Monday October 28, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 5
Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news
APART FROM TEACHERS’ SALARIES, I STAND BY THE WORLD BANK REPORT
DEAR EDITOR, As Editor-in-Chief, the crucial decision to publish or not to publish an article, story or letter in Kaieteur News, is the ultimate responsibility of my friend, Adam Harris. He chose not to publish a letter I had written in response to an article he wrote: “Chat language will get us no jobs” (Kaieteur News, October 20). Instead, he took offense to a World Bank Report I quoted in my letter, and has since written another article condemning the Report, “A most questionable World Bank report got my goose” (Kaieteur News, October 26). In his article, Adam wrote, “When I described the education system as calamitous, I never realized that I was touching a nerve. One day Harry Gill came to me and informed me that I had paved the way for him to release information that he had suppressed.” The suggestion that I was in possession of suppressed evidence is incorrect. In fact, I thanked him for opening the door for me to expose some evidence that the opposition was successful at suppressing from our youth. I think you can see the difference. The fact that he referred to me by name in his article, gives me the right to respond and once again, quote the source of my information. To deny publication of this letter would be unjust, and would deny his readers the opportunity to objectively judge the credibility of my information, as opposed to forcing his opinion on the readers of Kaieteur News. Like everyone else, Adam is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. He is either living in denial, or is too ashamed to admit his failure to denounce the decrepit education system that existed under the PNC rule while he was Editor of the PNC organ, the New Nation. In his article, he wrote, “Minister Priya Manickchand, for example, says that her government has
spent extensively on education and today the nation is reaping the rewards. She informed me and the other reporters that prior to the advent of her government, only eight per cent of the people who wrote the external examinations passed English. The pass rate for Mathematics was also equally ridiculous.” For the record, the table below shows the percentage of students at the Secondary School Entrance Examination (SSEE), scoring more than 50% of the marks in each subject area. This confirms that the Minister of Education was absolutely correct when she said only eight percent passed English then. These figures were not obtained from the World Bank report that Adam discredits, the source is the World Education Forum (Education For All -EFA), another recognized body. (http://www.unesco.org/ e d u c a t i o n / w e f / countryreports/guyana/ rapport_2.html) Note that when these results were published in
1992 before the PPP/C took office, only eight percent of students passed the SSEE in English, and four percent in Mathematics. To d a y, t h a t f i g u r e h a s steadily grown to 45 percent pass in both English and Mathematics. As the Education Minister Priya Manickchand said at the press conference Adam alludes to in his article, “The People’s Progressive
We need an urgent... From page 4 Land committee and Office in Region Seven. The BUYDG contacted the office of the ministry of housing for a date for the meeting requested. To date, we are being told continuously by employees of the Ministry that they gave Minister Ali the letter, but he has not pronounced on it, and soon as he does they will send us an email of call us. The BUYDG, after making several calls to Mr. Ali’s cell
phone, was advised by Mr. Ali that he is in a meeting . Mr. Editor, the BUYDG is aware that Mr. Ali has a very busy schedule, since he were involve in a lot land activities and the R. Kelly show in Guyana, but we hope and are calling on Mr. Ali to urgently schedule a date, time and place for the delegation to meet with him to have this issue resolved. Micah Williams General President Bartica United Youth Development Group
Party / Civic Government of Guyana has allocated large sums of money to the (education) sector every year. Twenty years into office, we’ve seen what that means… sometimes from year to year you don’t realize what this investment means. But it means we have moved from 30% trained teachers to 70% trained teachers; we’ve moved from a place where 10% of our schools were
habitable, to a place where 80% of our schools are habitable; we’ve moved from a place where some primary school children had no place to go to, to a place where every single primary school aged child can access a primary education. We’ve moved to a place where Guyana enjoys pride of place in our nursery programme… 85% of our nursery cohorts are in school, it’s much higher on the coast. We’ve moved from a place where 35% of our secondaryaged students could not go to school because there was no place to put them, to a place where we’re talking about what quality of education we’re offering those schools. So the investments have, over the years, produced things that we can count, tabulate and celebrate. Does that mean that we don’t have work to do? The answer is, we do. A 45% of our children passing English and Maths now is too low, and it’s not acceptable. But we must note when we make these statements, if we’re
going to be fair and balance, that there have been remarkable improvements.” Adam Harris certainly had every opportunity after this press conference to question the Minister on the decrepit conditions of the pre-1992 education sector I raised in my letter, but he was obsessed with the salaries I quoted from the World Bank Report. And it appears he had every reason to be. I now accept that these figures as quoted by the World Bank Report are definitely inaccurate because I was able to research that the minimum monthly wage received by a public servant in 1992 was $3,137, and the highest was $16,358. Therefore it is quite possible that whoever inputted the figures in that Report, left out a digit or two. However, apart from teachers salaries, I stand by the World Bank Report because I’ve seen other similar reports of the decline in Guyana’s pre1992 education from credible agencies such as the Library of Congress. Harry Gill
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Kaieteur News
Inquest begins into police killing of Randy Morris
A mini health check is the first step to donating blood
and examined by the medical doctor on duty. After completing that, Thomas stated that he took Moore to the Brickdam Police Station lockups and rushed the certificate to the Brickdam Police Station Inquiries. Thomas affirmed that while escorting Moore to the hospital he did not receive any further injuries. Magistrate Azore thereafter made a request for the said medical certificate but Thomas stated that it has been tendered in another court where an attempted robbery case is ongoing. Thomas then affirmed that that is as much as he did in the matter. The ladies of the Jury declined to ask Thomas any questions. June Ann Morris, a cashier at Banks DIH who resides at 263 East La Penitence, told the court that her son who was born on December 6, 1978, last spoke to her son on June 22, 2012. The woman recalled having told her son to “Make haste and come home cause you know the police them always after you.” She told the court that that was the last time she heard or spoke to her son. The woman stated that on June 23, 2012 she received a call stating that her son was dead which prompted her to go to GPHC. The mother explained that the doctors then asked her to identify her son and she saw him lying in a pool of blood. She recalled that her son’s body had many gunshot wounds and highlighted that his body bore one hole in the back of his head.
Cabinet interfering with Audit Office conflict of interest investigation
- Chris Ram
- mother states that the police were always after her son An inquest into the killing of the infamous criminal suspect Randy Morris commenced on Friday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Fabayo Azore. The death of Randy Morris, who was shot dead by police officers on June 23, 2013 following an alleged armed robbery, prompted scores of questions with regards to the circumstances. His alleged accomplice Trevaun Moore was captured by the lawmen near the scene of the shooting. Friday’s hearing before a five member all female jury, saw testimonies from police Constable 20411 Trimaine Thomas and the victim’s mother Julian Morris. Thomas, who is stationed at the Kitty Police Station and attached to the Criminal Investigation Division, had conducted investigations relative to the alleged attempt robbery committed by Morris shortly before he was killed. He stated that at about 20:30hrs on June 23, he went to the Alberttown Police Station where he made contact with Trevaun Moore, male Negro, 33 years of 111 Durban Street Lodge who at that time had injuries about his body. Thomas stated that he then escorted Moore to complete a Police Medical Certificate at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was seen
Monday October 28, 2013
Randy Morris Morris stated that one of her son’s eyes and his mouth, were open. The woman further added that his face was bashed in. The woman told the court that on the June 27, 2012 she went to the police station to give a statement. Her son’s body was thereafter handed over for burial which took place at Le Repentir Cemetery three days later. Magistrate Fabayo drew focus to the fact that the woman mentioned that she had cautioned her son to be home and asked whether her son had problems with the law before. The mother then explained that the police were looking for him because he had many charges. The Magistrate probed the subject of possession of weapons to which the woman firmly responded by saying that her son was never a firearm holder. The ladies of the Jury declined their opportunity to ask Morris any questions. Magistrate Fabayo Azore then adjourned the inquest to November 1, since two officers who were required to give evidence, could not have been present due to their attendance at a funeral.
Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram has described Cabinet Secretary, Roger Luncheon, as a moniker “politician” who can hardly exempt or justify careless and untruthful speech, particularly when making serious allegations about others. At a recent press conference, Dr. Luncheon had accused Ram along with Ronald Ali and Anand Goolsarran of being engaged in a ploy that is orchestrated against Geetanjali Singh, the wife of Finance Minister Ashni Singh. Singh is the Audit Director of the Audit Office of Guyana. According to Ram, Dr. Luncheon should be aware that a formal complaint was lodged with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana (ICAG) by Robert McRae, a partner of Ram & McRae, alleging a “conflict of interest between the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Auditor General, involving Dr. Ashni Singh and his wife Gitanjali Singh.” Ram said that the complaint, which was lodged since July 9, 2012, had to name the two persons since investigations are held into the conduct of members of the Institute, not offices. Ram explained that on the same date, McRae lodged not one but two complaints with the ICAG, only one in which Mrs. Singh is named along with Dr. Singh. As it relates to Mr. Ali, Ram said that he was not aware of any statement being made by him at any time on the matter. He said that if any criticism can be directed at Mr. Ali, it is that the ICAG of which he is the President, has
Dr. Roger Luncheon been unforgivably slow in pronouncing in a matter of national and professional importance falling within its functions. According to Ram the ICAG, has a duty not only to the public but also to the Singhs to rule on the complaints, since it is totally unfair to its two highly ranked members to have professional complaints hanging over their heads. He said that as for the prejudice to the investigation, it can hardly have escaped Dr. Luncheon that he and other members of the Cabinet are interfering with the investigations and in the process compromising the Audit Office. “He must realize that Cabinet is not a disinterested party and for it to attempt to pronounce on a matter involving one of its own members, is committing several improper acts – undue influence on the ICAG and on the Audit Office, as well as conflict of interest,” Ram posited. Ram asserted that it is probably Dr Luncheon’s ploy to win further loyalty from an Auditor General who owes his appointment more to the political machinations in the
Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram Public Accounts Committee than to any professional qualification or competence. “My advice to Dr. Luncheon is that rather than speak on a matter on which he is so poorly informed, he should devote his attention to fixing the billion dollar mess in which the National Insurance Scheme has found itself during his 21-year tenure as Chairman,” Ram noted. Luncheon at one of his recent press briefings had emphasized that the premature pronouncements by the trio is essentially prejudicing the outcome of ongoing investigations by professional bodies into this presumed conflict of interest situation occasioned by Geetanjali Singh’s husband being the Minister of Finance. In 2012, following Mrs. Singh’s appointment, Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) called on the Head of State to remedy this situation in order to ensure good governance, greater transparency and enhanced accountability. According to Transparency Institute, the Audit Office is a public office created by the constitution and is mandated to uphold and preserve the highest standards of independence and integrity in the discharge of its constitutional functions.
Monday October 28, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 7
Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news
CCTV cameras being sold at four times the original cost DEAR EDITOR, I met with a businessman whose store was recently burglarized in Robb Street and he asked me to enlarge a photo that someone with a cell phone had taken of a person that might have been a ‘look-out’ while the burglary was taking place. Because the person was standing over one street away and the photo taken with the automatic settings that the phone came with, when the image was enlarged, the subject was blurred. The store owner said that this is not the first time his store was burglarized and this time the thieves entered from the roof and the previous time they made a hole in a concrete wall to gain access. He is not the only person experiencing these type of burglaries because most people know that the people making the cement blocks
make more than the normal amount of blocks from a sack of cement and that makes the blocks very weak. Editor, I pointed out to the man that if he had security cameras on his premises, he could have gotten better images/videos of the perpetrators and possibly be notified immediately while the burglary was happening. I would like to advise people that instead of depending on law enforcement alone to solve crimes, they could also assist tremendously in protecting their building. There a lot of stores selling security system, but at four times the original cost. I believe that this deters lots of people from buying security systems. There is security system that includes four cameras and one recorder that records over five hundred hours of video. Along with that, it has
a feature that allows you to be anywhere and you could view your building via the security cameras once the system is hooked up to the internet and you have internet access. The cost for that is approximately US$200 in America but here the price is way above that. Some systems also take picture of any movement and email it to you immediately. As I pointed out, most of the CCTV (Close Circuit Television) cameras are auto
focus but some of them are manual focus with a screw at the side of the camera that could be adjusted to capture images at a particular point. Those with auto focus take a some time to focus and by the time it focuses, the image/subject is out of the camera view so it is far better to purchase a camera with manual focus. Finally, Editor, many people with mobile phone have cameras and they use it for their personal use. I would advise them that
they should start taking picture of those who they know and find some means of storing them. One of the best methods is to email it to someone or even to yourself. That way the image could be retrieved years after. The reason I am saying this is because over the years, lots of domestic murders have taken place and lots of time a proper photo of the person cannot be located for the
police and media and with all the technology available, more could be done. Even if someone is between a group of people, the picture could be enlarged with hardly any loss of quality of the picture. In another letter I will get into details about enhancing videos and photographs that almost anyone could do on their own and installing of CCTV cameras. Sahadeo Bates
Monday October 28, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 17
Hello…….Plantain chips on Fly Jamaica?…WOW!!! By Lin-Jay HarryVoglezon Outstanding Caribbean thinkers and writers like the late CLR James and Walter Rodney argued that a critical element of Caribbean underdevelopment and dependency is that it produces what it does not consume, and consumes what it does not produce. The effect is that the Anglophone Caribbean has an annual import food bill approximating US$2 billion, partly in support of its tourist industry and partly a consequence of historical conditioning to believe that “foreign is better.” In Guyana during the 1970s and early 1980s, the Burnham administrations were leading proponents of
buy and grow local policies in the Caribbean, partly as a necessity to reduce balance of trade deficits, and partly as a measure to utilize indigenous resources to create employment. As the economy regressed and became unable to discharge its balance of payments and trade deficits, the policies became increasingly draconian. Not only were apples, grapes, raisins, sardine, corn beef, imported salt beef, salt fish, split peas, onions, evaporated milk, etc. banned, but people were persecuted and prosecuted for possessing wheaten flour and bread. Bread snatching took place. The security forces confiscated such goods and or prosecuted the custodians. These import substitution
policies were not only resented and resisted in some quarters, but became the foundation of endemic corruption in the country. At the same time however, the domestic salt fish industry took off, as would experiments with local fruits and vegetables, vegetable oils, rice, cassava, yam, plantain and eddo flour etc. A range of agricultural diversification was also pursued. Then came the IMF in the second half of the 1980s and the implementation of liberal economic policies and free trade. The emerging cottage industries became displaced as would restoration of historical consumption tastes, habits and preferences. But now on the GuyanaJamaica leg of my return trip
Monday October 28, 2013 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): All of your hard work and planning is finally starting to pay off for you in some major ways! But you need to keep going. Go the distance, and don't take your eye of the ball or slow your roll. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Your flexibility should take a backseat today -- you need to make up a plan and stick to it, no matter what anyone else says or promises you. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Today, you will become involved in an intellectual argument, but it might not be one worth having. Make sure you aren't just being contrary because you want to stir up some excitement or because you just don't like the other person very much. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): When you encounter a self-centered person who just loves showing off today, keep in mind that they are probably acting that way in order to hide some serious insecurities -- so try to have some compassion for them. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): All of the different emotions that are swimming around in your heart right now are combining to create a cocktail that's leaving you feeling mixed up and a little bit blue. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22): Winning gives you a great high in life, but it is a temporary one -- remember that! If you are in a competition right now, take a moment today to step out of the race and examine your gamesmanship.
********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): Your intelligence is obvious to everyone around you right now, so don't be too surprised if other people start looking to you for all the answers to their problems. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 Nov. 21): Clear your mind early this morning and get ready for your focus to shift to a brand new challenge. But don't worry -- this is a fun challenge that you have been waiting for! ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): No one likes risk, but today you won't be able to avoid it no matter how hard you try. So take a new attitude -- embrace the danger and try to see any gamble you're forced to take as an opportunity to mix things up in your routine and add some excitement to your life. .********************* CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): You're about to get a lot of attention -- but this popularity could end up being a burden. People may become too demanding of your time. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 Feb. 18): It's your favorite time -- that's right, party time! It's all about recreation, and it's all just waiting to happen. You have even more good reasons to be happy, too. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20):Just because a recent health concern turned out to be a false alarm doesn't mean that you should go right back to eating and (not) exercising the way you were before.
to New York on Monday, October 14 via Fly Jamaica, I was most surprised at being served an impressively designed green, white and yellow packet of green plantain chips, packaged in Columbia for the Jamaican based Grace Kennedy Limited. This is plantain chips having a refined presence. One may know of the days in Guyana when the late Edward Rabbi Washington and his House of Israel started plantain chips as a business with basic manual technology. But it never evolved beyond the members walking around with baskets of chips seeking
customers. The plastic bags were either tied or sealed with the heat of matches or candles. While good sales were apparently made, the business never attracted prestige and was despised in many quarters. To date, except for a few individual vendors in the Berbice area, the plantain chip cottage industry is virtually over and plantain may now be called ‘Dr. / Professor Plantain’. Unlike the ‘70s in Guyana when plantain was obtained at around 7cents per lb. and trucks of it, like other fruits and vegetables, were dumped or left on wharves to rot,
owing to inadequate demand and or transportation, the price to date is over G$200 or US$1 per lb. Equally significant, is that on the Jamaica-New York leg of the trip, the Jamaican national dish of ackee and salt fish was served. That, in addition to the plantain chips, suggests that Fly Jamaica is branding itself with a Caribbean identity, helping to dismantle the Caribbean perspectives of inferiority and advancing the process of forward, backward and horizontal linkages of Caribbean industries. In promoting Caribbean foods, Fly Jamaica is expanding space for increased indigenous productions, profits and employment. Maybe one day there will be miniature flavoured cassava bread. Perhaps bake and salt fish too.
Concerns will have... (From page 11) day we had the Shadow Cabinet meeting. The Executive branch has their meeting on Tuesday morning and we have our meeting on Tuesday evening, this has been known for over a year. We were very surprised an attempt was made to have the meeting then and we were very disappointed that the Chairperson of the (Select) Committee proceeded because we needed consensus and when the matter comes before the court, we will do what we would’ve wanted to do in the Committee.” The APNU and AFC have both expressed unease with the Anti Money Laundering Legislation. The AFC has made its position clear that for them to give their support to the Bill, a Public Procurement Commission must be firstly implemented, while APNU has called for a more comprehensive legislation that would be functional. “We are not going to give the Guyanese people something that can’t work,” Granger declared.
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Kaieteur News
Monday October 28, 2013
Hydropower development at Upper and Lower Mazaruni being studied (From page 19)
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds on Thursday spoke of the plans that are being explored for the harnessing of hydropower in the Upper and Lower Mazaruni. Addressing Amerindian leaders at the Guyana International Conference Center (GICC), Liliendaal, he TO LET said that there have been One 3 bedroom upper flat at several studies in the 1970s; Zeeburg – W.C.D - Contact noting that the problems that No: 613-8928 were highlighted at that time One- 3 bedroom upper flat have been taken into account apartment @ Industry, E.C.D and there are new proposals that have to be studied. - Call:613-4057 The Prime Minister said 1 Room apartment at ‘B’ field that the Mazaruni and Potaro Sophia- Call:661-3801 rivers are the two largest with Furnished executive one or the greatest potential for two bedroom suite in hydropower development. Diamond. Ideal for foreigners. The Government has also been looking at the Amaila Call: 609-2466. Falls for similar development, One semi furnished which has the capacity of apartment to rent; preferably about 1000 megawatts couple or single person – instead of the 165 megawatts Tel:223-2742;225-7454;6128305 Bottom flat in Nandy Park E.B.D – Call:661-6771 Harmony Inn: Apartments fully furnished, airconditioned apartments: As low as $5000 per nightCall: 668-0306/ 602-8769/ 694-7817 Fully furnished short term apartments, Eccles call: 679-7139 East Coast - $40,000, Kitty $120,000, Atlantic Gardens – US900, Providence –US1300 – Call Diana – 227-2256; 6269382 Fully furnished Vacation home with all amenities- Call during working hours- 2271218
EDUCATIONAL Private tutor – teaching, reading, writing, grammar at home – Tel:696-7467 Institute Academic Supremacy; East Street, 4 building before Balwant Singh Hospital – Forms 1-5, CXC, adults/classes – Call:226-8468, 690-5008 FOR HIRE One truck to transport goods into the interior for more info – contact:602-5755
MASSAGE American Style massage services- Call:678-7499
that currently exist. He explained that these types of projects take quite a few years to come into existence. In the case of the Upper and Lower Mazaruni projects, studies will be conducted over the course of the next three years. There has to be very c o m p r e h e n s i v e environmental impact analyses and the arrangements for financing and payments have to be worked out. Construction of the actual plants and operationalising will take another few years. The Prime Minister also spoke about the building closer relations with neighbouring states and even further afield with a view to foster trade and develop the economy. “Materially, we are three times more well off than we
- PM tells Amerindian leaders at NTC meeting were in 1992, however we cannot stop there, there is need for us to ensure that we grow even more. We have to continue looking for opportunities and find ways of utilising those opportunities to bring better paying jobs and greater
income, he said. Despite the tragedy that befell the Amaila project, the Government of Guyana remains committed to the development of hydropower. There have been new expressions of interest by multilateral and bilateral
sources in re-designing a project that would utilise the country’s hydropower potential in keeping with the thrust of renewable energy playing a transformative role in the country, the economy and the lives of Guyanese citizens. (GINA)
A 37-year-old cigarette vendor survived an apparent execution attempt at around 20:00 hrs last night at the hands of a lone gunmen outside his stand in Orange Walk, Bourda. Troy Bacchus, of West Ruimveldt, Housing Scheme, was shot in the thighs, allegedly by a man who was clad in black, while he and his wife, Natasha Bacchus, were selling at their Bourda Market stand. He was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in a stable condition. Natasha Bacchus told Kaieteur News that her
spouse was facing the door to his stand when she heard gunshots. Ms. Bacchus said that she then saw a man, who was wearing a black toque, black gloves and black clothing, shooting at her husband. She said that after firing three shots, the gunman calmly walked away. Kaieteur News understands that the wounded vendor managed to flee the scene and catch a taxi, which took him to the GPHC. The gunman made no attempt to rob the couple and Mrs. Bacchus believes that the individual intended to kill
her husband. She said that while her spouse has no grievance with anyone, the man’s brother, 24-year-old Kenrick Duncan, was remanded a few months ago for allegedly robbing a Charlotte Street Chinese store. It is alleged that on September 10, 2013, Duncan, of Stevedore Housing Scheme, together with person or persons unknown, whilst being armed with a gun, robbed Hu Yu Nan, the owner of Lisa’s General Store, of a quantity of foreign currency, electronics and jewellery that amounted to over $41M.
Bourda vendor shot in execution attempt
Shot Berbice man remains... From page 16 from which he discharged some rounds which hit Simpson. The suspect and his accomplice then fled in their car and subsequently reported to the station and told investigators that he was robbed by the man whom was shot. However he was arrested and placed in custody as there were many discrepancies in his story. During the course of Wednesday evening efforts were made by associates of the shooter to remove the injured man from the hospital with the promise to take him to the private Balwant Singh
Hospital in Georgetown. However, the quick intervention of nurses at the institution thwarted the attempt. The men had visited the hospital and had promised relatives that they want to make sure that the injured Simpson is well taken care of. Simpson had told relatives that the men had inquired about his condition and told him that they were taking him to the Balwant Singh Hospital for better treatment and to have the bullet removed immediately. Simpson and the men were already on their way out of the medical institution
when the nurses realized what was happening and decided to go after them and collected Simpson. In the meanwhile the shooter has been released on station bail pending further investigation. But Simpson’s family is not too pleased with the pace of investigations into the matter. However investigators have stated that the stipulated 72hrs have elapsed and police are still to get a statement from the injured man, who is unable to write and sign his name due to his injuries, before forwarding the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
Monday October 28, 2013
WANTED Female worker needed, 3 CXC subject or sound secondary education- Call:612-1595 Experienced wood worker power tools, laminated work – Tel:614-9277 2- Waitresses & 2 – Bartenders – call:698-0977/ 679-5112 Experienced dispatchers & drivers @ Princess HotelCall:265-7076/616-5419 Contract cars- Contact City Taxi Service- 660-1100/2267150 Attractive live in waitress Call:228-5129 1 – Domestic to work 3 days per week, preferably from East Bank; Age: 45-50 – Tel: 689-6965 Live-in domestic & attractive waitress, must know to cook – 18-30yrs; boarding & lodging free, salary $50,000 monthly – Tel:610-5043 GREENHEART AND PURPLE HEART LUMBER – TEL: 653-9752 One female general worker for shift system (8hrs)- Call:2256337 East Bank Sawmill needs Labourers immediately; good salary – Accommodation provided – call:683-5759, 6098727 1 Handy Man, 1 Small Engine Mechanic 3yrs experiencecall: 233-2408. Two guards for a marine company; one manager for a mining company. Attractive salaries. Call 223-7165; 2268645; 223-5180
Kaieteur News
VACANCY 24 Hour East Coast Guyoil needs night pump attendants, salesgirl & office assistantCall: 663-1751/684-2838 Vacancy exist for one experienced cosmetologist on the EBD ( Grove) Contact: Ms Rashrie call:652-5800 One internal auditor 30-40 years – CAT Level “11” – Apply to: 147 Durbana Square Lamaha Gardens. Trainee refrigeration/Ac technician – Tel:231-0655/6838734 Receptionist – must be computer literate and have one year experience in similar capacity – Contact: 231-0320 for information. Wanted security guards & drivers to work nights – Please contact: 223-3534 or send CV to Lot 1 Chapes Street. Devine Beauty Salon: 1 nail station for rental, 1 hairdresser fully certified. Also Bleaching products for sale- Conact:6892693 Porters, woodmizer mill and moulder operator & tractor driver (Timber Grant)- Call Richard 609-7675/233-2614 Gardener/handyman $3,000 p e r day to work in New Providence. Previous experience is necessary Call:265-7550 Courtney’s Boutique: Stall B Bourda Market Behind Wireless Connections) – need experienced sales person – Tel:227-3407
One gardener; contact M. Vieira Houston Estate or call: 623-1202 One bartender to work in Kitty area- Call:675-3061/610-8269 One cook to work in Interior. Salary $100,000- Call between 8am-6pm 664-5199 One handyboy to work in Interior. Salary $80,000- Call between 8am-6pm 664-5199 General LABOURER, C A R P E N T E R S , GARDENER, security guards to CARE FOR DOGS, Land of Canaan location, 266-4427
SERVICES Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Profressional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call:225-6496,6626045,223-8115 Professional and affordable landscaping and tree trimming services. Budram’s Landscaping ServicesCall:656-1326/678-0058 Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call:2259032,647-2943 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer call:2310655,683-8734 Omar
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We Refill HP cartridges for $1800 call: 650-7699 Need help making your business better – call:2643320
VEHICLE FOR SALE One Skid Steer Thomas with Japanese Kabota Engine – Call:259-1370, 650-3447 For sale, 212 PMM – Tel: 6442489 2- 2007 Toyota AvensisCall:698-0674 AT192, 212, Allion, Premio, Audi, BNN RZ mini buses, AT170, Marino. Cash or terms- Call:680-3154 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 TacomaCall:680-3154 One Madza Axela PPP series – Price negotiable – Contact:668-4135/771-5403 1 Toyota Hilux single cab. Excellent condition, first owner- Call:657-3707 One registered NZE Corolla – call:652-3820; 665-4529 1- Spacio PPP series; reasonable price, excellent condition – Call:652-0709, 268-3572 1 Suzuki Vitara Jeep; immaculate condition; fully Powered- Tel:694-6027 ( Price negotiable) 2002 Honda fit, 1 owner, pearl white, Areo, fogs, AC, CD, Remote Start - $1,950,000 – (negotiable) – Tel:613-4617
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VEHICLE FOR SALE 2007 Toyota BB, fully loaded, unregistered special price $2.350M – 617-2891 MRR Autos: Unregistered fully loaded; 2004 Toyota Raum - $2.250M – Tel: 6571796; 626-9590 White 2008 Tacoma 4x4 lift kit, off road tyres. Excellent condition- Call:610-5370
LAND FOR SALE Prime business land for sale by owner – 120x40 – Contact:225-1831 10 Acres land at Long Creek – Contact:699-3723 Business land for sale Soesdyke Linden HighwayPlease Call:678-7355 Land for sale @ Lot 144 Stewart Ville West Coast Demerara – – Street Contact:610-8674, 621-8005 or 862-218-5078 At Blankenburg Public Road, W.C.D. 38x150 & 39x150 $16M each- Call:666-3619
Smart Choice Auto: Premio, Allion, IST, Runx, FielderCall:652-3820/665-4529 Axio -$2.9M, Premio - $2.6M, Spacio registered PRR $2.2M; Trade- in available for Axio – Tel:697-0294 One Toyota RZ minibus, BHH series. Price negotiableCall:668-5180 1 Honda Fitt PMM 4223; with rims and CD player; Immaculate Condition - $1.3M Negotiable – Tel:610-1818, 618-5140 First Class Auto: Premio, Axio, Passo, Runx, Allex, IST, Fielder, Raum – Call:609-8188; 602-6307
FOR RENT PRIME BUSINESS SPOT LOCATED AT 251 THOMAS STREET LOTS OF LAND SPACE PLUS BUILDINGTHEREON.TEL: 683-4803. Fully furnished apartment in Nandy Park, suitable for a single person or couple- Call: 619-4824 for further information.
1 Super costom mini bus GPP 4462; with rims & CD player; Immaculate Condition - $2.3M Negotiable Tel:610-1818, 6185140 Two Toyota Tacoma 2006 unregistered: 4wd $3.9M & 2wd $3.1M- Call:662-1396/ 678-0573 1 – Toyota – Caldina Wagon, AT170 Corona, 1 Nissan E24 Caravan – Tel:644-5096; 6971453 One Toyota G-Touring wagon, rims – excellent condition – contact: 622-7831 New RX8 (Red) rotary 7 speed engine, new rims, tires, music kickers, lambo doors – Tel:680-2095
CAR RENTAL Premio, vitz call: 679-7139 Dolly’s Car Rental- Call: 2257126/ 226-3693dollysautorental@yahoo.com/ www.dollysautorental.com Aidan’s Car Rental & PickupCall: 645-7981/ 698-7807 First Choice Car Rental: Cars as low as $5,000 per day- Call:668-0306/6947817/225-6337 Wings Car Rental- Call: 6874116
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY $19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. Spare for washing machine, microwaves,fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call:225-9032,647-2943 Potting Soil and quality cow mould- Call: 656-1326/678-0058 Tundra ‘Woman Driven’ Tel:627-1983
Pitbull pups fully vaccinated - Call Johnny: 628-9884 Honda welders; 270 amps – 15,000 watts generator – Tel:611-5114/220-4495
Playstation 2, & playstation 3 and X-box 360 console for sale – Tel:644-6012 One Ford 8210, Tractor $4M – Contact: 648-9940 1- 5705 John Deere tractor, 1Rome plough 20 dish, 1- 1630 Bedford truck articulated with 2 trailer- Call:693-4596 Games PS2 $900, PSP $900, X-Box 360 $2600 & PS3 $2600- Call:672-2566
Pitbull puppies 8 weeks old; de-wormed and fully vaccinated – Tel:624-7991 Playstation 2 and 3 games for sale – Tel:644-6012
PROPERTY FOR SALE Property for sale- Call:6275416
One –Two storey business property (transported) @ Brickery public road, E.B.DCall: 660-8128 VERSAILLES: Furnished 5 bedrooms, self-contained Original Games- Call:672- rooms, modern facilities, generator, beautiful 2566 landscape, gated 1 going sawmill with new community- Call:592-624equipment, customers, land 8704/592-684-9203 space, ideal for exporting containers; side to Public Rd Prime 2-storey concrete building 80x23, 6 bedrooms, 2 – Tel:624-8683 master bedrooms @ Leonora 10 weeks white/blue gray next to Primary School – call: pitbull pups fully vaccinated 652-0709, 268-3572 – call:616-8131 2 Ice machine, 1 smoothe Two storey building 172 machine, small fridges – Parafield Leonara WCD – Call:227-7675, 619-3503 Tel:231-0655, 683-8734. Pre-painted and unpainted One (1) 2- storey 5 bedrooms corrugated zinc sheets at recently built house, $25M; Repos E.C.D affordable prices- Call Tel:226- Mon (Transported) – Tel:6177054 9316,220-0818, 651-0744 Short fluffy pups, de-wormed Kitty - $30M, Section K & vaccinated - $10,000 – $39M, Queenstown -$23M, Call:220-4247 Duncan Street -$38M – Call 2- M132 Lavarda Combine, 122RB Dragline, 3- Pressure Diana: 227-2256; 626-9382 pump 4x3 for gold field, 12640MF tractor 4WD, 1385MF tractor- Call:627-0447
111 Collinswood Avenue, Nandy Park, EBD – Contact:616-9775;687-0835
1 CAT standby 3306, 194 KVA 3 phase 60 cycle- Call:641-8472
Section K C/Ville – 2 flat 3 bedroom solid Building. $22M negotiable – B&G’s Realty- 227-4125; 617-9717 Prime Property for sale – Light Street, Alberttown – Contact:639-3619, 619-7299 Agriculture Road: 2 Storey 3 bedrooms house; land 600x36Ft - $17.5M – Tel:6122522
1-20 Cu.Ft Frigidaire freezer – Contact: 602-5755 Hifi Sound Connection: Car Audio, Pro Audio, complete sound system generator.Call:610-1230/673-5828 Generator; diesel engine 400 Volts/50HZ 3 phase; Texila American University; Goedverwagting Campus – Tel:222-5224,222-5225 1 Pool table cloth, ball , cue stick, pokets, rubber , coins, shoot, chalk, springs, rocks call: 669-9927
Diamond: 2nd Avenue - $7M, Main Road - US$1M, North Ruimveldt $7.7M, Mon Repos Ring:231-2199, 6187483 (Continued on page 18)
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German paper says Obama aware of spying on Merkel since 2010 BERLIN (Reuters) - A German newspaper said yesterday that U.S. President Barack Obama knew his intelligence service was eavesdropping on Angela Merkel as long ago as 2010, contradicting reports that he had told the German leader he did not know. Germany received information this week that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had bugged Merkel’s mobile phone, prompting Berlin to summon the U.S. ambassador, a move unprecedented in post-war relations between the close allies. Reuters was unable to confirm yesterday’s news report. The NSA denied that Obama had been informed about the operation by the NSA chief in 2010, as reported by the German newspaper. But the agency did not comment directly on whether Obama knew about the bugging of Merkel’s phone.
Both the White House and the German government declined comment. Citing a source in Merkel’s office, other German media have reported that Obama apologized to Merkel when she called him on Wednesday, and told her that he would have stopped the bugging happening had he known about it. But Bild am Sonntag, citing a “U.S. intelligence worker involved in the NSA operation against Merkel”, said NSA chief General Keith Alexander informed Obama in person about it in 2010. “Obama didn’t stop the operation back then but let it continue,” the mass-market paper quoted the source as saying. The NSA said, however, that Alexander had never discussed any intelligence operations involving Merkel with Obama. “(General) Alexander did not discuss with President
President Barack Obama Obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving German Chancellor Merkel, nor has he ever discussed alleged operations involving Chancellor Merkel,” NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said in an emailed statement. “News reports claiming otherwise are not true.”
Angela Merkel Bild am Sonntag said Obama in fact wanted more material on Merkel, and ordered the NSA to compile a “comprehensive dossier” on her. “Obama, according to the NSA man, did not trust Merkel and wanted to know everything about the German,” the paper said. White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden declined to comment and reiterated the standard policy line that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations. Bild said the NSA had increased its surveillance, including the contents of Merkel’s text messages and phone calls, on Obama’s initiative and had started
tapping a new, supposedly bug-proof mobile she acquired this summer, a sign the spying continued into the “recent past”. The NSA first eavesdropped on Merkel’s predecessor Gerhard Schroeder after he refused to support President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq and was extended when Merkel took over in 2005, the paper said. Eighteen NSA staff working in the U.S. embassy, some 800 meters (yards) from Merkel’s office, sent their findings straight to the White House, rather than to NSA headquarters, the paper said. Only Merkel’s encrypted landline in her office in the Chancellery had not been tapped, it added. Bild said some NSA officials were becoming annoyed with the White House for creating the impression that U.S. spies had gone beyond what they had been ordered to do. Merkel has said she uses one mobile phone and that all state-related calls are made from encrypted lines. The rift over U.S. surveillance activities first emerged this year with reports that Washington had bugged European Union offices and tapped half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month.
Merkel’s government said in August - just weeks before a German election - that the United States had given sufficient assurances it was complying with German law. This week’s news has reignited criticism of the U.S. surveillance. Volker Kauder, head of Merkel’s party in parliament, called it a “grave breach of trust” and said the United States should drop its “global power demeanor”. Kauder said, however, that he was against halting negotiations on a European free trade agreement with the United States, a call made by Social Democrats and some of Merkel’s Bavarian allies. Interior Minister HansPeter Friedrich told Bild am Sonntag: “Bugging is a crime and those responsible for it must be held to account.” The Social Democrats, with whom Merkel is holding talks to form a new government, have joined calls from two smaller opposition parties for a parliamentary investigation into the U.S. surveillance, but Kauder has rejected the idea. SPD parliamentary whip Thomas Oppermann said former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked many of the sensitive documents, could be called as a witness. Snowden is living in Russia, out of reach of U.S. attempts to arrest him.
Iran’s Rouhani says ‘terrorists’ must be expelled from Syria Tehran (AFP) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told visiting UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi yesterday that part of a solution to the Syria crisis is to expel “terrorist groups” from that country, a report said. “Iran believes that by continuing humanitarian aid, preventing the entry (and) expelling terrorist groups from Syria and the complete destruction of chemical weapons will be first important steps for achieving stable peace in Syria,” Rouhani said in comments reported by the official IRNA news agency. Syria’s regime refers to rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s regime as “terrorist groups” taking orders from foreign states. Brahimi is on a Middle East tour to garner support for a planned peace conference next month in Geneva between regime and rebel representatives. Rouhani said a major obstacle to resolving the Syria crisis was lack of
Hassan Rouhani consensus among regional and international players. “The first problem is division among the Syrian opposition, the presence of terrorist groups between them... and the lack of consensus among Syria’s neighbouring countries and world’s major powers,” he was quoted as saying. He added: “Iran is ready to play a positive role in any movement that would contribute to stability in Syria, and it makes no
difference whether this effort is called Geneva II conference or anything else.” The so-called Geneva II conference has been repeatedly postponed amid wrangling among the Syrian opposition, and a dispute over which countries, including Iran, should participate. Brahimi said in Tehran on Saturday that Iran’s participation is “natural and necessary”. But he stressed that no invitations had yet been sent out for the proposed international peace conference which the United Nations hopes to organise for late November. Prospects for the initiative appear dim as the fractured Syrian opposition has yet to decide whether to attend and as Assad has said the “factors are not yet in place” for a conference. The conflict has killed more than 115,000 people since it erupted in March 2011, when a government crackdown on peaceful protests escalated into civil war.
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IRAN PULLS DOWN ANTI- As Iraq seeks U.S. arms, US POSTERS IN CAPITAL bombs kill another 55
Tehran (AFP) - The Tehran municipality has removed anti-American posters from the streets of the capital which questioned US honesty in nuclear talks with Iran, media reported yesterday. The move comes as President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, has made fresh overtures to the West, including direct talks between US and Iranian officials, and ahead of the 34th anniversary of the US embassy seizure in Tehran. A municipal spokesman said the posters were put up across Tehran without any official authorisation. “In an arbitrary act and without the knowledge and confirmation of the municipality, one of the advertising agencies had put up these posters,” spokesman Hadi Ayyazi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. AFP photographers said that some posters could still be seen across Tehran. One of them, bearing the words “American honesty,” shows US and Iranian negotiators sitting at a table and facing each other, the American wearing a jacket and tie but with army pants and boots underneath. Ehsan Mohammad-Hassani, head of the Oj adverting agency, which produced the posters, told the Fars news agency they did not reflect hostility towards US-Iranian nuclear talks. “The American Honesty posters do not have any objection against Iran-America negotiations,” he was quoted as saying. Rouhani, a moderate cleric who has
pledged to improve ties with the West, held a historic 15-minute telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama last month, the first direct contact between leaders of the two countries in more than three decades.The call came as Rouhani was winding up a visit to New York where he attended the UN General Assembly. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has backed Rouhani’s overtures but criticised some aspects of the UN visit as “inappropriate.” Iranians are also split over whether it is still appropriate to chant “Death to America” — one of the main slogans of the 1979 revolution — at official ceremonies. November 4 is the anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, during which Islamist students captured and held 52 US diplomats hostage for 444 days. The crisis triggered the severance of all diplomatic relations between the two countries and contributed to decades of mutual hostility. Iran and so-called P5+1 — the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany— resumed nuclear talks in midOctober and will meet again on November 7 and 8 in Geneva to try and resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme. Israel and the West have long accused Tehran of pursuing a nuclear weapon in the guise of a civilian programme, charges adamantly denied by Iran, which insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A dozen bombings in Iraq killed 55 people yesterday as the prime minister prepares to travel to Washington to seek President Barack Obama’s help in confronting a wave of sectarian violence fuelled by Syria’s civil war. Killings, mostly blamed by the Shi’ite-led government on Sunni Islamists from al Qaeda, are running at daily rates not seen in five years and Nuri al-Maliki will ask Obama on Friday to speed up promised deliveries of drones and F-16 jets that he believes can help staunch the long desert border with Syria. Iraq’s own security forces, trained and equipped by the U.S. troops who withdrew in late 2011 after a nine-year occupation, have been unable to prevent a surge in violence which has taken the civilian death toll so far this year to about 7,000. Sealing the Syrian border would only address part of the problem. Yesterday, police reported 11 vehicles blowing up in mainly Shi’ite Muslim areas in and around Baghdad, killing 41 people in an apparently coordinated series of explosions typical of al Qaeda. A further 14 people were killed when a suicide bomber drove up to a line of soldiers waiting to collect their pay from a bank in the northern city of Mosul and detonated his car. There were no immediate claims of responsibility. In the worst of the attacks in the Baghdad area, two car bombs exploded moments apart
near a busy market in the town of Nahrawan, south of the capital, killing seven. In Baladiyat, where another car bomb killed three people, a woman living nearby spoke of a terrifying start to the working week: “I was eating my breakfast when a powerful blast shook the building, shattering the window of my apartment and covering the dining table with glass,” said Suad Ahmed. “I was terrified. I heard women and children shouting next door. I started to cry. I was afraid of death.” Violence between the Sunni minority, long dominant in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and before, and majority Shi’ites empowered through elections promoted by Washington peaked four years after the U.S. invasion; the monitoring group Iraq Body Count recorded over 29,000 civilian deaths in 2006 and 25,000 in 2007. Having steadied to a monthly average of 300 to 400 deaths from 2009 to 2012, tolls have close to doubled since violence in April, when government forces stormed a camp where Sunnis were protesting at what they see as their political marginalization. “The deterioration of security in Iraq is one of the shockwaves of the Syrian crisis,” said Shakir Salman, a former general who advises Iraq’s defence ministry. “Al Qaeda is working now to undermine Maliki’s government because they think this is one way to accelerate the fall of the Syrian regime.”
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EU impressed with Jamaica’s recent environmental projects Jamaica Gleaner - The European Union (EU) Delegation to Jamaica has expressed delight with the progress of two environmental projects it is funding in different sections of the Portland Bight Protected Area in the parish of Clarendon. Last Thursday, members of the group, including head of delegation Paola Amadei, British High Commissioner David Fitton, German Ambassador Josef Beck, French Ambassador Jinette de Matha and Godelieve Van den Bergh, the Belgian Ambassador to Jamaica, visited Portland Cottage and Salt River where a mangrove restoration and a fisheries management project are being implemented. The projects are being imple-mented in conjunction with the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) and the Caribbean Coastal Area Management (C-CAM) Foundation. “I was very impressed on the mangrove part of the tour because I was there one year ago where the land was barren and there was no water, therefore all the mangroves which were damaged by the hurricane, they became rotten because they didn’t have any more access to the water,” Amadei said.
She added: “It made big impression to see it after one year which shows the importance of the intervention.” Eight persons, including three children, drowned in Portland Cottage when Hurricane Ivan devastated the community in 2004. A significant portion of the mangrove forest was also destroyed by the natural disaster, but the damage was further worsened by the dumping of debris to facilitate construction of a temporary roadway soon afterwards. This made it easier for goats to access and feed on the mangroves, eventually resulting in its devastation in some areas. The restoration efforts brought together local fishermen with members of CCAM and NEPA to also construct a servicing barge which has been pivotal in carrying out the cleaning and repairs to the buoys, as well as maintenance. Amadei said that although benefits of the project would not be easily discerned in the short term, its impact would still be farreaching. “It is not possible to yet evaluate the impact. However, I think it gives a sense of the importance of the Portland Bight Area for the ecosystem of Jamaica -
the fact that not less than three fish sanctuaries have been established here. Minister of Transport, Works and Housing Omar Davies recently received a report on the Portland Bight area, which includes the Goat Islands. The Government is considering a proposal from China Harbour Engineering Company for the establishment of a port and logistic facilities at Goat Islands. However, in the wake of opposition from the environmental lobby, the Port Authority of Jamaica commissioned an environmental management scoping project to identify precisely the levels of interest in Portland Bight and the principal biophysical and s o c i o c u l t u r a l characteristics. Davies said some of the objectives of this study include determining the geographic boundaries of the Portland Bight Protected Area, identifying the biologically sensitive features of the marine and terrestrial environment, determining the location of rare, threatened and endangered species and their spatial distribution in the Portland Bight and Ridge Area and the Goat Islands; and identifying the boundaries of fish sanctuaries.
Grenada govt. to announce lower taxes ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada - CMC - The lowering of the income tax threshold will be among the new tax measures to be announced by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell in a national broadcast scheduled for tomorrow night. According to a news release from the Government’s Information Service, Mitchell will report on the status of the home grown s t r u c t u r al adjustment programme and use the opportunity to announce some measures that will form part of the programme. “He will report new figures on lowering the income tax threshold and provide a commencement date,” said the release which confirmed that Dr. Mitchell will also share with the nation, figures on soft loans and grants the country is expected to receive from
Dr. Keith Mitchell international agencies, as well as technical and other financial support.” “He will tell the nation how Government is tackling the issue of tax delinquents and outline plans to collect outstanding revenue, he will update the country on Government’s waste
reduction, such as cutting back non personal expenditure, international travel, cell phones and consultations with the social partners such as the Trade Union Movement; the Business Community and Non Government Organizations,” the release added. Persons earning more than EC$60,000 (One EC dollar= US$0.37 cents)are required to pay income tax of 30% per annum but under the new measures, those earning between EC$30,000 to EC$36,000 per annum will be required to pay. The possibility of a change to the income tax threshold emerged when the World Bank and IMF indicated that Grenada should lower the tax threshold from EC$5,000 a month, as part of a package aimed at stabilizing the economy.
Project manager Pierre-Luc Vanhaeverbke (right) looks on as Josef Beck (left), German Ambassador to Jamaica; and David Fitton (second right) confer with boat captain Roy Lancaster ahead of the boat tour.
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IDB facilitates investments in Caribbean companies WASHINGTON - CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has allocated US $750,000 to support clients from its private-sector portfolio in implementing initiatives to create shared value in the Caribbean and Latin America. The Washington-based financial institution said it will select a group of 10 companies that it is already supporting, to identify investment opportunities aimed at “optimizing the allocation of their resources, increasing their competiveness and adding social value in communities.” Each selected project will receive an assessment designed to identify business opportunities and to draft investment plans during 2013-2014. It said companies will be
chosen based on their capacity for making substantial shared value investments. “Each will receive four months of specialized consulting services so as to be able to identify opportunities and assign priorities among alternative plans,” the IDB said. Work is already underway with Subsole in Chile, Caribe Hospitality in Jamaica and the Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola in Peru. With Subsole, an agricultural products firm, studies have aimed at enabling the company’s workforce to become more sustainable, through investments to improve working conditions of lowincome, rural families during the harvest season, the IDB said.
In the case of Caribe Hospitality – a tourism development company, the focus has been on identifying job opportunities for at-risk youth during the construction of hotels, and for including small and medium-sized companies in the supply chain. With the Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola, the IDB said alternatives are being offered to broaden the socioeconomic spectrum of matriculating students and to lower dropout rates. The IDB said the remaining seven beneficiaries are currently being evaluated, with plans for still others to receive blueprints for identifying social issues arising in connection with the products and services they offer, and expanding the reach of their value chains.
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands - CMC – The new Immigration Reform Bill for the Cayman Islands which was passed by Legislators last week, will become law today, extending the term limit for work permits from seven to nine years. As a result, the Immigration Department here is preparing for an influx of customers today when the Term Limit Exemption Permits
(TLEPs) expire. The law gives a 45-day reprieve to non-Caymanian workers, who otherwise would have had to leave the islands after today when their Term Limit Exemption Permits expired. Those exempted workers, about 1 500, can now stay in the British Dependent territory until December 9, as long as they get their passports regularized today or
tomorrow. Chief Immigration Officer Linda Evans says the Immigration Department is setting up temporary facilities to assist some of the Term Limit Exemption Permit holders who need to get their passports stamped. After the December 9 deadline issues are resolved, employers of the exempted workers will have to apply for a new work permit on behalf of those individuals.
New immigration law in Cayman Islands
Monday October 28, 2013
Opinion poll gives opposition lead in by-election PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – The main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) appears heading to inflict a third consecutive defeat on the ruling coalition People’s Partnership government in the November 4 by election, according to the latest opinion poll published here yesterday. In addition, a civil society group has launched a national petition calling for general election “now” more than a year before it is constitutional due claiming that the population has lost confidence in the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration. The opinion poll, published in the Sunday Express newspaper shows that the PNM candidate, Terrence Deyalsingh, enjoys a 39 per cent rating, as compared to 26 per cent for television talk show host, Ian Alleyne of the United National Congress (UNC), the biggest partner in the fourmember coalition, and 19 per cent for attorney OM Lalla, who is the candidate of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) headed by former national security minister Austin “Jack” Warner. The poll, commissioned by the Express newspapers, was conducted on October 25-26 by Solution by Simulation, the company that successfully named the PNM as winners in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections in January and Warner’s by-election victory in the Chaguanas West constituency in July. According to the pollsters, 280 eligible voters were interviewed and the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.98 per cent. The pollsters also found that 14 per cent of the voters were undecided and that independent candidate, Errol Fabien and Michael Lopez of the Democratic National
- Group calls for fresh general election
Keith Rowley
Kamla Persad Bissessar
Alliance (DNA) “received negligible support”. The by-election was occasion after Speaker Wade Mark on September 9 declared the St. Joseph seat vacant after former High Court judge, Herbert Volney, who was elected as parliamentary representative in the 2010 general elections on a UNC ticket, announced he had resigned from the party. This will be the fourth election that the coalition would be facing in 2013, having lost the THA, the Chaguanas west by-election and the October 21 Local Government elections. The next general election is constitutionally due here in 2015, but the group “FIXIN T&T” in a full page newspaper advertisement yesterday said that it wanted the voters to elect a new government. It listed a number of reasons for the poll including three major cabinet reshuffles since 2010, a “blatant disregard for our Constitution” as well as “the ill conceived and failed State of Emergency” and the arrest of “hundreds of citizens and charged without a shred of evidence”. The group has also made reference to the controversial
Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act that would have allowed persons with matters before the court for more than 10 years to walk free and a verdict of not guilty entered against their names. The section has since been repealed but critics say it was aimed at freeing two financiers of the ruling party who are facing criminal charges both here and in the United States. In addition, FIXIN T&T said that the Persad Bissesar administration has been engaged in “relentless attacks” on independent institutions and their officers as was as the country having to deal with a stagnant economy. It said since 2010, nine government ministers have been fired and one other resigned following the findings of an international commission and that the election would put a halt to “the unprecedented allegations of corruption, nepotism and willful misrepresentation of qualifications at every turn” as well as “the tarnishing of Trinidad and Tobago’s regional and international reputation.”
Monday October 28, 2013
Kaieteur News
Chile’s Bachelet pitches $15 billion plan, vows to back labor unions SANTIAGO (Reuters) Chile’s presidential frontrunner Michelle Bachelet said yesterday that if elected she will fortify labor unions and roll out an ambitious $15 billion spending program - more than half of which would fund education. The center-left candidate, poised to sail to victory in either November’s general election or a runoff in December, said she wants to stop companies from “slyly” limiting union power. “We must strengthen unions and carry out a package of modifications to collective bargaining to allow more workers to practice this right,” Bachelet said in a 200page report outlining her policy proposals, published yesterday. Bachelet said Chile, the world’s top copper producer, is burdened by inequalities, poor public services, and policies that put an elite few before the interests of the majority. Many Chileans feel the riches of the copper boom of recent years have not trickled down to them. Protests are on the rise, in particular from local communities opposed to mining and energy projects
Michelle Bachelet they see as polluting, and from students who want improved education. Tax reforms would allow Bachelet to shore up $8.2 billion to spend on education, the report said. Available government funds would allow her to spend $4.7 billion on other proposals, and $2.2 billion could be diverted from existing budgetary outflows. “The deep and lasting reforms included in this program ... will be carried out over a solid fiscal foundation,” Bachelet said. “Our proposal is ambitious, but we can do it.” Bachelet’s spending plan is nearly $2 billion less than one set forth by her chief rival
Evelyn Matthei, the representative for the incumbent right-wing coalition, trailing a distant second in polls. Matthei - one of eight other candidates vying for the presidency - wants to fund spending from economic growth rather than tax changes. Bachelet, who governed as Chile’s first female president from 2006 to 2010, appears to have turned to the left since leaving power, making education and tax reforms the central planks of her bid to return to La Moneda palace. She has said she wants to “work towards” free education, a chief demand of student leaders who have led massive protests in recent years. Last week the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development published a report urging Chile to tackle income inequality by boosting spending. However, Bachelet faces significant challenges to her planned reforms, including an electoral system that means she is unlikely to win a large Congress majority, a slowing economy and an unwieldy coalition.
Colombia ex-leader Uribe’s movement names candidate for president BOGOTA (Reuters) Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s political movement chose economist Oscar Ivan Zuluaga on Saturday as its candidate for presidential elections in May, a vote he looks set to contest echoing Uribe’s tough stance against leftist guerrillas. A businessman and former finance minister under Uribe, Zuluaga, 54, would be a key opponent of President Juan Manuel Santos if the incumbent runs for another term, a decision he must announce by late November. Zuluaga’s anointing as the ‘Uribista’ candidate gives him instant political weight through Uribe’s continued popularity resulting from success in beating back the FARC and ELN guerrillas with U.S. support during his 20022010 presidency. In the 2010 elections, Santos ran as an Uribe successor after serving as his defense minister. But as president, Santos changed course in the fight against the guerrillas by starting peace talks with the leftist FARC while keeping up military strikes against them.
The year-old talks have progressed slowly, with only a partial agreement on one of the five points on the agenda which include the rebels’ participation in politics, but neither side has walked away from the talks so far. “The country will recover what it should never have lost - its freedom,” Zuluaga said in a speech after he was announced as the movement’s candidate. “I invite (Santos) to run for reelection to beat him at the polls through the ideas of Uribism.” Uribe has kept a high profile since leaving office, commenting on TV news on current affairs and through constant, scathing criticism of Santos delivered on Twitter, accusing him of frittering away hard-won security gains. “This act is the beginning of the repeal of the voice they have given to terrorism in Colombia, contrary to what was promised when they came to the polls,” Uribe said, referring to the peace process Santos initiated. The FARC and their smaller counterpart, the ELN, which are estimated
Oscar Ivan Zuluaga to have 8,000 and 3,000 fighters respectively, have been fighting the government in a 50-year conflict that started as a peasant revolt and has killed more than 200,000. Santos, who is widely expected to run for a second term, has said he wants the basic policies of his government to continue after next year’s election, including negotiations with the FARC. Should he run, he will be able to point to a record of steadyhanded economic management with low inflation and buoyant growth.
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GCA\Carib Beer 1st division T\20 tourney
Monday October 28, 2013
2013 NBS Second Division 40-Over Cricket Competition in Berbice
Police arrest GDF, Balchand Baldeo slams competition high 180 not out for Albion GCC thump TSC
Police and Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) recorded victories when play in the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)\ Carib BeerfirstdivisionT\20 competition commenced yesterday at the Police Sports Club ground Eve Leary. Police defeated Guyana Defence Force (GDF) by 7 wickets in the first fixture which was reduced to 7 overs due to damp spots on the pitch. GDF batted first and scored 53-4 off their allotted overs with Dillon Heyliger top scoring with 35 (3x4,2x6). Trevor Benn captured 2-7. Police replied with 54-3 in 6.5 overs. Rawle Brown led with 19 and Sheldon Alexander made 17. Steven Harris, Dennis Legay and Heyliger had one each. GCC got the better of Transport Sports Club by 50 runs in the afternoon encounter. Skipper Leon Johnson 31 (3x4,1x6), Vishal Singh 25 (4x4), Jeetendra Sookdeo 22 (3x4) and Robin Bacchus 17 (3x4) were GCC leading batsmen as they rattled up 144-8 off 20 overs, batting first. Steven Alves
Leon Johnson claimed 3-20 whileAzeemAzeez snared 2-19 while Jonathan Alphonso picked up 1. Transport hardly threatened in response and were restricted to 94-7 in 20 overs. Charwayne Mc Pherson scored 22( 1x6) while Quincy Proctor made 18 (1x40 and Ryan Hemraj 13. Johnson grabbed 2-9 and Bacchus 220 while there was a wicket each for Raj Nanan and Chindanand Shivram.
Berbice under-17 batsman Balchand Baldeo registered the highest score in the ongoing 2013 New Building Society Second Division 40Over Cricket Competition in Berbice when he slammed 180 not out for Albion Community Centre against Kendall’s Union B. His knock, which included 19 fours and 2 sixes together with 66 from Guyana under-15 opening batsman, Adrian Sukhwa, steered Albion to a massive 335 for 3 in 40-overs. The pair had put on 260 for 3rd wicket. Albion then bowled out Kendall’s B for 56 to win by 279 runs. Off-spinner, Sheriff Rayman, took 7 for 22 from 4 overs for Rising Youth of Landsdale, East Bank Berbice but his effort ended up going in vain as Flying Star of Kortheberaadt nevertheless still made 199 in 23 overs thanks to 53 from Gershon Berran and then came back a n d b o w l e d o u t R i s ing Youth for 97 in their response with pacer Clifford Fraser
- Sheriff Rayman takes 7 for 22 for Rising Youth
Balchand Baldeo doing the damage with 5 for 24. Also scoring a century was Yogeshwar Bhagwandat whose 109 which included 11 fours and 4 sixes, led No.69 Vikings to a total of 267 in 35 overs and to an eventual 106run victory. Mortimer Fraser with 93 (6 fours and 6 sixes) and former Berbice under-19 allrounder, Sanjay Khan with 89 (6 fours and 6 sixes) steered Young Warriors to 300 for 6 in 30 overs against East Canje who in their response were then bowled out for 78 with leg-spinner Kristoff Bahadur picking up 5 for 13 from 5 overs and left arm spinner Jaleel Jafar 4 for 20 from 5.1 overs. Former Guyana under-17 cricketer Keno Gravesande scored 54 and then took 5 for 11 from 6 overs with his offspin to spearhead
Rainbow Generation of Seafield to victory over Bush Lot New Generation. Also scoring half centuries were Tameshwar Ramdeen and Joseph Giddings both for Edinburg in that team’s victory over East Bank and Shazad Gafoor of Cotton Tree Die Hard. In scores from the matches played: At Albion, Albion Community Centre beat Kendall’s Union B by 279 runs. Albion Community Centre 335 for 3 in 40 overs with Balchand Baldeo 180 not out; Adrian Sukhwa 66 and Satesh Totaram 3 for 64. Kendall’s Union B 56 in 19 overs with Kevendra Persaud 3 for 13, Joshua Harrichan 2 for 1, Veerapen Permaul 2 for 7 and Narendra Permaul 2 for 20. At Sisters, Flying Star beat Rising Youth by 102 runs. Flying Star 199 in 23 overs with Gershon Barron 53, Kevin O’Brien 33, Sheriff Rayman 7 for 22 and Calvis Adams 2 for 27. Rising Youth 97 in 22.1 overs with Clifford Fraser 5 for 24, Ravi Bridgelall 2 for 8 and Marvin Durant 2 for 23. At No.69, No.69 Vikings beat No. 69 Red Rose by 106 runs. No.69 Vikings 267 in 35 overs with Yogeshwar Bhagwandat 109, Steve Embrack 28, Azad Mohamed 4 for 45 and Rodesh Bisnauth 2 for 51. No.69 Red Rose 161 in 37 overs with Vishwanauth Lallbeharry 31, Nehru Gopaul
27 and Steve Embrack 3 for 16. At Cumberland, Young Warriors beat East Canje by 222 runs. Young Warrioes 300 for 6 in 30 overs with Mortimer Fraser 93, Sanjay Khan 89, Ishwar Singh 45, Rocky Bipat 25 and Robin Mhabir 3 for 39. East Canje 78 in 17.1 overs Kristoff Bahadur 5 for 13 and Jaleel Jaffar 4 for 20. At Seafield, Rainbow Generation beat Bush Lot New Generation by 79 runs. Rainbow Generation 165 in 23 overs with Keno Gravesande 54, Joel Chisholm 26, Paul Dipnarine 4 for 21, Searle Richmond 3 for 40 and Javed Saywack 2 for 23. Bush Lot New Generation 86 in 20 overs with Navendra Mahadeo 32 and Ken Gravesande 5 for 11. At Edinburg, Edinburg beat East Bank by 7 wickets. East Bank 142 in 29.4 overs with Winston Rose 28, Andre Drepaul 26, Joel Seetaram 3 for 31, Denny David 2 for 0, Campton Hope 2 for 21. Edinburg 144 for 3 in 23 overs with Tameshwar Ramdeen 60, Joseph Giddings 55 not out and Gary Solomon 2 for 32. At Cotton Tree, Cotton Tree Die Hard beat Exhowa by 202 runs. Cotton Tree Die Hard 253 for 8 in 25 overs with Hazad Gafoor 56, Pooran Persaud 42, Fizal Khan 43, Taje Singh 27 and Satesh Mohan 3 for 47. Exhowa 51 in 14.3 overs with Afzal Haroon 4 for 6.
Wilbur Hope Memorial Inter Secondary School football tourney kicks off today The second annual Wilbur Hope Memorial Inter Secondary School football tournament is set to get kicking today. The competition, which caters for Secondary Schools in the New Amsterdam/ Canje area, is being played in memory of the late Wilbur Hope popular known as ‘Hopey’ a former resident of Tucber Park. It is sponsored by former N.A.M.S student and US Army Soldier Kevin Leroy Henry and friends and is being organised by former national ball weaver Neil ‘Grizzly’ Humphrey and the Hearts of Oak Masters football club. Eight schools are slated to participate in the competition namely - Berbice High School (BHS), Berbice Educational Institute (BEI), New Amsterdam Multilateral School (NAMS), Tutorial Academy Secondary school (TASS), Vryman’s Erven Secondary (VESS) and Canje Secondary School (CSS), New Amsterdam Technical institute (NATI) and School of the Nations (SON). The competition will be played at the Scot Church ground using the round robin format and will be played over eight days, with a double header slated for the respective days.
The top four schools will advance to the semifinals and subsequent final which is slated for Thursday 7th November. The full fixture is as follows:Monday 28th will see BEI taking on TASS and NAMS verses CSS. Tuesday 29- BHS plays SON and VESS against NATI. Wednesday 30th BEI will meet SON and NAMS tangle with NATI. Thursday 31st BHS oppose TASS and VESS match skills against CSS. Monday 4th BHS goes up against BEI and NAMS playing VESS. The final preliminary games are slated for the 5th November with TASS and SON contesting the first game followed by the matchup between CSS and NATI. At the end of the preliminary rounds No1 will play No4 and No 2 and 3 will clash for a place in the final which will be preceded by the third place play off. The top four teams will be adequately rewarded will trophies, medals and other prizes, while the top individual players will also be presented with accolades. (Samuel Whyte)