity to wait for the Minister, until after he had eaten but Bob Marley’s song ‘Wait in vain’ was the stark reminder of the reporters’ experience.

A former member of the Judiciary said that even though the individual spoke on the terms of anonymity, vital information was given.

The media was always blaming the backlog on the shortage of Judges in the court. Several Editorials and articles were written to this effect; but there seems to be bigger matter, one that reportedly involves incompetence and in some cases “laziness.”

The interviewee, who spent years in the system, (Continued on page 24)

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

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

Upset by unprofessionalism displayed by staff of the NBTS DEAR EDITOR As is very much known by the public, the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) located within the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s compound is in dire need of blood and constantly urges healthy individuals to become voluntary blood donors. As a result of the appeals made by the NBTS, the leaders and members of Guyana Pandits’ Council and Radha Krishna Mandir of Georgetown organize an annual blood donation drive through tremendous commitment and dedication.

However, at the recently held blood drive at the Mandir on Saturday 3rd October, 2015, I was appalled by the unprofessional manner in which the blood drive was conducted by the members of staff of the NBTS. Just after approximately forty units of blood had been donated, members of the Mandir were informed that they were unable to accommodate any more donors as they had exhausted all the barcodes

that were used to code the bags for each donor. I was quite puzzled upon hearing this statement. Surely the staff should have been appropriately equipped with all the essential items to conduct the blood drive successfully.

I then proceeded to question one member of staff who was leading the operation. I was made to understand by her that over fifty barcodes were brought along for the blood drive. Considering my calculations to be correct, there should have been at least eleven more barcodes available, however I was unsuccessful in getting an explanation as to where the remaining barcodes were, as all I was given by her was an uncooperative “Sorry, I don’t know.” I noted to her that there are at least twenty five more voluntary donors who are waiting to donate blood, myself included, however she said that there is nothing she could do about it. Now, Mr. Editor, if she was aware that the barcodes were depleting, she simply could have made

contact with the NBTS and requested more barcodes, something which she failed to do.

I am quite shocked, upset and disappointed at the attitude and level of unprofessionalism displayed by the members of staff of the NBTS. The NBTS is constantly requesting individuals to donate blood through numerous means: the media, the use of billboards and those of us who are regular donors would receive telephone calls directly from the NBTS. And now, when individuals are willingly available to donate blood, they are being turned away. It is quite sad at the experience encountered by the voluntary donors and the members of the Mandir. I fervently hope that the management of the NBTS can look into this situation and if possible have the intervention of higher authorities, the Ministry of Public Health so as to avoid such an instance from reoccurring in the future.

Devica Uditram

DEAR EDITOR, I would like to take this opportunity to SALUTE the brave men and women of our armed forces; The Guyana Defence Force.

They are willing to put themselves in harm’s way to defend our territorial integrity against the potential threat of a military incursion by Venezuela.

Guyanese, whether at home or abroad, should be rightly proud of our army; they have over many years proved themselves to be professional, impartial and

committed servants of the soil.

It is such a shame that they were so appallingly and shamelessly used as political pawns by the PPP during the last el e c t i o n c a m p a i g n .

S p e a k i n g a t a P e o p l e ’s Progressive Party campaign rally at Albion, Jagdeo told attendees that i f t h e y v o t e d for the APNU+AFC coalition and that party won they ran the risk of having their homes invaded, and doors kicked down by the military.

I trust Jagdeo will reflect

upon his folly and show some contrition.

Isn’t it also ironic that the same military, much maligned by former Commander-inChief Jagdeo, would be so prepared to lay down their lives to prevent the Venezuelan army from invading the homes and kicking down the doors of every single Guyanese citizen regardless of race?

At this time each and every member of our armed forces deserves our heartfelt thanks and prayers.

Colin Bascom

Jagdeo should reflect upon his folly and show some contrition

Education Ministry needs a School Construction Division DEAR EDITOR, In response to my letter which appeared in the Daily News on Sept. 29 regarding cost overruns at the Kato Primary School (KPS) being constructed in the PotaroSiparuni Region, Lindon Stephney apparently Minister of State Joseph Harmon’s spokesman has stated elsewhere that he was of the opinion that these were not due “to poor design but poor management of the greedy and corrupt”. I wish to state I never sought to challenge Minister Harmon’s statement with respect to problems associated with construction costs for KPS but disagreed with his claims which were devoid of the facts and were based on false notions for contacts costs increases.

It is evident from his missive that Mr. Stephney lacks knowledge of the engineering profession as well as with contracting and the bidding process. Before a contractor is allowed to bid for a project, he should be pre-qualified.

Unfortunately, this needed requirement is not applied in Guyana and therefore anyone could be a contractor. The KPS project comprising the plans, specifications, Bill of Quantities and other tender documents were put out to bid and the lowest bidder (not the lowest evaluated bidder) was awarded the contract based on the total costs for the listed items which appeared in the Bill of Quantities.

During construction, the contractor probably noticed discrepancies in the Bill of Quantities and concluded that changes were needed to the plans and/or specifications for project completion. These had to be checked by the Supervising Consultant (SC) and if they had any merit, they would have been submitted for review and approval by the Govt. Officer

responsible for this Project. If approved, change orders would have been authorized and their costs negotiated among the Govt., SC and the contractor.

Therefore, the Govt. was fully aware of all variations for KPS and has given approval for their costs. This had nothing to do with low bidding or corrupt practices as claimed.

Minister Harmon, if he is the competent authority ,should have authorized an audit to determine the cost and time overruns for this project and the reasons therefore as is usually the case with most large projects as well as to ascertain if there was culpability and to avoid the recurrence of mistakes. Contrary to Mr. Stephney’s claim, the costs overruns may well have been due to poor project design as well as ill-prepared specifications, Bill of Quantities and tender documents. It also may have been due to the Govt.’s request for design changes to the project during construction. An audit would have revealed the causes.

If shoddy works were found, the contractor has to rectify them at his expense. However, if there was collusion and shoddy works were covered up then Minister Harmon knows what has to be done and he should act accordingly. A large segment of the budget for the Ministry of Education is allocated for constructing and maintaining schools and other educational institutions and facilities. It is evident that the existing organization responsible for these works lacks competency.

Hence the need to re-organize the Ministry to include a School Construction Division directly responsible to the Minister and

staffed with qualified personnel to provide architectural and engineering services to design and build educational facilities for Guyana to generally accepted standards. Mr. Stephney is probably aware that similar problems had faced New York City some 25 years ago and a School Construction Authority was established under its Board of Education. The change has been extraordinary for the learning environment.

Mr. Stephney acknowledges that there has been a change in Govt. and something needs to be done urgently “to root out bad contractors and so called Supervising Consultants”.

He has however failed to notice that the APNU+AFC, now in their six months of governance, recently extended the contract and is paying a further $4.2M to one of the so called Supervising Consultant for KPS, a Project with many shortcomings which he has failed to identify and is so critical about.

Finally, the Govt. should seriously consider prequalifying contractors and incorporate performance bonds in its contracts. This will eliminate politically connected inexperienced contractors and enable the Govt. to recover costs from those who have performed poorly despite their experience.

Charles Sohan

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday October 06, 2015

GuySuCo’s $82B debt Audit Office aiming for misrepresented ‘paperless’ operations …return to viability requires de-politicization - Fmr. Chairman The Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) indebtedness as reported in the media is somewhat misrepresented, and any successful return to viability in the industry will require a depoliticization of its management.

This is the view held by former GuySuCo Chairman, Vic Oditt, who in a recent missive to the media weighed in on the debilitating straits of the industry.

On the matter of the reported $82B debt, Oditt said $25B is for the Skeldon project.

Government has been making regular payments to China for the loan taken but the sugar company has not repaid government.

Oditt noted too, that $26B is an accounting provision for the payment of pensions when employees reach the age of 60 and as such, GuySuCo should not be categorized as bankrupt, since its convertible assets are far greater than its debt.

According to Oditt, the decline of the industry’s production, productivity and profitability are due to flawed political policies, political interference and mismanagement.

“GuySuCo must be run as the business it is, free from political interference, by a fully staffed management team and a supportive Board,” said Oditt. Drawing on his decade-long tenure as the

industry’s Chairman, Oditt has since suggested also that the corporation seeks better deals for its lands.

He observed that “GoG has transferred thousands of acres of prime GuySuCo lands on EBD and ECD to developers who are making billions while GuySuCo gets nothing.” According to Oditt, “The future sales of GuySuCo lands must be at commercial values.”

Oditt also suggested that additional value-added sugar products should be pursued

by GuySuCo to complement the Demerara Gold brand.

“Revenue stream can be improved by converting more bagged sugar to packaged sugar, which has a minimum net premium of US$100 per tonne…The Demerara Gold trademark registration must be pursued for North America.” According to Oditt, “Branding and cobranding must be done with hotels and supermarkets, locally and regionally.”

GuySuCo, he said, must use its geographical location to acquire more regional markets, since it can ship smaller tonnages on a regular basis, at a premium, as opposed to the large tonnages to be ordered to get the world market price.

The former GuySuCo Chairman, also noted that cogeneration of power from

Former Guysuco Chairman, Vic Oditt bagasse can be a major profit earner for GuySuCo. “The Government of India or/and CDB should be approached to finance the acquisition and installation of cogeneration units (high pressure boilers and turbines) for GuySuCo’s factories, by May-June 2016.”

He said in India and many other sugar producing countries, sugar is now a byproduct of the factories, since their main source of revenue is selling power to the grid.

GuySuCo, he said, “has the unique advantage of having two crops per year and its factories are well located to link to the grid…As such, GuySuCo’s factories can export over 50 MW of continuous power to GPL’s grid from cogeneration, thus earning significant revenue while saving foreign exchange.”

Water treatment surveillance system ...

From page 2 forced to tackle gastroenteritis outbreaks which had reached worrying proportions particularly in Region One. Health teams had travelled to the Region in early 2013 to take samples from wells and river sources, and all of the water samples were found to be unacceptable. In fact, even water samples taken from the solar powered well at Sebai was just as worrisome.

“The contamination was quite extensive…both faecal coliforms and E. Coli were present meaning there were contamination from human waste,” Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, had disclosed.

The sanitary conditions in the affected communities were also assessed and together with the Environmental Unit of the Ministry of Health and the Regional Environmental

Health Office, it was deduced that the state of the disposal of garbage was aiding the problem. On several occasions health officers reported that persons were observed dumping garbage into the river as a means of waste disposal.

Dr. Persaud had therefore stressed the need for public education in the affect communities to complement other efforts to help reduce the conditions that foster gastroenteritis.

The Audit Office of Guyana is continuing its mandate to deliver improved public accountability. It will soon be moving its operations to a paperless environment.

The revelation was made

by Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma, who last week presented the 2014 AG Report to Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland.

According to Sharma, the mission of the Audit Office is to promote “good governance, transparency and improved public accountability”.

In this regard, he said, significant progress has been made to modernise and strengthen the Audit Office.

He said that with this goal in mind, the Audit Office received considerable support from Government and donor agencies, especially the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The Guyana Government and IDB recently signed a technical corporation agreement in the sum of US$488,073 to continue the modernisation and strengthening of the Audit Office.

“Dating back to 2004, this grant represents the fourth consecutive agreement via which the audit has benefited,” Sharma said. He added that this latest agreement is currently ongoing. One of its main objectives is to improve the Audit Office’s operational effectiveness and efficiency.

This improvement will be done through the use of applied Information Technology for audit business, with special emphasis on reducing the document retrieval time.

Further, it will aim to condense the amount of paper stored, Sharma said.

“That is, we are moving to a paperless environment,” he added.

To achieve this objective, the Audit Office will

Auditor General, Deodat Sharma implement integrated audit management software known as TeamMate. This software covers the entire audit process and is already being used in other countries such as Jamaica and Canada.

Sharma further said that funding from the agreement will also see the strengthening of technical capacities in areas such as Information Technology, Performance Auditing, and Procurement Auditing. The areas of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation will also be strengthened.

Sharma stressed that with the evolution of Information Technology, not only will a paperless environment be easier to implement, but the Audit Office’s system will see improved efficiency and productivity.

“We will also seek to continue our capacity building initiatives, particularly in the area of performance Information Technology, Procurement Auditing, and Forensic Auditing.”

Training Meanwhile, Sharma said that the officers of the Audit Office have been able to benefit tremendously from training. Many of these training efforts have been funded by donor agencies.

“It should be noted that

in 2008 the Audit Office established a Forensic Audit Unit in keeping with the regulation of the Audit Act. The staff of this unit has benefited from continual professional development and over the years have issued several reports,” Sharma said.

Sharma indicated that the Audit Office has commenced control based audits in an attempt to execute high quality audits and timely reporting to the legislature. In this regard, he said, 28 audit officers were trained in the conduct of such audits.

He emphasised that the last five Auditor General Reports have each year met the statutory deadline of September 30.

Additionally, Sharma indicated that assistance was received from the Canadian Executive Service Organisation (CESO). A total of 16 officers were trained in the conduct of Information Technology audits. The Audit Office also signed a 2015 agreement with CESO for the provision of technical assistance.

In further outlining the training undergone by officers of the audit office, Sharma shared that five officers were trained in various areas of auditing under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.

He continued, “The Office continues to assist in the professional development of the staff by providing training materials, including textbooks and examination kits. These training materials have enabled a number of audit officers to pursue professional certification in accounting field.”

In fact, he said, eight audit officers are in the final stage in gaining Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) certification.

Meanwhile, Sharma indicated that funding was (Continued on page 24)

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

U.S. rips Russia over violating Turkish air space

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, September 23, 2015. (Reuters/Ivan Sekretarev/Pool) The United States and NATO denounced Russia yesterday for viola t i n g Turkish airspace and Ankara threatened to respond, reporting two incursions in two days and raising the prospect of direct confrontation between the former Cold War adversaries.

NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels of ambassadors from its 28 member states to respond to what Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called “unacceptable violations of Turkish airspace” after a Russian jet crossed its frontier with Syria on Saturday.A Russian warplane again violated Turkish airspace on Sunday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said late yesterday, prompting

Ankara to summon Moscow’s ambassador.

It had done the same following Saturday’s violation, and said Russia would be held “responsible for any undesired incident that may occur” if it were repeated.

NATO members “strongly protest” and “condemn” incursions into Turkish and NATO territory, the alliance said after the first incursion was reported.

“Allies also note the extreme danger of such irresponsible behavior. They call on the Russian Federation to cease and desist, and immediately explain these violations,” NATO said in a statement after the meeting.

The White House called the Russian move a

“provocation,” and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said it illustrated concerns about an escalated Syrian conflict. “Had Turkey responded ... it could have resulted in a shootdown, and it is precisely the kind of thing we warned against,” Kerry said during a visit to Chile.

The Russian Defence Ministry said yesterday that an SU-30 fighter aircraft had entered Turkish airspace along the border with Syria “for a few seconds” on Saturday.

Moscow’s unexpected move last week to launch air strikes in Syria has brought the greatest threat of an accidental clash between R u s s i a n a n d We s t e r n forces since the Cold War. (Reuters)

American Airlines pilot dies on overnight flight A pilot on an overnight flight from Phoenix to Boston had a medical emergency and died, the airline has confirmed.

The American Airlines flight landed safely when the co-pilot took over the controls and diverted the plane to Syracuse, New York.

The airline is “incredibly saddened” and focusing on

the pilot’s family and colleagues, a spokeswoman said. Flight 550 left Phoenix before midnight on Sunday and landed yesterday morning.

The pilot appeared ill during the flight, prompting the diversion, said Michelle Mohr, the spokeswoman.

A new crew was sent to Syracuse to fly the

passengers to Boston, where they arrived yesterday afternoon.

There was never a question about whether the flight would be able to land safely, said Ms Mohr.

“We’re certainly well qualified to handle situations like these,” she said. “That’s why you’ve got more than one pilot in a cockpit.”

An 11-year-old boy reportedly shot dead his eight-year-old neighbour because she would not let him see her puppy, according to witnesses.

Latasha Dyer reportedly said her daughter McKayla was playing outside their home in White Pine, Tennessee on Saturday evening when the neighbour asked her through an open window if he could see her

puppy. When she said no, the boy shot her, Dyer told WATE.Jefferson County Sheriff Bud McCoig said the boy used his dad’s 12-gauge shotgun to kill McKayla from inside his home, the Associated Press reported.

Deputies who were called to the scene found the little girl on the ground with a chest wound. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The boy, whose name has

not been released, was arrested on first-degree murder charges.

Dyer said of her daughter: “She was a precious little girl, she was a mommy’s girl, no matter how bad of a mood you were in she could always make you smile.”

She reportedly added that the boy had previously picked on her daughter but it stopped when she contacted their school principal.

Boy, 11, reportedly shoots 8-Year-Old neighbour dead

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Hope fading for survivors in Guatemala landslide Hopes are fading in Guatemala of finding more survivors following a landslide that has killed at least 131 people and left 300 missing.

Rescuers have dug for days in the village of Cambray near the capital, but say some of the homes they have reached are filled with water.

Tons of rain-sodden soil slid off a mountain on Thursday, burying houses.

Bulldozers were used to speed up the work but no survivor had been found over the weekend.

Rescuer reported that the smell of rotting bodies was spreading across the mound of earth that had buried the village.

About 30 people have been rescued. Burials began to take place of those brought out of the disaster zone over the weekend.

Alejandro Maldonado, the head of the Guatemalan disaster agency told the BBC the communities had been told the area was high risk and should have been removed by the local authorities, “We have here a very steep hillside of over 35% inclination which is very high risk for the community and should have been avoided.”

“Other factors are the river that runs at the base is eroding the support for the hill, it is very sandy material and we also have several

illegal sewage discharges which weakened further the hillside causing collapse.”

The rescue authorities said they were following international protocols w h i c h recommended 72 hours of search and rescue.

That period ended on Sunday night but spokesmen said their teams were prepared to continue to try to find the victims of the landslide.

Pope Francis and the presidents of Mexico and Spain have sent their condolences to the families of the missing.

Although Guatemala has had larger landslides, they have been in rural areas with far fewer victims.

Palestinian youths killed in West Bank clashes A Palestinian boy has been killed by Israeli forces near Bethlehem, Palestinian medics say, amid an upsurge in violence in the occupied West Bank.

The 13-year-old was reportedly shot in the chest during clashes at the Jewish shrine of Rachel’s Tomb.

Earlier, an 18-year-old Palestinian man was killed at a protest in Tulkarm.

Separately, Israeli security forces said yesterday they had captured five alleged Hamas militants suspected of killing a Jewish couple last week.

The alleged militants were arrested on Friday, the day after the couple were killed in front of their children in the West Bank, Israeli security agency Shin Bet said.

A doctor at a hospital in Beit Jala said the 13-year-old killed near Bethlehem on Monday had been identified as Abdul Rahman Shadi, according to the Associated Press.

An Israeli military official said 15 protesters threw rocks at security forces guarding Rachel’s Tomb, who “responded by riot dispersal means”.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 9

CIVIL SOCIETY IS SHOOTING ITSELF IN THE FOOT! School children have enough problems memorizing the names of those new ministries that have been created by the government.

So please, do not ask them to name the junior ministers of the government.

These ministers are becoming increasingly invisible with each passing day. The limelight always seems to be on the President and the other senior ministers.

Everyone seems to want a piece of the President. One day he is at the United Nations. The next day he is planting a tree in Bartica. The man does not seem to get any rest. It is the same with some ministers. Somebody is opening a business and they want to have the President and the Prime Minister and senior ministers present.

Some of these functions are of limited public interest.

Sometimes they are organized for free publicity. The media should begin to charge the organizers for coverage of some of these things.

Ministers should learn to decline some of the invitations they receive.

Some people and organizations feel that they are too important and that is

why they always want some top official of the government at functions they are organizing.

Far too much of these ministers’ time is being taken up having to attend some function or event. They should be spending more time in their ministries. Instead they have to attend some function.

Somebody needs to step in and say enough. Invite somebody else but not a minister. Leave the ministers to do their job. If you must have a minister, then invite a junior minister.

The pictures and names of these ministers need to appear more often in the newspaper; on the television and on the radio because this is the only way the school children are going to become familiar with them.

You would think that instead of trying to have the senior ministers and the President at an event those extending the invitation would invite the junior ministers. After all, they are not regularly in the public spotlight and there can hardly be any harm in asking them to be in attendance.

But no, it seems as if it always has to be the Prime

Dem boys seh...

Roger Khan got things to say Donald seh that dem two Pradoville is private property.

But everybody know that Jagdeo and he kavakamites thief.

Dem hold press conference today and announce that all wha dem got is private property.

It mean that if you thief something and you keep it then you can claim is private property. De waterfalls boss man seh that he want to go in Jagdeo house for de US$600,000 chandelier plus he US$1 million pool.

He seh that once he tek it nobody can come and tek it away because that gun be dangerous. Donald tell de press that de decision to investigate how de people get Pradoville One and Pradoville Two is a dangerous thing. That explain why every li’l boy getting a gun and going pun de road to thief because he see what all of dem in de Pee Pee Pee do.

Dem young men now believe that once dem tek something and pocket it, that thing is private property and dem entitle to it. But is not too many people believe that thiefing goods can become private property.

That is why dem boys celebrate when dem hear Thomas de Cat, or Tom Cat fuh short, seh that he ain’t got time to wait fuh Jagdeo and he kavakamites to declare dem assets.

He gun go after dem. Dem boys want Tom Cat to check pun de US$600,000 wha Jagdeo seh he sell the house in Pradoville1 for.

He claim he sell it to a Trinidadian. That house anybody coulda build fuh less than US$100,000. Tom Cat got to find de money. Jagdeo seh that it in de bank.

Dem boys seh that de US$600,000 never come suh Tom Cat got to find out if dem had a sale. Well news does spread.

Of course, Jagdeo got de option to seh that he friend Babbie give him a raise, or that Irfaat set him up wid some money.

That is dangerous. Jagdeo mek couple telephone calls today because he was worried. When he done he was more worried because he hear wha de US Ambassador seh bout Roger de real Khan. Roger done call he name in de States. Soulja Bai dem want de record but again, Jagdeo might complain is private property.

Talk half and watch how people gun run and lef dem private property.

Minister, the President or some senior Minister. And whatever is being held has to be in the newspapers. Some of the organizations, agencies and businesses which are hosting these events should really be paying the newspapers and television stations for advertisement space because they are gaining publicity free of cost.

But why invite government officials? What about civil society? If the private sector has a function, why does it usually want a

government official to speak?

Why not invite someone from within its own ranks who can give a technical perspective on an issue?

The reason why civil society is so weak in Guyana is not because government is marginalizing this grouping.

The reason why it is so weak is because civil society is shooting itself in the foot.

A civil society organization is hosting an event and who do you think they choose to be the feature guest? You guessed right, a

minister. Yet there are so many persons from within civil society who can take the place of the minister.

There are a lot of persons out there with a lot of experience and expertise.

They, like some of our junior ministers, are invisible. They are not known. Yet, instead of making them known, civil society organizations are playing to galleries. They want the publicity instead of giving their civil society colleagues. Can you therefore blame the ruling coalition for

bypassing members of civil society from representation in parliament? Can you blame them for bypassing civil society from appointments to public office?

If civil society is bypassing its own members, why should the government do any better?

Amaila road could now reach …initial maintenance to cost Kaieteur Falls $120,000 per kilometer -Willis The Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project is dead but the road will be completed and possibly extended another 12 kilometres to reach Kaieteur Falls.

This was revealed by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, who yesterday met with media operatives and provided an update.

According to Minister Patterson, Government is in receipt of a number of proposals for alternative uses for the road.

He said that one such proposal includes extending the road to Kaieteur Falls for use as part of a tourism drive.

He told media operatives, “I have received detailed proposals on uses of the road…from miners’ groups who have asked for extending the road to Kaieteur.”

Patterson said that the decision was taken to firstly have the proposals sent off to the Protected Areas Commission for vetting.

This is to indicate whether the proposal is at all feasible to pursue.

“They have to say, because obviously Kaieteur (Falls) is a protected area so I haven’t even assessed the feasibility of that unless they say to me proceed,” said Minister Patterson.

He engaged the media with his Senior Engineer, Walter Willis, who told media operatives that the road initially has been budgeted to attract a maintenance sum of $120,000 per kilometer.

This figure, he said, will increase in the future as the road ages and deterioration sets in. This will be seen in conjunction with whatever decision is made on how it will be used.

“This will change with the usage of the road, as the road gets older we will require a little more money.”

It was pointed out that discussions are ongoing on the future use for the road, and while the matter of a toll fee has come up, no concrete decisions have been taken.

“That economic analysis has not been done as yet…The end use of the road will determine what level of

tolls we will apply, if any,” according to Patterson.

He said too that there could possibly only be checkpoints along the road to ensure that undesirable vehicles are not allowed to traverse the road.

The Amaila Road, he stressed, is already in place and reiterated that money has been budgeted this year to complete the piece of infrastructure that was initially meant to provide access to the Amaila Falls for the now scrapped hydroelectric project.

According to Patterson, miners have also expressed a keen interest in the use of the road since it would provide access to new plots.

Costing in excess of US$30M and mired in controversy since its inception, the road has also been plagued by delays. A

number of contracts had to be terminated and handed to other contractors, including China Railway, the Chinese company that had been engaged to build the hydroelectric plant.

The road constitutes, 85 kilometers of existing ones, and 110 kilometers of new ones and includes the construction of 15 bridges.

After firing the original contractor, Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall’s Synergy Holdings, back in January 2012, Government divided the work into seven sections with the then Ministry of Public Works assuming responsibility for ‘Section Two.’ That section runs along the Mabura Road to the Essequibo River. Section Three was allocated to Toolsie Persaud Quarries Inc. and that section of the Amaila (Continued on page 24)

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Tuesday October 06, 2015

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

The Ramayya enigma I cannot remember how many meetings in Berbice I spoke at with Dr. Ramayya during the 2015 election campaign, but four stands out – two in Black Bush Polder, one in Goed Bananen Land, one in Canje in an area I cannot remember. That meeting in Canje holds memories for me.

Rajendra Bisessar and my security detail, Albert Cromwell, who is known in the AFC by the nickname, “Bulldog.” came close to fistic entanglement. Bissessar accused “Bulldog” of drinking on the job.

I didn’t see the relevance of Bissessar’s remark. Bulldog was my protector not Bissessar’s. Rajendra had his

own security guy who had a huge hand-gun and a large hunting knife with him.

Rajendra’s security guy was with him throughout the meeting while Bulldog was with me.

So Bissessar’s castigation was unnecessary. I don’t mean any insult to Rajendra but his security detail slept throughout the midnight journey back to Georgetown.

Dr. Ramayya and I also appeared on Berbice television during the campaign at least two times. I remember he told me that he may quit politics if he cannot get at least 30,000 votes in Canje itself.

The GECOM station by station results for the entire country showed that the AFC did not

do well in Region Six and Dr. Ramayya did not get his 30,000 votes.

Dr. Ramayya hit the limelight when he was featured in the media for publicly exclaiming his intention to leave the AFC because Berbice was not adequately represented in the government and that he, Ramayya, was treated flippantly by the AFC leadership after the government was formed.

Many AFC leaders disapproved of the way Ramayya went public with his frustration. I was asked by many persons for my view. Since I have never been blessed with diplomatic subtlety, and since I believe in open expression of feelings, I cannot say that I could

honestly disparage Ramayya for his temperamental acrobatics.

But it worked for Ramayya.

Didn’t it? Soon after his volcano exploded, he was put in a position of authority in Berbice.

My AFC sources told me both the AFC and APNU bigwigs met and quickly doused the Ramayya flare-up because they felt it was not good for Indian support for the coalition. Thus was born the Ramayya enigma. The Ramayya enigma is the study of labyrinthine politics in Guyana.

First, Ramayya was wrong about being left out because Berbicians left themselves out.

Berbicians gave the AFC fewer votes than in 2011 and almost brought back the PPP to power.

A cynical mind inside the AFC could have easily said to him – you didn’t bring us votes.

Dr. Ramayya only has to consult the GECOM’s station by station, countrywide election results and he will see the runner stumbled in May 2015. Secondly, in its mad scramble to strategize on Ramayya’s rehabilitation, the APNU-AFC coalition conceded that Berbice needs attention. But here is where the Ramayya enigma becomes larger than the Atlantic Ocean.

Why is Moses Nagamootoo, the Minister of Information and not the Minister of Agriculture? I am absolutely sure that the APNU-AFC did not get even a quarter of the votes of the people who occupy the agricultural spheres. It is logical to argue that if Ramayya is needed in Berbice so too is Nagamootoo and not in the capacity of Information Minister. In Guyanese politics hardly anything makes sense.

This goes way back to the fifties when Premier Jagan put his tailor in charge of the electricity corporation.

From Jagan in the fifties to Burnham with his bizarre horse-

Frederick Kissoon riding visits to south Georgetown, to Desmond Hoyte and his infatuation with white people to Janet Jagan and her anointment of Bharrat Jagdeo to David Granger and his abolition of the Ministry of Youth, hardly anything in Guyanese politics make sense.

How Noel Holder became Minister of Agriculture is an enigma in itself. Mr. Holder has no political experience, was not and was never in the leadership of the AFC and was never involved in any election campaign or politics at any time. I campaigned for the AFC in 2011 and 2015 and never saw Mr. Holder even in the AFC office.

Most inexplicably, a former Minister of Agriculture campaigned for the AFC in 2011 and 2015, and we spoke on the same platform in 2011 in East Ruimveldt. Mr. Holder no doubt is a fine gentleman but he has always been honest to say that his wife likes politics, not him.

Mr. Holder may be suited for ministerial duties but realpolitik would have made Nagamootoo the strategic choice for the Agriculture portfolio. That made sense and still makes sense. But sense and sensibility do not exist in Guyanese politics.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 11

CPA launches probe into child molestation at GPHC - security guards to be interrogated A senior official from the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) yesterday said that an investigation has been launched into the molestation of a 16-year-old female patient in the wee hours of Sunday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

The young patient was reportedly harassed by a man said to be in his late 40s who slipped past security and somehow made his way up to the Female Surgical Ward.

Head of the CPA, Ms. Ann Greene, said that one of her officers was dispatched to the hospital and has already commenced working on the case. She declined to comment further until she is in receipt of a report.

Meanwhile, based on information obtained by this publication, management at the health institution will be questioning its security guards as to how an intruder managed to make his way up to the third-floor ward and harassed a patient, right under their noses.

It is very unlikely for persons, who are not staff members, to be wandering around the hospital new wing since it is located at the back of the compound. Outsiders are restricted from this section of the hospital when it’s not visiting hours.

Guards are usually stationed at strategic points in the facility as well as in the hospital’s compound.

Kaieteur News was told that there is usually a security guard doing patrol duties throughout the day and night at the hospital.

A number of guards are also usually positioned at the main entrance (New Market Street) and also at all the other entrances to the facility thus it is unclear as to how the individual, who is currently in police custody, passed through all the guards.

Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Mr. Alan Johnson, could not be reached for a comment yesterday. In fact, this newspaper was told that the acting CEO will not be taking questions from the media as

Buxton/Foulis NDC honours CSEC, NGSEE graduates

One of the graduates, Lloyd Calder of Buxton Secondary receiving his award The Buxton/Foulis Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) recently honoured several students who performed exceptionally in the 2015 Caribbean Secondary Examinations Certificate (CSEC), and the National Grade Six Entrance Examination (NGSEE).

The specially organized ceremony, which was held at the NDC’s office in Buxton on Thursday, saw students from the Buxton, Friendship, Company, Strathspey, Enterprise and Paradise Primary Schools who gained first and second place in their respective Grades being rewarded with certificates of achievement and bursaries.

In addition, several students from the Buxton Secondary and Bladen Hall

Multilateral Schools were also honoured at the occasion. In attendance was Chairperson of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) for Region 4, Genevieve Allen, Randolph Blair, Chairman of the Buxton/ Foulis NDC., and Owen Mc Garrel, a member of the Education Committee.

Allen, during her address to the students, exhorted them to think outside the box regarding future employment. She noted the rise of the climate change phenomenon and stated that there would be a need for professional engineers who could contribute towards combating it.

She also noted the challenges in the Agriculture industry and observed the opportunities for bright

young professionals.

Roxanna Singh, a former student of Enterprise Primary, who gained acceptance to Queens College, exemplified her enthusiasm for the Sciences. However Lloyd Calder, a student of Buxton Community High, expressed the hope of joining the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) with the ultimate aim of studying Civil Engineering.

“The advice was very important. Without the guidance of elders, we would not have been here at this point. So the advice was very good and much appreciated,” Calder, an aspiring Cadet Officer in the GDF stated.

During the ceremony, the prevailing hope was that the event would become a yearly feature.

it relates to the incident in question. However, a senior medical officer at the hospital told this newspaper that the guards on duty that night will have to say where they were and what they were doing at the time. It is expected that this will be done in writing.

This publication was

informed that the suspect in the matter sneaked into the ward to molest the 16-year-old patient. The man allegedly resides a short distance from the patient’s home.

It is suspected that the man may have been observing the girl even before she was admitted to the hospital last Thursday and decided to pounce when her guardians were absent.

There are reports that the

man climbed into the teen’s bed and repeatedly tried to woo her. He told her to place her fingers on her lips and be quiet while he asked her whether she loved him and wanted to marry him.

Most of the patients were asleep but it was one elderly woman who first noticed the midnight visitor and raised an alarm. The man was later dragged out of the ward and the police were summoned.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Baptiste tipped to be new More focus being placed on chief of Republic Bank education - Environmentalist Republic Bank Limited has announced the appointment of Nigel Mark Baptiste as Managing Director Designate of Republic Bank Limited and President and Chief Executive Officer Designate, of Republic Financial Holdings Limited.

He currently holds the position of Deputy Managing Director at the bank.

According to a Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited statement, the appointments came into effect on Thursday, October 1, 2015.

However, Baptiste will replace David DulalWhiteway upon his retirement from the bank, which takes effect on February 11, 2016, after a “distinguished” career of 25 years.

Baptiste’s career with Republic Bank spans 24 years during which time he successfully progressed from junior management to executive management,

The next Republic Bank chief, Nigel Baptiste leading diverse functions within the group, including the bank’s retail, corporate and overseas functions and as a Director on several group boards. More recently as Deputy Managing Director,

Baptiste spearheaded a number of key strategic projects including the formation of Republic Financial Holdings Limited, as well as the acquisition of the Suriname operation, Republic Bank (Suriname) NV. He was also closely involved in the acquisition of the majority shareholding in HFC Bank (Ghana) Limited.

He holds Bachelors (First Class Honours) and Master’s degrees in Economics from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.

Baptiste is an Associate of the Canadian Institute of Bankers and a graduate of both the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme.

In addition to Baptiste’s appointment, the Board of Directors has also approved Jacqueline Quamina and Roopnarine Oumade Singh, to (Continued on page 21)

The clean-up Guyana initiative has dwindled.

Close to four months after its infectious start, the cleanup campaign, which had everyone wanting to play their role in the country’s rebeautification, has dwindled rather significantly. The campaign which was spearheaded by environmentalist Sherod Duncan attracted donations and on-the-ground help from several companies, businesses and organizations, mostly from Georgetown.

A recent interview with Sherod Duncan revealed that the dwindling of cleanup activities was expected from the beginning; as such a lot of efforts have now been placed on raising the awareness of littering and its dangerous effects on the environment, with particular focus being placed on schoolchildren.

The new education program saw the birthing of collaborations between both groups and individuals such as the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) and other NonGovernmental Organizations

(NGO) in the annual Coastal cleanup exercise.

Several reasons were identified for the continuous littering in Guyana, such as, lack of emphasis placed on education, lack of Public service announcements, and garbage receptacles around the city which are not regularly emptied.

A more rigorous enforcement of the Litter Laws and Regulations which currently exist, and stricter penalties were amongst possible solutions to littering, “It must hurt people’s pockets to litter,” Duncan said.

The campaign was also said to have decreased significantly as financing has always been difficult to get.

“People are not motivated for long in things they won’t get remuneration from.”

However, some businesses are still volunteering their services to the cleanup campaign along with many generous citizens, whose contributions were greatly appreciated.

When asked what the Mayor and City Council has

been doing in terms of contributions or help made to recent campaigns, Duncan related that the M&CC has been hindered by both resources and lack of effective leadership.

“During the height of the cleanup efforts involving thousands of Guyanese, I didn’t see the M&CC out and about actively with the kind of impression they try to give today. Perhaps they were trying to find their stride and voice again.

They have to be reminded also, that Georgetown is not the length of Regent Street but stretches from Agricola on the East Bank to Cummings Lodge on the East Coast. I am reminded that leadership is not about saying things that cannot be done, it is about making things happen.”

Mr. Duncan stressed that despite the decline in clean up campaigns, the need for a cleaner better Guyana has not been forgotten and there is much to be hopeful for with regards to the, “ Let’s keep Georgetown clean” initiative.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 13

Derelict building causes Kingston resident to vacate home

The derelict building

A

ndy Atkinson, of 30, Fort Street, Kingston, has been transformed from successful businessman to a virtual refugee from his own home.

This is because of the presence of a derelict building which he fears may collapse on his property at any moment.

According to the 35year-old, the building has been unoccupied for some years now, and despite repeated complaints to and promises from city council officials, the structure at 29 Fort Street, has not been dismantled.

“After lunch (on Friday) my wife called and told me that she felt the house shaking and that she heard a sound. When she came downstairs, she found that a column supporting the derelict building had slipped out completely and was braced against the fence.”

Atkinson, who has a four-year-old son and a nephew staying with him, pointed out that the back of the old structure, was leaning almost onto the children’s bedroom.

“It’s a situation whereby we cannot spend the night here; we have to find somewhere else to sleep,” the distraught man said.

“There were some people that used to live here a few years ago. A homeless person used to be downstairs but they moved out three years ago,” he said.

“Reports were made to

the city council by the property management company that handles the house that I rent here. My mother-in-law made numerous reports, over the last three to four years,” Atkinson told Kaieteur News.

He said that the last report would have been made a little over a month ago. He stated that a city engineer came and took pictures of the leaning building before telling the family that a file would have to be prepared, and that he would have to wait for two months before a recommendation could be made to tear the building down.

“Two months ago the Mayor himself was in the area in a community meeting and I brought the matter directly to him. He made a note and promised to send someone across. He never did and so we had to go and make the report again,” he said.

He noted that when the engineer first visited, one of the columns was on the verge of touching the fence.

He also observed that live wires were running from the building.

“But a lot of people that pass here would tell me that I need to do something or go to City Hall,” the worried man related.

He is calling on the relevant authorities to intervene in a timely manner, as lives and property are on the line.

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Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

US has not ruled out military support for Guyana Territorial controversy…

By Abena Rockcliffe The United States has not ruled out military support for Guyana when it comes to dealing with Venezuela’s challenge to the country’s territorial integrity.

On Friday last, President Granger said that generally, when countries have territorial disputes or controversies even reaching the point of confrontation, larger nations rarely get involved. As a result, the President said that he does not expect the United States to get physically involved.

Asked if that is a good assessment of the reality, Ambassador Perry Holloway said, “Each situation is different; the circumstance that may bring about a situation at that particular moment is different. So everything is obviously evaluated on a case by case basis; but right now our focus is on peaceful resolution, continued dialogue and respect for international law.”

The fact that Venezuela’s most recent quarrel stemmed from the presence of US Company Exxon Mobil’s

presence in Guyana’s waters was pointed out to Ambassador Holloway. He was then asked if the US response to the controversy has much to do with the fact that an American Company is caught in the middle.

Holloway responded, “We do have a policy to ensure that the rights of US companies are protected under international law or under the law of a given country they are operating in. We are an entrepreneurial capitalist country without a doubt in certain aspects, so we do support US

companies.

“But we expect our companies to comply with international laws and norms so I do not think whether it was US Company or Chinese Company…that would not dramatically change our view on the current dispute.”

Holloway told the media that the US maintains a position that any efforts to address the boundary controversy should be through peaceful means consistent with international law.

He added that both sides

Ambassador Perry Holloway being interviewed by KN reporter, Abena Rockcliffe

Sunday October 11th, 2015

should avoid any action that can complicate the ongoing efforts to reach a diplomatic solution.

The Ambassador also said that the US was pleased to learn that President Granger and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met at the United Nations General Assembly along with Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. “We encourage them to continue that dialogue.”

Holloway noted that the land boundary was decided by an Arbitral award in 1899 and duly implemented by both countries. He said that it was only several decades later that Venezuela stated its intention to challenge the validity of that award and the land boundary.

“So we call on all parties to continuously respect the 99 arbitral ruling and boundaries unless or until a

competent legal party decides otherwise or both countries agree on something else,” said Holloway.

On May 27, 2015 Maduro issued a decree, extending Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territorial waters. A map which was issued, accompanying the decree, shows that the claim includes the area where the US giant oil company, ExxonMobil is currently drilling for oil.

The decree gave notice that Venezuela intended to continue increasing the pressure on Guyana and to weaken this country’s resistance to Venezuela’s illegal claim.

Guyana now thinks that the best way out, once and for all, is for it to go before the International Court of Justice, commonly called the World Court.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

GPOC releases four new locally themed postage stamps

F

our new locally themed postage stamps were yesterday unveiled at the Hand-in-Hand Mutual Insurance Company in observance of the c o m p a n y ’s 1 5 0 y e a r anniversary. Present at the ceremony were Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette F e r g u s o n , a n d representatives from several other Insurance companies.

The recently unveiled stamps of $80 and $150 denominations are now available at select offices countrywide.

Minister Ferguson said that the stamps are a symbol of Guyana’s postal services’ laudable commitment to the development of the postal sector. They represent a Private Public Partnership

The commemorative stamps

financial structure for the Guyana Post office.

“The Guyana Post Office Corporation is pleased to be of service to the people and as we seek to build the public sector into a public private partnership, which will help to achieve policy goals and develop infrastructure while shifting short term financial burdens away from tax payers and strained government coffers,” related Ferguson.

Commemorative stamps are the perfect memorabilia to celebrate an anniversary or significant event. Such stamps are circulated both locally and internationally to a wide cross-section of people. Stamps also attract the interest of Philatelists who purchase, sell and store them as valuable collectables.

Foreign Service Institute to be restructured Government is moving to restructure the Foreign Service Institute, to help develop the professional skills of the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Second Vice President, Carl Greenidge, speaking with the Government Information Agency recently, noted that the Foreign Service Institute which was initially established by Clement Rohee, the former Foreign Affairs Minister, has not been used for that purpose.

“We have looked at it with a view to making sure you bring into that agency key personnel with practical skills…we are not looking to teach a degree but to take the person who has a first or second degree and move them into a space where they

Page 15

can understand the practice of international diplomacy.”

The Ministry plans to engage personnel from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) who have the expertise, as well as those who have served as ambassadors in major bilateral centres, including the UN system, to impart their experiences at the Foreign Service Institute.

“This will help to take the professional staff into a space where they understand the practice of International Diplomacy, its requirements, the game of diplomacy along with its strategy and tactics, and how it is manoeuvred,” Minister Greenidge added.

The restructuring of the Foreign Service Institute is only one aspect through (Continued on page 19)

Page 16

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Van West-Charles named new GWI boss - Nigel Hinds heads new Board of Directors A new board of the stateowned Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) has been announced with former top minister in the People’s National Congress (PNC), Dr. Van West-Charles, named the new Chief Executive.

According to the GWI yesterday, Dr. Van WestCharles met with the Corporate Management Team on Friday with the official stating that access to safe, potable water is a priority on his list of areas for attention.

“Without a healthy society we cannot achieve the Guyana we are hoping to build,” he said, adding that “Paramount to maintaining good public health is access to safe water. Hence, this area along with water quality a n d G W I ’s f i n a n c i a l viability are key issues I will be addressing immediately.”

The Corporate Management Team of GWI congratulated the newly appointed Chief Executive and expressed its commitment towards

providing improved services through GWI. Dr. Van West-Charles, MD, MPH, was said to be a former Minister within the Health, Housing, Water and Environment Sectors, with the PNC prior to 1992.

His appointment took effect from Thursday last, October 1, 2015.

Dr. Van West-Charles was said to have vast experience in the area of public health including being responsible for research and bioethics.

He is the former Academic Dean of St. Helen University Medical School and Health Sciences, St. Lucia, Special Advisor Partnerships with the International Financial Institutions at the World Health Organization (WHO), Area Manager for Information and Knowledge Management, PAHO/WHO as well as PAHO/WHO Representative for Jamaica; Cayman Islands and Bermuda, among other places.

New GWI Chairman of the Board, Nigel Hinds (seated left); Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Richard Van West Charles (2nd L) and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communities, Emile McGarrell (2nd right standing) with the Corporate Management Team.

He is also a Doctor of Medicine with a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a Certificate in Health Economics from University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from McMaster University, Ontario Canada with other qualifications in Leadership and Social Development.

In May, shortly after taking office after emerging victors in the general elections, the David Granger administration sent the Chief Executive, Shaik Baksh, on leave for 72 days.

With Baksh a former

minister in the previous administrations of the P e o p l e ’s P r o g r e s s i v e Party/Civic (PPP/C), it was widely expected that his contract which was about to expire would not have been renewed.

Baksh had been appointed as CEO in October 2012.

Also named yesterday was a new board.

Accountant, Nigel Hinds, is the new Chairperson while the members are engineer Charles Ceres; Emil McGarrell; David Dewar; Christina Bissessar; Savitri S i n g h - S h a r m a ; Ry a n

Belgrave; Patricia ChaseGreene and Samantha Fedee.

According to GWI, Hinds, a Certified Public Accountant, possesses vast experience in Guyana’s financial sector as the founder and Chief Executive of Nigel Hinds Financial Services.

The life of the former Board of Directors, headed by private sector executive, Ramesh Dookhoo, came to an end on June 30, 2015.

Sitting on the previous GWI Board were: Dharamkumar Seeraj – the Vice Chairman and members Seepaul Narine; Denise

King-Tudor; Tarachand Balgobin; Donald Dyal and Emile McGarrell – the current Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Water.

McGarrell was the only one retained from the previous board.

GWI is charged with the management of several water wells across the country as well as the construction of potable water systems in the new housing communities.

The entity has come under fire for a number of questionable spendings in the lead-up to the last elections.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Page 17

Kaieteur News

Govt. green lights US$50M-plus

Hope Beach Wind Farm

Minister David Patterson

An artist’s impression of the 26Mw Wind Farm at Hope Beach, East Coast Demerara.

A

stalled wind farm project that would have added over 25 megawatts of additional power to the national grid is back on track with Government yesterday announcing that it has granted approval.

The US$50M-plus project, which is being spearheaded by city businessman, Lloyd Singh and a number of other investors, will now see Government working to sign a power purchase agreement between the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) and the developer, Guyana Windfarm Inc. During a press conference at his Kingston office yesterday, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, disclosed that the Cabinet of Ministers has given its no objection to examine the proposal in

detail.

The review will be to ensure that the project, slated to be built at Hope Beach, East Coast Demerara, meet the required criteria.

The developer will now commence discussions with GPL for the terms and conditions regarding the purchase of the power that will be generated.

According to Patterson, the proposal outlined 12cents per kilowatt hour fee, with the investor already submitting documentations and assuring that financing has been secured.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure will now proceed with due diligence with regard to the proposal, with a view of concretizing the deal.

The project has been before the previous government of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic

(PPP/C), with the Environmental Protection A g e n c y ( E PA ) e v e n publishing a notice giving persons 30 days to file objections.

EPA had determined that the Guyana Windfarm Inc. is not required to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

In June last year, former Prime Minister Sam Hinds disclosed that Government is lending its support behind the ambitious project which could become operational in as little as a year after construction starts.

But there was little word after then about the project until now.

It was reported that the developer, through GoldWind of China, is planning to install 10 turbines, each capable of producing 2.5Mw. GoldWind is rated at

Businessman, Lloyd Singh

least third in the world in the establishment of windfarms. Already, Hinds had said, Republic Bank has offered to support the project with a US$2M loan.

The Hope Beach project is a Build, Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT) model with a useful life of about 20 years.

The Hope Beach project had been one in the making for a while.

In 2000, the Caribbean Development Bank financed an engineering survey of the potential of wind along the coast for the large-scale production of electricity.

Delta Caribbean of Curacao which had established a wind-farm in

Curacao – had shown interest. But the company could not close financing and pulled out in 2006.

Guyana Wind-Farm Inc is partially owned by Lloyd Singh, the main principal in I n t e r n a t i o n a l Pharmaceutical Agency Group, a supplier of drugs to Government.

Guyana would badly want additional, cheaper power as several new housing schemes and a number of new industries continue to spring up, spurring an increased demand for power.

The country is heavily dependent on imported oil to meet its energy needs. The previous administration has

been pinning hopes on a 165megawatt (MW) hydro electric project at Amaila Falls, Region Eight to meet demands.

However, that project has been shelved by the new administration which cited high costs, among other things after the US developer, Sithe Global, pulled out.

This was after the National Assembly remained divided on key legislation that was critical to the funding of the US$840M-plus project.

GPL using the cheaper, heavy fuel oil is reportedly generating at around 18 US cents per kilowatt.

(Leonard Gildarie)

Page 18

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Guyana slashes infant, maternal mortality - says Dr. Cummings

By Desilon Daniels With 86 days left before the world notes its progress in the attainment of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Guyana still has a way to go to achieve the health-related MDGs. Nonetheless, Minister within the Ministry of Public H e a l t h , D r. K a r e n Cummings, has said that the Ministry is nonetheless working, assiduously, to achieve the goals, not only before the deadline but beyond it.

In 2000, a total of 189 world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration at the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit. These leaders agreed to the eight MDGs, which are aimed at overcoming poverty and related targets.

Three of the eight MDGs are directly related to health.

These are Goal 4 (reduce child mortality); Goal 5 (improve maternal health); and Goal 6 (Combat

Prepares to focus on SDGs HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases).

Dr. Cummings gave a rundown on Guyana’s progress in terms of achieving these healthrelated MDGs. Guyana has made good progress in reducing the rate of under-five mortality.

However, she said, more progress was needed in specifically reducing the under-three mortality rate, she said.

Guyana’s achievement was noted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which mentioned that Guyana had achieved the goal of reducing its under-five mortality rate by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, since 2008. According to the Health Ministry data, underfive mortality reduced from 120 per 1,000 live births in 1991 to 17 per 1,000 live

births in 2008.

In explaining Guyana’s difficulties in reducing u n d e r- t h r e e m o r t a l i t y, Cummings noted that improvements were needed in the neonatal care.

“The fact is, neonatal care is bad in Guyana,” Dr. Cummings said. She explained that with poor neonatal care, children are born with a very slim chance of living.

“Many times they [the babies] come to us very tiny and they die,” she said.

She emphasised that more specialists in the field of neonatal care is a necessity going forward. She said too, that improvement in human resources is needed along with improved health system capacities.

Public Health Minister, Dr. George Norton had previously said that neonatal deaths were also being

driven up by high infection rates in hospitals.

Dr. Cummings also noted steps undertaken to reduce the under-five mortality rate, including improved primary care and a stringent immunisation process.

Meanwhile, in terms of achieving a reduction in maternal deaths, Cummings noted that significant progress was needed in this area.

One of the targets of Goal 5 was to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015.

Another target spoke to achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

According to UNDP, Guyana has made significant progress in both targets.

Progress is seen in the decreased maternal mortality ratio from 270 percent in 1990 to 86 percent in 2012.

In order to achieve this target, Guyana would need to have reduced its maternal mortality rate to 67.5 percent by the end of 2015.

Additionally, use of contraceptives increased from 32 percent to 46 percent, an indication that more persons are planning their families.

A c c o r d i n g t o Cummings, despite the progress Guyana’s maternal mortality rate is still too high. She said that the rate was being driven up by preexisting conditions mothers experienced before entering the hospital.

She said, too, that there is oftentimes lack of good primary care. These conditions, compounded by an “overwhelmed” public healthcare system is not helping the situation.

“We’re trying but the healthcare system is seeing an overburdening of its main facilities. Nonetheless, we’re working assiduously

to deal with maternal deaths,” she said.

She said efforts that are working will need to be amplified throughout the country. Sharing that Linden has not had a maternal death since 2009, she said whatever is working there must be identified and replicated.

She said that training will be a necessity to tackle the issue. She said too that increased efforts will be made to provide family planning services to the public.

Realistically, she noted that some of the targetted health areas might not be achieved by the end of 2015 but that will not mean the Ministry will stop its efforts.

She emphasised that even the attainment of the MDGs will not be enough. In regard to child and maternal deaths, Cummings stressed that not a single person should be lost in the healthcare system.

Overall, UNDP noted that Guyana has maintained “steady progress” towards the MDGs over the years.

“Guyana has advanced in its efforts to reduce hunger, increase access to social services and benefits, improve enrolment in and completion of primary education, increase empowerment of women and achieve environmental sustainability,” UNDP said.

“The pace of progress may be insufficient to achieve some of the targets for 2015,” UNDP added.

PREPARING FOR THE SDGS Meanwhile, when questioned on the Ministry’s preparations for the Sustainable Development G o a l s ( S D G s ) , D r.

Cummings indicated that the Ministry has already been working on some of the areas.

At least one of the 17 SDGs speaks directly to health; this is Goal 3, which focuses on ensuring healthy

Min. within the Min. of Public Health Dr. Karen Cummings lives and promoting wellbeing for all at all ages.

Within this goal are 11 targets, including to strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global risks; substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing states; and achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential healthcare services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

A c c o r d i n g t o D r.

Cummings, the Public Health Ministry has already been addressing the entire life cycle, from childhood to adulthood. She further indicated that a strong focus on geriatric care is coming on-stream.

“We’re looking at family health now as a whole and we’re also looking to have doctors trained specifically focused on geriatric medicine.”

She stressed that funding, training and keeping people on “the cutting edge of their work” will help immensely in the attainment of both the MDGs and the SDGs. According to the UN, countries across the world will have the opportunity to adopt a set of global goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda.

Each goal has specific targets, which are to be achieved over the next 15 years. The SDGs, which comprise of 17 goals, will come to an end in 2030.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Page 19

Kaieteur News

Man forgives wife for Foreign Service Institute to be... almost killing him

W

hile in most cases men are accused of domestic abuse which sometimes ends with injuries and even death, a Sheet Anchor father of four is hospitalized after his reputed wife of 15 years stabbed him to his neck almost ending his life. The two had earlier exchanged heated words after he accused her of infidelity.

Almost two weeks later the fisherman Daniel Persaud, 45, from his bed in the High Dependency Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital, unsure of what his ultimate medical outcome will be, said he has not seen nor heard from his attacker nor his children and he is worried.

He had emergency surgery which included his chest plate being opened and stapled and he is not sure of his chances of survival but is praying that health wise he recovers. Persaud was stabbed unexpectedly by the woman with whom he shared four children and a home after he questioned her about reports of infidelity while he was at sea.

The woman had allegedly taken another man into their home and bed.

“Me want me children to come see me.

Me forgive she but me nah want she no more cause she is a killer,” the man said as his eyes began to well up.

Recalling the dreadful day he said, “Me hear she been carrying a man in me house while me deh working and so me and she quarrel about it. Then me decide

Stabbed by his wife, Daniel Persaud in the High Dependency Unit

fuh buy some ice-cream for me children and a bottle of rum and was downstairs.”

He said two Thursdays ago he also quarreled with her because one of their children was hungry and the woman had allegedly not given the five-year-old anything to eat. After the heated exchange, he was talking with a neighbour at their adjoining fence when the woman sneaked up on him and inflicted the injury.

“All me hear she shout yah know how long me been ah wait for you and she push the knife in me left side neck

and runaway.”

He said that he started to faint and his neighbour ran to his aid. He was rushed to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. “Me don't want she no more; she don't love me or she woulda never try fuh kill me after me give she everything she ever ask for. “ Me forgive she and me nah go make police story but me want see me children. If she nah bring dem for me see dem me will take she to court for attempted murder.” (Mondale Smith)

From page 15 which the Ministry will boost the operational capacity of its staff.

According to Greenidge, he is also looking to bring additional expertise into the Ministry, to equip staff with a wider range of skills, such as languages and the new knowledge intensive areas like digitisation and the sciences.

“As regards the mechanisms in place, on a continuing basis, we have been identifying and sending staff for training…recently we sent a staff to Japan to learn Japanese…Chile to undertake a course in diplomacy… those sorts of arrangements continue,” Minister Greenidge explained.

As the administration continues to press Guyana’s foreign policy agenda, several countries have offered to assist in further training of local professional staff.

Recently Mexico offered to tutor staff, both at the graduate and post- graduate levels.

The Foreign Affairs

Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge Ministry has been in the spotlight lately, especially in wake of the border controversy with neighbouring Venezuela claiming a large swath of Essequibo and Guyana’s maritime waters where oil has been discovered.

Guyana has taken its case to the United Nations, as well as regional and international bodies.

Page 20

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

PPP wants audit of Opposition ... to approach Asset Recovery Leader’s office Unit in pursuit of missing assets T h e P e o p l e ’s Progressive Party (PPP) is crying foul over the government’s delay in handing over assets for the Leader of the Opposition’s office. The opposition party is now calling for an audit into the office to identify and recover listed assets.

This line was taken by the party during its weekly press conference at Freedom House yesterday and comes against the backdrop of several forensic audits that were ordered into state agencies, as well as the establishment of the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), by the government.

According to Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, there has been a delay by the government in setting up the constitutional office for Leader of the Opposition and former President Bharrat Jagdeo.

“The building that once housed the Office of the Opposition Leader is now reported to be an annex of the Ministry of the Presidency,” she said.

Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Texeira “Therefore the use of the Office of the Opposition is stymied, as we understand that the old office is now occupied by Presidential Advisors.”

Teixeira noted that several items, including laptops, listed on the Parliamentary registry were not seen during the inspection of the old office on Hadfield Street, Georgetown. That office was used by now President David Granger from 2012 to 2015.

She added that when it was queried at the time, her party

The Hadfield Street building that once housed the offices of the Leader of Opposition.

was told that 13 laptops were out in the “Regions”.

A building on Church Street, Queenstown, Georgetown, has already been identified for rental as the Office of the Opposition Leader. Teixeira alleged that the party informed Government that its trucks would arrive on October 5 to

remove upholstery and equipment that was reconciled between the Parliament’s list and the previous Office of the Opposition.

However, they were reportedly told on Saturday that a move at the planned time would not be desirable.

Though the Party had

only earlier criticized the formation of the SARU, Teixeira emphasized that she would approach the unit in order to ascertain the whereabouts of the assets.

Asked whether the party would be averse to having new computers purchased, the Opposition Whip protested that it was a matter

of principle. Noting that Jagdeo has refused the salary of Leader of the Opposition, Teixeira emphasized that purchasing new assets will only be a burden on the $10M budgeted for the Office.

He is expected to lead the PPP once more when Parliament comes out of recess later this month.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 21

New territorial claims, need for peace highlighted Earlier moves by Guyana, through the People’s National Congress (PNC) and founder leader Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, toward making integration and free trade a reality within the region were ideals brought into focus yesterday as the PNC celebrated another anniversary.

The PNC, now PNCR (Reform), celebrated its 59th year with a flag-raising ceremony and breakfast at the party’s Headquarters, Congress Place, Sophia, Greater Georgetown yesterday.

There party members, stalwarts and ministers of the Burnham government, listened as President David Granger underscored the contributions the party, through its earlier leaders, made to establish free trade in the region and the value it places on stability and peace.

Granger recalled Burhnam’s commitment to creating the conditions to allow Guyana to co-exist peacefully with its neighbours in the Caribbean and on the continent of South America.

He said that together, Burnham, the Founder Leader, and Joseph Prayag Lachmansingh, their Founder-Chairman, established the party on October 5, 1957. Those gathered yesterday are the beneficiaries of the vision of the leaders of yesteryear.

The beneficiaries said that they shall never forget the service given to the party and the love both men had for Guyana.

The PNC was elected to the seat of government for the first time in December 1964 by way of a coalition administration. Granger remarked that the PNCR today forms part of a six-party coalition which has the opportunity to serve, give guidance, provide leadership and can contribute to the development of Guyana once again. “Our Founder embarked, immediately on our

…as PNC celebrates 58 years party’s formation, on the task of building cordial, peaceful and respectful relations with Guyana’s neighbours in order to create a secure and stable international environment,” Granger remarked.

He said that Burnham, even while in opposition, initiated a motion in the Legislative Assembly in 1958 calling for British Guiana to become a member of the West Indies Federation in 1958.

That was an attempt at a governing coalition to make the English-speaking one country.

According to Granger, even before Guyana achieved Independence in May 1966, the Founder Leader travelled to Bridgetown Barbados, to pioneer the restart of the regional integration movement by the establishment of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA).

Granger said that this led to the creation of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Before achieving Independence, Granger said Burnham travelled to Paramaribo, Suriname to seek a solution to what he termed that country’s objectionable claim to Guyana’s territory.

He said, too, that the former Leader around the same time too hammered out an agreement to establish the Guyana-Venezuela Mixed Commission, seeking a solution to what he referred to as Venezuela’s obnoxious claim to this country’s territory.

According to Granger, Burnham who was Guyana’s first Prime Minister travelled later in his career to Brasilia, Caracas and Paramaribo in an unending effort to build friendly relations with its immediate neighbours.

The Party Leader remarked “The PNCR has

never forgotten its duty to actualise the vision of our nation’s founders by continuing their work to live in peace with our neighbours, to safeguard our territory, to protect our people and to provide a good life for all. Our people today want to live in peace and safety.”

Granger said that the PNCR made a contract with Guyana 58 years ago. “We are the heirs and executors of that contract. We have a duty to make Guyana a peaceful and prosperous country for posterity to inherit.”

Granger said the PNCR will continue to work through A Partnership for National Unity + the Alliance For Change coalition to remove all obstacles to regional peace and stability.

“The PNCR will never surrender its struggle to make this region ‘a zone of peace.’

The PNCR will never resile from its duty to work with any nation or international organization in order to achieve the ideal of forging greater integration and cooperation among all the people of this hemisphere,” expressed the party leader.

Granger said they reject the “invented territorial claims by Venezuela and Suriname. Their expansionist ambitions cannot be allowed to undermine the tenets of international law and unravel borders which have been undisturbed for decades.”

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, on May 27, last, had issued a decree, extending his country’s claim to Guyana’s territorial waters.

Accompanying the decree, a map was issued which showed that the claim includes the area where the US giant oil company, ExxonMobil is currently drilling for oil by provision of the Guyanese government.

Maduro’s decree came on

Baptiste tipped to be new chief...

From page 12 be appointed Executive Directors of Republic Bank Limited, effective January 31, 2016.

Quamina joined Republic Bank in 1995 and is the Bank Group General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. According to the bank, Quamina has extensive experience in corporate law in the Caribbean, as well as, in corporate governance and compliance.

She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies (LLB, Executive MBA) and University College London (MA). She is a member of the Bar in England and Wales (Grays Inn) and in Trinidad and Tobago. A graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme and the

ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking. She serves on several boards within the Group and is also a Director of Unilever Caribbean Limited and the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute.

Meanwhile, Oumade Singh holds Bachelors and Master’s Degrees in Economics and an Executive MBA from the University of the West Indies, and is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Management programme.

His career in Republic Bank spans 20 years, during which time he has held several portfolios at the senior and executive management levels including, Forex, Group Treasury, Risk and more recently Corporate and Investment Banking.

PNCR Leader, David Granger addressing the gathering yesterday the heels of the announcement that a hefty amount of hydrocarbons (oil) was found; these quantities are being regarded by Guyana’s leaders as enough to significantly transform the poorer country’s financial fortunes.

Just recently too, Suriname resurrected the New River Triangle controversy with Guyana. The Surinamese President Desi Bouterse

during his annual address to Parliament said that the issue will be back on their agenda.

This was met with rejection by local leaders.

As Granger spoke, he reaffirmed the party’s commitment to the peaceful settlement of international disputes and it supports the government’s call for a resolution of all claims and controversies in a manner that is consistent with the

Charter of the United Nations (UN). The PNCR, Granger said, wants to bring an end to ceaseless aggression, harassment and threats and wants Guyana to develop its resources for the benefit of its people.

“The PNCR recommits to supporting the government in its quest to preserve the Caribbean and the continent of South America as a zone of peace,” expressed the President.

Audit exposed $100M...

From page 3 it took office in May last.

Thus, Sharma noted, the nation would probably have never known about the agreement had it not been for the forensic audit. Also, any reason for seeking the loan could have been advanced once it was unearthed, as the reason was not stated in the paperwork in the first place, he explained.

The Minister went on to point out that there was subterfuge and irregularity throughout the entire transaction. The GRDB, he noted, was not a bank that could give

loans in the first place.

According to reports, Seeraj, a serving People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament signed for the ‘loan’ with the understanding that it would have been repaid in October 2014. Exactly one year later, that money is yet to be repaid.

Reports went on to indicate that the loan was approved by former GRDB General Manager, Jagnarine Singh. At the time Seeraj was serving as Vice President of the GRDB, a position he relinquished in July of 2015.

At one point, the Guyana

Agriculture and Investment Bank (GAIBANK) provided financing for farmers on a developmental basis. In the past two decades, however, farmers have had to use local Commercial banks with the requisite interest rates to be paid.

The rice industry has been struggling in recent times as many farmers, faced with huge production costs and low prices per bag of paddy have indicated that they will not return to rice production. This has been coupled with the loss of the Venezuelan market and uncertainty about alternate markets for rice.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Letters... Where your views make the news

People from all ethnic groups have been complaining that the economy is declining DEAR EDITOR, This is in reference to Freddie Kissoon’s column (KN Oct 5) in which he pilloried Indians for uttering comments that the economy has been contracting. Freddie incorrectly describes the outdoor vendors as “alfesco”. The term is “alfresco” – meaning fresh air outdoor vendors.

Freddie does not understand the concept of racism or the definition of a “racist”.

A racist is a person who harbours the view that his (or members of his) race is (are) superior to (members of) another race and attempts to deny others basic rights like voting.

Acts of racism would be denying Blacks the right to vote in America and Southern Africa or denying Indians and others the ballot in Guyana during the dictatorship.

Freddie offers no evidence to support his claim that Indian market vendors or Indian intellectuals are racist.

There is nothing inherently racist about saying the

economy is in bad shape. If they offer contemptuous views of ethnic groups that can be considered as racist; they have not.

So Freddie is absolutely incorrect when he pens that Indians, who offer evidence of a slowing economy to support their claim, “are racist” for simply uttering the fact that the economy is shrinking.

Freddie feels Indians are “racist” just for harbouring the thought even though it is a fact that the economy has been declining.

The Indians are offering a view (a conclusion) derived from their experience as a business person or as a shopper.

In fact, people (business and consumers) from all ethnic groups have been complaining that the economy has been declining and that they have difficulties “to make ends meet”. But Freddie does not feel Chinese, Amerindians, Whites, Mixed and Africans are “racist” for making the same comment as Indian “that

the economy has been shrinking”.

Freddie directed his attack, using the above Kissoonian logic, only for Indians. If they were not racist, they won’t be stating a fact.

And Freddie also extends his Kissoonian logic to describe New York based Indo-Guyanese as “racists” just for attending a Bharrat Jagdeo meeting.

He pens: “Indians who attended the Bharrat Jagdeo meeting in Richmond Hill are racist”, just for attending the meeting.

That meeting attracted non-Indians — Mixed, Africans and Whites – as well but Freddie does not describe them as “racist” for attending the Jagdeo interaction.

When a celebration of APNU-AFC victory was held in Brooklyn and attended primarily by Africans Freddie does not feel that was racist.

When all the celebrants and speakers were of one ethnic group that was not racist.

Freddie also put down

New York-based “Indian lawyers, doctors, journalists, engineers, real estate agents, investors, accountants, etc.” describing them as “ordinary people” not different from “the Indian market vendors” in Georgetown.

I salute the vendors of all ethnicities in Guyana; they perform yeoman service to the nation unlike Freddie who has been attacking them.

Freddie is wrong to put down Indian market vendors; they have shown greater intelligence than Freddie who does not believe that the economy is shrinking contrary to all economic reports (including from the Finance Minister, the President and the Prime Minister and various local business bodies and international agencies and common sense daily experiences).

Freddie writes “the Indian mind is dangerous”. No, it is Freddie’s mind that is dangerous for his illogical conclusions and unsupported claims.

Vishnu Bisram

DEAR EDITOR, Wow! Wow! It is amazing how life can get interesting for a person and a people. I have been having my street debates, which I have come to enjoy; this time the topic was on ‘what do we do as a people with all of these challenges facing us?’

Guyana/Venezuela border dispute, now Suriname’s renewed claim to the New River Triangle, challenges with our foreign exports –rice and sugar, falling gold prices, a slowing down economy and spiraling crime rate; the answer is, we focus!

What do we do, we focus!

We cannot become distracted at this point; we are

going through a process of change and surely many of us did not expect the change to impact on some areas in the way it did, but change is a good thing.

We can either see our circumstances as a mere challenge or as an excellent opportunity for us to charter a whole new course for Guyana.

Nelson Mandela once said that life is not in black and white and I will add to that, there are many shades of gray between the black and the white in the Guyana scenario.

Let’s keep our FOCUS people!

If there is one point I

would make to the Government, however, it would be to give us a single target that we can focus on achieving, A ball to keep our eyes on, something that we can work towards achieving irrespective of what is happening around us, not necessary a short term aim but more a long term goal.

Nevertheless, one thing I can say about Guyanese people is that, we have tremendous mental strength and that is critical in times like these. In times like these we hold hands, grit our heels in the sand, fasten our seat belts, remain resolute and remember the Preamble of our Constitution which says ‘WE

THE GUYANESE PEOPLE, Proud heirs of the indomitable will of our forbears, in a spirit of reconciliation and cooperation, proclaim this Constitution in order to Safeguard and build on the rich heritage, won through tireless struggle, bequeathed us by our forbears; Affirm our sovereignty, our independence and our indissolubility.’ ‘…As citizens of Guyana…inspired by our collective quest for a perfect nation, whose characteristics include the commitments, concepts and the principles proclaimed in this Preamble.

May God help our people.’

Audreyanna Thomas

DEAR EDITOR, Nowhere in the media have I seen any warning about an impending El Nino drought in Guyana. From all reports, this phenomenon might well be worse than in 1997/98, which as far as I recall, was a record at that time.

In 1997, sugar and rice were severely affected, with sugar production decreasing by about 13% and rice by about 37%. Cassava crops were decimated in the Rupununi and famine conditions existed in most villages. Severe drought conditions caused many wells to become non-productive.

School attendance fell. And mile upon mile, bush fires

burned unchecked for months all over the region.

The signs are already evident in the Rupununi.

This year has seen one of the least productive rainy seasons in a very long time, as a result of which, fish has been unable to spawn as they usually do.

This means that there will be a severe shortage of this staple commodity among the Amerindians for a long time to come.

And seine fishing in the Takutu River is exacerbating the problem.

Many of the older folk in the region are saying this was one of the hottest Septembers they can remember.

Added to all this, the level

of the Rio Branco in Boa Vista, which feeds into the Takutu River on the Guyana border, started falling as far back as four weeks ago, already displaying many sand banks.

This is highly unusual at the end of a rainy season.

The fact that the Takutu can now be crossed by foot in some parts suggests that this river will soon be considerably depleted.

I personally saw the effects of El Nino drought in 1997, but haven’t experienced anything like this in my seventeen years in the Rupununi.

Just today, (Tuesday), the BBC reported on the unusually hot condition s along the northern coast

of South America - five to ten degrees higher than normal!

The government needs to carry out its own investigations without delay so as to determine what response might be necessary.

We cannot wait until it is too late, as happened in 1997.

Clairmont Lye

In times like these, we need to focus, focus and focus!

Gov’t should start planning for El Nino

From page 22

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Page 24

Kaieteur News

Tuesday October 06, 2015

GTU President highlights hindrances New govt yet... to teachers empowerment - as World Teachers Day is observed The entire world yesterday celebrated the contribution of teachers to nation building under the common theme, “Empowering Teachers, Building Sustainable Societies.”

But according to President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Mr. Mark Lyte, there are many hindrances to the true empowerment of teachers. He pointed to the fact that while “The theme clearly highlights the crucial role teachers perform towards nation building, the call is made for teachers to be empowered in order to build sustainable societies.”

He therefore underscored that while the call is made for governments around the world to empower teachers, here in Guyana there still remains an urgent need to empower teachers who have significantly contributed towards the building of “our great and potentially prosperous nation.”

Lyte sought to emphasise that Guyanese teachers have made an indelible mark the world over even as he asserted that “We have produced scholars for almost every country in the world. It started right here in our local classrooms.”

He speculated that the decision by many scholars to leave Guyana’s shore was due to the lack of recognition from governments over the years.

The GTU President however, asserted that there have been many dedicated teachers who have opted to remain in on these shores to do what they know best teach.

“How do we empower these dedicated men and women who remain to serve and build our society? There is no better way to empower our teachers than to treat us with respect,” stressed Lyte.

The rights of teachers could be respected, he noted, if their lives are less burdensome through the provision of better facilities, equipment and better salaries.

“Treat us professionally, honour agreements signed, consult us before deciding on policies etc.,” appealed Lyte as he underscored that teachers have worked above and beyond the call of duty to help build this nation. But according to him, teachers in Guyana are seldom recognized for their contribution to nation building.

“We have worked in some of the poorest conditions as well as with the lowest salary offered among Caribbean teachers, yet we mould our students to outperform our Caribbean counterparts. Let us salute our teachers for a job well done,” he insisted.

He however observed that not many efforts are made to acknowledge teachers’ contributions. “Kudos to those Regional Education

GTU President, Mr Mark Lyte Departments that are making an effort to change this phenomenon...We should organize more ceremonies to recognize the hardworking teachers across Guyana,” said Lyte, as noted that the success of students is definitely due to the efforts put in by teachers.

Lyte is convinced that teachers will certainly be motivated to give more than they have already been giving to Guyana, hence creating the sustainable society that is envisioned.

As such, the GTU President urged that World Teachers’ Day should be an occasion to remind all stakeholders in education, especially the policymakers that more needs to be done in order to truly build a sustainable nation.

Lyte also made a plug yesterday for teachers to be paid outstanding debunching

money that was assured them by the previous governing administration – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.

Debunching pay was proposed as a way for teachers to be paid on the basis of their position and years of service. This therefore means that a recently trained teacher would not be on the same pay scale as a teacher trained 10 years earlier. “Having recognized that our nation can only be built if teachers are empowered, I call on the Government of Guyana to honour our de-bunching monies, which was promised to us since 2011,” Lyte appealed.

According to him, the GTU is hopeful that “better days are ahead...that true empowerment of teachers will be realized since the nation’s sustenance directly depends on us teachers.”

Inspectors to crack down on electrical connections on commercial buildings Government inspectors are set this week to carry out visual inspections on commercial businesses to ensure electrical units are in keeping with regulations.

According to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, the checks were supposed to have started yesterday in six of the 10 Regions across the country- Regions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10.

Officials from the Government’s Electrical Inspectorate – a department that falls under the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) - will be checking to ensure electrical units are properly installed and insulated.

According to Joseph Peters, one of the Ministry’s Electrical Engineers, the department by law is required to carry out the inspections.

“We have to ensure that there are no electrical hazards,” Peters added.

The department’s role as

From page 3 explained that while judges are needed, the courts can be equipped with an excessive number of Judges yet things could remain the same.

The person said that the Judges have to be willing to work hard. “Some just like the prestige.”

The former Judge said, “If Judges hear matters on a regular basis, the list will obviously reduce.”

The point of incompetence underlines Basil Williams’ promise to implement measures to “improve the capacity and skill of Judges in areas of case management and case disposition.”

Further, the former Judge said that many judgments can be handed down immediately, “if you really know your stuff but there are a number of unnecessary delays…Judges have to be proactive, and take the bull by the horn to fight the backlog.”

The person spoke of a system that was used back in time that encouraged accountability to the Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Judiciary.

It was indicated that the amount of matters that each Judge received from the Registry had to be recorded and so did the number that had been completed. Those adjourned had to be noted along with the reason for the adjournment “whether it was because the affidavit is not on file or what.”

“But that was in the days

of CJ George. And he was serious. When Judges apply for leave he used to check the list in Cabinet and all of that.”

Checks have also revealed that the courts are also somewhat outdated.

The courts are not fully computerized; statements and testimonies are still being handwritten by Clerks, Magistrates or Judges. Modernization will help reduce the backlog of cases. Then, there is the absence of witnesses who after years of delay of cases have relocated.

During the last ten years, the only attempt by the former PPP administration to solve the problem was to increase the statutory complement of Judges from 12 to 20 but the party did not provide the courtrooms and chambers for them.

Previously, acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh had admitted that the number of backlog cases is in the hundreds and it is unlikely that the number can be reduced in a timely manner on the current schedule and resources available. His argument has been that Guyana is not alone in this dilemma.

It is true that Guyana is not the only country with a backlog of cases but a physical check would reveal that access to the justice system in Guyana is much longer than in several other countries.

Observers are urging those in authority to take cognizance of the popular saying, “Justice delayed is justice denied.

Audit Office aiming...

From page 6 also provided to raise awareness on the Audit Office’s role and functions among stakeholders, to facilitate cooperation with the work performed by the Audit Office. “Emphasis will also be placed on promoting proper understanding among stakeholders about the value of audit work such as better use of public resources,” Sharma added.

Additionally, he said, as part of its mandate the Audit Office is also continuing in doing Performance Audits and plans to do an audit on the acquisition and distribution of textbooks for the years 2013 and 2014.

The office has just concluded the follow-up audit on an assessment of the living condition of the residents of the Palms Geriatric Institution.

Amaila road could now reach Kaieteur...

Government inspectors are set this week to start checks on commercial buildings to ensure electrical connections are in keeping with regulations. the industry’s Electrical Safety Regulatory body is to protect users of electricity against the hazards of unsafe and improper electrical installation.

Further, the department, through its Maintenance Division, is tasked with

carrying out routine electrical maintenance, the preparation of electrical estimates and designs, supervision of contractual works and consultation for government buildings. There have been complaints over the years about the seeming lack of

monitoring by regulators, especially for new connections. It is no secret that persons, looking to cut costs, bypass the established procedures when it comes to hooking up power to new buildings, acquiring the certificates with relative ease.

From page 9 Falls road stretches from Butukari to the Kaburi Village bypass. The same company was also awarded a contract for Section Four of the road for $246M from the Kaburi/ Omai junction to the Issano bypass.

Ivor Allen was awarded the contract for Section Five of the road that runs from the Issano junction to Craig Road. Section Six of the road was awarded to G. Bovell Construction Services but that contract had to be terminated.

It was

subsequently granted in two lots, with the first from Issano Junction to Sorrow Hill being allocated to Ivor Allen and the second lot of Section Six awarded to Dwarka Nauth.

Hassan N Pasha General Building and Civil Contractor was handed the last and reportedly the most difficult section of the road, ‘Section Seven’ but it had to be terminated in April 2012 after only 15 per cent of the work was completed. The contract was subsequently handed to China Railway First Group (Guyana) Inc.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 25

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday October 06, 2015

$10.8 billion for National Security

Big Money: Finance Minister Colm Imbert presenting the 2015/2016 budget in the Parliament chamber, yesterday.

The Ministry of National Security received the most funding in the 2015-2016 Budget, as the People’s National Movement seeks to renew the public’s confidence in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and secure the nation’s borders.

The National Security Ministry received $10.81 billion, an increase of $3.816 billion from last year’s allocation during the People’s Partnership administration.

Minister of Finance Colm Imbert said the newlyinstalled Government proposed to amend the legislation to appoint a Commissioner of Police, establish an agency to manage the TTPS, modernise the TTPS, and the establishment of an agency to manage the security and integrity of the nation’s borders.

Imbert said such measures were necessary as “our business sector has developed an unhealthy malaise with new investment and confidence in the economy. Our foreign investment flows are being affected.”

He said the first priority was to establish an Optimal Security Apparatus, the broad elements of which the previous PNM administration has put into place to boost the nation’s internal and external defence system, and a review of the systems’ equipment and processes put in place is now under the way.

“As a general principle, safe and secure boarders are central for containing crime and violence brought about by our location as a major transhipment channel for illegal drugs and weapons. By

2003, our security agencies have become convinced that the increasing domestic crime rate associated with the incidents to the threats to national security, illegal activities through the smuggling of illegal drugs, arms and ammunition within the territorial and extraterritorial waters of Trinidad and Tobago had become prevalent. The insulation of Trinidad and Tobago from those threats were central to stemming and controlling the domestic crime rate. The then PNM administration then moved quickly to procure naval assets that were adequate to the requirements of that very challenging situation”, said the Finance Minister.

He said that under the previous PNM Government led by former Prime Minister Patrick Manning, three offshore patrol vessels with interceptor craft and helicopter launching capabilities and six fast patrol craft were ordered, but the PP in September 2010 terminated the contract with the supplier.

“This resulted in a heavy cost to tax payers, with over $500 million in lost costs.

The so-called arbitration victory was merely illusory since Trinidad and Tobago spent close to $2 billion on OPV contract but only recovered $1.3 B while the allegedly unsuitably classed OPVs are now the pride of the Brazilian Navy”, said Imbert.

He disclosed that three naval assets launched by the PP Government weeks before the 2015 general elections were “hastily ordered, delivered for public relations purposes”.

Imbert said the vessels were “not fully outfitted, without armarments, and

without proper financial arrangements in place. In local parlance, we purchased those vessels ‘on trust’,”.

The Government, he said: “will rebuild the security architecture which will be adequate to the requirements of our country. We will move swiftly to establish a Joint Border Patrol Agency to manage the security and integrity of our borders”.

With respect to the TTPS, the Finance Minister said the Government was seeking to deliver a better quality of policing with legislation amendment for the appointment of a Commissioner of Police, the establishment of a Police Service Inspectorate and a Trinidad and Tobago Police Management agency.

“We will introduce early legislation to amend the present procedures to appoint a Trinidad and Tobago Commissioner of Police.

Regional Corporations will develop partnerships with the TTPS through an interagency approach to combat crime.

This mechanism will be anchored on communitysafety partnerships in the local Government arena. In particular local constabularies will be introduced in each local Government region”, he said.

“We will develop a Police Service Inspectorate to treat with the potential for abuse of State power and any overreach by the TTPS in the discharge of their duties.

Quality assurance and oversight of police operations will be subject to annual reporting by the Inspectorate by the Parliament. We will reengineer the criminal justice system. (EXPRESS)

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

US could make Khan’s testimony available to Guyana

Roger Khan If the government is interested, the opportunity is available for it to access Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan for purposes of investigations.

His guilty plea in the United States for trafficking in cocaine, witness tampering and gun running has robbed the nation of the detailed exposure of his criminal networks and relationships prior to his arrest and extradition from Trinidad leaves lots of questions unanswered.

Yesterday, United States Ambassador Perry Holloway hosting his first press conference with the local media, at the United States Embassy, Duke Street, Kingston, was asked if the US is willing to facilitate any request from the government with regard to accessing Khan’s testimony for a possible Commission of Inquiry into deaths squads and the extent of Khan’s operations during his reign.

Holloway said that there are certain agreements that the United States has with the United Nations, the Organization of American States and quite possibly with Guyana that do allow provision for such.

He was keen to note that this can only happen if the rules and regulations of the agreements allow.

The Ambassador said that if so, “We would certainly be disposed to cooperate within the frame work of the rule of law.”

On the down side, Holloway however explained that the requirements for such requests are pretty high.

He said that countries have to be able to go a step further. “We do not allow phishing expeditions. We would need something sort of concrete that we can see on paper or touch…but we usually co-operate with any country in the world.”

Extradition He also noted that there is no need for an updated extradition treaty as the one in place is “perfectly fine.”

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo Holloway said, “We are certainly open to extradition in either direction as long as it is done through the legal mechanisms set up.”

He said that he recently met with a team that looked at the treaty “and we believe that it is a perfectly functional tool or mechanism. Can it always be improved? Sure!

But the volume that we should have here, even if we really try to extradite more on either direction, it’s probably not worth doing a new agreement if the one that we have is perfectly fine.

“I guess there hasn’t been an extradition on either side for a while so we have to wait until an occurrence and see how it goes.”

The Ambassador said, though, that if Guyana can point to a flaw in the present agreement that contradicts Guyana’s laws, “or just will not be able to work, we will be willing to look at it. ‘ Khan was sentenced in the US almost six years ago for drug trafficking. The PPP/ C government under Jagdeo has long been believed to have allowed Khan a free rein to operate in the name of crime fighting after the country experienced an unprecedented crime spree that was triggered by the February 23, 2002 Camp Street prison break.

Khan, was nabbed in neighbouring Suriname and

flown out to Trinidad where he was refused entry. He was then handed over to US authorities while still wandering on the Piarco Airport tarmac. He had stated in a public advertisement that he had been fighting crime at the behest of the government.

But Jagdeo had denied knowing Khan.

He said that the longstanding perception of a connection with Khan was false. “Roger Khan was never my friend,” he said Khan pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine, witness tampering and gun-running and is now serving a 15-year prison sentence.

Special Agent Cassandra Jackson of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, in her affidavit to the US Court about Khan’s involvement in the drug trade in Guyana, gave an indication as to how powerful he was.

“Khan was ultimately able to control the cocaine industry in Guyana, in large part, because he was backed by a paramilitary squad that would murder, threaten and intimidate others at Khan’s directive.

Khan’s enforcers committed violent acts and murders on Khan’s orders that were directly in furtherance of Khan’s drug trafficking conspiracy,” she had said.

It was while he was managing his drugsmuggling business in neighbouring Suriname that the law finally caught up with Khan.

Khan acquired vast properties, recruited serving police officers, ordered executions, imported and exported cocaine, laundered millions of dollars, possessed specialised intercept equipment and armed himself with a wide assortment of handguns and ammunition.

All of this was possible only because of his “special relationship” with the then PPP Government. He enjoyed immunity from an indulgent administration and compliant law enforcement agencies.

Page 27

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Body found in search for U.S. ship that vanished in hurricane Missing cargo ship El Faro, hit by powerful Hurricane Joaquin, is believed to have sunk off the Bahamas and one presumed crew member is confirmed dead, the U.S. Coast Guard said yesterday.

It said the search continued for possible survivors among the 32 other mostly American crew in what maritime experts are calling the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.flagged vessel since 1983.

“We’re assuming the vessel has sunk,” Coast Guard Captain Mark Fedor told reporters in Miami. He said search and rescue teams were no longer looking for the ship, which sent a distress call early on T h u r s d a y a f t e r getting caught in Joaquin’s ferocious winds and seas up to 50 feet (15 meters) high.

Coast Guard vessels and aircrews continued to search for the missing crew - 28 U.S. citizens and five Polish nationals - but Fedor acknowledged they had faced steep odds against survival in the storm’s dangerous conditions.

“We’re not going to discount somebody’s will to survive and that’s why we’re

still searching today,” he said.

Crews were unable to identify the one body found so far, discovered wearing a survival suit on Sunday, Fedor said. A lifeboat found among other debris from the ship was one of two that it had been carrying, each with a capacity for 43 people.

The ship was carrying 391 containers “so it had a lot of topside height to it where the winds and waves could hit it,” Fedor said. There were also 294 trailers and automobiles below deck adding to its weight, he added.

The ocean where it sank is 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) deep and part of a heavily transited channel for large ships.

On Sunday, the Coast Guard spotted two large debris fields about 60 miles apart littered with items identified as coming from El Faro, including Styrofoam, cargo doors and 55-gallon drums.

The 790-foot (240 meter) container ship had left Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday for San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The ship’s length had earlier been reported as 735 feet, based on an erroneous registration record.

In a distress call on Thursday morning, El Faro said it had lost propulsion, was listing and had taken on water after sailing into the path of Joaquin off Crooked Island in the Bahamas, according to the owner, Tote Maritime Puerto Rico. It was never heard from again.

The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation, in which the Coast Guard will take part, the Coast Guard’s Fedor said.

Tote Maritime has offered no official explanation as to how the ship managed to get caught in the center of a catastrophic Category Four hurricane, instead of taking evasive measures to move out of the storm’s projected path.

Company spokesman Mike Hanson said on Saturday that Joaquin was only a tropical storm when El Faro set out from Jacksonville, but it later underwent a rapid intensification.

Many of El Faro’s missing crew members were from the ship’s home port of Jacksonville, and there are signs of deep-rooted anger there about what happened to the ill-fated vessel.

(Reuters)

Germany faces 1.5 million asylum claims this year - report The number of people seeking asylum in Germany this year will be as high as 1.5 million - almost double the previous estimate, German media report.

The German government has not confirmed the new estimate, which comes from an internal official report cited by popular daily Bild.

The report warns that services helping refugees will not be able to cope.

Separately, a centre-right

regional minister put the expected total at 1.2-1.5 million for this year.

The German government previously estimated the number of asylum claims this year to reach 800,000 to one million in total. Many are refugees fleeing the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, but there are also many economic migrants from the Balkans, Asia and Africa. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres

has warned that Europe, in dealing with the migration crisis, is engaged in a “battle of compassion versus fear, and of tolerance versus xenophobia”. Speaking in Geneva, he said the world was facing the highest levels of forced displacement in recorded history and the principle of asylum must remain sacrosanct.

He urged Europe to defend “its founding values of tolerance and openness by welcoming refugees of all religions”.

The leaders of Hungary and Slovakia have said the influx of Muslims is a challenge to Europe’s “Christian” identity.

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is to meet EU leaders in Brussels shortly to discuss the Syria crisis, which has fuelled an exodus of Syrians to the EU via Turkey.

Greek islands near the Turkish coast are overburdened with migrants, many of them Syrians determined to reach Germany.

The crisis has strained EU relations with Turkey, a mainly Muslim country.

(BBC)

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 29

BCCI president pledges transparency ESPNcricinfo -Shashank Manohar has been formally elected BCCI president at the board’s special general meeting (SGM) in Mumbai on Sunday. Soon after, at his first press conference, he announced a wide range of measures to tackle various critical issues facing the board, including conflict of interest, corruption in cricket, the lack of transparency in the board’s operations and financial accountability of the state associations.

His overall message was clear: “Nothing is wrong in the board.” The problem, he said, was one of perception, created by the lack of information flowing from the board. “Therefore, to clear that myth and change the perception, we would [implement the changes] immediately,” he said. How immediate? “In two months’ time all these things about which I have spoken will be implemented in full force.”

He also stressed on the board’s unity, a point reinforced by his specific comments - “Excellent

Shashank Manohar.

(Getty Images) secretary, better than most of the secretaries I have seen in this board” - on N Srinivasan, the ICC chairman and seen as an adversary. “We are not working here with a vindictive attitude,” he said. “The entire Board, when we discussed together, were united. All 30 members including the Tamil Nadu Association said we have to work together and build the image of the Board and not fight amongst

ourselves.”

For starters, he said, the BCCI would appoint an independent official to preside over matters relating to conflict of interest - the one issue at the heart of the BCCI’s credibility problem since 2008, when the constitution was changed to allow officials to be stakeholders in the IPL. “The board would frame regulations with regards to conflict of interest of administrators, players and their staff. That would be done within a month’s time,” he said. “And the board would also appoint an ombudsman or an ethics officer who would be independent of this board and who would look into the complaints regarding conflict of interest.”

The IPL also threw up the board’s single biggest crisis of the past few years, the 2013 spot-fixing case.

Investigating that case revealed several shortcomings in the board’s process, including its lack of teeth in carrying out deep and

Tuesday October 06, 2014 ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Don't agree to make any of those cosmetic alterations you've been considering.

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GEMINI (May 22-June 21) The experience will be good.

Your high energy must be directed into productive goals, or frustrations will occur.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Your involvement in groups will be favorable for meeting new and exciting individuals.

Go over your finances and figure out a solid budget.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Difficulties may be encountered while traveling in foreign countries. Opportunities to get involved in self improvement projects will be rewarding.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Use some diplomacy to get your point across delicately.

Insincere gestures of friendliness are likely to occur.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) You can get phenomenal returns if you present your ideas to those who can back your interests. You may be confused emotionally.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)

Any attractions toward clients will be one sided and must be put right out of your head.

SAGIT (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) You will have problems with coworkers if you are too extreme about doing things perfectly. Call a good friend.

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You can pick up information that will give you an edge.

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meaningful inquiries. To that end, Manohar said, he hoped to discuss with government officials the possibility of engaging their investigating agencies, who would have far greater powers. It would help that the board secretary, Anurag Thakur, is a senior member of India’s ruling party, the BJP. Much of the public distrust of the board is the lack of transparency, especially in financial matters, which has given the BCCI an image of being a closed club.

The board is not accountable to any outside agency, nor even to the public under the Right to Information legislation, and Manohar stressed that the latter should apply only if the government amends the law. However, he seemed to take a step forward by saying the board’s constitution - so long inaccessible to all outsiders would be posted on its website. Also to be posted are the board’s balance sheet and any expenditure above Rs 25 lakh (approx. US$ 38,000).

Similarly, he aims to tighten controls on the state

SA Women’s tour of Bangladesh postponed ESPNcricinfo - South Africa women’s tour of Bangladesh, which was scheduled for later this month, has been postponed due to security concerns, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said. South Africa women were supposed to arrive in Dhaka on October 15 to play three ODIs and five T20s.

The development comes four days after the Australian men’s team also postponed their Test series in Bangladesh.

Hassan said a decision will be taken on the series after a discussion on the sidelines of the ICC meeting in Dubai next week.

“They [CSA] had wanted a security report but we thought it would be better to speak face to face in Dubai during the ICC meeting,” Hassan said. “I think the terror alerts would be taken off by the next five-seven days.

We also need to know what type of security plan they have in mind. Since both these teams are mostly free, it won’t be a major problem to delay this series by a few days.

“To make sure they don’t have a negative view, we need to sit with them rather than exchange emails. The series is temporarily postponed by mutual consent. They are not coming on October 15, and I think they will come a little later.”

associations, who receive funds from the central kitty but whose spending is not monitored. “A lot of debate goes on that the associations are paid huge money by the board and nobody knows what happens to that money,” he said. “The accounts of all associations are audited by their auditors. However, we would build a system by which the accounts of the affiliated units would be audited by an independent auditor appointed by the board, where after [thereafter] the further money would be released to the state associations. The board would also be empowered to take action in case the board finds that the money which has been given to the state association is not being properly utilised.”

Manohar also held out some hope for that most forgotten stakeholder in Indian cricket, the ordinary

fan. He made several references to the fans and acknowledged their role in making the BCCI the powerful organisation it is today. “The BCCI is a huge brand in itself.

[But] without the support of the fans it would not have been possible for the board to become this big. The confidence of the cricketloving fans has shaken due to certain unpleasant things that have happened. [It is the duty of] all members of the board to build the reputation of the board and bring it back to its full reputation.”

Manohar’s election, which was necessitated by the death last month of the incumbent Jagmohan Dalmiya, became a formality after he was the only person nominated for the post on the eve of the election. He had first emerged as the frontrunner for the post when the Bharatiya Janata Party backed him.

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Kaieteur News

Bilal Asif five-for gives Pakistan series

Bilal Asif ran through the Zimbabwe line-up in only his second ODI © Associated Press ESPNcricinfo - Pakistan cruised to a 2-1 series victory over Zimbabwe with a sevenwicket win in the third ODI at Harare Sports Club.

Offspinning allrounder Bilal Asif was the chief architect in the demolition of Zimbabwe’s batting line-up

by Pakistan’s spinners, taking 5 for 25 as the hosts were bowled out for just 161. Bilal’s wickets prompted an extraordinary collapse with Zimbabwe losing 10 for 72 to ruin what had been a solid start from their openers. The only downside for Pakistan is that they remain in ninth place in the ICC ODI rankings as a result of the loss on Saturday.

Operating from the City End of the ground, Bilal bowled his ten overs on the trot after being brought on in the 13th over by stand-in captain Sarfraz Ahmed regular leader Azhar Ali sitting this match out with an infected foot.

Openers Chamu Chibhabha and Richmond Mutumbami initially seemed to play the offspinner without much alarm, but when Chibhabha popped a simple return catch to the bowler, Zimbabwe’s spectacular implosion was set in motion.

Sean Williams shuffled down the track to loft Bilal to

wide long-on, but then seemed in two minds as he lunged forward at a flighted delivery and ended up chipping another tame catch to the bowler. Bilal took his second in the over by bowling a noncommittal Elton Chigumbura via the inside edge, and from then on Zimbabwe offered virtually nothing in the way of resistance.

Sikandar Raza shuffled right across to the off side as he set himself to sweep, but exposed his stumps in the process and was bowled.

When Tino Mutombodzi backed away and missed a cut off when the ball kept a touch low, Bilal had his fifth and Zimbabwe were 127 for 6 in the 31st over.

There had been a completely different complexion to their innings in the midst of Chibhabha and Mutumbami’s opening stand.

Chibhabha played with characteristic conviction off the front foot and took much of the early strike.

He was into the 20s before Mutumbami had even faced his third delivery, and looked set for a 15th ODI fifty before falling to Bilal.

His wicket broke an 89run opening stand, and he was soon followed back to

Regal Masters edge Floodlight by one wicket Regal Masters defeated Floodlight by one wicket when the Petema Enterprise/Nauth Motor Spares softball tournament continued on Sunday.

Playing at Carifesta Sports Complex, Floodlight batted first and scored 195-9 in 20 overs. John Sumair led with 55, Anil Beharry made 34, Wayne Jones 24, Imtiaz Mohamed 23 and Richard Persaud 19. Mahendra Arjune and Fallim Mohamed claimed three wickets each while Satro Seeraj had 2-32.

Regal responded with 199-9 in 17.4 overs. Rudolph Baker slammed 84 not (6x4, 8x6), Mahase Chunilall 53 and Eon Abel 46. Richard Khellawan snared 4-20.

the pavilion by Brian Chari, who was lbw to Imad Wasim playing back when he should have been forward. Darting the ball in from round the wicket, Imad helped himself to two more wickets and in total Zimbabwe lost 9 for 65 to 18.5 overs of spin.

Their collapse completely overshadowed a brave innings from Mutumbami. He was attacking from the outset and weathered a fearsome blow to the head from Mohammad Irfan, the ball knocking his helmet off his head, to register a career-best 67 before Irfan won their battle by having him caught behind. After his knock on the head, and a stinging blow to his wrist off Wahab Riaz, Mutumbami did not take the field in the second innings, with Chari filling in as wicketkeeper.

The malaise in Zimbabwe’s performance today continued during Pakistan’s chase, which started before the lunch break due to the brevity of the hosts’ innings. John Nyumbu put Bilal down at slip in the second over, and he took advantage of the let-off with a quickfire 38 on either side of the interval as Pakistan cruised past 50.

Bilal was eventually well caught by a diving Mutumbodzi at long-on.

Mohammad Hafeez didn’t last long and Pakistan were 104 for 3 when Ahmed Shehzad was stumped for a 61-ball 32, but Shoaib Malik and Asad Shafiq faced minimal resistance in knocking off the remaining runs during their unbroken 58-run stand.

Scores: Pakistan 162 for 3 (Shafiq 38*, Bilal 38) beat Zimbabwe 161 (Mutumbami 67, Chibhabha 48, Bilal 525, Imad 3-36) by seven wickets.

Tuesday October 06, 2015

GCA/NBS second division tourney

Wins for DCC, Police, MSC and TSC

Nikosie Barker

Troy Benn

Sunil Singh

By Zaheer Mohamed Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), Police, Malteenoes SC (MSC) and Transport Sports Club (TSC) came out victorious when the latest round of matches in the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/New Building Society (NBS) 40over second division tournament concluded last weekend.

Host DCC defeated St. Stanislaus by eight wickets on Sunday.

Batting first, St. Stanislaus were bowled out for 152 with Irfan Alli scoring 70. Lynden Lyght claimed four wickets while Jospice Jones and Dexter George had two each. Raymond Perez then stroked a fine unbeaten 55 to guide DCC to victory as they finished on 154-2 in 25 overs.

Sachin Singh supported with 47 and Jamal Hickson 34.

At Eve Leary, Police thumped Sophia by 245 runs.

Police rattled up 364 all out in 39.5 overs, batting first. Rocky Hutson slammed 60; Vishal Jaigobin made 51, Corwin Austin 40 and Stephan Blacks 34. Sophia were routed for 119 in 19.4 overs in reply.

Medium pacer Troy Benn bagged 6-50 and Joshua Paul had 3-29.

On Saturday at MSC, the host overcame Diplomats by 103 runs. MSC batted first and scored 249-8 off their allotted overs.

Nikosie Barker smashed twelve fours and one six in a top score of 91 which came off 82 balls, while Vishal Narayan struck 60 not out (7x4) off 55 balls and Floyd Rawlins 27. Aditiyah Shivraj

snared 3-26 and Eric Sukhu 235.

Diplomats were bowled out for 146 in 30 overs in reply.

P. Higgins made 37, Ershad Alli 35, D. Paul 31 and P. Higgins 17; Shaquille Moseley and Narayan claimed 3-23 each, while Edwin Burnette had 2-35.

At GNIC SC, TSC trounced Third Class by 135 runs. TSC posted 324-7 in 40 overs, taking first knock.

Shawn Massiah smashed 80 not out, Sunil Singh hit 55, Devaughn Nandan 42 and Keon Morris 32. Yuvindra Ramnanan captured 3-66 and Trevor Hussein 2-28. Third Class were sent packing for 189 in 25.5 overs in response.

Martin Salik struck 54 and Sean Garnette 22; Azeem Azeez picked up 4-41 and Massiah 3-32.

from the left corner. He made both of his free throw attempts.

Derrick Favors had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz in the preseason opener for both teams.

JAZZ: Favors scored 12 points in the first half. Gordon Hayward added 11 points and nine rebounds, Rudy Gobert had 10 points and eight boards, and Trey Burke added 10 points.

LAKERS: Guard Lou Williams, who won NBA Sixth Man of the Year honors with Toronto last season, scored 14 points off the bench. Nick Young was the only other Los Angeles player to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points.

BRYANT’S BACK: Bryant played the entire first quarter and sat the rest of the way despite numerous second-half chants of ‘’Kobe! Kobe!’’ by the sellout

crowd of 10,300 at the Stan Sheriff Center. His first shot, a jumper from the corner, hit the side of the backboard. ‘’I felt good. It felt good to get out there,’’ Bryant said. ‘’(My legs) feel strong, I didn’t feel tired at all. It’s just about getting the timing down.’’

ANOTHER RETURN: Lakers forward Julius Randle started and played 21 minutes, finishing with seven points and seven rebounds. Randle, the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, broke his right tibia in last year’s season opener and missed the rest of the season.

ROOKIE WATCH: D’Angelo Russell, the No. 2 overall pick, started at point guard and finished with five points, three rebounds, two assists, two turnovers and a steal in 21 minutes.

UP NEXT: The teams will rematch Tonight in Honolulu.

Bryant returns as Jazz beat Lakers 90-71 in preseason

Kobe Bryant HONOLULU (AP) — Kobe Bryant scored five points in his first action since undergoing surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 90-71 loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

Bryant was 1 of 5 from the field, with his only made basket coming on a 3-pointer

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Kaieteur News

Berdych wins raindelayed Shenzhen Open

Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic returns a shot to Richard Gasquet of France on day eight of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters) BEIJING - Tomas Berdych captured his 11th career ATP title, and his first this year, by beating Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3 7-6 (7) in a rain-delayed Shenzhen Open final on Monday.

Held over because of heavy rain that drenched parts of southern China over the weekend, Berdych maintained his composure through another frustrating weather interruption to win in straight sets.

“The last three days were tough especially mentally to

keep being very focused,” the top-seeded Czech said in a post-match interview.

“I was the one who dealt with that the best. I’m proud of myself to make it happen because these conditions were not easy at all.”

The victory gave the 30year-old Berdych his first ATP title since last year’s Stockholm Open. He has also reached three other finals this year, at the Qatar Open, the Rotterdam Open and the Monte Carlo Masters, but lost them all. He made a strong

start against Garcia-Lopez, racing into a 5-2 lead before play was halted for 45 minutes due to a downpour.

When the players returned Berdych closed out the opening set but fell 3-1 behind in the second.

He managed to recover and force a tiebreak but had to save a set point before sealing victory.

“It was another challenge to finally get the trophy,” said Berdych. “The tiebreak was really up and down but I think my experience was decisive.”

Page 31

Shahadat Hossain: Bangladesh bowler turns himself in BBC Sport - Bangladesh cricketer Shahadat Hossain has turned himself in to face charges of torturing an 11year-old housemaid.

The fast bowler, 29, had been missing since 6 September when allegations were first made about him and his wife. The court has rejected the bail petition submitted by Hossain and has sent him to jail, a day after his wife was arrested by police.

The country’s cricket board has suspended him from playing cricket. Both he and his wife deny the charges.

Hossain’s lawyer, Kazi Nazibullah Hiru, told the AFP news agency: “We appealed to the court that Shahadat should be released on bail for the greater interest of the country.

“We pleaded that he is not guilty as he was not present on the day the girl was allegedly beaten.”

Why were police looking

members and friends of the late cricket stalwart. His death is a great loss to cricket in the Caribbean and was a perfect example of a good human being on and off the field’.

The right handed Guyana and a West Indies batsman played 11 Tests with his highest score being 87. For Guyana, he scored seven

centuries and 24 half centuries.

His humility earned him great respect and admiration as a West Indies Cricket selector and administrator.

Steve Camacho served as the CEO of the West Indies Board for 18 years.

The board prays that his soul rest in peace.

Four ounces of gold at stake in Flying Stars Cycling Club/Kadir Memorial cycle race

The nation’s top cyclists will compete for one ounce of gold and a trophy when the Flying Stars Cycling Club stages the Kadir Memorial Ounce of Gold race this Sunday October 10. Cyclists will convene at the old Ministry of Housing building, Homestretch Avenue, at 07:00hrs to facilitate a prompt start half an hour later.

Cyclists will proceed from the assembly point and senior riders, veterans (under

45 years old), juveniles and females will proceed to Dora, Linden Soesdyke Highway, before retracing their wheels to the starting point.

The veterans (over 45 years) will ride all the way to the hill after Splashmins Fun Park before turning back to the point of origin.

The race is usually highly competitive and last year’s winner in the senior and junior category, Michael Anthony, now promoted to a higher

category, and who finished in a time of 3:19:16secs, will not be competing, paving the way for a new champion.

Juvenile rider, Raphael Leung, also dominated his category last year but has since moved up among the bigger boys leaving the category open for a new champion.

The winners of the other three places will share the other three ounces of gold on offer.

for Hossain?

Initially, Hossain went to the police on Sunday, 6 September, saying his maid had gone missing.

However, when the girl was taken to police, after she was found alone later that day, she told them she had suffered torture and abuse from Hossain and his wife.

Doctors say the girl had

D’Andrade finishes second in RBC/TTRRC 5km race - Johnson second in 15km race

Trinidad and Tobagobased Guyanese distance runner, Lionel D’Andrade was second on Sunday in ‘The Race For Hope’ when The Royal Bank (RBC) and

Trinidad and Tobago’s Road Runners Club (TTRRC) held its Annual 5km and 15km Road Race.

D’Andrade was back in competition after a brief rest and finished in a time of 16:19 minutes behind Trinidadian, Matthew Hagley (15:55).

Another Trinidadian, Iley Bruce was third in a time of 17:35.

Meanwhile, in the 15km race, Kenyan, Kenneth Rotich stopped the clock at 48:10 followed by Guyana’s Kelvin Johnson (52:08) and Trinidadian, Curtis Cox (53:03). “I felt good, even in the morning humidity. I was resting up briefly, so it felt good being back on the course. I am preparing for the

UWI Spec Half Marathon scheduled for October 25; so I’ll be picking up some momentum for that with the Air Bon Sonics and the St. Mary’s 5km race carded for this weekend and then the Palo Seco Credit Union 5k the following weekend; just before the UWI Half Marathon,” D’Andrade told this newspaper yesterday.

‘The Race For Hope’ with RBC/TTRRC had 700 participants, who ran to support and celebrate the progress of children in treatment and recovery for Cancer in Trinidad & Tobago, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica and the Bahamas, who have all received funding for their treatment since 2009.

MIAMI (AP) — Chris Bosh returned to the Miami Heat lineup and scored 14 points in a 90-77 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night in a preseason game.

Bosh, who missed Miami’s final 30 games last season because of blood clots in one of his lungs, played 23 minutes and grabbed seven rebounds.

Brian Roberts led the Hornets with 21 points.

HORNETS: Roberts shot 6 of 11 from the field and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

HEAT: Gerald Green and Amare Stoudemire each scored 12 points in their Miami debuts. Stoudemire also had six rebounds.

ROOKIE WATCH: Frank Kaminsky and Justice Winslow, the ninth and 10th selections, respectively, in the 2015 NBA draft, each scored nine points. Kaminsky also finished with 11 rebounds.

MIDSEASON FORM: Tyler Hansbrough made up for the inside presence lacking when Al Jefferson sat out Sunday’s game.

Hansbrough finished with a game-high 17 rebounds.

INJURY UPDATE: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will have an MRI of his injured right shoulder Monday in Charlotte. Kidd-Gilchrist injured his shoulder in Saturday’s preseason win over Orlando.

UP NEXT: Charlotte plays the Los Angeles Clippers Oct. 11 in the first of a two-game set of preseason exhibitions in China. Miami meets Orlando in Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday.

BCB saddened by passing of former Guyana and West Indies batsman Steve Camacho The Berbice Cricket Board in a release stated that they deeply regret the passing of former Guyana and West Indies batsman Steve Camacho who dies last Friday in Antigua.

The release form the executives of the board, ‘expressed their deepest sympathy to the family

Shahadat Hossain (Getty Images)

extensive injuries indicating abuse, including a broken leg and a black eye. When the police went to the couple’s house to question them, neither were there.

Who is Shahadat Hossain?

Hossain is a medium-fast bowler who is arguably Bangladesh’s most famous player. He has played for the Tigers since 2005.

He has taken 70 wickets in 36 Tests and 47 wickets in 79 one-day internationals, with best figures of 6-27.

Domestically, he plays for Dhaka Division.

Hossain last played for Bangladesh in a Test match against Pakistan in May, when he twisted his right knee and was ruled out action for six months.

He was the first Bangladesh player to have his name added to the Lord’s honours board when he took 5-98 against England in May 2010.

Lionel D’Andrade

Bosh returns to the lineup, Hornets top Heat 90-77

Page 32

Kaieteur News

Stag Elite League

Tuesday October 06, 2015

Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) Challenge

Lanferman brace sink Fruta Conquerors; Guyana crush Panama 14-0 Buxton needle Monedderlust to maintain unbeaten run

By Franklin Wilson Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United’s Delon Lanferman scored either side of play to lead his team to the top of the Stag Elite League (SEL) points table, scripting Fruta Conquerors’ 2-0 defeat in the feature game on Sunday evening last at the GFC ground, bringing an end to the fourth round of competition.

It was Conquerors’ first loss of the league, despite, they still hold down the third place with a single point less than the first and second placed team, Alpha and Pele.

Sunday’s opening matchup produced Buxton United’s first win of the season and it came at the expense of West Berbice’ Monedderlust, the East Coast based lads were carried to victory compliments of substitute Eson Hamer’s 82nd minute effort.

It was not the best evening for either side in terms of the brand of football they are capable of playing.

Alpha was always in the hunt in the attacking third and this was largely due to Conquerors lack of shape and potency in the defensive third.

Conquerors looked a better collective unit in their previous matches which brought them two wins and a draw, but they looked a shadow of that team on the night.

Alpha, on the other hand, Guyana’s most successful club side with experience at the international level is still searching for the ‘killer punch’ they are used to using against local opposition.

The SEL however, has seen clubs upping their game in every department which presents a different challenge for opposing sides as seen in the closeness of matches so far.

The first half was a close tussle between the sides but it was not destined for a 0-0 score line at the half way mark.

Lanferman, Kithson Baines and Captain Daniel Wilson were constant in attack as Conquerors tried their utmost to keep them at bay. But with one minute to

Delon Lanferman (hands raised right) celebrates Alpha’s opening goal with Captain Daniel Wilson (#10), William Europe (#17) and Sherwin Skeete (center). go before the half time whistle, Lanferman, a former Slingerz FC player, headed past Delroy Dodson in goal to seal Alpha’s opening goal and the advantage.

In the second half Conquerors came close on a few occasions, one of them saw Kwame LaFleur just failing to connect with a driving header from a squared ball that would have put a different spin on proceedings.

However, Lanferman put the game beyond the reach of Conquerors when he completed his double, the second of the league (Richardson netting the other), in the 69th minute.

The opening game saw a desperate Buxton finally getting on the points table at the expense of Monedderlust, who after their opening win when they upset the Guyana Defence Force, has failed to maintain that spark and zest.

They {Monedderlust} looked the dominant team for periods against Buxton as the exchanges went back and

forth for almost the entire 90 minutes. It took the fresh legs of second half substitute Eson Hamer to break the deadlock and secure Buxton’s maiden win of the SEL. Hamer found the back of the net in the 82nd minute to release a lot of pressure from his teammates and Technical staff including Head Coach, Herbert McPherson.

Following a few days to recover and refocus, action will resume this weekend with double headers slated for Friday and Saturday at Tucville and the #5 ground, West Coast Berbice.

Friday’s matches will see Alpha United matching skills with the Guyana Defence Force and Pele taking on the home team, Conquerors. Up in Berbice on Saturday, Georgetown Football Club aka ‘The Upsetter’ will seek to take their A-game to the East when they take on home team Monedderlust seeking to bring their season back on track.

Slingerz are set to take on the red hot Buxton United.

Guyana inflicted a crushing 14-0 win over Panama yesterday to remain in contention to make it to the latter stages of the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) Challenge currently being played in Chicklayo, Peru.

Playing in its second fixture of the competition the Guyanese were once again led to victory through magnificent stickwork from Aroydy Branford, who fired in four goals to maintain his fine form so far.

He was assisted by doubles from Mark Sargeant, Jamarj Assanah, Robert France and Orlando Semple, while Shane Samuels and Carl Xavier completed the tally.

The stickmen from the ‘Land Of Many Waters’ now face group leaders Brazil in their next game and this encounter should really put into perspective the quality of the team’s performance to date.

Below are the goalscorers for Guyana.

Powell excited as he nears 100 sub-10 seconds races Jamaica Observer MONTEGO BAY, St James — Asafa Powell says he is excited about his chance to become the first man in the history of track and field to run 100 legal sub-10 seconds clocking in the 100m race.

At the end of the 2015 season Powell, who was part of the Jamaican team to win the gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, had clocked 93 sub-10 seconds races and expects to surpass the century mark in the 2016 season.

“I am very excited about getting the 100 sub-10 seconds time,” he told the Jamaica Observer last Friday at a cocktail reception put on

by Sagicor at Secrets Hotel in Freeport, Montego Bay. Powell and teammate Novlene Williams Mills were guests of the insurance company and were scheduled to give motivational speeches to the employees on Saturday.

“People have been making a big deal over it,” Powell said.

“And it has become a major part of me, a major part of my image to be the ‘sub-10 king’, and it is very exciting.

Everyone is looking forward to it and I am looking forward as well.”

He said the plans were for

his management team to ramp up the awareness as he starts racing next year. “We hope to push the marketing more so people can expect it and get excited,” he said.

The 32-year-old Powell broke the world record twice between 2005 and 2008, with times of 9.77 seconds and 9.74 seconds, before Usain Bolt broke it in New York in May 2008 when he ran 9.72 seconds.

His first sub-10 seconds run came in June 2004 when he ran 9.99 seconds at a meet held at GC Foster College.

He was consistent this year with 10 runs under 10 seconds with a season best 9.84 seconds which he did twice, both in Kingston, at the Jamaica International Invitational meet in May and again at the National Senior Trials in June.

But for an injury in 2012 at the Olympic Games and suspension in 2013 when he tested positive for a stimulant, Powell might have eclipsed the 100 mark by now.

He managed just nine legal sub-10-second runs between 2012 and 2014 after his times in 2013 were wiped out by the stimulant-related suspension.

He ran just six sub-10second races in 2012 before pulling up in the 100m final at

the Olympic Games, and serving his suspension the next season returned late in the 2014 season with three more runs under 10 seconds.

Powell, who has two World Championships bronze medals, said he has no thoughts of hanging up his spikes just yet.

“My body feels great, I don’t feel like I am 32 years old, I feel fresh and strong.

Next year is a big year and I will continue to work hard, my body not overworked as I started my career late, so I have a lot left.”

He recently signed a new two-year contract with sporting goods giant Puma and said it “is a good fit” for him.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “Puma has been around the Jamaican national team since 2002 and I have been running in their gear for a while, so I know the company, I know the guys there, they are real cool people, so it wasn’t a hard decision.”

His management team, he said, “handled the business quite properly, so no turning back for me now”, as he explained that while the deal is for two years, he has the option to stay with them should decide to run past the 2017 season.