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Kaieteur News
Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
THOUSANDS MARCHING TO AMERICA
A
s thousands of migrants from Honduras, Gua temala and El Salvador marched north in a cara van in the burning heat of the sun and with little or no food or water, their hope is to enter the United States. However, President Trump has declared the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 Central America migrants unwelcome and said that full efforts are being made to stop the lawlessness and onslaught of the illegal aliens entering the U.S. The U.S. bound caravan of exhausted migrants has defied threats by President Trump to close the U.S.-Mexico border as well as warnings from the Mexican government that they risked deportation if they cannot justify seeking asylum. As reported, Mexico’s President elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is supporting the migrants who are fleeing a toxic mix of violence, crime, torture, threats to their lives, poverty and rampant corruption in their countries. So far, Mexican officials have issued work permits to some 1000 migrants who entered the official Mexico border crossing, but has deported almost 3,000. Mexican officials have also urged the migrants not to migrate in a lawful way and not to place their children in such extremely dangerous situations. Since the formation of the convoy more than a week ago, President Trump has threatened to station American troops at the U.S.-Mexican border to prevent them from entering the U.S. He also threatened to halt the more than half billion U.S. aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador which he blamed for the exodus of illegal migrants to the U.S. However, the Honduran and Guatemala governments have blamed their political opponents for encouraging the migrants, mostly supporters of the government to leave their countries. It seems that President Trump is also pressuring Mexico to stop the migrants at its border. But Mexico which had refused Trump’s demands to pay for a border wall between the two countries is caught between a rock and a hard place. It is walking a fine line between showing solidarity with the Central American migrants and responding to the President’s demands to control its borders and turn them back. President Trump’s threat to cut off aid from the aforementioned countries is contrary to the beliefs of several previous U.S. administrations which have seen aid programs as part of the U.S. efforts to help stabilize the countries of Central America and stem the flow of migrants to the United States. Data from the U.S. State Department have shown that in 2016, the Obama administration provided $147.6 million in aid to Guatemala, $101 million to Honduras and $90 million to El Salvador. However, when President Trump came to office in 2017, he immediately reduced aid to Guatemala to $69 million, $60 million for Honduras and $46 million for El Salvador— a reduction of almost 40 percent for all three countries. Mr. Trump’s threat to cut aid to those countries ignores the fact that the Constitution entrusted the U.S. Congress with the power of the purse, which means that it is Congress and not the President that approves foreign assistance to the countries in Central America to address the root causes of why people want to migrate. Despite President Trump’s attempts to declare the migration issue an urgent national emergency for the U.S., it could take several weeks before the caravan, which is more than 1,100 miles away reaches the U.S. border. However, the Mexican government hopes to disperse most of the migrants by returning them to their countries. Others who are qualified for asylum in Mexico will be allowed to stay.
Treating domestic violence also calls for meeting the invisible victims – the children DEAR EDITOR, Almost daily we mourn the loss of lives (and rightfully so) to domestic violence—a situation that has reached epidemic proportions, and still appears to be spiraling out of control. . Currently, domestic violence in Guyana, affects one in four women, accounting for one-third of the murders in the country, making it one of the countries with the highest per capita rate for women being murdered as a result of domestic violence. However, while much talk and efforts are being made to rid the country of the scourge, even to the point of male violence awareness programs etc., it is evident that there is no coherent plan, policy or program for the true victims of domestic violence—the children. Yes, I reiterate children, for they are also victims of domestic violence. Seeing that one or both parents are dead, for them a bleak future lies ahead. Research has shown that although they may not be the direct targets of the violence, children experience the direct consequences. Picture a child growing up in a home where he/she sees his mother and father constantly quarrelling/fighting, or sees his/her mother being beaten up by the father. Imagine lying awake night after night listening to the hostile communication, replete with foul invectives. Imagine just being a kid, afraid, unable to properly process it all and feeling helpless. The mother is struggling to survive and is usually not as present as should be, while the father is so consumed with controlling everyone that he is also not present. As a consequence of these circumstances, children become physically, emotionally and psychologically abandoned. It is the belief held by most experts that children who grow up seeing their mother being abused, especially by their fathers, grow up with a very sick view of intimate relationships, wherein intimidation and violence is used by one person against the other in order to get their way. They also learn that violence is a productive way to settle conflicts, and may even simulate the violence they witnessed as children, in their teen and adult relationships and parenting experiences. Boys who witness their mothers’ abuse are more likely to batter their female partners as adults, than boys who are raised in non-violent homes. Could this fact be in some way attributable to the current spate of domestic violence beleaguering the nation?
For girls, adolescence may result in the belief that threats and violence are the norm in relationships. Children from violent homes have higher risks of alcohol/drug abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder, and juvenile delinquency. Plainly stated, the chickens have come home to roost, due to the government and governmental agencies neglect to fully recognize the social welfare concerns of the invisible victims of domestic violence—the children at an earlier age and stage. In 2000, Drs. Claire Sturge and Danya Glazer, two child psychiatrists, submitted a report to the advisory board on Family Law in London, England. Their conducted research findings showed that “threats to the guardian on whom the children are dependent, possess more serious psychological consequences for children than attacks on children themselves…Violence, whether experienced by children as observer or as direct victims, causes immense long-term harm. Children may suffer post-traumatic anxieties or symptoms, including persistent memories of the violence”. Research also conducted in 2004 by Dr. Toby Goldsmith, psychiatrist of Emory University Hospital, Florida, found that “children who witness or are the victims of violence may learn to believe that violence is a reasonable way to resolve conflict.”If the issue of domestic violence is to be taken seriously, with the goal being towards total eradication, then given the enormity of the issue, a new approach must be taken immediately, as we know very little from the viewpoint of the smaller victims.Newspapers have frequently reported that the police were called to the home of the abuser and abused on several occasions prior to their eventual demise. If there are children in the home who are exposed to the ongoing abuse, then the Child Protection agencies should be notified on the first occasion and appropriate measures taken. Educational authorities should also be signaled, and an investigation conducted as to the child/children’s in- school performance, classroom behaviour etc. From the point of view of the legal system, the family judges and magistrates should also be made aware of the social background of the perpetrator, particularly as it relates to the children being exposed and the duration of the exposure. Thus far, children who have been exposed to domestic (Continued on page 6)
PAYING SEVERANCE TO SUGAR WORKERS IS NOT A FAVOUR, IT IS THE LAW DEAR EDITOR, Thursday, October 18, was another day of shame, disgrace and infamy for Guyana. The President, the Prime Minister and the APNU+AFC Ministers and MPs treated sugar workers as if they were not part of Guyana, while embracing a small group of counter-protesters organized by APNU+AFC to intimidate and harass peaceful sugar workers. They also ignored a group of Rastafarians protesting for the decriminalization of marijuana. APNU+AFC’s dishonesty and hypocrisy know no bounds. It has been almost a year since more than 4,500 sugar workers were fired when three estates were closed. The government paid them just about half their severance about four months later. Now coming up to almost a year since they were retrenched, APNU+AFC has still not paid them the other half. There are also another 2,500 workers who were retrenched earlier after Wales Estate was closed. Some of these are yet to be paid their severance, two years later. Last week, confronted in person and under pressure from
protesting sugar workers, President Granger promised them they will be paid as soon as Parliament meet again. Parliament met on Thursday, October 18. There was a notice of a Supplementary Budget to be considered by Parliament on October 30. This Supplementary Budget is for $7.5B, about $2.4B of this is intended to pay the sugar workers who are owed severance. Thursday, October 18 also revealed huge advertisement in the daily newspapers, costing millions of dollars, with the Finance Minister gloating that APNU+AFC is doing a favour by paying sugar workers their severance. It is gross dishonesty for APNU+AFC to beat their chest and huff and puff as if they are doing the sugar workers a favour. Paying the severance is neither a favour for sugar workers nor any sort of generosity. Paying the severance will end the egregious violation of the law. In fact, the payment should now include interest owed on the late payments. If an advertisement costing millions had to be made, it should have been to apologize to the workers and their families. Hopefully, the Opposition will insist that the
President and his ministers apologize to the workers. Many of those workers were present Thursday in front of Parliament. The President came to speechify in Parliament, but ignored the workers, drove past them, never acknowledging them. The Prime Minister too walked past the workers, never even signaling that he noticed them. This is the man who not so long ago deemed himself the “champion of sugar workers”. Not a single APNU+AFC Minister, not a single APNU+AFC MP chose to acknowledge the sugar workers. They were invisible, at the least, and worse, less than human. But, disgustingly, several of Granger’s Ministers and MPs graced the presence of a loud and intimidating group organized by APNU+AFC to harass and intimidate the sugar workers. They even infiltrated a group of Rastafarians who were there to peacefully advocate for the decriminalization of marijuana. The Leader of the Opposition, Bharat Jagdeo and his MPs acknowledged the presence of both sugar workers and the Rastafarians. They engaged them in discussion and offered their solidar-
ity. These Jagdeo-led PPP MPs showed their humanity, identifying with their Guyanese sisters and brothers of different races, different political affiliation and ideas. In contrast, Granger, Nagamootoo and the APNU+AFC MPs ignored sugar workers and Rastafarians, only acknowledging their own-organized APNU+AFC protesters. The severance payment is not likely until closer to yearend. If they are honest and care much about these sugar workers, there is no need to wait until Parliament meet again. Further, not all workers will receive their severance payments. The workers from Wales, many among the protesters, will not be paid the long-overdue severance. The law has been breached. The violation continues, in spite of the President’s promise to end the breach. Shamefully, APNU+AFC is forcing poor workers and their families to wait a little longer. It is even more shameful because the President boasted that he and his government are keeping the promise of the “Good Life” for every Guyanese. Dr. Leslie Ramsammy
Thursday October 25, 2018
DE-DOLLARIZATION - DESIGNING A NEW WORLD ORDER DEAR EDITOR, As American economist Barry Eichengreen stated: “It costs only a few cents for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce a $100 bill, but other countries had to pony up $100 of actual goods in order to obtain one”. This is the main reason the United States of America is a super power. It can afford over 150 military bases globally and has the largest budget for defence of any country in the world. In 1945, the U.S. Treasury held 17,848 metric tons of fine gold, which at the time represented around 66% of official global gold reserves. The goldbacked Dollar offered the world a trustworthy and stable reserve currency. However, the Bretton Woods system began to disintegrate, as US export surpluses began to drop after 1960. To finance the space race, to spend on domestic social programs, the wars fought in Korea and Vietnam, the US borrowed huge amounts of money. The country began to live on credit and banks worldwide were engulfed with US dollars. These dollars represented gold claims on the United States. The United Kingdom, France, Germany and other countries started to demand gold for their US dollars. In 1971, the US “temporarily” suspended convertibility of the Dollar into gold, and announced that the dollar would be devalued to USD 38.00 per ounce. Saudi Arabia agreed to price oil only in US dollars for US Military protection. This ensured that the US dollar was in demand globally. By 1975, all of the oil-producing nations of OPEC had agreed to price their oil in dollars, and to hold their surplus oil proceeds in U.S. govern-
ment debt securities in exchange for US protection. Everyone had to buy oil in US dollars. Oil is no longer bought only in US dollars - other currencies are being used. In January 2016, India and Iran agreed to settle their oil sales in Indian rupees. In 2014, Qatar agreed with China to be the first hub for clearing transactions in the Chinese yuan. In December 2015, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China created a new currency swap agreement for the yuan. Both steps strongly indicate that the Gulf States are taking measures to reduce their dependence and exposure to the US dollar. The dollar’s dominant role in the global financial system, and thus U.S. sanctions power, is driving the search for replacements. In a sign of how serious the rupture between Europe and the United States is during the Trump period, senior officials in France and Germany are increasingly planning ways to sidestep U.S. financial dominance and the global sanctions power that goes with it. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maasin August called for Europe to achieve financial independence from Washington to restore its freedom of maneuver in foreign policy, and other German officials are reportedly pondering ways to minimize U.S. dominance of the global financial system, which enables it to impose sanctions on banks and individuals almost anywhere in the world. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in a speech in August, called for the creation of “totally independent financing instruments” outside U.S. control. “I want Europe to be a sovereign continent, not a vassal,” he said.
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France and Germany have initiated an alternative global bank-payment system outside the reach of U.S. influence, and a European fund that could allow continued trade with sanctioned countries, regardless of opposition from Washington. Igniting European rage is U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and impose economic sanctions on Tehran, even though Iran was complying with the 2015 pact. U.S. measures include threats to sanction any European companies that do business with Iran—essentially coercing Europe to disregard its own policy on the issue. In recent years, countries such as Russia, Venezuela, and China have all encountered U.S. financial dominance and the sanctions power that goes with it. Russia has experimented with cryptocurrencies and its own payments system; China is taking some steps to reinvigorate the use of the renminbi as an international currency with its US$6 trillion One Belt One Road project (Continued on page 6)
GUYANA NEEDS TO DO BETTER THAN JAGDEO AND GRANGER DEAR EDITOR, Justice refers to the fair and equitable treatment received by members of society. In democratic societies, everyone carries equal standing, and no one is above the law. Justice is a consideration of man, and is generally applied by those so trained to develop societies’ laws as a means of preserving order. Guyana’s experience with our laws is that justice does not always inform the law. Two classic examples are Burnham’s interference with our Constitution to free our presidents from the authority of our courts: https:// www.stabroeknews.com/2017/opinion/letters/12/06/the-constitution-needs-amendment/, and the insertion of the section which makes the income of our presidents, our nation’s most senior civil servant, and our attorney general, tax-free. Quite obviously, both instances are an affront to our sense of justice. But both of these instances of injustice we have not done enough to rectify. In both instances, changes largely hinge on the leadership of the president. This brings
Guyana’s current holder of the Office of the President, David Granger, up for closer scrutiny. All things considered, this gentleman and his administration have been engaged in such great misadventures in our political and economic affairs that these two issues have become miscellaneous, and have been gladly relegated by both Granger and his administration to the bottom of the pile Granger’s lack of initiative on these two issues points to two larger, troubling issues that Guyanese have to grapple with. The first is that Granger himself is not seriously interested in securing Guyana from potential tyrants overtaking the Office of the President. Secondly, and even against the advice of the Tax Reform Committee (https:// guyanatimesgy.com/president-ministersshould-also-pay-personal-taxes-tax-reformcommittee/) to remove all tax exemptions on personal incomes, his gross indifference on his inequitable and unfair tax free status can only mean that even as he is benefitting (Continued on page 6)
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THE ‘ORPHANED’ SUGAR WORKERS HAVE BEEN TOTALLY ABANDONED DEAR EDITOR, In December 2017, I read an emotionally moving article in the DPI publication. President Granger had visited an orphanage for baby elephants in Nairobi, Kenya, and he had even taken the time to capture a photographic moment with one on these orphaned elephants. I am sure that it should have been a heartchanging moment, since if one can care so much for an orphaned elephant then we can expect far greater commitment to give to the Guyanese people, especially our droves of dismissed workers, our unemployed youths and impoverished children, the ‘good life’, as is promised day after day and year after year. Unfortunately, during this same time in 2017, the dismissed Wales sugar workers were subjected to dire poverty, barely eking a living and unable to send their children to school - compliments of the Granger administration. There were numerous articles which gave graphic accounts of the hardships faced by these workers and their families. We read headlines such as, ‘Wales feeling the squeeze…’, ‘Closure of Wales Estate now taking its toll…’,’Closure of Wales Estate a strategy to suffocate…’ and numerous letters highlighting the plight of these workers. However, these did nothing to soften the hearts of Granger and his administration. The next year they callously closed the Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates and flung another 6,000 workers and their families into grave poverty. Not to mention the negative ripple effect to the surrounding communities and businesses. Let us now fast forward to October 18th, 2018, nearly one year after the Nairobi visit. There was a massive picketing demonstration outside of Parliament which includes the dismissed Wales Sugar workers and their families, who since the closure of the estate are still to receive their severance pay. That is nearly two years ago. The orphaned baby elephant must now be quite grown up and must be fending for
itself, while the ‘orphaned’ sugar workers and their families are still suffering from hunger and poverty directly caused by the deliberately myopic policies of Granger and his administration. Now the President is quite sympathetic to the Venezuelans refugees and this is not a problem. We are obligated to help our neighbours. Already a homestead development was proposed and now $19.2 million is allocated towards providing relief to these refugees. However, there is an old adage which says that ‘charity begins at home’, but this Government tends to be more sympathetic in gaining international accolades than looking after its starving people at home. At the RDC level for the past months, the PPP councilors have been tirelessly agitating for a bus to be purchased by the Government to assist in transporting the dismissed sugar workers’ children at Rose Hall, and even though it was passed at the RDC level nothing is being done by this ‘caring’ government. They are simply not good enough. I would love to see the President posing with one of these poor children.Furthermore, why are the dismissed sugar workers at Wales not getting their severance pay? It is a grave travesty and a national disgrace to see these workers standing in the sweltering heat protesting for what they are legally entitled to. Should they not be treated as humans? Why is this Government prolonging their misery?It is already devastating to lose one’s job, but it is more devastating to be denied the right to survival, and this is exactly what this ‘good life’ government is doing. Why did they not pay the sugar workers their full severances immediately upon being severed? That is the law. But instead they are treated as criminals. But what is even worse is the fact that the President and his ministers completely ignored these workers in front of Parliament, the place where elected representatives must serve all Guyanese.It is a clear message that these ‘orphaned’ sugar workers have been totally abandoned by this ‘soucouyant’ Government. Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf
Treating domestic violence also... From page 4 violence have been little regarded as victims, and to a lesser extent, as subjects in their own lives. Little has been reported, (perhaps not investigated) as to their coping strategies to distance themselves from the episodes
Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
of abuse and violence. We al s o k n o w l i t t l e about their reasons for interceding or not, the way in which they understand what is going on around them, the words they use to describe it, as well as their understanding and the mean-
ing they attribute to the violence. Skilled personnel should be assigned to use the children as informants and listen to their individual voices, thereby forming the basis of our comprehension as to what it is like to grow up in an environment with domestic violence. Domestic violence must cease, and in order to stem the flow, then one must go to all involved in the scenario. The invisible victims also have a tale to tell, and must not be left out, but instead we listen very well. Helping the children to heal is a major step in stopping the vicious cycle of abuse. Y. Sam
THE MURDER OF A JOURNALIST MUST BE CONDEMNED DEAR EDITOR, of condemnation.The Saudi Arabian Kingdom The drama playing out on the international stage regarding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi seems to be getting increasingly intriguing. Already, there is growing tension between Saudi Arabia and Turkey on what really transpired. Turkey has indicated that it will make public what actually transpired which is at odds with the Saudi version. The United States is caught in the middle. Not wanting to antagonize a key ally, it is also not unmindful of the condemnation of other nations including Britain and France, both of whom have already issued strong statements
is now under pressure to come clean on the matter. There is strong evidence of complicity between key government officials in the murder of the US journalist.The Press Association of Guyana is still to issue a statement in condemnation of this savage killing of Mr. Khashoggi. This does not bode well in terms of concern and solidarity for a fellow journalist who died under bizarre and gruesome circumstances.The murder of a journalist must be condemned, especially by those who cherish the ideals of press freedom. Hydar Ally
DE-DOLLARIZATION - DESIGNING...
From page 5 denominated in Renminbi. Venezuela wants to create an oilbacked pseudo-cryptocurrency outside Washington’s reach to escape sanctions. North Korea has also sought to use cryptocurrency to evade U.S. sanctions.Today, the kind of evasive tactics usually employed by rogue states are being embraced by vital U.S. allies—a sign that the country once relied upon to be the anchor of stability in the global system is now seen as a cause of unpredictability. The United States has dominated the global financial system since World War II. In that time, the U.S. dollar has been the world’s dominant currency, making the US the leader of the world. Most countries and companies do business in dollars, and those dollars eventually flow through U.S. banks under American supervision—giving Washington the unique ability to sanction any country or individual that threatens its hegemony. That position has allowed the United States to sometimes abuse its power. Beginning in the 1990s, Washington began to rely more and more on financial sanctions as a key means of foreign policy, a way to pressure regimes from Russia to North Korea without resorting to war. The use of financial sanctions only increased after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and became an
excessively used tool for both the George W. Bush and the Obama administrations.“This has been a fear of the U.S. government for decades, and critics of the sanctions tool long argued that it was being overused,” said John E. Smith, who stepped down as head of the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions arm, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), this spring. That fear became important after the United States levied sanctions on Moscow over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, sparking disagreements with many countries in Europe that trade heavily with Russia.The separation only became obvious after the Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran and threatened European companies with huge penalties—for implementing their own government policies on doing business with Iran.“What’s different today is that the U.S. is imposing sanctions contrary to the foreign policies not just of Russia and China, which have long chafed against the sanctions tool, but against the fundamental foreign policy of our closest allies in Europe and elsewhere,” Smith said. “That is what has brought us to this situation.” In Feb 2011, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called for a U.S. dollar alter-
GUYANA NEEDS TO DO...
From page 5 handsomely from his salary, he resents paying these taxes, and apparently has no intention of correcting what has been an insertion by a person who formerly held his office. This latter individual was very likely the same person identified in Stabroek News on July 10, 2015,(https:// www.stabroeknews.com/2015/news/guyana/07/10/govtpasses-bill-to-cap-vulgar-ex-presidents-benefits/). The section of the article reads, ‘According to Jordan, the most recent claim for benefits cost taxpayers $7,466,700 for two first-class tickets. While Bharrat Jagdeo was not named, he is the only former president to benefit under the current Act. Jordan said “what was interesting is that the individual claimed for himself and spouse even though no spouse was named.” I have before stated that our laws do not anymore serve the people and provide justice for all. It grants lawlessness to our presidents and ultimately their subordinates whom they can free from the law. Guyanese are left to their own recognizance, to determine justice for themselves. And with respect to who we choose to become president, we have to do a whole sight better than Granger and Jagdeo, or pawn our lives to the daily punishment exacted by them on us and our children. Respectfully, Craig Sylvester
native. The United Nations has also called for a new global currency to replace the U.S. dollar. This is all directing to a global currency reset that the IMF leader spoke of in the past. Clearly, they want to remove the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Also, the petrodollar will be destroyed. On March 26, 2018, China launched its oil futures priced in yuan and the Chinese oil futures contract priced in yuan is growing in such a way that by the end of 2019, at the current pace of growth, this contract will present a real challenge to the petrodollar.China and Brazil have signed agreements to only conduct trade in their local currencies. Moving away from the U.S. dollars. China and Australia have signed agreements with each other. South Korea, Turkey and Kazakhstan have agreed to conduct trade in a currency swap in their own respective currencies. China and Japan have signed agreements to conduct trade in yuan and yen. There will be no U.S. dollars in their trade between the two countries. Iran and Russia have replaced the U.S. dollar between the two countries. It took decades for the United States dollar to become the world reserve currency and the currency of international business, and it will take decades to be replaced.My prediction it will be replaced in the second half of the 21st century by the IMF SDR, Chinese Renminbi, the Euro and more business being done by currency swap.The United States is a major trading partner of Guyana, and Guyana has US dollars held as foreign Reserves. The US dollars not being used by other countries will eventually come back to the United States and cause inflation. This inflation will be passed on to other countries like Guyana, that trade with the United States. The main reason the US Federal reserve is raising rates is to keep inflation under control. The effects of reduced global use of the US dollar is already being felt and accentuated by quantitative easing, global debt and the US trade war. Brian Plummer
Thursday October 25, 2018
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Auditors have trouble verifying lawful disbursement of PIDs worth over $12B
The Audit Office of Guyana continues to find the need to highlight issues surrounding the handling of Permission for Immediate Delivery (PID) by Customs which falls under the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). When the Office was carrying out its review of the Customs activities during 2017, it could not determine if all the requirements for PID were adhered to. This was because relevant information was not available. Auditors noted that there were serious breaches surrounding the disbursement of PID and these can result in serious loss to revenue. Regulations under the Customs Act provide for the issuance of a PID. Immediate delivery refers to the procedure under which an importer can take a shipment as soon as it is unloaded and inspected. Under the Customs Regulation 50 (2), a permission for immediate delivery prior to goods being entered (processed fully) may be issued for perishable goods and any other goods for which delivery can be permitted without any risk to the collection of
any duty and other monies payable upon the goods. A permit is supposed to be issued when immediate release of such goods is necessary to avoid unusual loss or inconvenience to the importer. Goods that qualify for processing through the PID facility include goods perishable in nature e.g. hatching eggs, fruits; medical supplies, goods for use on Government projects/contracts that are subject to duties and taxes, fuel, raw materials for local manufacturers. The authority to approve and issue a PID has been delegated to the Head of Customs and Trade Administration. In his most recent report, the Auditor General said that 683 transactions with estimated duties and taxes totaling $30.198 billion were facilitated through the Permit for Immediate Delivery (PID) system. He noted that Regulation 50 (9) made under the Customs Act requires that goods for immediate delivery be entered within ten working days from the date of the permit for the delivery of such goods, excluding Sundays and pub-
lic holidays. The Auditor General said that an examination of the PID Register for the year 2017 revealed that the dates perfected for twenty-eight PIDs with assessed tax and duties totalling $827.886M issued were not recorded. He noted that similarly, in the previous year, for 371 entries with estimated duties and taxes totalling $12.526B the dates were not recorded in the register. As a result, it was difficult to ascertain whether the PIDs were perfected in the stipulated time frame. Customs responded saying that the printed formatted register does not carry a date column for endorsement. “However, the transaction details may be traced in the
system using the recorded transaction document number. As recommended by the auditors, dates of the perfected transactions are currently entered into the register; this commenced after their 2017 audit of the activities for year 2016.” The Audit Office recommended that the Authority “ensure that the PID Register is updated with all necessary information. But further to this, the Audit Office pointed out that “655 PIDs were issued with assessed taxes totalling $29.370 billion and were entered on an average of fortytwo days over the stipulated period. Similarly, in 2016, a total of 232 entries with assessed
duties and taxes totalling $7.361 billion were entered on an average of eighteen days over the stipulated time frame. Failure to ensure that the PID facility is operated within the stipulated framework constitutes a serious breach of the Customs Regulations and can result in loss of revenues and long delays in completing ship and aircraft files.” Customs responded, “Transactions in which parts of the consignments are given remissions of taxes are sometimes delayed as a result of the prolonged delivery periods for the product and the requirements that the importers present documentation from agencies external to the GRA. The TRIPs system was
incapable of managing partial sales related to exemptions. Improvements in processing times are anticipated with the introduction of the ASYCUDA World software and its implementation, which has commenced. Even further, the Audit Office found that Customs continues to experience difficulty in having PIDs perfected in the stipulated time frame. The Audit Office said that over a three year period 2015-2017, the Authority failed to perfect 17 PIDs with estimated duties and taxes totalling $13.404M, which constitutes a serious breach of the Customs Regulations and can result in loss of revenues and long delays in completing ship and aircraft files.
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Thursday October 25, 2018
GT&T moves to hike landline rates …GCA urges Public Utilities Commission to reject proposal Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s and Technology Provider, G u y a n a Te l e p h o n e a n d Telegraph (GTT), is currently advocating for an increase in landline rates, as they’ve applied to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for “Approval of a Tariff Regime for Access and Landline Metered Charges”. The application, dated October 1, last, was made on the premise of “rebalancing prices of telecommunications services” in anticipation of the liberalization of the telecommunications industry. The company claims that the new tariffs and rates on their landline service are necessary to bring prices for different services in line with the cost of providing those services. The company is proposing an increase of $50 on Access for its services because “there is a great gap between the price (tariffed rate) and the cost to providing said service.” G T T ’s application states that, even though a tariff review was granted last year, that was due to
the fact that there was an increase in local rates and a decrease in international rates, making the rate of return experienced by GTT minimal. As such, it posits that GTT’s rates must align with underlying service costs “prior to the formalized introduction of competition”. The application clarifies that this is a service that must requires the consumer to be “optedin”. The adjustment, the application states, provides 10 free minutes of call service to calls within the network and five minutes to calls outside of the network, including voicemail service. All additional minutes on these calls would cost two times the rate on calls within the network and outside of the network. The company intends to raise the current rates of $0.80 and $0.40 off peak to $1.25 and $0.75 off peak. The company intends to offer the following resi-
dential bundles to its consumers: 1) “ A l l i n c l u s i v e ” (within and outside the network service), including the access charge “for $6,500 per month as well as call forwarding, voicemail and call waiting charges 2) “ I n t r a calls” (within the network) with 100 minutes of “inter calls” (outside network) for $2,750 per month, as well as a voicemail charge. This charge does not include the access fee, which the customer must also incur as a separate expense. 3) “intra calls only” (within network) for $650 per month, as well as a voicemail charge. This charge does not include the access fee, which the customer must also incur as a separate expense. 4) “friends and family calling bundle for five persons unlimited for $1,850”, as well as a voicemail charges. This charge does not include the access fee, which the customer must also incur as a separate expense.
Table showing increased access charges proposed by GT&T
President of the Guyana Consumer’s Association, Pat Dial, said that the GCA rejects the proposal made by GT&T to have these new charges implemented. He urged the PUC to consider the application as invalid, at a hearing held on this application by the PUC at Roraima Duke Lodge,
yesterday. Dial said the application conveniently omits the fact that the telecommunications giant holds a monopoly on these services, which has given it the opportunity to profit widely from the lack of competition. He referred to when
Digicel had just entered the Guyanese market to provide cellular services, stating that the company had offered its services at about half the rate GTT was charging, and still made considerable profits. He further stated that it is nonsensical to apply for (Continued on page 11)
Thursday October 25, 2018
PAGE 9
Kaieteur News
The WPA is up confusion creek David Hinds, a leader of the Working People’s Alliance, and a columnist of this newspaper argued in his most recent column that the APNU+AFC coalition had collapsed and that what we have in Guyana is the PNC government. It took Hinds a full three and half years to realize the obvious but as Guyanese would say better late than never. Admitting that his party, the WPA has not been attractive electorally, he nonetheless maintains that its policies were able to maintain four small constituencies which critical constituen-
cies which make up the independent section of the Guyanese society. These four small constituencies are those who saw multiracial politics as the way forward for Guyana; second, the intelligentsia; third, the radical revolutionary elements and fourth Black nationalists. The WPA is free to delude itself. The record will show that multiracial politics died with the emergence of electoral democracy and if there is any multiracial force it is the AFC.
Second, the WPA would be hard pressed to identify those persons within its membership and support base who are members of the intelligentsia. On this score, the WPA is living in the past. Third, radical politics died a long time ago in Guyana. The WPA does not have a radial core within its membership or support base. Fourth, this is the first time that the party is indicating that a segment of its membership is wedded to Black Nationalism. It would be much better
Dem boys seh ...
De Town Clown gat more bodyguards than Soulja Bai Some people does really think a lot of dem self. When dem dressing to go out dem deh in front de mirror pampazetting and trying to mek up dem face. When dem step out breeze even can’t touch dem. Dem is de people who think too much of demself. City Hall got nuff of dem and if wasn’t fuh de Commission of Inquiry dem boys woulda never know a lot of things. De Town Clown got eight security guards. When dem tell de commission yesterday, Uncle Kennard laugh and then he ask “Who would do de Town Clown anything? Why she got to have eight bodyguards?” She got more bodyguards than Soulja Bai. Dem boys never see Soulja Bai wid so much bodyguards. Hammy is anodda one. He cease being de Mayor years ago but he still got de council paying fuh four bodyguards. Fuh sure, dem boys know three ex-President, Jagdeo, Donald, and Sam, don’t have four bodyguards. Then dem boys find out, yesterday, that de Clown Clerk now tun Peter Sellers. He was
selling anything, movable and immovable even if dem move like a sloth he would sell it out. He off de wuk and he still got bodyguards who walking around wid illegal guns. He lease then sellout a big wharf fuh $50,000 a month. Dem boys seh you can’t get a one-bedroom apartment in G/T fuh that price, much less a whole wharf. He then lease and sell anodda piece of reserve, this time in South Ruimveldt. He start off by leasing de place fuh $1.8M. De same thing he do wid de wharf and odda places. After de $1.8M paid to city hall, he decide to collect de rest in he name. At fuss dem boys hear he collect a lot of cash but get suh brazen that he tell de man if he don’t have de cash, “Gimme cheque in me name.” Dem boys know Jagdeo, Ashni, Brassington, Rob de Earth, Irfaat, and de Chat-3 was bad but this Clown, Rice-Stan, mek dem look like Sunday school boys. Talk half and no wonder city hall never got money to pay staff.
for the party to admit to be influenced by ethno-centrism. Hinds then went on to express the view that the restraint showed by the PNC leadership during the 2011 and 2015 negotiations with the AFC was not emulated while in government. He accused the PNC of engineering a coup within the coalition. He said that the PNCWPA alliance has deteriorated since 2015, with the PNC governmental leadership’s stubborn refusal to treat the WPA as an actual partner, despite the WPA’s loyalty to the coalition. His position is that APNU has been deactivated and what remains is the PNC which has hijacked the government from the rest of the coalition. Hinds correctly observes that the WPA is a non-player in the government. And the AFC feels the same sense of collective alienation noting that while the AFC has a lot of Ministers, but little power. For him, the PNC has used its numerical majority in Cabinet and the powerful presidency
to monopolize decision-making on decisive matters. He admits to the WPA’s inability to push-back the PNC. Hinds deliberately uses the abbreviation PNC and not PNCR. The former carries all the connotations associated with its dastardly and dictatorial past. The logical question which flows from Hinds’s commentary is why, then, is his party still in the coalition. Why if the APNU has been deactivated, does the WPA not disassociate itself with the APNU local government campaign? In a letter to the Stabroek News another leader of the WPA, Tacuma Ogunseye accused the PNC executive of using the APNU’s name as a ploy to hide the fact that it is the PNCR which is contesting the 2018 local government elections under the convenient guise of the APNU. Yet, he goes on to state that the five parties making up the APNU agreed to contest as a united group. Now if the PNC has hi-
jacked, according to Hinds, the coalition government and if, according to Ogunseye, it is the PNC which is contesting the local government under the camouflage of the APNU, then why did the WPA consent to contest the said elections as the APNU, a grouping which for all intents and purposes has been deactivated? If the WPA shares the view that the APNU+AFC coalition has collapsed and that it is the PNC and not the APNU which is contesting the local government elections, how does it justify being part of the government and consenting to being part of the APNU’s local government campaign? Why has it not announced that it is withdrawing from the government and the local government campaign?
PAGE 10
Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===
That Court of Appeal’s GECOM chairman decision One hopes, and does so d e s p e r a t e l y, t h a t t h o s e who see the faults in the oil contract with Exxon worthy to be discussed in the newspapers almost daily, would let their mind visit some other developments, even if just for one day. They do so because these other situations are perhaps far more important to the future of Guyana. The Court of Appeal decision upholding the President’s unilateral decision to appoint a GECOM chairman is one of them. Months ago, University of the West Indies revealed that Guyana has 1200 lawyers; one for every 657 citizens. The figure has to go up because since that study
was compiled dozens more attorneys came on the scene. With those staggering numbers in mind, one would expect a sharp polemical flow on the recent Court of Appeal decision on the GECOM chairman. It helps to foster an intellectual climate, one that this county once had and one that made this country an imaginative, philosophical and poet territory when I was a student at UG in the e a r l y s e v e n t i e s . S a d l y, those polemics aren’t going to come. There is a huge number of pronouncements by those three judges that must stir the curiosity of an intellectual mind. I honestly feel those observations will be deeply
reflected upon as the CCJ arrives at its decision. Here are some of those words by the three judges with my comments. I already looked at what Justice Rishi Persaud said in my last Friday column but for emphasis I will repeat it here. The Justice reasons that to force the president to choose from the list; “…that could possibly lend itself to politicking, abuse by one … such an interpretation may also attempt to elevate the Leader of the Opposition to a position over and above the norms associated with his authority.” I don’t understand this point and maybe it is because I am not trained in law. But I would like to think
that when the constitution was amended to give the Leader of the Opposition a role in selecting the chairman, the framers wanted to dilute some of the powers of the president and they did just that with article 161 with the way the GECOM chairman must be appointed and article 127 which empowers the Opposition leader in that his/her consent is needed for the confirmation of the Chancellor of the Judiciary. Justice Gregory noted that the president had a right to act unilaterally in the absence of consensus and after a period of eight months. But could it be argued that failure of consensus and length of time to choose the chairman were not the fault of the Opposition Leader. Could it be argued that a president, is secretly harbouring his/her desire to have his/her own pick, could aggravate a charged atmosphere as to bring about consensual failure due to a prolongation of time. At all times in reflecting on this court case one must remember that the
President rejected 18 names. Now here are some absorbing comments from the judges on the names supplied. I quote from the Chronicle of October 19, 2018, “Another of the judges even went as far as saying that the Opposition leader could not have expected the Head of State to choose from a list where one or two or three persons, as the case may be, are not acceptable to him.” But here are the words of the Chancellor; “In that manner, if one person or two persons on a list are found to be unacceptable, the whole list need not be rejected. If more than half is found to be unacceptable, well this necessarily narrows the choice and therefore can be reasonably rejected. Conversely, if half or more of the list is found to be not unacceptable, the list is good. Therefore, as argued by Mr. Nandlall, there is no perfect list of six.” Justice Gregory noted “I find that to have submitted a list, three sets of names, and simultaneously ask the President, in sub-
Frederick Kissoon mitting those names, to choose a chairman, in my mind that could not have been contemplated as achieving consensus… so, I read not unacceptable to the President as requiring the Leader of the Opposition to engage in a separate process of determining acceptability and then after the engagement process is undertaken, then to have gathered one list of six names and to have submitted that as the final list to the choice of a Chairman of the Elections Commission,” The question here is does the constitution obligate the Opposition Leader to do so. I guess we have to wait to hear from the CCJ.
Thursday October 25, 2018
PAGE 11
Kaieteur News
New York Sues Exxon Mobil for deceiving Shareholders By John Schwartz New York’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil on Wednesday that claims the company defrauded shareholders by downplaying the expected risk of climate change to its business. The litigation, which follows more than three years of investigation, poses a financial risk to Exxon, as well as a potential reputational blow to a company that has worked to build an image of being concerned about climate change. It could also expose the company to other litigation. The suit does not charge Exxon with playing a role in creating climate change, though the burning of fossil fuels is a ma-
jor contributor to humandriven global warming. Rather, it says the company engaged in a “longstanding fraudulent scheme” to -deceive investors, analysts and underwriters “concerning the company’s management of the risks posed to its business by climate change regulation.” Exxon told the world that it was prepared for the more stringent regulations that would inevitably be required to combat climate change, the attorney general’s office said. But in reality, according to the complaint, the company “employed internal practices that were inconsistent with its representations, were undisclosed to investors, and exposed the com-
pany to greater risk from climate change regulation than investors were led to believe.” The investigation has spanned the tenures of two New York attorneys general and has also involved attorneys general from other states. Exxon has attempted to block the investigation in courts in three states, and has painted it as an attempt by bullies to restrict the company’s First Amendment rights and as part of an anti-fossil-fuel c o n s p i r a c y b a c k e d b y, among others, the Rockefeller family. Exxon Mobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Barbara D. Underwood, the current New York attorney general, brought the
GT&T moves to hike landline... From page 8 an increase in consumer rates and claim that it was considered in the best interests of the consumer, as GTT’s application had implied. Advisor to Dial, Yog Mahadeo, told the commission at the hearing that there
needs to be an assessment of the value of the service that GT&T intends to provide, and of the usefulness of that service to consumers. He recommended that an independent valuation be done on the services. He said that the costs provided in the application for the services
provided by GTT are not properly disaggregated, which renders the consumers to certain rate increases on services they may not need. He further posited that increases should not be allocated without being aware of the revenue that the costs will bring.
lawsuit under the Martin Act, a state law that gives her sweeping powers to investigate and prosecute securities fraud. The suit demands that Exxon turn over all the money it made through the alleged fraud and make restitution to investors. The suit does not name a sum to be paid, but if the case is successful, the amounts could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more. The investigation first came to light in November 2015, about a year after it was begun by former Att o r n e y G e n e r a l E r i c T.
Schneiderman. Before long, other state attorneys general announced their support for M r. Schneiderman’s efforts; some, notably Maura Healey of Massachusetts, started investigations of their own. Exxon Mobil has long conducted research into climate change, much of it published in the scientific literature. In 2015, Inside Climate News and The Los Angeles Times reported that the company was well aware of the risks of climate change and used that research in its long-term
planning for activities like drilling in the Arctic, even as it funded groups from the 1990s to the mid-2000s that denied serious climate risks. Exxon Mobil stopped funding groups that directly challenged the science of climate change in the mid-2000s, and says today that it accepts the science of climate change and the need for action to blunt its worst effects. The company supported the Paris climate deal and opposed the decision by President Trump to withdraw from the agreement.
PAGE 12
Kaieteur News
Thursday October 25, 2018
Several questioned as rejected rice containers return from Panama Several persons have been questioned and four containers are being checked minutely on a city wharf as investigations continue into how thousands of tonnes of rice managed to be rejected by Panama. According to official sources, four containers were returned from Panama recently. They are in the custody of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), a police department that focuses on money laundering and other fraud cases. Several persons have reportedly given statements, including rice miller, Dr. Turhane Doerga; Jinnah
Rahman, a farmer and activist; officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board; and at least one representative of TechnoMills which claims that its labels were used without authorization. SOCU’s head, Sydney James, would only say, yesterday, that the investigations were progressing. The case has millers and farmers nervous. Panama is one of the better rice markets but its future for Guyana was thrown into jeopardy when 33 containers of what is supposed to be white rice were found to contain parboiled rice. Panama immediately re-
jected the rice which was destined for the poor in that Spanish-speaking county. Earlier this month, two officials- Dr. Turhane Doerga and Rahman- of the Guyana Rice Producers Association Action Committee met with investigators of SOCU at the Camp Road headquarters, to file a complaint. According to Doerga, the meeting meant that an official probe has begun in earnest. “We just came from SOCU offices where we met investigators and other senior officials. You will recall, as you reported, that the committee filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Leslie James, recently. You will recall that it was sent to the Crime Chief to determine the merits of the complaint. Well, we are here now,” Doerga disclosed. “We stressed that from indications there was fraudulent use of labels belonging to another miller on the rice. That miller as you know had denied he gave authorization for GRDB or others to use their labels. Doerga had said that from indications, investigators will be looking closely at the roles played by the various actors, including from the Guyana Revenue Authority and GRDB.
“There will be questions asked and it cannot be a mistake that we sent out 80,000 bags of wrong rice to Panama.” The Panamanian authorities in checking other containers found that the rice appeared to be of the wrong quality. In all, more than 30 containers of rice were rejected. GRDB, after staying quiet for weeks, admitted that something had happened. The rice was reportedly sent by Cayume Hakh and Sons rice mills. However, the bags had TechnoMills labels. GRDB has to send back a new shipment. Hakh was ordered to halt further shipments. The miller will have to stand the cost of the containers to be shipped back. There has been no word from the Agriculture Ministry on the matter and GRDB has itself not issued an official statement. There were accusations of collusion involving GRDB staffers as there are stringent checks on the quality of rice
Minister Noel Holder before containers and shipments are allowed to leave Guyana. Present at the mills while containers are packed are officials of GRDB and even Customs Officers. Following the news of the rejected rice, there were calls for the sacking of senior GRDB officials and the resignation of the Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder.
GTU, Education Ministry... From page 2 the members of the Guyana Teachers Union...for giving the support that they had given and our teachers across Guyana who have supported us even in our difficult time, and I also want to express gratitude to the media who were there for every stage of it.” Regarding the inking of the agreement yesterday as symbolic, Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson, said, “We consider the union to be an integral part of what we do at the Ministry of Education.” He took the opportunity, yesterday, to share his belief that the Ministry cannot function effectively without the union and its input. “So I am happy that we have come so far as a team and I believe the time is opportune now for us to seriously work together for the benefit of our children in this country,” the CEO noted. He, h o w e v e r, recognised that there is still a great deal of work to do if success is to be achieved in education. He added, “We intend to work with all of our partners, including the union that we consider to maybe be our greatest partners, in this process. “We have come a long way and I think today is symbolic that we will continue to do well as a team.” According to Hutson, the Education Ministry has always fostered the idea of team spirit and “we recognise that if we are divided we cannot impact the nation's children and we are about transformation. We are about
change and the only way that can happen is if all of us move forward with one agenda, one voice and with one purpose.” The CEO shared his conviction that “what has happened here today is a testimony of what could happen if everybody decides we are going to compromise to come to positions where each other will develop an understanding of what we are about and we could move forward.” CEO Hutson is convinced that the fact that the Education Ministry and Union have been able to settle major differences in an amicable way is indicative of the beginning of a “great relationship.” The agreement inked yesterday will allow for public school teachers who work for below $100,000 to receive 12 percent for 2016 and those working for more being eligible for eight percent in the same year. The agreement also stipulates that the interim payment received by all public servants, including teachers in 2016, shall form part of the payment to be received for 2017 while all teachers will benefit from an across the board eight percent increase for 2018. Meanwhile, teachers will receive a lump sum of $350 million representing debunching monies owed for the period 2011 to 2018. Signing the agreement yesterday on behalf the Ministry were CEO Hutson and Permanent Secretary, Ms. Adele Clarke. Signing for the union were Lyte and GTU's General Secretary, Ms. Coretta McDonald.
Thursday October 25, 2018
PAGE 21
Kaieteur News
Trump suspects Crown Prince Involvement in Khashoggi Killing - UK revokes visas of all suspects involved Turkish media has reported that Turkish intelligence has shared “all the evidence” with the Director of the CIA, Gina Haspel. She had visited Ankara, Turkey, to discuss the slain journalist’s killing with Turkish officials. She is now privy to the video and audio tapes of Khashoggi’s killing, and is reportedly convinced that the Saudi Death Squad murdered him. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked whether he thinks the Saudi Crown Prince is involved with Khashoggi’s killing, to which he responded, “Well, the Prince is running things over there, more so at this stage. He’s running things, and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him”. The Mirror UK had reported that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman “always said that he will cut off the fingers of every writer who criticises him.” Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has finally broken his silence on the killing of the journalist stating that it is a “heinous crime that cannot be justified”. He made this state-
U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman ment at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, where he said, “Some people are trying to seize this painful moment to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.” He further posited: “I want to send them a message: You will not be able to do that as long as we have a king called Salman bin Abdulaziz and a crown prince called Mohammed bin Salman and a Turkish president named Erdogan. The rift will never be created. We will prove to the
entire world that both countries are cooperating to punish all perpetrators and justice will be above everything. MBS reportedly had a meeting with Chinese, Russian and Japanese business leaders with the statement “Now we know who our best friends are, and who our best enemies are,” since these countries’ representatives had attended the economic forum hosted in Saudi Arabia, while many Western business leaders and world leaders
Johnson Smith reaffirms Jamaica’s commitment to UN KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minster of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith has reaffirmed Jamaica’s commitment to supporting the reform and revitalisation of the United Nations (UN). Marking United Nations Day, which is being observed today, Johnson Smith said that through the 56-year partnership with the organisation, the country has accomplished a lot with the international community. “As a Small Island Developing State, whose prospects are inextricably linked to that of the international community, we maintain a deep and abiding faith in the role of the United Nations,” Johnson Smith said in a statement this morning. The minister noted that the country is conscious that there is a lot of work to be done, but that its success will depend on how best the organisation is equipped to fulfilling its responsibilities. “Jamaica stands ready to play its part to support the reform and revitalization of the United Nations, as we discharge our collective mandate to uphold the noble and universal principles enshrined in its foundational Charter,” she continued. UN Day commemorates the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN
Charter in 1945. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being. See Johnson Smith’s full statement below: I am honoured to mark the 73rd year of existence of the United Nations and conscious that this year’s commemoration finds us at a crucial crossroads, which sees multilateralism and the rules – based international order confronting major challenges. As a Small Island Developing State, whose prospects are inextricably linked to that of the international community, we maintain a deep and abiding faith in the role of the United Nations. It is for us, an indispensable institution through which the Charter’s notion of “We the Peoples” is given practical expression through our collective maintenance of international peace and security, development of friendly relations among states, and the promotion of social progress, better living standards and human rights for all peoples. This conviction has been the fulcrum of our engagement with the United Nations, since we became a member 56 years ago and it continues to define our
work with the Organization to date. We are proud of the contribution we have made and the work we have accomplished thus far and look forward to doing even more in the years ahead. We are especially pleased with the fruitful and productive partnership we have established with the UN system here in Jamaica. Ours is a partnership built on mutual respect and cooperation and we are committed to deepening and strengthening this engagement in the future. The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set the stage for our relationship to be further enhanced. Jamaica is committed to ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals, which are aligned with our own Vision 2030, can be fully implemented. Our achievements as an international community could not have been realised without the commitment and dedication of the countless men and women who work and serve under the flag of the United Nations. We salute each and every one of them, including the many Jamaicans within their ranks across the world, who give of their efforts tirelessly and selflessly for the greater good of mankind.
boycotted the conference. Aljazeera reported that Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and MBS spoke for the first time on a phone call, and that they discussed “the issue of joint efforts and the steps that need to be taken in order to shed light on the Jamal Khashoggi murder in all its aspects.” Aljazeera reported that a Downing Street spokesperson, speaking on a call made between Prime Minister of the UK, Theresa May, and King
Salman, said, “The Prime Minister said the current explanation lacks credibility, so there remains an urgent need to establish exactly what happened. She strongly urged Saudi Arabia to cooperate with the Turkish investigation and to be transparent about the results. It is important that the full facts are established.” The British Prime Minister has promised to ban all the suspects involved in the journalist’s killing from entering the United Kingdom, telling the British Parliament, “The Home Secretary is taking action against all suspects to prevent them entering the UK, and if these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today”. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has also expressed his discontentment over Khashoggi’s killing and the consequent handling of the matter, in a call with King Salman. He reportedly told King Salman that France could potentially take action against those who are involved in the journalist’s killing. France reportedly has not decided on any sanctions towards the suspects or to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia be-
cause the government does not want to make a hasty decision until further information is gathered on the matter. The events surrounding the journalist’s death had started when he travelled to Turkey with his fiancée to obtain divorce papers from his previous marriage. He had left his wife outside of the Saudi Consulate in Turkey. When he did not emerge after the consulate closed, his fiancée called the police and reported him as missing. Reuters had reported, “The initial assessment of the Turkish police is that Mr. Khashoggi has been killed at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. We believe that the murder was premeditated and the body was subsequently moved out of the consulate.” The Turkish Prime Minister had called an immediate investigation into the matter, following this statement. The Saudi government had reportedly swiftly responded to the allegations made by the Turkish Police, stating that Jamal Khashoggi left the consulate on the day of the incident.
Regional tourism official warns complacency puts Caribbean people, economies at risk PARIS, France - CMC – The Secretary General of the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Hugh Riley, yesterday called on Caribbean countries to take tsunami preparedness seriously, warning to do otherwise would put the people and regional economies at risk. Speaking during a panel discussion organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to raise awareness of the threats posed by tsunamis, Riley insisted that Caribbean countries risked paying the price for complacency. He said with the Caribbean comprised mainly of lowlying states, and with most tourism assets and hotel investments located at or near coastal areas, the tourism sector is extremely vulnerable to the threat of tsunamis. “Tourism is the main economic driver of the Caribbean, representing 80 per cent of the region’s gross domestic product and more than one million jobs so we cannot ignore a tsunami risk,” he told the audience that included from Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
“Complacency puts us in real danger and we must raise the Caribbean’s voice by advocating for our members during this important global forum,” he added. The event was being held in advance of World Tsunami Awareness Day on November 5 and Riley noted that the Caribbean region had experienced 11 tsunamis in the past, the most recent of which occurred in 2010, and six between 1902 and 1997. He said that because there has been no “recent” impact on the region, tsunamis are not considered an imminent threat, therefore, they are not given sufficient attention. Riley alled for an increase in tsunami awareness and sensitisation of the tourism sector and the wider Caribbean community, as well as support for training by regional institutions and countries to develop preparedness and response protocols. “The CTO recognises that tsunami preparedness is critical, which includes well-established and tested response protocols which will ultimately reduce loss of life and economic damage. We also need to enhance collaboration with countries recently and frequently impacted by
tsunami hazards in order to develop best practices.” Riley highlighted several CTO members’ tsunami readiness initiatives, including Anguilla, the first Englishspeaking Caribbean island to be recognised as “tsunami ready” in September 2011 and has maintained certification status. Since then, the British Virgin Islands and St. Kitts and Nevis have received similar recognition, all having established emergency operating centres, national tsunami plans, public outreach and alert systems, public service information programmes and tsunami preparedness and response protocols. The high-level panel was organised by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) to discuss policies and practices to reduce tsunami risks in countries highly dependent on tourism revenue. The meeting opened with a minute’s silence in memory of the 2,000 confirmed dead and 680 officially missing in the tsunami and earthquake which struck Indonesia on 28 Sept. 2018.
PAGE 22
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Allion, Primo, Fielder Wagon, Spacio, Bluebird, 212 Carina, RZ,Pit-bull, Allex, 192 & Canter – Call: 650-7501 One DAF 60 working condition. Contact #6584655/618-4457
Norton Street $15M Diamond $13M, $12M & 3.5M Aubre Barker $40M DaSilva Street, Agricola $7.5M #231-2199, 618-7483
1 BMW 320I car for sale. PTT series. Owner leaving country. Price Neg. Contact 697-4726, 259-0288, 259-0227
2 storied concrete property at 17 St Diamond Scheme. Contact #216-2726 /626-3423
ShortTerm: Furnished 2 bedroom in Section K Campbellville AC,TV, Wifi #688-9020
Commercial Property 40w X 230L East Bank Public RoadNext to Harbour Bridge Transported 233-6997/6221957 600K USD Negotiable House Lots for Sale Private Scheme 3 Million GYD Down Payment 500K 20K Monthly 10 years no interest Transported.233-6997/ 6221957
FOR RENT
WANTED
VACANCY
EDUCATION
PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION, W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620
1 Air compressor 5HP 3 Phase 230/220 volts. Call: 628-1486/ 698-1134
Antonio’s Grille night supervisor with chef experience. Tel#225-7933 or visit 172 Sheriff Street
BECOME FSPCA CERTIFIED- FOOD SAFETY PREVENTIVE CONTROL ALLIANCE ACCESS THE U.S FOOD MARKET. GTCIS #227-4881
Salon for rental & Hair/ Stations makeup for rental, New Market Street Tel#6381106/699-6505
ACCOMODATION
LEARN TO DRIVE N. Outar Driving School, Learn to Drive the right way. Affordable package. Call: 644-5166/691-2561 TOLET One 2 bedroom bottom flat at 11 Hadfield, Lodge G/t. Call: 608-0430
Welder/Fabricator for interior location. Applicants must be experienced with verifiable references. Call: 618-2020 Attractive live in waitressCall: 327-0252/674-4665/6493750
Store to rent. 1st Street Bartica. 4000 sq ft. Tel # 6644663 / 650-0402
Live in or live out babysitter/ domestic- Call: 223-7500 Monday to Saturday 8:15am4:15pm
Mini excavator $8,800 per hour, also Bobcat service available. Tel#623-0290
Wanted experienced hire car taxi driver at Ramada Princess Hotel. Tel# 616-5419/265-7075
2 bedroom apartment for rent, second floor 2 bedroom @ 186 Waterloo Street, South Cummingsburg. Call Jenny #698-4440
Cooks, Kitchen assistants, apply @ Shantas 225 Camp & New Market.
Two bedroom apartment to rent on ECD #684-8906
1 Driver to work interior location. Must have Motorbus licence. #225-1429/ 641-5075 Steel erectors to work in the Mazaruni area. Please make contact with Paul Tel# 2278682/227-3681/225-3682
1 flat house located @ Tuschen main road ( 7 houses away from police outpost) $10.9M Tel#650-0402/6031402
VEHICLE FOR SALE
TAXI SERVICE
Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
Buying non-working appliance: refrigerator, big washing machine, treadmill, deepfryer, dough mixer, stove etc. Whatsapp: 661-5099 CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS FROM $4000 & UP, SUV’S PER DAY- CALL:643-5122/ 6 5 6 - 0 0 8 7 , ,EMAIL:PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL:225-7126/ 2263 6 9 3 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL @YAHOO.COM/ WWW.D OLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL:PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MINI BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPORT & FAMILY OUTINGS, CHEAPEST RATE . Call: 698-7807 WING’S CAR & PICKUP RENTAL: LOW DOWN PAYMENT, CHEAP RATES,SPECIALOFFERS! . CALL: 690-6494
One maid/cleaner to work @ Hardware store in G/town. Experience & valid police clearance necessary #2269768/500-5923 Wanted Female worker. Just write CXC 2018. Call 622-5518 One experienced cook. MonSat. Tel#225-6927. Ask for Tonya, serious enquiries only One domestic from Diamond/ Grove area, must be able to cook. Call: 227-1846/656-7329/ 216-2502 Sales clerk- submit application along with CV to Kards Plus, City Mall, Camp St. Tel#2271846/656-7329 Experienced Drivers, Cashier, Apply @ Hack’s Halaal with hand written application. 5 Commerce St Security supervisor, must have own car 30-55. Call: 6299450
LAND FOR SALE Sarah Johanna Road to road $8M Farm Land, Wharf Land 21/2 acres East Coast $200M Tel#231-2199, 618-7483
1 Experienced Domestic Worker (3 days weekly) 1 experienced cook #683-3360
Receptionist age 25-45, visit 233 South road Lacytown. Tel#225-0198 One female accounts clerk, Apply at Alabama Trading 65 Robb St Bourda.
GOOD FOOD HANDLING PRACTICES COURSE, REGISTER NOW $15,000 GUYANA TRAINING COLLEGE #227-4881
One Tutor/Nanny to work from 12:30- 5:30 Apply Alabama Trading 65 Robb St Bourda.
FIRST AID AND CPRCONTACT GUYANA TRAINING COLLEGE #2274881
Driver with car & van license for office in Eccles. Call: 2332745
TRAINING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES- CARE FOR ELDERLY/CHILDREN GUYANA TRAINING COLLEGE. #227-4881
Part time Nanny, Evening hours, must live between Georgetown to Ogle, US Visa applicants preferred. Call #223-6006 Experienced cook required at Hermanston Lodge, Peter Rose & Anira Streets, Queenstown. Apply to the Manager One experienced male sale attendant with stocktaking knowledge. One porter. Apply with hand written application Keyfood McDoom Village Looking for a job & educational services? Contact The Job Centre 43 Croal & Alexander Street or call 6008457 Vacancy exist for Experienced Pharmacy assistants to work @ reputable pharmacy in Georgetown. Call: 696-5098/ 628-8811 between 8am-4pm 1 Gardener/Handyman to work @ 3 houses. Apply at R.Sookraj & Sons 108 Regent St (Opp GBTI) Maintenance workers, experience in painting, welding etc #265-3586 Casheir-CXC required, Porters. Survival supermarket, 16 Vlissengen Rd, Newtown. DemBake at Land of Canaan is seeking experienced Drivers and Sales agents. Tel#2665848
LAND FOR SALE
Male Factory workers needed. Must have police clearance. For more info: 223-0090
House and land for sale Mon Repos ECD 2 in 1 land transported. Tel#658-1874
Formally Globe Cinema. Waterloo & Church Street, Corner lot over 16600 sq ft. Tel# 655-3332
Night supervisor, Handyman and Chef. Preferably carnegie trained. Call: 225-7933 or visit 173 Sheriff Street.
Transported land 11.6 acres. Lot 15 public road. #2 Village W.C.B. Price $18M. Contact 686-4818, 648-7109
Transported 9 acres located at Land of Canaan EBD on river side. Ideal for building a wharf. Call: 660-2461
Operations supervisor, ages 30-45, to work shifts, 5am to 1pm and 1pm to 9pm. Call: 6235255
HEALTH HERBAL REMEDIES: Diabetes, Hypertension, Infertility, Menstrual disorders, Enlarged prostate, Kidney,Gall stones & Arthritis etc. Call Sparman #676-5924 FOR SALE/RENT American Pool table. Tel#2770578
Thursday October 25, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Success of Natural Resource Fund not possible without consensus –NRGI Consultant
By Kiana Wilburg For any Natural Resource Fund (NRF) to be successful there must be a degree of consensus. Without it, countries risk being trapped in a cycle where rules governing the use of the Fund are constantly thrown out, or altered to suit the liking of any party in power. It is for this reason that the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) is calling on the APNU+AFC administration to engage all stakeholders—from the political parties to the taxi drivers and market vendors—on the rules that will govern how moneys be saved and expended from the Fund. Specifically making this point yesterday at Moray House was one of NRGI’s most respected economists and experts on NRFs, Andrew Bauer.
Speaking with members of the media fraternity, the economist said, “You need consensus because what is going to end up happening is that you can put together the nicest laws with the most beautiful rules and if the new party comes into power (and they aren’t in agreement with it) they can throw it out. So it is not particularly useful to have something that can be thrown out every few years.” Bauer said that consensus building is critical to the success of any Natural Resource Fund as politicians and oversight bodies are unlikely to enforce rules unless they have a feeling of ownership over them. He said that there are many models of consensus building. The NRGI consultant said that these include:
parliamentary debates, public surveys and political ententes. In Norway for example, Bauer pointed out that the political parties negotiated the fiscal rules so that each would abide by them once they entered government. Pointing to another example, the economist said, “One of the most amazing stories is Ghana in West Africa. In Ghana, before they put the NRF in place and the fiscal rule, the Ministry of Finance ran around the country to almost every small town and village and they asked people how much money they think the government should save, how much money they think the government should spend and what it should be spent on.” The economist added, “And when they got feedback, they fed it into the
Miner strikes again with fraud Standing before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, Raymond Harilall was made to answer to three charges of fraud. It was alleged that between September and October last, at Dennis Street, Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, with intent to defraud he obtained $1,078,000 from Richard Harris by falsely pretending that he was in a position to acquire a loan knowing same to be false. In addition, it was alleged that between October 3 and October 20 last, at Croal Street, Georgetown, Lall incurred a debt of $80,000 by travelling in the motor car PJJ 4040 of Travis Fitzpatrick and did not pay. Then between September 3 and October 5h last, at Dennis Street Turkeyne, East Coast Demerara, with intent to defraud he obtained
Imprisoned Raymond Harilall $1,699,000 from Aniruda Sudhram by falsely pretending that he was in a position to acquire a loan, knowing same to be false. Lall pleaded guilty to all the charges that were read to
him. He was represented by attorney-at-law Patrice Henry, who informed the court that Lall is a 58 year old miner. He is a divorcee with three children and lives at Eccles, East Bank Demerara. He further went on to say that Lall had a previous incident of similar occurrence. Attorney Henry begged for mercy in the sentence as his client with no intent to waste the court time is going ahead with his guilty plea. After listening to the attorney Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore considered the fact that Lall did not waste the court’s time by entering an early guilty plea and she therefore sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment. In 2008, Harilall was sentenced to eight years after he fraudulently obtained over$3 million from several persons.
Ronald Khan testifies to verifying... From page 20 in Georgetown. According to this witness, he never did, neither was it ever requested of him to conduct an investigation into the Krazy Glue container containing the stones. He was also unable to say if the container and its contents were ever handed over to Khan. Also testifying was retired Police Corporal Wesland Fraser, who when asked by State Counsel Castello, denied telling Khan that the diamonds could not be found. The Judge has reserved her ruling in this matter. She indicated that notices will be sent to the parties. According to the writ filed on January 3, 2011 at the High Court in Georgetown and issued by his Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes, Khan said that police “wrongfully detained” the diamonds after a robbery on his mining camp at Ewang Creek, during 1994.
Khan stated that after he checked and identified his diamonds, police ranks lodged them at the Mahdia Police Station. “Officers of the Guyana Police Force thereafter transported the diamonds to 'E' and 'F' Division in Georgetown,” the writ said. Some time later when Khan requested the return of his diamonds, he was informed that the said diamonds were required as exhibits in the criminal trial of the persons charged with the armed robbery of his mining camp. The writ said that after the passage of several years and the unsuccessful prosecution of the defendants who over time have either died or escaped, Khan's lawyer wrote a letter to the then Commissioner of Police requesting the return of the merchandise. “The Commissioner of Police acknowledged receipt of the said letter but failed to return (Khan's) property,” the writ added.
fiscal rule. The value of that showed up years later when the government tried to break the rules and locals were calling into the local radio stations saying, ‘Well this is crazy! The government is doing a horrible job…’ There was public outcry and the government stopped …So it is really important to have everyone on board.” On that note, Bauer stressed that it is crucial that the coalition administration follow suit and engage in cross country consensus building exercises before the establishment of the Fund. TRIPLE CHALLENGE In addition to the need for consensus, the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) has noted that Guyana faces a triple challenge in its attempt to establish its Natural Resource Fund. It said that the Government has to decipher how to rapidly build stronger institutions; how to save for future generations and smooth consumption; and how to assure that the oil revenue spent in the short term, is planned and spent well to boost productivity and improve living standards. Given the nation’s weak institutions and poor capacity to execute projects well, the IDB said it would be recommend e d t h a t G u y a n a saves as much as possible
Economist and NRGI Consultant, Andrew Bauer until the quality and capacity of institutions improve. The IDB sought to highlight that simply establishing a Natural Resource Fund is not a guarantee for fiscal stability. The Bank said, “In the first instance, the appropriate mechanisms to manage the Fund, clear and simple rules for withdrawals and deposits, and issues related to governance and transpar-
ency, will be important to ensure that the Fund achieves its objectives.” In this regard, the IDB said that the Santiago Principles, a list of 24 generally accepted principles and practices voluntarily endorsed by the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds provides some general guidance for countries. More substantially, the Fund needs to be supported by a strong fiscal framework.
Casino robbery trial...
Accused asked court to review evidence before Prosecution closes case Wayne Griffith, one of the men charged with a multi-million-dollar robbery at the Princess Casino on April 29, 2016, yesterday told Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman that he would like to review the entirety of the witnesses’ evidence before the State closes its case. Magistrate Latchman after listening to Griffith granted him time to peruse the evidence before Police Prosecutor Shellon Daniels closes her case. The matter was then adjourned until October 31. Griffith, 29, of Bagotville, West Bank Demerara; Junior Stuart, 30, of Thomas Street, Kitty, Georgetown; and Andre Blackman, 35, of Middle Street, McDoom, East Bank Demerara, are accused of robbing Daniel Roberts and Alfea Gajadhar of $8,951,000 – property of the Princess Casino. The three men pleaded not guilty to the charge and are currently out on bail.
According to police, four men arrived at the Ramada Princess Hotel in a white motorcar bearing a fake number plate. They were armed with guns and entered the Princess Casino, discharging several rounds in the process. They relieved a security guard of his shotgun and ordered patrons and staffers to lie on the ground. It was reported that the gunmen held a cashier at gunpoint and made off with local and foreign currency. Three of the bandits reportedly escaped on foot,
while police were able to apprehend one of them who were reportedly trapped in the casino. One of the men was reportedly arrested in a house a few days after the robbery with a large quantity of wet money and other valuables. Another defendant, who was a former security guard at the Casino, allegedly provided the gunmen with vital information about the gambling spot’s operations. During the ordeal, Police Lance Corporal Andrew Richardson and four hotel staffers sustained gunshot wounds.
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Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
‘Act of terror’: Bombs sent to CNN, Clintons, Obamas, Holder By Karl de Vries, Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz (CNN) Authorities have intercepted bombs intended for former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and several other top political figures were targeted in what authorities are investigating as a connected series of incidents. Also, CNN’s New York bureau in the Time Warner Center was evacuated after a package containing a bomb, addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, was discovered, city and local law enforcement officials said. In addition, sources told CNN that a suspicious package intended for California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters was intercepted at a congressional mail screening facility in Maryland; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo received what he said was a device at his Manhattan office; and the San Diego Union-Tribune evacuated its building after “suspicious looking packages” were spotted outside. The developments, which unfolded rapidly and continued steadily into the afternoon, touched off fear and confusion, and immediately invited questions about the motives of those responsible. The recipients of the packages are all prominent targets of right-wing criticism and, in many cases, of President Donald Trump himself. “This clearly is an act of terror attempting to undermine our free press and leaders of this country through acts of violence,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an afternoon news conference. CNN, citing a law enforcement official, was initially told a suspicious package containing a pipe bomb that was addressed to the White House was intercepted at Joint Base Bolling in Washington, DC. The Secret Service, however, later said it had only intercepted the two packages intended for Obama and Clinton and called reports of a package headed for the White House “incorrect.” TRUMP SAYS ‘NO RESOURCES’ WILL BE SPARED Trump vowed Wednesday afternoon that “the full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation.” “We will spare no resources or expense in this effort,” Trump said at the top
Former CIA Director John Brennan
Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama of his remarks at a White House opioid bill signing event. He said he had just concluded a briefing with the FBI, Department of Justice, Homeland Security Department and Secret Service. The President — who has recently taken to calling his political opponents “evil” — called for unity in his remarks and said “we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that threats or acts of political violence have no place in the United States of America.” “This egregious conduct is abhorrent to everything we hold dear and sacred as Americans,” Trump said, adding, “We are extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning, and we will get to the bottom of it.” His remarks were greeted with a standing ovation in the room. DEVICES APPEAR TO BE SIMILARLY CONSTRUCTED Bryan Paamann, an FBI special agent in charge of the counterterrorism division in New York, said the devices appeared to be pipe bombs. A law enforcement official told CNN that the initial examination of all of the devices shows them to be constructed similarly. At least one of the devices appeared to contain
projectiles, including shards of glass. The devices are rudimentary but functional. A law enforcement source said the device found in the Time Warner Center ’s mailroom is similar to the ones addressed to Obama, Clinton and billionaire investor and major Democratic donor George Soros, which was discovered earlier this week. The package to Brennan was delivered by courier, law enforcement sources said. Neither Obama nor Clinton received the packages sent to them or were at risk of receiving them, the Secret Service said. They were discovered during “routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such,” the agency said in a statement. The package intended for Obama was intercepted in Washington, DC, and the one intended for Clinton was addressed to her Chappaqua residence in Westchester County, New York, on Tuesday, authorities said. Speaking in Florida early Wednesday afternoon to campaign for Democrat Donna Shalala’s congressional bid, Clinton said she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were “fine” and praised the response by the Secret Service. A suspicious package sent to the Florida office of Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was intended for former Attorney General Eric Holder but had the wrong address, two law
Former Attorney General Eric Holder
George Soros
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Maxine Waters
Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton
enforcement sources said. It was returned to the Democratic congresswoman because that was the return label on the package, the sources said, adding that it was the same return address for the packages sent to Obama and Clinton. Packages sent to Soros, Clinton, CNN, Obama and Holder were all sent with Wasserman Schultz’s office as the return address in manila envelopes with bubble wrap interior, the FBI said in a statement Wednesday. Each package had six Forever stamps on the envelope as well. It was unclear why the package addressed to Waters was not included on the FBI’s list. The bombs show the presence of a sulfur substance, which could have exploded. The devices were pipe bombs and are inherently unstable, and could have been set off just by handling. There is no information that suggests Wasserman Schultz sent the packages. The bomb squad was investigating the package discovered at Wasserman Schultz’s office, a local police spokesman said. It was not immediately clear if the package contains a device similar to the others detected around the country. The Soros package was believed to have been placed in a mailbox rather than mailed, a separate law enforcement source said. The package addressed to Waters had similarities to the other suspicious packages,
according to two law enforcement sources. One source said that belief was based on the timing, packaging and devices inside the packages, though it was not clear if it was capable of exploding. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement the investigation is the “highest priority for the FBI.” “We have committed the full strength of the FBI’s resources and, together with our partners on our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, we will continue to work to identify and arrest whoever is responsible for sending these packages,” Wray said. “We ask anyone who may have information to contact the FBI. Do not hesitate to call; no piece of information is too small to help us in this investigation.” The FBI said it’s possible additional packages were mailed to other locations and advised the public remain vigilant. The FBI’s counterterrorism investigators are leading the investigation and are handling as a domestic terror matter. The San Diego office of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, was also evacuated after “suspicious packages” were found near the building, but they were not addressed to the senator or her office, a spokeswoman tweeted. NEW YORK DEVICE INVESTIGATED The device sent to the Time Warner Center was a “live explosive device,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said at an afternoon
news conference, adding that police were also investigating an envelope containing white powder that was found as part of the “original packaging” of the device. The package was removed from the building late Wednesday morning and was sent to an NYPD facility in the Bronx, a law enforcement official said. At the news conference, Cuomo disclosed that a device was sent to his Manhattan office and that it was being handled. An NYPD official later told CNN that the device was simply an informational package containing literature. “There’s a number of devices and there’s a pattern apparently with them,” he said. The NYPD increased patrols at media locations in the city and other potential areas, a spokesman for the department said. Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are at the sites of the multiple packages and were at Soros’ Bedford, New York, home on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said. The FBI also is involved in the investigation, the bureau said. CNN’s Pamela Brown, Sarah Westwood, Josh Campbell, Jessica Schneider, Brynn Gingras, Mary Anne Fox, David Shortell, Brian Stelter, Eli Watkins, Mary Kay Mallonee, Sonia Moghe, Elizabeth Landers and Dan Merica contributed to this report.
Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
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Thursday October 25, 2018
Thursday October 25, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Enterprise Busta SC receive prize
Carib Beer Brand Coordinator Sean Abel (left) presents the winner’s cheque to Rohan Mangal of Enterprise Busta SC.
ECCC/Bargain Supermarket T20 prize winners with their checques alongside Carib Beer Brand Manager Sea Abel.
Following their 72-run victory over Strathavon in the final of the East Coast Cricket Committee Bargain Supermarket T20 final which was played recently at Enmore, Enterprise Busta SC recently collected their prize from the sponsor. Respective prize winners also received their incentives from Carib Beer Brand Manger Sean Abel who promised a bigger competition next year.
Can 13 be lucky for the Jaguars? Thursday October 25, 2018 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) The unexpected need to take a journey by air or spend a lot of time working could bring about an inconvenient separation from your partner.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) A surprising revelation, either from within or from sources like books, the Internet, or communications from others could set you in an entirely new direction.
TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Is your workplace upgrading its equipment? Are you in the process of increasing your technology skills? Today's planets show that success and advancement through technology are definitely in the offing for you, Taurus.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Discoveries made through occult sciences such as astrology or numerology could see you embrace some rather revolutionary ideas about yourself, the world, and life.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Some close friends could turn you on to a new interest or perhaps a group you might want to join. Intellectual stimulation through those closest to you could open the way to new plans and innovations.
SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Sudden lucky breaks could come your way today, Sagittarius, possibly through friends or groups with which you're involved. A longterm goal you've been working toward might bring unexpected but wonderful results.
CANCER (June 21–July 22) Sudden, unexpected visitors could arrive today, perhaps by air or in a new car. You could host a group meeting of some kind at your house.
CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Today you might feel the desire to break free from your daily routine, Capricorn, particularly regarding career matters.
LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Short journeys in your neighborhood, perhaps connected with a group you're associated with, could take up a lot of your time today, Leo.
AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) A sudden and unexpected opportunity to take a journey by air could come your way today, Aquarius. This might be something you've wanted for a long time finally manifesting.
VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Unexpected money developments could brighten your day today, Virgo. Perhaps you will get a raise or an increase in some other form of income.
PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Technology could pave the way for you to greatly increase your income, possibly throughnewskillsorinvestments. This is likely to be a very positive development, setting .
From page 30 and Ricardo Adams will also appreciate the extra bounce anticipated in Bim.But they will have to contend with Test batsmen Jermaine
Blackwood, Scorpions’ leading batsman with two fifties and a century in 315 runs.Andrew McCarthy (298 runs with 2 fifties) and John Campbell (242 runs with 3 fif-
ties) are the other batsmen with 200 runs but the absence of their leading batsmen Rovman Powell, Chris Gayle and Fabian Allen will leave a hole in their batting. Chadwick Walton (82 runs from 8 matches) has been a major disappointment and will be keen for a big score today, while Brandon King and Nkrumah Bonner will also be keen to contribute runs for their team.Without pacer Oshane Thomas, the bowling will be led by experienced left-arm spinner Nickita Miller who continues to show his work and has the most wickets (11) for the Scorpions. Jerome Taylor, Christopher Lamont and Derval Green could have their work cut out against a Jaguars top order which have been very positive in this tournament. Chris Barnwell is in the best form of his life and has 255 runs with two half-centuries (61 not out & 99 not out) and will expect support from the inform Trevon Griffith (207 runs) with half-centuries in his two games, Raymond Reifer (217 runs: 3 fifties) and Sherfane Rutherford (121 runs with 1 fifty). Skipper Leon Johnson has gotten three good starts in his in 107 runs from five innings but will need to convert 30s into something more meaningful, while the strong lower order on paper will need to refrain throwing their wickets away with loose shots in the event that Barnwell, Griffith, Johnson and Reifer fall cheaply. The winner of tonight’s game will oppose the victor of tomorrow’s second semifinal between Red Force and Marooners in the grand finale on Sunday.
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Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
Junior Jaguars optimistic about performance in upcoming tournament
Concacaf U20 Men’s Championship Visits NAMILCO
W
ith the National U20 team’s first match of the Concacaf Championship just days away on November 2 against Guatemala, Head Coach Wayne Dover said the team has had a successful training period and he is optimistic that they will represent the country well. This comment was made as the team had three training matches during the period and paid a courtesy visit to the National Milling Company of Guyana (NAMILCO) on October 22. Dover said the squad played two matches against two select Elite League squads and the Police FC respectively and while the results of matches were not the key focus, he was satisfied with the steady progress made by the team. ”Results in these games were not the main aim for us. We looked to see the level of implementation of the areas worked on, the execution of the game plan and the con-
sistency with how they have been done. We tried to build on and correct those areas which were not as strong so we can be more effective. We saw an organised group of players who was collective in their approach and more disciplined to carry out their function.” The Head Coach said the final training game, held last Sunday against one of the select elite squads with a heavy presence of current senior national players, was a “good test” as the team sought to have its shortlisted players best prepared: “The game was a very good test for us, which highlighted many areas that we had to return to the training ground to fix. The senior players provided exactly what we wanted and they tested the lads to the point that, at one stage in the game, we had to dig deep mentally to stay in the game and that was the highpoint for us as a staff. The lads showed a tre-
mendous level of fitness and we saw a tactical display that clearly border on improvement from the previous games and even some of the sessions done.” Dover said that the last two weeks were spent focusing on improving the team’s tactics to the level that could bring good performances and results: “We definitely will be going into the tournament very optimistically. We will make ourselves and the country proud. I want to implore the players and staff to continue working as hard as we have done over the past four weeks. I’m sure we’ll get the just reward.” The team trained yesterday at the Carifesta Sports Complex ground which has been their training base. Meanwhile, during a courtesy visit to NAMILCO by 16 members of the team including technical staff, the company’s Managing Director, Bert Sukhai congratulated the players for making the team. He said football is a jour-
Letter to the Sports Editor
Lusignan Golf Club stands by Club President Aleem Hussain Dear Sports Editor, As Public Relations Officer of the Lusignan Golf Club, we, the Executive of the Lusignan Golf Club stand in support of Club President Aleem Hussain, despite the announcement of his sordid past by one media house, especially since what is now public news was already known over two years ago before he began to be active in the Club. Aleem Hussain was voted into office as President by members who looked beyond his past and have been well satisfied that since his involvement - beginning October 2017 when he singlehandedly brought off a successful international Guyana Open Tournament in 2017 - he has made a greater positive contribution to the LGC and Golfing in Guyana than any other previous President in the history of the Club. Being cognizant of his past – a history that Aleem Hussain has not shied away from – the Executive has been satisfied that President Hussain has moved forward in life and has dedicated himself to making an excellent contribution in whatever area he finds involvement. This visionary, tireless, in-
defatigable leader has had a few critics, opponents and gainsayers within the Club, but then so has every previous President, or Executive, and in fact by some of the very same persons, who like Judas of old, always seek to undermine and betray the leadership in some unimaginable ways. Aleem Hussain - with a winsome, frank and alwayslooking-for-a-solution personality - like so many great and visionary leaders, accomplishes much in double-quick time, is impatient with the inevitable delays of sub-committee, has little tolerance for mediocrity and succeeds where thousands of others would have failed if faced with the same challenges for accomplishments. To date, in terms of golfing in Guyana -to mention only a few things - Aleem has pioneered a new method of international tournament sponsorship for the Guyana Open; has seen the Course maintained in pristine condition throughout the year; for the first time in the Club’s history has realized golf playing throughout the year because of a significantly improved golf course; has taken golfing to schools and the University (a dream and
hope of previous administrations); and has personally involved his finances in ensuring development and operation of the Club (a feature several previous Presidents and Executive members have also done). With regards to the activity concerning Jack Nicklaus which was used to bring these disclosures to the fore, it needs to be noted that nothing great was ever accomplished by those who were content with the status quo. But significantly, those foreigners involved in the project had done their own background checks and were satisfied that it was worth their time and investment to be involved with Mr. Aleem Hussain, in this multi-million dollar project which once successful will redound to the benefit of Guyana and Guyanese. At the end of the day, few of us can boast of morally perfect living, but history records that even He who lived the most morally perfect life was crucified because He was doing only good! The Lusignan Golf Club Executive stands by President Aleem Hussain. Guy Griffith PRO-LGC.
Ryan Hackett and Kevin Dundas (seated from right) during asession of the Major League Soccer (MLS) Caribbean Combine taking place in Bridgetown, Barbados. 1 ney and he was very proud of NAMILCO’s role in the development of so many players that came through the youth programmes especially the GFF/NAMILCO Flour Power U-17 Intra- Association League. Sukhai also stated his company’s continued support for the development of Football in Guyana and wished the players well. In extending best wishes, NAMILCO’s Finance Controller, Fitzroy McLeod, echoed Sukhai’s sentiments and said the players must grab the opportunity with both hands especially as scouts and other technical staff will be on hand to view their performance on the field. McLeod stated that NAMILCO is interested in the
total development of the person and is therefore happy when players have a balance between their academics and the game. He urged the players to represent well both on and off the field. Other persons present at the visit were GFF’s President Wayne Forde and Ralf Hemsing NAMILCO’s Operations Manager. In an invited comment, Team Manager Daniel Thomas said the team was happy to have visited the company. ”The visit went well. The players expressed their appreciation to the company for sponsoring the U17 league. It is a sign of positive progression that so many
players have played in the GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power National U-17 League so we have been able to see the transition and the graduation relative to their skill set and maturity as players and are happy about that. A lot of tem also represented Guyana in Martinique.”The National U20 team is scheduled to depart on Sunday, October 28. Their match schedule in the first round is as follows: November 2 vs Guatemala @ 10:30hrs; November 6 vs Cayman Islands @ 10:30hrs; November 8 vs Curacao @ 12:45hrs and November 10 vs El Salvador @ 19:45hrs.
Narayan Ramdhani on Kings... From page 30 Upcoming University Championships in November.He is also training two times a week with B-Active High Performance Badminton Club also in Edmonton. Narayan during his Vaca-
tion in Guyana played in the GOA Olympic Day National tournament in June where he won Gold, conducted a Training Camp for Schools at the National Gymnasium in July, represented Guyana at the CAC Games in Barranquilla
NBA roundup: Griffin... From page 32 regulation after picking up his second technical foul.Joel Embiid racked up 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, and JJ Redick had 30 points, six rebounds and six assists for Philadelphia. Redick’s four-point play gave the 76ers a 132-130 lead with 5.6 seconds remaining in overtime before Griffin responded. Nuggets 126, Kings 112 Nikola Jokic had 14 points and 12 rebounds in just 23 minutes, Jamal Murray scored 19, and host Denver rolled to a win over Sacramento.Gary Harris added 18 points and Paul Millsap scored 15 for the Nuggets (4-0). Denver is off to its best start since it won its first five games in the 2009-10 season.Marvin Bagley III had 20 points and Justin Jackson scored 17 points for Sacramento, which wrapped up a 1-2 road trip. Pelicans 116, Clippers 109 Anthony Davis had 34 points and 13 rebounds as host New Orleans continued its early-season roll with a victory over Los Angeles.The Clippers held the Pelicans to 24 fewer points than they had averaged in winning their first two games, but New Orleans still improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Elfrid Payton added 20 points, and Nikola Mirotic had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans. Tobias Harris led Los Angeles with 26 points, and Danilo Gallinari scored 24.(Field Level Media)
Colombia and Carebaco International in Suriname in August where he won two Bronze Medals.Profile And Updated Results For 2018: Narayan Ramdhani (20 YEARS OLD) D.O.B. June 3, 1998. Clubs: Yonex Badminton Club (Guy)/B-Active HP & Kings Eagles (Canada) Highest World Junior Ranked No. 53 Highest Pan Am Junior Ranking No. 3 Guyana Current National Ranking No. 1 Highest Canada BC Ranking No. 3 Guyana’s Junior Sportsman of the Year 2015 2- Bronze- CAREBACO International in Paramaribo Suriname 2018 Qualified Round of 16 CAC Games in Barranquilla Colombia 2018 Qualified Round of 16 South American Games in Cochabamba Bolivia 2018 2nd Round- Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia 2018 2-Golds- VCR Jack UnderHill Open Singles & Doubles in Canada 2018
Thursday October 25, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Hope, Hetmyer entertain as Windies earn sensational tie VISAKHAPATNAM, India, CMC – Stroke-maker Shai Hope smashed the last delivery of the match to the point boundary to earn West Indies a thrilling tie with India after they appeared on course for a rare win, in a high-scoring second One-Day International here yesterday. Asked to chase a difficult 322 at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, the 24-year-old Hope carved out a superb unbeaten 123 – his second ODI hundred – but was unable to get West Indies over the line, after they needed 20 runs from the last two overs. West Indies looked to be en route to victory especially after left-hander Shimron Hetmyer struck an exceptional 94 off just 64 deliveries, in an outstanding 143-run, fourth wicket partnership with Hope, who stroked 10 fours and three fours in a 134-ball innings. But key strikes saw the
Windies lose wickets and ultimately, momentum in the last 10 overs, and seamer Mohammed Shami sent down an outstanding penultimate over, conceding just six runs, leaving the visitors with an uphill task of getting 14 runs from the final over bowled by speedster Umesh Yadav. Hope took a sharp single off the first ball and Ashley Nurse (5) then missed a low full toss that ricocheted off his pads to the third man boundary. Nurse ran two to midwicket off the third but then fell to a catch at third man, scooping a low full toss into Ambati Rayudu’s lap. Hope then scrambled two runs off the fifth delivery and with five needed off the last ball, sliced Umesh to the ropes, with a diving Rayudu just inches away from pulling off the save. The tie was the second in ODIs between the two teams
following the low-scoring thriller in Perth, nearly three decades ago. India captain Virat Kohli had earlier stroked his 37th ODI hundred and become the fastest batsman to 10,000 ODI runs, as India recovered from a dodgy start to reach 321 for six off their 50 overs. Choosing to bat first, India were stuttering at 40 for two in the ninth over before the incomparable Kohli arrived to unfurl a magnificent unbeaten 157 off 129 balls, to clinch another Man-of-theMatch honour. He was supported by Rayudu who made 73 while opener Shikhar Dhawan chimed in with 29. West Indies struck early when veteran seamer Kemar Roach had the important wicket of first match centurymaker, Rohit Sharma, caught by Hetmyer at point for four at 15 for one in the fourth over.
GYSBI Sponsors First Major Oil & Gas Golf Tournament set for Saturday
Mark Edwards and Robert Hanoman, both of whom will be competing, are pictured with LGC President Aleem Hussain at the simple handover ceremony of the sponsorship at the company’s headquarters in Houston, EBD. Since late 2016, when four companies with over 100 years of complementary shore base construction and management experience came together — Muneshwers Limited, Pacific Rim Constructors, LED Offshore, and TOTALTEC Oilfield Services – and formed Guyana Shore Base Incorporated (GYSBI), a majority-Guyanese company with over 100 local highly trained workers, they have set the standard for the emerging Oil & Gas industry in Guyana. In early 2017, GYSBI won the ExxonMobil shore base services tender and within 18 months GYSBI was providing ExxonMobil with infrastructure, including secure open and covered storage, berthing for 2 supply vessels, operational personnel and loading/ unloading logistics support. Rig contractors and major service companies are now making use of the base. That same dedication to quality and precision is now being showcased as the company’s directors Robin and Mark were encouraged by veteran golfer and long-time member of the Lusignan Golf Club Robert
Hanoman to sponsor its inaugural golf tournament on Saturday October 27th at 12:30pm. “This is the first major tournament being sponsored by an Oil & Gas company and we hope that as many of our colleagues and customers will come out in support – to play or simply enjoy the atmosphere at the Lusignan Golf Club on Saturday,” Mr. Mark Edwards said. “Our staff and the people in the industry work extremely long hours and this will provide some well-deserved relaxation for them and their families.” The GYSBI tournament will feature three categories with prizes going to the top two participants in the 0-9; 10-18 and 19-28 handicap flights. It is expected to attract a full field as competition heats up for the Guyana Open sponsored by Ganesh Parts & General Store, distributors of Bridgestone and Sissons Paint on November 3-4. According to LGC President Aleem Hussain, “This year promises to be the largest event in the history of the tournament and we are grateful to GYSBI for coming out in support of golf and look forward to this becoming an annual event.”
And Dhawan looked ominous in a near run-a-ball knock which included four fours and a six before falling lbw to Nurse (2-46) in the ninth over. But for the second straight match, Kohli snatched away any advantage the Windies sniffed, with another imperious display to follow up his equally stunning 140 in the opener in Guwahati four days ago. The right-hander struck 12 fours and four sixes, reaching his half-century off 56 deliveries at the end of the 25th over before raising three figures off 106 deliveries with a searing cover drive off parttime off-spinner Marlon Samuels, off the last ball of the 44th over. Kohli needed only another 22 balls to reach 150 as India plundered 100 runs off the last 10 overs. The innings pivoted largely on a 139-run, third wicket stand between Kohli and Rayudu, who faced 80 deliveries and counted eight fours, with the partnership laying the groundwork for the final late assault. Debutant 21-year-old leftarm pacer Obed McCoy finished with two for 71. The Windies took up the challenge admirably, Kieran Powell (18) posting 36 off 37 balls for the first wicket with fellow left-hander Chandrapaul Hemraj (32) before holing out to mid-wicket off Shami. Hemraj, who sparkled briefly with six fours in a 24ball knock, put on a further 28 with Hope before going bowled between bat and pad by left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3-67) in the 10th over. When veteran Marlon Samuels was upended by one from Kuldeep and bowled for 13 two overs later, West Indies
were losing their way but Hetmyer arrived to stun the Indians for the second straight game. The left-hander belted four fours and seven giant legside sixes, racing to his halfcentury off 41 balls in the 24th over, by lifting leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal over the ropes at mid-wicket for his fifth maximum. A second consecutive hundred seemed a formality when against the run of play, Hetmyer top-edged a long hop from Chahal and was taken by Kohli close in at cover in the 31st over. By then however, the re-
quired run rate had dropped to under six an over at 205 for three after 30 overs, and the Windies were in control. Hope, reprieved by DRS after being adjudged lbw on 44 in the 27th over, completed his half-century off 64 deliveries before reaching his century off 113 balls in the 46th over.However, Rovman Powell (18) never suggested permanence and fell in the 38th over and captain Jason Holder (12) added a vital 47 for the sixth wicket with Hope but his run out in the 48th over proved the turning point, with the pressure back on the Windies.
Virat Kohli became the quickest man to 10,000 ODI runs. He completed 1000 runs in 2018 in 11 innings. He averages over 140 this year. And he finished unbeaten on 157 ©Associated Press
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Overseas donor Brian Ramphal receives BCB and RHTYSC, MS highest Awards
Angela Haniff and Albert Smith honour Brian Ramphal with the BCB Tribute to Hero Award. “Berbice Cricket in just a short span of eight months is on the move again and this is because total strangers like you came on board and offered support to us when we needed it most. Your $1M donation to the Berbice Cricket Board allowed us the opportunity to host several programmes that have assisted Berbice Cricket to rise from the ashes. We would forever be indebted to you for your kindness and as such it is our greatest honour to present our highest award to you.” Those were the words of dynamic President of the Berbice Cricket Board Hilbert Foster during a ceremony at the St. Francis Community Developers as the Berbice Cricket Board and the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club honoured overseas based Guyanese, Brian
Ramphal with their highest Awards. Ramphal, who lives in the United States of America and is the CEO of a major Itech Company earlier in the year, donated $1M to the Berbice Cricket Board. The funds were used to host two Coaches Seminars for 40 Pre-Level One Coaches, Annual Award Ceremony, Financial stipends for National Players, Educational Posters for Junior Cricketers and Double Wicket First Division Tournament. The Berbice Cricket Board would also publish a Review Magazine later in the year using the funds. Foster was loud in praise of Ramphal, who along with Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh are the largest financial donors to the Berbice Cricket Board. The Tribute to Hero Award is specially given to outstanding individuals
RHTYSC Robby Kissoonlall hands over Dolphin Award of Excellence to Brian Ramphal. whose contributions to Berbice Cricket have assisted the development of the game. Among those who have received the Award are Carl Moore, Mortimer George, Lennox Phillips, Ancel Hazel and Malcolm Peters. Foster, who is also the Secretary/ CEO of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, stated that the Club decided to honour Ramphal with its highest Award “The Dolphin Award of Excellence” because the Club’s cricketers had benefitted from Ramphal’s kindness and because of his remarkable achievements in the technology field. The Dolphin Award is the highest of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club twelve awards and would only be given to an elite lift of fifty Guyanese, who are regarded as positive role models and inspiration to
youths. Other awardees include President David Granger, Roger Harper, Jennifer Cipriani, Larry Wills and Rajendra Ganga. Mr. Ramphal in response expressed gratitude to both the Berbice Cricket Board and the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club for conferring their highest Awards on him. Ramphal stated that he selected Berbice Cricket for his support because he knew of its legendary history and also he was very impressed with its leadership. He was very confident that his million dollars was well spent, accounted for and looked forward to a long term relationship with the county. The Berbice Board presented Ramphal with a plaque, medal, trophy, Certificate of Appreciation and s special gift.
Thursday October 25, 2018
Steve’s Jewellery’s golden rewards for Guyana Softball Cup MVPs
Dharam Persaud (right) of the GFSCA receives the MVP prizes from Mitchell Perreira. In what has become a tradition, Steve’s Jewellery has once again put up pieces of Guyana’s gold for the Most Valuable Players of the various categories at Guyana Softball Cup 8, set for this weekend. The Church Street business establishment presented three gold pendants in the shape of a cricket bats to representatives of the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association, the organising body of the three-day tournament. The pendants are accentuated with diamond studs. A pendant each will be presented to the Most Valuable Player of the Open, Over-45 and Over-50 categories. Steve’s Jewellery’s representative, Mitchell Perreira, said the company is enthused to once again being afforded the opportunity to be part of the biggest softball competition in Guyana.Dharam Persaud of the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association was thankful for continued sponsorship of the MVP prizes by Steve Naraine, the proprietor of Steve’s Jewellery. He related that such rewards are an added incentive for players to strive for excellence on the field. Teams from Guyana, New York, Canada and Florida will converge in Guyana this weekend, October 26-28 to compete for softball supremacy in the Americas. Once again, the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association is promising an action-packed and competitive tournament. The category finals would be on October 28 at the Demerara Cricket Club, starting at 10:00hrs and concluding with the Open final under floodlights.
Narayan Ramdhani on Kings University Badminton Team
G
uyana’s Top Bad minton player N a r a y a n Ramdhani, who just finished his 2-years Diploma in Sports Science in Vancover Canada last May, has now moved to The Kings University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to do his 4-year Bachelor of Commerce and also play on the Kings University Badminton Team where they offered him a Badminton Scholarship due to his high performances. Only a few weeks ago he had his try out and qualified to make it on the King’s University Eagles Badminton Team where he will be training three to four times a week. He is scheduled to play in the (Continued on page 28)
Narayan Ramdhani standing third from right with other members of the university team.
Thursday October 25, 2018
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Kaieteur News
50-over World champs England Marian Academy Inter-House Badminton Championship 2018 underway arrive for T20 title bid ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – England arrived here yesterday to a festive Caribbean welcome, becoming the first international side to touch down for the historic ICC Women’s Twenty20 World Cup which bowls off next month. The reigning 50-over World Cup champions, coach Mark Robinson said England would be keen on adding a second white ball title to their trophy cabinet. ”You don’t go anywhere and try to lose or to come second so you always plan to win,” Robinson said on arrival. “We are pleased to be here where the weather is fantastic so it’s a big bonus to be here. We have been preparing for three to four weeks at Loughborough, so there is the advantage to come here to this lovely island and get some more time in the nets and matches against quality opposition is ideal for us.” He continued: “We have two official warm-up matches and two other matches so we are looking to use these matches and get the right kind of preparations which will be invaluable. It’s bit by bit as we move on in the tournament. “We have the preparations and then we go into the group stage and the first objective will be to get out of the group stage and on to the semis and the final. This is going to be a keenly-contested tournament. It is really exciting.” England were the toast of the cricket world last year when they beat India to win the 50-over World Cup before a capacity crowd at Lord’s.
Teams involved in the Marian Academy Inter-House Badminton Team Championships. England star Tammy Beaumont tries her hand at the steel pan following her arrival for the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup. The triumph signalled a giant step forward for the women’s game, a fact acknowledged by Robinson, and success in the T20 World Cup would be another fillip for the side. England also have former Jamaica and West Indies allrounder Gareth Breese in their ranks as one of the assistant coaches.The 42-year-old played a single Test against India in Chennai in 2002 and Robinson said his addition to the management setup was an asset to the squad.“He is a wealth of knowledge. He will know the grounds and he will know the pitches, so it’s really good to have him in our team as one of the coaches. He is an outstanding coach and a great addition to our support staff,” Robinson said. ”It is an explosion of opportunity in women’s cricket at the moment. There’s tremendous interest at the moment and that’s fantastic. It is a career aspiration for young girls
at the moment. “The countries are treating the women’s game with more respect, we are playing on better grounds, we are getting better pitches and that is making for greater moments. It’s a very skilled game, a highly-skilled game and definitely worth watching.”In a light moment, Tammy Beaumont took centre stage as she tried her hand at playing the steel pan while her teammates also enjoyed the sounds of calypso music. The Women’s T20 World Cup runs from November 9-24 and will be played at the National Stadium in Guyana, the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia and the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua. England have been drawn in Group A alongside defending champions West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh while Group B comprises Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ireland.
The Marian Academy Inter-House Badminton Team Championships started Tuesday at the School’s Badminton Courts. The four houses participating are Our lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Coromoto and Our lady of Guadeloupe. In the first rounds Group playoffs Fatima House defeated Guadeloupe House 3-2, while Coromoto House defeated Lourdes House 50. The results are: Our Lady of Fatima defeated Our Lady of Guadeloupe 3-2 Boys Singles: Randy Hamilton defeated DeAndre Springer: 21-9 Girls Singles: Nia Allen lost to Jayde DaSilva: 8-21 Boys Doubles: Jaden Totaram & Grame Carpenter defeated Alexander Ally & DeAndre Springer: 21-7 Girls Doubles: Kelliann Sauers & Nia Allen defeated Gabryel Fiedtkou & Tashauna McGarrell:
21-7 Mixed Doubles: Randy Hamilton & Kelliann Sauers lost to DeAndre Springer & Jayde DaSilva: 9-21 Our Lady of Cormoto defeated Our Lady of Lourdes 5-0 Boys Singles; Matthew Beharry defeated Zachary Persaud: 21-10 Girls Singles: Lesha Singh defeated Isabella Ramjohn: 21-18 Boys Doubles: Matthew Beharry & Vikash Mootoo defeated Roland Hamilton & Zachary Persaud: 21-11 Girls Doubles: Ashley Escarraga & Jada Mohan defeated Ella Sahai & IsaBella Ramjohn: 21-13 Mixed Doubles: Vikash Mootoo & Reba Ramlall defeated Lucas Persaud & Ella Sahai: 21-8 The Tournament continues next week Tuesday 30th October at 3:00pm.
Tickets to the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup are now on sale Miami – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) announced that tickets to the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup are now on sale to the general public. Tickets to the matches at Allianz Field (Saint Paul, MN) and Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, KS) will go onsale at a later date. Sign-up at GoldCup.org to receive additional information. Tickets to the Gold Cup, which crowns the best national team in North, Central America and the Caribbean while celebrating soccer, sportsmanship and culture, are available by visiting www.GoldCup.org or calling Ticketmaster at 800745-3000. Fans can also contact their specific venue or
visit venue websites for box office hours and information. Buy your tickets at www.goldcup.org. Follow the tournament news at the event’s official Twitter accoun t a n d F a c e b o o k page. Primesport, the official ticket hospitality and travel package partner of the 2019 Gold Cup, will offer pregame hospitality and travel packages for select game days during the continental championship. Fans can learn more by visiting h t t p s : / / w w w. p r i m e sport.com. The complete schedule will be announced early next year, once all nations have qualified for the Gold Cup via the Concacaf Nations League Qualifier, with rounds upcoming in November 2018, and
March 2019. To date, six of the 16 national teams scheduled to participate have qualified for next
region’s premier national team competition, which includes North, Central America and the Caribbean.
year’s tournament, those being the countries that participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Hexagonal qualifier round: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United S t a t e s . Taking place every two years, the Concacaf Gold Cup is the
The 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup is sponsored by Allstate Insurance Company, Cerveza Modelo, Nike, Scotiabank, and Toyota. The tournament will be broadcast nationally on the Univision and FOX family of networks and transmitted on radio in Spanish by Fútbol de
Primera Radio Network, and broadcast by television partners in countries around the w o r l d . 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup Host Cities & Venues Seeded Nations Group A – Mexico Group B – Costa Rica Group C – Honduras Group D – United States Dates & Venues: June 15, Group A – Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA June 16, Group B – Non-US venue to be determined June 17, Group C – Non-US venue to be determined June 18, Group D – Allianz Field, Saint Paul, MN June 19, Group A – Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Denver, C O June 20, Group B – Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX June 21, Group C – BBVA
Compass Stadium, Houston, T X June 22, Group D – FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH June 23, Group A – Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N C June 24, Group B – Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ June 25, Group C – Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA June 26, Group D – Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS June 29, Quarterfinal – NRG Stadium, Houston, TX June 30, Quarterfinal – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA July 2, Semifinal – State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ July 3, Semifinal – Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN July 7, Final – Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
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Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
Clear Waters, Rubis embrace Guyana Softball Cup 8 Guyana Softball Cup 8 is just a matter of days away, but corporate support continues to roll in for the October 2628 event.International Pharmaceutical Agency, through its Clear Waters brand, has once again renewed its partnership with the organisers, the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association. Floodlights member Ricky Deonarain, who received the sponsorship, said the association is indeed grateful for the support of the company. He said their contribution will go a far way in making the event a success. Speaking on behalf of Clear Waters, representative Nigel Bissu said the entity’s
GFSCA’s Ricky Deonarain (right) and Nigel Bissu of Clear Waters are all smiles as they finalise the partnership.
GFSCA’s Anil Beharry (left) and another official with the Rubis representative. partnership with the organisers has proved dividends over the years. He wished the organisers and teams well and committed Clear Waters’ support for the tournament in years to come. Also onboard with the organisers is Rubis, whose official sealed the partnership with a handshake at the Vlissengen Road fuel station. Deonarain expressed
gratitude to the company for once again embracing the leading softball tournament in Guyana. Rubis has always had a noticeable presence on the final day of the tournament, as its staffers would usually distribute branded products to patrons. Teams from Guyana, New York, Canada and Florida will converge in Guyana this weekend October 26-28 to
compete for softball supremacy in the Americas. Once again, the Guyana Floodlight Softball Cricket Association is promising an action-packed and competitive tournament. The category finals would be on October 28 at the Demerara Cricket Club, starting at 10:00hrs and concluding with the Open final under floodlights.
NBA roundup: Griffin scores 50 in Pistons’ OT win Blake Griffin scored a career-high 50 points, including a game-winning three-point play with 1.8 seconds left in overtime, and the Detroit Pistons edged the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 133-132 on Tuesday.Griffin, whose previous career best was 47 points, made 20 of 35 field-goal attempts and 5 of 11 free-throw attempts. He added 14 rebounds and six assists. Reggie Jackson supplied 23 points, Ish Smith tossed in 21 off the bench and Reggie Bullock added 17 for Detroit. Andre Drummond had 14 points and 16 rebounds before he was ejected late in (Continued on page 28)
Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin (23) takes a three-point shot in the second half against the Philadelphia 76ers at Little Caesars Arena. (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)
Systems in place for Sunday’s Rising Sun Turf Club Rodeo
The Rising Sun Rodeo arena all set for the impending action on Sunday. The Marian Academy Inter-House Badminton Team Championships started Tuesday at the School’s Badminton Courts. The four houses participating are Our lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Coromoto and Our lady of Guadeloupe. In the first rounds Group playoffs F a t i m a H o u s e d e f e a t e d G u a d e l oupe House 3-2, while Coromoto House defeated Lourdes House 5-0. The results are: Our Lady of Fatima defeated Our Lady of Guadeloupe 3-2 Boys Singles: Randy Hamilton defeated DeAndre Springer: 21-9 From page 30 Girls Singles: Nia Allen lost to Jayde DaSilva: 8-21 Boys Doubles: Jaden Totaram & Grame Carpenter defeated Alexander Ally & DeAndre Springer: 21-7
Girls Doubles: Kelliann Sauers & Nia Allen defeated Gabryel Fiedtkou & Tashauna McGarrell: 21-7 Mixed Doubles: Randy Hamilton & Kelliann Sauers lost to DeAndre Springer & Jayde DaSilva: 9-21 Our Lady of Cormoto defeated Our Lady of Lourdes 5-0 Boys Singles; Matthew Beharry defeated Zachary Persaud: 21-10 Girls Singles: Lesha Singh defeated Isabella Ramjohn: 21-18 Boys Doubles: Matthew Beharry & Vikash Mootoo defeated Roland Hamilton & Zachary Persaud: 21-11 Girls Doubles: Ashley Escarraga & Jada Mohan defeated Ella Sahai & IsaBella Ramjohn: 21-13 Mixed Doubles: Vikash Mootoo & Reba Ramlall defeated Lucas Persaud & Ella Sahai: 21-8The Tournament continues next week Tuesday 30th October at 3:00pm.
Can 13 be lucky for the Jaguars? Play Scorpions today in 11th semi since 2005 By Sean Devers Guyana has not won a regional 50-over title in 13 years and today Zone ‘A’ leaders Jaguars face-off with Zone ‘B’ runners-up Jamaica Scorpions at the Kensington Oval from 14:00hrs in the first semi-final of the Regional Super50 tournament. Guyana last won a title when Neil McGarell dumped left-arm spinner Silliman Benn for six as Shiv Chanderpaul led his Country to victory against Barbados on the D/L system at Bourda in fading light in what would be their last win. But before Leon Johnson leads his team to its 10th title the well-oiled Jaguars will need to get past the Scorpions who were surprisingly beaten by the USA in their last match to finish second as CCC Marooners ended on top. This will be the 11th time in 13 years Guyana has reached a 50-over semi-final but only twice have they progressed to the final (2009 & 2015) when they were beaten on both occasions by Trinidad. The only time they failed
Jermaine Blackwood is Scorpions’ leading run scorer. to reach the ‘final four’ was in 2016 & 2017, while in the last tournament they were beaten in the semis by the Windwards Volcanoes in Antigua last February. So if Johnson wants to join Clive Lloyd and Roger Harper as the only Guyanese Captains to win the double they must come with their ‘A’ game against the best team from the Barbados Zone who will have the advantage of playing all their games in familiar conditions. Johnson admitted that conditions in Barbados are different from Trinidad but
said the basics of the games remain, adding that execution will be the team’s main focus. Their bowlers have operated with immaculate consistency and sent down frugal spells. Today, Clinton Pestano, the first Guyanese to claim a hat-trick in this format and Raymond Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Chris Barnwell and Sherfane Rutherford (all fast bowling all-rounders) will relish the quicker tracks in Barbados. The spin trio Ramaal Lewis, Veerasammy Permaul (Continued on page 27)
Thursday October 25, 2018
Kaieteur News
PAGE 33
Blairmont crowned West Berbice Magic Moments 20/20 Champion BCB 2018 Cricket Season
BCB completes 13th Tournaments in 3 months
Man of the Final - Zaheer Nasir receives his prize from WBCA President David Black.
T
he Cotton Tree Cricket Ground on Sunday last, hosted its first ever Berbice Cricket final as the curtains came down on the Berbice Cricket Board’s We s t B e r b i c e M a g i c M o m e n t s 2 0 / 2 0 Tournament. Favourite Blairmont Community Centre easily defeated the home team by 70 runs to be crowned Champion, while No. 5 Monedderlust got pass Bush Lot Rising Star by four wickets to claim the 3rd prize. The Final was played infront of a large crowd which included BCB President Hilbert Foster, Secretary Robby Saywack and West Berbice Cricket
Association President David Black. Blairmont Community Centre won the toss and elected to bat on the placid pitch and were able to amass a formidable 215 for 5 from 20-Overs with Zameer Nasir topscoring with a brilliant 81 not out and he received support from National Under-19 all-rounder Javed Karim, who batted well to score 54 and opener Kevin Jawahir 34. Nasir started a little slowly before opening up to hit seven massive sixes on the small ground. The experienced Roshan Gafoor 2 for 39 and Wagar Hassan 2 for 40 were the best bowlers for Cotton Tree.
The Winning Blairmont Team pose with BCB Officials. Needing to score 216 to win their first ever BCB Title, Cotton Tree were unable to negotiate the spin duo of Guyana Under-17 player Seon Glasgow 3 for 11 (4Overs) and Jawahir 2 for 25 (4-Overs). They were bowled out for 145 off 15.4 overs with Pooran Persaud 39, Nick Ramsaroop 35 and Narshad Gafoor 25 being the principal scorers. Blairmont skipper Shabeer Baksh took 2 for 14 to support Glasgow and Jawahir. In the 3rd place Playoff, No. 5 Monedderlust defeated Bush Lot Rising Star after the match was reduced to 15Overs due to overnight rain. Bush Lot were reduced to11
for 4 before recovering to 81 for 9. Glenroy Fraser topscored with 28, while Keshan Fordyce supported with 23 as Carlton Nurse 4 for 17, Travis Moriah 2 for 10 and M. Schultz 2 for 18 bowled well for No. 5. Skipper Arthley Bailey 47 and M. Singh 16 then batted well to take their team home in 11.3 overs. Carlton Grant 3 for 15 and Javed Saywack 2 for 11 were the best bowlers for Bush Lot. At the presentation ceremony, an elated BCB President Hilbert Foster
announced that he was delighted at the large number of spectators attending matches once again across Berbice as Berbicians see the return of passion and love for the game. Foster also noted to loud applause that Berbice Cricket was on top of the ladder after three years of despair. He expressed gratitude to Sueria Manufacturing Ltd and its CEO Frank Sanichara for the Sponsorship of the four Magic Moments Tournaments in Upper Corentyne, Lower
Corentyne, New Amsterdam/Canje and West Berbice. He congratulated Blairmont Cricket Club on their well deserved title and praised the Club on its youth focused policy. West Berbice Cricket Association President David Black also came in for praise, for his cooperation in organising the tournament in the subzone. Zaheer Nasir was named Man of the Final and along with the winning team and runner-up carried home, trophies and cash incentives.
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Hope, Hetmyer entertain as Windies earn sensational tie P. 29
Shai Hope kept going, bringing up his second ODI century, and ensuring that West Indies were on track to pull off only their second chase of a 300 -plus score ©Associated Press
Shimron Hetmyer was all business, slogging the ball into the leg side and racing away towards a hundred. ©Associated Press
Junior Jaguars optimistic about performance in upcoming tournament Concacaf U20 Men’s Championship
Visits NAMILCO
P.28
NAMILCO Finance Director Fitzroy McLeod (seated left), Managing Director Bert Sukhai (seated center) along with GFF President Wayne Forde, other officials and players take time out for a photo at NAMILCO.
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