Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
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Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news
SOME QUESTIONS FOR A WOMEN’S CHAMPION DEAR EDITOR, I noted with great humour that bastion of moral rectitude in the Cabinet, Minister Priya M a n i c k c h a n d , c o n v e n i e n t l y misrepresenting a glaring conflict of interest issue to that of an attack by men against women. The fraudulent emotive appeal on the International Day Against the Girl Child that somehow this entire issue is one of “old men” who want to keep women down and women must shatter the glass ceiling etc is political tripe at its best. It is unfortunate that poor Mrs. Gitanjali Singh has to endure this kind of watery defence as well as a poor display of tact by Ms. Manickchand in bringing back sharply to the public eye an issue that was previously forgotten and buried. Not a very intelligent move by the Minister of Education. Since Ms. Manickchand has donned her halo in this
matter in her spirited public defence of principled matters I would like to have her answer the following questions: 1. How many lots of land did she acquire in Pradoville 2? 2. How much did she pay for each lot? 3. Which government entity did she pay this money to and when? 4. Did she sell a lot in Pradoville 2? 5. If so, how much did she sell it for and when? 6. Is it fair for her to sell a lot in Pradoville 2 soon after she got it while the rest of ordinary working class Guyanese have to wait ten years before they can sell off their land obtained from the State? 7. Did she pay a penalty to sell off her lot in Pradoville 2 before ten years like ordinary working class Guyanese have to? 8. What is the date of her transport of her lots in Pradoville 2? Continued on page 29
FORESTRY, MINING NEED MUCH GREATER VIGILANCE
DEAR EDITOR, Guyana’s rivers and forests hold the key to the survival of the society as we know it. Yet Guyanese citizens know next to nothing about how wisely or efficiently these vital sectors are being managed. The recent publication (SN 25/10) with respect to the REDD+ programme illustrates how little we know. The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) is not challenging the accuracy of the reports, but is very concerned that matters so vital to our future are ringfenced against effective democratic oversight by opaque language and complex processes. The revelation that mining is responsible for 93 per cent of de-forestation in Guyana in 2012 seems astounding. While virtually everything about mining generates unease, it still comes as a shock to learn the extent to which the sector is out of control. The draft REDD+ Report containing this information also points out that between 2011 and 2012 there was a 25
per cent increase in deforestation rates, carrying Guyana into the zone where financial penalties begin to eat into the payments Guyana can expect from Norway. Most of the devastation, the Report states, is to be found alongside rivers and roads, suggesting that forest degradation is the result of small-scale mining. One has to make that assumption because of the unvarnished nature of the information made available, are we to understand that the official forestry sector only accounts for seven per cent of de-forestation? Can we expect more detailed information, for example, on how much the Rusal operations in Kwakwani, or the revival of manganese mining in the North West, or the Chinese forestry concessions
contribute to this alarming rate of de-forestation? Who is building the roads to remote concessions and how much do they contribute to undermining - literally - the REDD+ programme? This information is not readily available. Too few people know and even fewer of those who provide official information are trusted enough to be believed. Again, the GHRA is not challenging the validity of the figures, much less defending the free-for-all in the mining sector. We are concerned about the absence of democratic oversight of these sectors. Nothing about the REDD+
programme, for example, is straight-forward. A torrent of acronyms and technical terms defend them from being understood or influenced by concerned citizens. Procedures for dispersing Norwegian funds are tortuous in their complexity, presumably to counter every imaginable scam that corrupt governments might be inclined to try. Executive Committee Guyana Human Rights Association
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Kaieteur News
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news
DEAR EDITOR, In the October 1, 2013 edition of Kaieteur News, columnist Frederick Kissoon highlighted a rather unfortunate state of affairs at the University of Guyana, our top learning institution. He lamented the woeful mind-set of students; the lack of interest in anything except to bear up and bide their time until graduation day comes, after which they will be departing--going abroad. The very reason why, as he mentioned “less than
twenty percent (20 per cent) of the student population voted in their just concluded students’ elections. According to Kissoon the World Bank has the migration figure of Guyanese with tertiary education at 82 per cent! This behaviour of graduate students from our top learning institution has become a trend and indeed reason for concern. So right is Kissoon: “University students are university students in
whichever country you find them except Guyana.” UG Students here over the past twenty years and more have given a completely different twist, label, colouring and meaning to this higher environment/ place of learning called university; a docile, feeble bunch/gathering of selfconcern hustlers with narrow/wide but personal desire. University the world over are generally thought of as “hot beds of sedition”. And why not? Why shouldn’t that place that is seen as the pinnacle of learning not rock the boat; not cause the seat of government some sleepless nights; not have them on their P’s and Q’s every
once in a while. After all we are talking here university, not high school! But UG today has lost its glow, that awesomeness — a lurking, latent volcanic intimidation that keeps the status quo on edge. Careful, I’m saying that higher learning is an essential, an indispensable requirement for the advancement of any society. However, what we see flaunted today is an overbearing egotistic sense of pride, a misguided and “dangerous selfimportance.” You see and hear it every day ad nauseam; that dignified high-tone utterance: “I’m attending UG.” You’ll believe it’s the end of the world — respect to the motley exceptions.
Truth be told, almost everyone attending UG does so with the dollar sign constantly flashing before his eyes. Aren’t we beseeched daily with the mantra; “Education is the key to success”? I recall about four years ago in response to a UG valedictorian, who in her presentation bemoaned the situation of her fellow graduates and called for an “enabling environment to bring about a sense hopefulness among graduates. She said that the past has been strewn with intelligent and qualified graduates emigrating to greener pastures merely to earn a decent living. Graduates need well-paying jobs to stay here.
And in response to the valedictorian lamenting the exodus of graduates I wrote: Rest assured that once this trend continues in the next ten or twenty years, each succeeding graduating batch will be echoing your sentiments about their state of affairs. Only by then it will be worse. Of course that letter ruffled some, but lo and behold, it is the exact same thing that prevails today. If UG “doesn’t change direction, it will end up just where it is heading”, and it had better hurry lest it becomes unaccountable among universities — the necrotic institution of higher learning. Frank Fyffe
Wednesday October 30, 2013
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Kaieteur News
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Anti-money laundering Bills in limbo...
Western diplomats fail to budge APNU By Leonard Gildarie Western diplomats yesterday met with the main Parliamentary Opposition as worry continues over an ongoing stalemate regarding critical anti-money laundering legislation. It is unlikely that a November deadline can be met, with the faction making it clear that it will not support the legislation when it comes before the National Assembly next week. Failure to pass the legislation could see international bodies, tasked with guiding countries into introducing measures to reduce dirty monies being transferred through the financial system, recommending almost certain sanctions. Already the private sector, banks and insurance companies have warned of severe implications for money transfers, payments for goods and delays in business if Guyana is blacklisted by trading partners for being noncompliant. There have been reports from businesses that bank transfers have been held up by overseas banks as questions arose over the transactions.
The issue has sharply divided the Government and Opposition. Government had tabled the legislative changes at the last Parliamentary session, but the Opposition, despite protests over the deadline by the Government, sent it to a special select committee to be fine-tuned. The problem was that the committee’s work suffered a number of delays. An exasperated Government, in the absence of the Opposition members, completed work of the special committee last week and announced that the legislation was going to be sent back to the National Assembly, in a race against time to meet the November deadline. However, the Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), which effectively control the House by a one-seat majority, have both signaled intentions not to lend outright support. Yesterday, senior Parliamentarian for APNU, Joseph Harmon, who was among the delegation that met the diplomats, made it clear that nothing has changed. “We have said it before. We are unhappy with the
Correction/Apology The lead headline of yesterday’s (October 29) edition of Kaieteur News - ‘Radio Licence court case...Govt. asks for more time to file defence’- was incorrect. The matters were called before Chief Justice (ag), Ian Chang, on Monday. An Attorney-at-Law for the plaintiffs, the Guyana Media Proprietors Association, asked the Court for more time to file an Affidavit in Reply to the Government’s Affidavit in Answer. However, it was incorrectly stated that it was Government asking for more time. Kaieteur News sincerely apologizes for this erroneous and misleading front page headline and regrets any embarrassment or inconvenience caused.
APNU leaders (right) and top diplomats meeting yesterday.
legislation in its current format. We cannot support it.” APNU will more likely recommend that the legislation be sent back to a special select committee to be fine-tuned. The AFC, on the other hand, has tied any support of the legislation to the appointment of members of the long-awaited Public Procurement Commission. The Opposition has been clamouring for the commission to be operationalised soonest to address concerns of Government contracts. There have been accusations that contracts, to the tune of millions, are being manipulated, with the aggrieved parties not having timely recourse.
According to APNU,the meeting yesterday with its leadership involved ambassadors and high commissioners from the United States of America, Great Britain, Canada and the European Union. The meeting was held at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Hadfield Street. “The main concern of the diplomats was the status of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill. APNU used the opportunity to restate its concerns about the short comings of the current legislation and the fact that the work of the Select Committee was brought to an abrupt end
without the benefit of significant input from the Partnership and other interested parties.” APNU, a coalition of 10 parties that contested the 2011 General and Regional Elections, said in a statement that it assured the western diplomats that the partnership is desirous of legislation that is not flawed; that restructures and strengthens the capacity of the Financial Intelligence Unit and addresses all of the deficits of the current one. Present at the meeting were US Ambassador D. Brent Hardt; British High Commissioner, Andrew Ayre; Canadian High Commissioner, Dr. Nicole Giles
and European Union Representative, Derek Lambe. APNU was represented by Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier (Ret’d) David Granger; Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine; Basil Williams; Carl Greenidge, Joseph Harmon, and Ronald Bulkan. The current Parliament has been the administration’s toughest in its 21-year hold on power. Several Bills, including two critical ones for the Amaila Falls hydro project, have been rejected by the Opposition. There have also been two years of cuts to the National Budget. Several projects including the airport expansion remain stalled.
‘Conscious teaching’ being encouraged to improve pass rates Not only is there need for more conscious teaching in the school system, but according to Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, the Ministry is looking to have the results obtained mirror the proportion of trained teachers. According to the Minister, currently the education system is furnished with more trained teachers, whom she insists should be more focused on realising needful changes in the sector. “We need to see more conscious work going on and not just routine teaching...” Manickchand said. And improvements are already being seen since, according to the Minister, the existing 45 per cent pass rate in the area of English is an improvement from the 18 per cent pass rate in 1992. Similar results are evident in the area of Mathematics, which the Minister said registered an eight per cent pass rate in 1993 but currently has a 45 per cent pass rate at the Secondary School Entrance
Examinations (SSEE). “Do we need to take that up to 100 per cent, of course we do, but these kinds of moves require more trained teachers, a proper environment, provision of text books...all these things have to come together,” the Minister said. She pointed out that usually the desired results are not obtained within a year, but rather over a longer period of time even with the ideal conditions and materials in place. Although measures are being put in place to address the pass rate at the various examinations, Manickchand noted that the Ministry has certainly taken note of the other students who are not listed among the 45 per cent that are doing well. In addressing this challenge, the Minister said that not only has efforts been made to ensure that teachers are paid the best they have ever been, but more teachers are being trained. She noted that such moves must be
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand supported by parental involvements since Government, although mandated to provide education to all, cannot achieve the improvement goal without support. Government, according to Manickchand, has been plugging large investments into the education sector over the past 20 years which is currently yielding some results.
“Sometimes from year to year we don’t realise what this investment means, but it means we have moved from 30 per cent trained teachers to 70 per cent...We have moved from a place where 10 per cent of our schools were habitable to a place where 80 per cent are,” the Minister stated. According to her, the school system has been transformed from a place where primary aged children could not have been placed in a school, to where every single primary aged child can access primary education. Added to this, Guyana is no longer saddled with a situation whereby its nursery aged children are unable to enjoy the pride of placement in the nursery system, a situation which translates to 85 per cent of the nursery population being in school. “The investment over the years has produced things that we can count, tabulate and celebrate...Does that mean we don’t have work to do? We have a lot of work to do.”
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
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GUYANA IS DISORDERED I hate to sound like V. S. Naipaul, but it is problem enough when you are a small country. Imagine, therefore, the problems that arise when you are a small, disordered society. Guyana is a country with a small population. The small size of the society is further compounded by its everincreasing disordered nature. No matter what wealth is discovered within this small economic space, it is not going to benefit the population much, unless the disorders are ordered. With each disorder this task is becoming difficult and two examples will suffice in explaining the dilemma which the government and any future government will face. The British may have been exploiters of our national
patrimony, there may have been extreme levels of poverty and inequality, but at least they left us with some idea of how to create an ordered society. This is best seen within the capital city. The British left us with a well laid-out city, carved out from the coast and designed in rectangular grids with most streets at right angles to each other. Alongside some of the streets were main canals into which small drains flowed allowing the city, constructed on slightly sloping lands, to drain easily. The streets were wide, creating space which allowed the small city to breathe easily. A few days ago, I was walking along the avenue on Main Street and it struck me as to how beautiful a city the
colonisers left us. Here in the heart of the city, were avenues which divided Main Street, Carmichael Street, Waterloo Street, Camp Street, Thomas Street and East Street. This is an example of the sort of attention that was paid to order by the British in their design of Georgetown. Can you imagine what Georgetown would be like if we had to design our own city? Guess what, I am sure there would have been none of those avenues. In their place would have been houses or businesses. We would have tried to crowd every single available piece of land in the city. Driving through the city would have been like driving through a tunnel. Right now there is mass disorder taking place within
Dem boys seh
Everything Jagdeo touch tun kaka Every day dem boys wake up and see de sun, every morning when dem open dem eye, de Creator does inspire dem fuh do something to protect de poor and disadvantaged. Nuff people frighten to talk but dem does see wha going on. And dem does remember wha dem hear. Brazzy got de nerve to tell this nation that it ain’t mek sense fuh got money in de bank and getting next to nutten in interest. That is de argument he put forward that h put forward fuh spending de US$20 million in taxpayer money in de Marriott. That same money was getting triple de interest rate wha any bank does pay in de world. But Smart man
Brazzy tek de money, put it in Marriott and in de same breath tell de nation that iff de hotel mek a profit is only then de money gun be repaid wid no interest. In short Brazzy and Jagdeo and Marcie play three card wid people money. Three card is de biggest scamp dem got. Everybody know that and when dem three can master that God be wid Guyana. Dem same three mek Fip, de man that flip but didn’t die, go away wid a whole heap of money. He come back and he living large at de Pegasus while he waiting fuh de Marriott till dem three card player come up wid another idea fuh give de nation another hydroseed.
Dem play some card game wid Skeldon and dem boys seh that it had to be high tech poker. Almost US$200 million disappear at the turn of a card. Just before he lef office Jagdeo seh that he gun personally mek sure de factory wuk. De nation should demand that he go to wuk every day at Skeldon, even if is guard wuk, till de factory start fuh wuk. Walter Rodney use to seh that anything Burnham put hand pun does tun Tu Tu. Dem boys seh that everything Jagdeo touch tun kaka. That is why he got to get de KKH and de H stand fuh hole. Talk half and pray fuh dem three card people.
the city. All over the wards of the city, small businesses are popping up. Many of these are in residential areas. Zoning is out of the window. All around you drive in the city you see bottom-houses being converted to all manner of businesses. It is difficult to comprehend how permission is being given for small businesses to be opened in residential areas. Certainly all of those businesses would have needed the permission of some central authority to convert all these buildings into business places. If this permission was indeed granted, then there is a serious problem in this country, because it has created a quite disordered city with business springing up here, there and everywhere. It would be interesting to know whether all of these businesses that are springing up are licenced and whether those issuing the licences are
checking to see whether permission has been granted to establish these businesses in the areas in which they are located. One wonders also how come there is a policy of no businesses in new housing areas, yet many businesses are now popping up in these areas. Are these businesses registered? How can they be registered when they are in breach of the very policies laid down by the government? The government should seriously consider a site audit of all the small businesses, including cake shops and snackettes, which are mushrooming around the country, to determine whether the requisite permits, including tax registrations, are in place. Guyana needs development; but Guyana needs ordered development. No amount of economic growth is going to translate to a better standard of living
for our people unless something is done about this chaotic development that is taking place, especially when it comes to land and property use in the country. The British left us an authentic and well-designed city, Georgetown. We have not created any other since then. We may have named other places as towns, but these are not genuine towns, since even today, many lack the infrastructure and the zoning rules to be classified as towns. Georgetown is a dying city and sadly, it is still our only city. If we are to reclaim it as a genuine town and if we are to move forward and create other towns, whether primary or secondary, we must halt the continuing disorder that is taking place right now.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
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OP sources solar panels, nine entities bid The Office of the President (OP) is apparently planning to improve its energy efficiency since the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) opened nine (9) bids yesterday for the supply of solar panels for that office. These bids were among those opened for six entities at NPTAB, Ministry of Finance on Main Street. The bids for the supply of Solar Panels for the Office of the President were as follows:
The Ministry of Housing also received bids for the rehabilitation of First Street, Mon Repos South, Double “D” Main Access, Mon Repos North and Bus Shed Road, Golden Grove, Mon Repos/ La Reconnaissance and Haslington/ Golden Grove Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Region Four.
APNU wants “fully staffed” Ombudsman’s office Under the Guyana Defence Force one bid was received for the repair and refurbishment of GDFS 1025 Tira Puku - Motor life boat for 2013.
The Ministry of Public Works received bids for rehabilitation/construction of additional miscellaneous roads for Regions Three and Four in 2013. Bids were supplied for five lots by the respective interested entities, with Puran Brothers Disposal Inc only bidding for one.
APNU’s Dr. Rupert Roopnarine
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) received bids for the supply of lights for its equipment operating within the Dochfour/Hope Relief Channel Project.
The Ministry of Education received a solitary bid for the supply, delivery and installation of security services.
The Ministry of Housing received bids for the rehabilitation of Campbell Avenue, Grove Old Scheme and Back Street No. 2 Golden Grove/Diamond NDC, Region Four.
By Abena Rockcliffe A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is calling for a fully staffed office of the Ombudsman to be reintroduced as opposed to the previous set up that existed. That call was made by APNU’s Dr. Rupert Roopnarine as he responded to a question about the Party’s interest in seeing a functioning Office of the Ombudsman. An Ombudsman is an official usually appointed by the government or by Parliament but with a significant degree of independence. One such official is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of maladministration or violation of rights. The typical duties of an Ombudsman are to investigate complaints and attempt to resolve them. Ombudsmen sometimes also aim to identify systemic issues leading to poor service or breaches of people’s rights. While executives of some developed and developing countries across the world have designated several Ombudsmen, Guyana has remained without one for the last seven years. Guyana has been without an Ombudsman since the retirement of Justice Sheik Mohamed in 2005. This situation captured the attention of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament James Bond, who posed questions in relation to the nonappointment of an Ombudsman to the Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall in the National Assembly earlier this year. Last Friday, Dr. Roopnarine said that the Office of the Ombudsman is an extremely important Constitutional protection for citizens in Guyana. He highlighted that an Ombudsman is supposed to deal with faults in administration and stated “as we know those are not going away, they are increasing; so we definitely are in need of an Ombudsman.”
Further, Dr. Roopnarine asserted that it would be a waste of time to just appoint an Ombudsman and a secretary which was the case when Justice Mohamed was in that office. “It is not simply the appointment of an Ombudsman, but a real staffing to go with the office. He has to have more than a secretary…which is all Justice Mohamed had. He has to have investigative capacity and so on. Without a fully staffed and empowered Office of the Ombudsman, merely appointing an Ombudsman will do very little.” APNU Leader David Granger said that he has been advocating for the appointment of an Ombudsman as APNU sees the importance of it. Granger also pointed to the absence of a tribunal for workers. He said that APNU would like to see the activation of both. He also made mention of the plight of the Police Complaints Authority. According to Granger, that entity appeared before the Disciplined Forces Commission to complain about the financial limits and the lack of investigative capability. “So we would like to see these so-called independent or autonomous commissions working, as we feel like that would strengthen democracy,” Granger stated. Meanwhile, People Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Clement Rohee told the media that the Party is interested in having an Ombudsman soon. He said however, that even though it is in the interest of the PPP, it is “more squarely” the responsibility of the government to appoint appropriate candidates “we have influence on the government, but the final call is with the government.” Asked if the PPP is going to push for the speedy appointment of an Ombudsman, Rohee responded “We don’t seek to push the government, which we are a part of, to do anything…We seek to influence the government.” He said that the PPP will be influencing the government on that matter “among other things.” The Office of the Ombudsman is stated as a human rights institution in Guyana. At the national level, most Ombudsmen have a wide mandate to deal with the entire Public Sector, and sometimes also elements of the Private Sector. An Ombudsman has the power to sanction if a citizen feels he or she has been treated unjustly by a high profile member of society, even a Minister. If the courts have a hold-up in trying the case, the Ombudsman can sanction, after consideration, in accordance with the laws.
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Kaieteur News
Wednesday October 30, 2013
THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
Who cares more for their citizens - Jamaica or Guyana? After Rupert Murdoch was exposed and brought down from his powerful throne by the Guardian (I honestly think it is the world’s best newspaper over and above the New York Times) over the phone-hacking scandal, in one meeting with his staff, he spoke contemptuously of the highpriced lawyers his corporation was paying for the troubles. Whether Murdoch disliked or hated them, he knew he had to employ them because great lawyers do great things in the courtroom. I came face to face with that inescapable reality when Minister Juan Edghill filed a contempt of court affidavit against me that was worded in such a way that once found guilty there was no provision for reprimand or fine, only a jail term.
I saw in that courtroom how Nigel Hughes and Khemraj Ramjattan literally destroyed the affidavit of Mr. Ashton Chase by informing the judge that the wording itself was bad in law and even the section of the law under which the affidavit was filed was not relevant to what was being asked of the court. A lot of technical arguments ensued and before there could have been any hearing of the case proper, the judge ruled that the affidavit was a technical mistake. There and then I knew the value of a brilliant lawyer. It is like medicine. If you have the money, pay the best surgeon. In my case, I didn’t have the money so I thanked my lucky stars that I got free services from two of the best legal minds in the Caribbean. Three Saturdays ago, Khemraj Ramjattan explained to me
why the Shanique Myrie case reached the Caribbean Court of Justice. There are technical dimensions of law that the layman needs to be familiar with. According to Khemraj, Shanique Myrie achieved locus standi by the fact that a signatory to the CARICOM Treaty joined the suit, the State of Jamaica. To put it in non-legal terms, Jamaica said that it is backing one of its citizens to sue the Barbadian Government and it jointly put its name on the court paper. My understanding from Khemraj’s explanation is that Myrie may not have had locus standi in bringing the case by herself. What Jamaica has done is nothing new in the world, European and American governments do not fool around when their citizens are
detained and mistreated in other countries. The extraordinarily admirable thing about the Jamaican decision to sue is that long, long ago if Guyana had done what Jamaica did in 2011, then thousands of decent Guyanese citizens would not have been humiliated in front of their families at airports in Trinidad and Barbados. This writer says in pellucid language that Guyana is not going to emulate Jamaica. The leadership of the two countries is billions of miles apart when it comes to the practice of nationalism. I find that Jamaicans and French people are intensely passionate about their countries. Jamaicans think that the island is one of the world’s greatest countries. French people think that Paris is the centre of the globe.
Jamaican middle class leadership was probably livid when it heard what happened to Myrie. I could well imagine them saying that there is no way you should treat the land of Bob Marley, Usain Bolt, Courtney Walsh and Chris Gayle like this. From the moment it happened, there was probably talk in Jamaica that the matter should go before the courts. In Barbados, decent, financially comfortable Guyanese are constantly manhandled and mistreated by “Bajan” immigration and the PPP Government has never said to Barbados, “enough is enough.” And it will go on. The type of rulership we have in Georgetown simply could not be bothered with the immigration depravity that decent Guyanese have to put up with at the Barbados arrival lounge. The Caribbean citizens must have read about a
Frederick Kissoon horrible situation recently in which a Cuban citizen married to a Guyanese and coming here for a family event was harassed in Trinidad and put on a plane back to Cuba, only to be saved by the intervention of other Guyanese. This is nonsense that is sickening and abominable. She wasn’t going to Trinidad. She was on her way to Guyana. It was none of Trinidad’s business as to why she wanted to be in Guyana. Nothing came of this sordid mess. It will continue in Barbados and Trinidad against bona fide Guyanese travellers. But not to Jamaicans anymore. “Bajan” immigration officers will tread carefully. Who in the Caribbean respects Guyanese leadership?
Guyanese mother, sick T&T son deported A Guyanese woman and her ailing two-year-old son, a Trinidad national, were deported hours after the child was discharged from hospital on Monday night. The child’s mother, Rosinda Nicholson, who arrived in Trinidad five years ago, is now appealing to Minister of Health Fuad Khan to intervene, a Trinidad Express story said yesterday. Her sister, Errolyn Pierre, said the mother and son arrived at their family’s home in Berbice, Guyana, Monday. “She called to say she arrived safely, but the child is very sick. The IV burnt his hand and she is now seeking medical attention in Guyana. But she is seeking assistance to return to Trinidad for her child’s sake,” said Pierre. Two-year-old Elijah Harris was diagnosed with autism and is unable to walk or speak properly. “The child was improving here in Trinidad. He was going to therapists and showing positive signs. His father left when he was one-year-old so my sister had to raise the child alone. I told her she needed to apply for public assistance and we went to the immigration department to apply for residency,” Pierre said. Nicholson was offered voluntary departure to return to Guyana to have her passport and other
documents renewed, she said. The mother and son returned to Trinidad on October 10. “The immigration officers detained her at the airport and said she was being deported back to Guyana on the next available flight. They remained in the airport until my nephew collapsed with a seizure. They were taken to Arima District Hospital and transferred to Mt. Hope,” Pierre said. Nicholson was allowed to remain at her son’s bedside, guarded by an immigration officer. “She was not allowed to leave the compound to bathe or get food,” her sister said. The little boy was discharged from hospital on Monday night. He and his mother were immediately taken to Piarco International Airport and placed on a flight to Guyana. “This was heartless and wrong. The little boy is a Trinidadian, he should be allowed to get medical attention here. We are calling on the Minister of Health to tell us if this is right. He was denied medical treatment here because his mother is Guyanese. She wants to return to Trinidad to continue the therapy and other medical treatment. We need help,” Pierre said.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
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No Police Service Commission could mean another year of stagnation for officers By Dale Andrews With a mere two months to go before the year comes to an end, senior ranks of the Guyana Police Force are holding their breaths with the hope that the Police Service Commission (PSC) will be properly constituted in order to facilitate their promotion. The absence of a fullyconstituted PSC had hampered the effective running of the Force, especially when it comes to promotions and appeals from officers seeking redress, acting appointments and applications for cadetship. While the Commissioner of Police can effect promotions up to the rank of Sergeant, the Commission is responsible for the upward mobility of ranks from Inspector of Police to Assistant Commissioner. The last Commission was chaired by Dennis Morgan who subsequently died in November 2012 while serving in that capacity.
The Police Service Commission, a five-man body, was rendered inactive following the death of Morgan. Kaieteur News understands that since the life of the present body is nearing its end, it will have to be reconstituted and a chairman chosen before any talk of promotions can be contemplated. Officers of the Guyana Police Force are worried that the situation that occurred in 1999 when there was no Police Service Commission (PSC), could visit them again. Besides promotions, the Police Officers are hoping that the 1999 situation, which resulted in no police promotions for three years, would not reoccur, especially since there appears to be no urgency on the part of the administration to deal with the issue. “For a year now there has been no movement and it is okay to assume that no work has been done since the
Chairman died,” a senior officer of the Guyana Police Force said. This newspaper was told that whenever the subject comes up, senior officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs appear to be paying scant regard to the issue. For awhile two names were being bandied about to fill the position of Chairman of the Police Service Commission. One is a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police, who once served in a senior capacity at a government ministry, while there is talk that another retired Deputy Commissioner, who is presently serving in the Force, could get the nod. However, there appears to be a third person in the reckoning. He happens to be a well known business executive who is very active in community policing duties. Perhaps the most concerned about the non existence of the PSC are those officers who are nearing retirement. The concerns are
Farmer faces charges for illegal possession of firearm Agard Moses, a farmer, appeared yesterday before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where he faced charges of unlawful and malicious wounding as well as unlawful possession of a firearm. It is alleged that on October 20, at Mike’s Mining Area, Pakaraima, Moses unlawfully and maliciously wounded Chandrapaul ‘Kevin’ Singh. It was further alleged that on the said date, Moses had in his possession a .32 Revolver. To both allegations, the defendant pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court that the defendant and the complainant are known to each other and on the date stated in the charge they had an argument which resulted in Singh ‘chucking’ Moses. The court heard that Moses, in retaliation, ‘chucked’ Singh and struck him to the head with a heavy metal object. Mangru stated that Singh made a report and police confronted Moses, searched him and discovered the firearm in his possession. Attorney at Law Peter Hugh who rose in defence of Moses, stated that when the police approached his client,
he handed over the gun and explained that someone else had given him same. In making an application for bail, Hugh highlighted the fact that such matters are known to expend excessive amounts of time and that his client is a stable farmer who is not a flight risk. Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry placed the man on $50,000 and $100,000 bail for the unlawful and malicious wounding, and unlawful possession of firearm charges respectively. The matter was then transferred to the Lethem Magistrates’ Court where trial will commence on December 3.
Landlord fined $20,000 for threatening to lash tenant A 63-year-old landlord who threatened to “lash” his tenant was yesterday fined $20,000 by Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. Clyde Morris Trotman pleaded guilty to the charge whose particulars alleged that on October 23, at James Street, Albouystown, he used threatening language to Claudine Bobb. According to the report given by Prosecutor Vishnu Hunt in open court, Bobb is a tenant of the defendant. Hunt
explained that about 17:30hrs on the said date, Bob returned from work and discovered that her apartment had no electricity. The court heard that Bobb then went to the landlord to inquire about the situation and the landlord in turn requested rent owed by the defendant and in the process threatened to lash her in the face with a beer bottle. Hunt stated that the matter was then reported to the police which led to Trotman being arrested and
charged. Magistrate Judy Latchman offered the man two options: to either pay the fine immediately or serve six months in prison. Trotman opted to pay the fine.
that they will retire without receiving the promotion they would have benefited from had the Commission been in place. But of even greater concern is the stagnation of more than 40 cadet officers. In 2008, then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, challenged the Guyana Police Force to appoint 50 Cadet Officers over three years in a move that was intended to strengthen the officer corps of the organization. However, five years later, Cadets, even from the first batch, are still waiting to be confirmed in the gazetted position of Assistant Superintendents. The reason being given for this apparent administrative hiccup is the lack of vacancies in the Assistant Superintendent bracket. Cadet Officers are ranks who have been earmarked to be gazetted officers of the Force. The rank is just above that of an Inspector. The Cadet Officers eventually become Assistant Superintendents upon successful completion of their Cadetship.
Under what is being touted as the ‘Jagdeo Cadet Scheme’, the first batch of 15 police cadet officers graduated from the Basic Cadet Officer Training Programme in 2009. This group was followed by larger groups of Police Cadet Officers in the following years, up to the last batch of two in 2011. There were four batches in all that satisfied Jagdeo’s mandate for the Force. But according to a police administrative expert, there was no provision to accommodate the Cadet Officers into the gazetted police ranks. It was explained that the system could only accommodate a certain number of Assistant Superintendents and there is a preference for experienced Inspectors and Chief Inspectors to fill positions that become available from time to time. Jagdeo’s 2008 mandate to have 50 Police Cadet Officers appointed and trained, has placed the Force in the dilemma of also stagnating the elevation of some categories
of ranks. “The Police, in their haste to satisfy Jagdeo’s mandate, fast tracked the Cadetship Programme without making the necessary provisions. Now these Cadets are languishing in their Cadet position for years,” the senior officer added. This newspaper was reliably informed that after two years as a Cadet Officer, once there is no blemish in their files, the officers are eligible for promotion to Assistant Superintendents. “We trained with people from the army and those guys have already been confirmed; some have even been promoted higher, while we are still Cadets,” one of the affected Cadet Officers stated. As a consequence of their stagnation, the Cadet Officers are being denied the benefits of their gazetted colleagues, including duty-free vehicles. A few weeks ago, President Donald Ramotar confirmed Leroy Brumell in the post of Commissioner of Police. This was after a period of acting in that capacity for over a year.
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Kaieteur News
Agri Minister reiterates call for safe handling of pesticides Proper storage and sale of chemicals in Guyana remain causes for concern for the Ministry of Agriculture, and in an effort to raise even more awareness, the Pesticide and Toxic Chemical Control Board (PCTCB) which has direct responsibilities for monitoring pesticides has been playing the lead role in executing sensitization campaigns ensuring compliance with the safety standards recommended by the Board. As such, the board carried out a Pesticide Awareness Corner in Secondary Schools and proper pesticide storage competitions were held. This saw schools being honoured for their contribution yesterday at an Award Ceremony at the De Impeccable Banquet Hall, Brickdam where Fort Wellington, Wakapoa, Patentia, and Central Corentyne Secondary Schools benefited from consolation prizes. This year, Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary came out the winnerbenefiting from $100,000 in farming equipment and a trophy. The second and third places were awarded to Zeeburg and Charity Secondary Schools respectively. Geddes Grant (Guyana) Limited won the
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Rice production passes 500,000-tonne mark Rice farmers inspecting paddy in a field that was cultivated using the six-point practice.
...as schools receive awards for awareness corners prize for best storage facility in Guyana. The competition has been running for the last five years and encompasses certain criteria which schools were expected to fulfill. Among these were: creativity, size of pesticide awareness corner, use of language, flow of chart, students’ participation, and use of materials given to them. Delivering the feature address, Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy underscored the importance of proper storage and sale of chemicals, alluding to the fact that while it is not the main cause, easy access of the substance has been one of the contributing factors of suicide cases. He added that while pesticides boast opportunities such as improved yields, improper usage can be detrimental. “We as a country must understand that pesticide kills, regardless of its usage. We must understand that improper use of chemicals is a cause for concern and while much has been done over the years to raise awareness and reduce the number of deaths, there is still room for improvement,” he said.
Minister Ramsammy stated that specific attention must be placed on safer storage of pesticides and called on users to comply with all safety rules and regulations. Presently, Guyana remains one of a few countries which possess an entity such as the Pesticide Board which is tasked with the responsibility of regulating the importation, sale, use, and storage of toxic chemicals. “We have been tightening rules which govern the trade of pesticide and now we have made it a criminal act for someone to sell pesticide to a miner. This is necessary as we are aiming to change the way pesticide is sold in Guyana,” he said. Trecia David, Registrar of the Pesticide, and Toxic Chemical Board, in giving an overview of the programme, spoke of some of the work that the organization has been doing to raise awareness of the importance of pesticide. David pointed out that one such important method of doing this is by working with Secondary Schools, since it is vital for particularly children to be sensitized so that they understand the dangers of misuse of pesticides. “I have been to homes and seen pesticides in kitchens where the wife is cooking and so children are exposed on many occasions to chemical when they are not stored properly,” she said.
Guyana has recorded its biggest ever rice production, surpassing the 500,000 tonnes targeted for 2013. And it is more than likely that final figures will indicate production has gone past the target by an astounding 100,000 tonnes, Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie reported yesterday. ”On Monday, the twentyfirst of October, for the first time in our history, we reached a goal which many persons in this country said would be impossible, and those who believed it was possible thought that it would not happen till 2020. On the twenty-first of October 2013, Guyana surpassed 500,000 tonnes of rice in our production,” the Minister disclosed in a Government statement. “At the present time we are approaching 522,000 tonnes. I used that number because last year’s production was 422,000 tonnes. It was a record and for us to break that record,
with more than 100,000 tonnes, is an astounding story, one that all of Guyana should be very proud of.” Yesterday, rice production stood at 514,000 tonnes, but there is about six to seven percent of the cultivated land yet to be harvested. Expectations are now high that the country can reach the 600,000 - tonne mark, the Agriculture Minister said. “Indeed I would say to everyone that should we be able to find the markets, not the market that would take our rice, because we have enough people who want our rice, but the markets that would pay us the price we want for our rice, then we can reach 600,000 tonnes within the next year or maximum two years.” Meanwhile, the Minister made it clear that the production by farmers came not as a result of increased acreage, but as a result of higher yields. “We consistently now surpass five tonnes per hectare, that used to be another magical goal
that we are now reaching routinely, and we believe that we can reach six tonnes per hectare.” The Agriculture Ministry is working towards that “because if we can do that, that is another 100,000 tonnes without adding more land, and that would mean that our cost of production would go right down and allow us to compete with other countries on the world market.” Guyana had two successive years (2011 and 2012) of production of more than 400,000 tonnes of rice. The 412,000 tonnes set for 2012 was surpassed by 10,000 tonnes. A total of 334,000 tonnes were exported, while in 2011, the production was 402,000 tonnes. New rice varieties and management strategies such as the six-point practices have been credited for higher yields of rice. Guyana has also managed to gain a major market in neighbouring Venezuela in an oil-for-rice deal.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
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How a little mattress company grew up in Guyana By Leonard Gildarie In one of the country’s newest industrial site, a little business has quietly grown up and taken over the foam mattress market. And it is all being made in Guyana. Now, Comfort Sleep, owned by Guyanese-born Dennis Charran, is eyeing the overseas market. The little business, at the Eccles Industrial Site, East Bank Demerara, has been making all types of mattresses for the last decade. With just under 30 employees, Comfort Sleep controls 75% of the foam mattress market. It has been making inroads in the spring mattress market which has traditionally been in the hands of importers. Almost all the major retailers in the city, including Courts, and from across the country have been snapping up the products. Government over the years has been plugging growth in the manufacturing sector as critical to the longterm development of Guyana. Many of the manufacturing companies have also been complaining of power costs, saying it is the main reason why it is hard to compete against similar products being imported. According to Charran, it has not been an easy road for him and the company. He has been involved in the mattress business for over 20 years, originally importing from Trinidad. The company that he was doing business with at the time, Slumber Sleep, decided to bring their business to Guyana and with Charran, established a factory at the Ruimveldt industrial site. However, that company pulled out leaving Charran to think about his next move. He took over the operations and Comfort Sleep was launched. It was tough going initially. Not only was he paying rent on the Ruimveldt industrial site, but forced to lease equipment. “It was tough and we
Comfort Sleep owner, Dennis Charran worked hard for the next two years.” Marketing the company and not taking no for an answer, the businessman, now 49, slowly made inroads. That hard work paid dividends. Charran was able to buy out the equipment and when Government announced that it was opening the industrial site at Eccles, the businessman moved in and threw his weight behind a calculated risk. The investments, too, paid off. Offered an acre of land, he converted it into a factory and his office. There was little cash to spare. “We worked hard, very hard. Many hours.” Charran is now fast running out of space and was forced to go an extra floor. Comfort Sleep is also renting space nearby for storage. The company has opened a retail outlet in Nandy Park, a mile away. Today, in addition to the cheaper foam mattress, there is the memory foam and spring mattress. Initially, Comfort Sleep faced stiff competition from established manufacturers. That situation changed slowly over the years in favour of Comfort Sleep. The competition in the spring line continues today, but it is coming from importation. “Our products are better when comparing price and quality. We have been busy educating our customers. Today, I can tell you that there
is next to zero importation on foam mattress in the country.” Charran, making his rounds around the factory during a tour last week, was at home. All the raw materials used to create the foam are imported. However, equipment is brought into play to make the large blocks of foam which are then cut to particular sizes. These are then placed in protective covers and stitched with special sewing machines. The manufacturing processes are all in keeping with international health standards, Charran assures. Doing business has been a challenge. Not only is Comfort Sleep fighting to ensure its growth continues, Charran is travelling back and forth between Canada and Guyana. Canada is where his family is based. Comfort Sleep has large, wholesale customers across the country, as far as Lethem. It has now entered Suriname and is looking for a deal with Venezuela. At Lethem, the Brazilians have taken a liking for what they are seeing. “We have been asked by Suriname to reduce the size of our mattress to make it
Mattresses being readied for the market cheaper. But we told them no way, as Comfort Sleep has a standard and reputation of good service to upkeep.” The company has also been attending GuyExpo over the years, making the brand more marketable.
Charran is now grooming one of his daughters to take the reins of the business. “Yes, the housing sector growth has been a major boost to the business. And yes, we are doing well.” However, he disclosed
that perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing his business is the shortage of dependable skills. “We have been attempting to work with residents in the area but the problems remain.”
The factory at Eccles
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Kaieteur News
Child Advocacy Centre working briskly to provide services Efforts by the Child Advocacy Centre (CAC) are moving apace, to adequately address the needs of children, who have been sexually and physically abused. CAC is a US-based organization designed to provide counseling and dialogue intervention to abused children. It was officially launched in Guyana on September 25, 2013. The centre is operated by NGO Forward Guyana Inc. in partnership with ChildLinkInc and the Ministry of Labour Human Services and Social Security. Representative of Forward Guyana Inc, Chantelle Haynes, explained that the group is currently finalizing the guidelines for cases to be referred by the Child Care and Protection Agency to CAC. “We will be meeting with officials of the child protection agency to finalize a protocol for referrals to the centre; the Ministry will be tasked with the investigation aspect of the cases of abuse,
while the CAC will provide suitable intervention through interviews and counseling.” CAC will provide a safe, child-friendly location, where children will be interviewed by a trained forensic interviewer about the physical or sexual abuse they have experienced. The interview will be videotaped and is admissible as evidence in court. Haynes says that approximately thirty personnel have embarked on training to provide the service. She explained that the staff from the agencies involved will receive expert training to provide forensic interviews and adequate counseling services. According to Haynes, the centre should be fully operational by November 4. The CAC, based in Alabama, USA, has been successful for more than three decades providing suitable intervention for cases of child abuse and neglect. The initiative is a first of its kind in the Caribbean and South America.
Under the CAC procedure, a multidisciplinary team of professionals including: law enforcement, Child Protective Services, the Department of Public Prosecutions, Mental Health Services and medical professionals will observe the interview on a screen from an adjoining room. They will ask questions or request clarifications that they require through an earpiece worn by the interviewer. This approach reduces trauma to the child by allowing them to tell their story once instead of moving between several agencies reliving the experience each time they are forced to repeat it. In addition, the Multidisciplinary approach is expected to increase the number of successful prosecutions in child abuse cases. The centre offers a well furnished, child friendly environment staffed by forensic interviewers, counselors and parenting skills educators.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Main trial resumes in Black Bush murder The voir dire has concluded and the main trial has resumed in the Black Bush murder in which 23year-old Satrohan Mannaru, called Andrew, of Mibicuri South, Black Bush Polder, is being tried before Justice Dawn Gregory and a mixed jury in the Berbice High Court. Mannaru is accused of killing his 14-year-old exgirlfriend Indranie ‘Cynthia’ Basdeo, of 74 Mibicuri South, Black Bush Polder, on Friday 7th October 2011. Justice Gregory made her ruling yesterday and Detective Assistant Superintendent Gary McAllister is expected to continue his evidence before the Jury. It was during Mc Allister ’s testimony that defence attorney, Senior Counsel Mr. Bernard De Santos who is in association with attorney at law Pamela De Santos raised certain objections, thus necessitating the voir dire which began last Wednesday. In the meanwhile, when the matter continued yesterday the court
accommodated Government Pathologist Dr Vivekanand Brijmohan to give his testimony. He was led in his evidence by Prosecutor and Attorney-atLaw Renita Singh. Dr Brijmohan, in his evidence, described the wound that caused Basdeo’s death as being an incise wound, three centimeters long, to the lower chest wall. He stated that it exited between the fourth and fifth left rib, cutting the upper left lobe of the lung which collapsed. Basdeo, of Mibicuri South, Black Bush Polder was brutally murdered at the Mibicuri School Ground, where school sports were being held. She was fatally stabbed under her left breast. The girl was an ex student of the school. In her opening address, State Prosecutor Renita Singh had stated that on the day in question the girl had made arrangements with her sister and brother in law to attend the school sports. It was at the school sports that they noticed the accused grab the teen. It was during
Victim: Indranie Basdeo that time she allegedly was stabbed. Mannaru had a knife in his hand and the teenager was seen bleeding. The girl was picked up and rushed to the New Amsterdam hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Among the witnesses called so far are the girl’s father Mahase Basdeo, her mother Gomattie Latchman, Detective Corporal Andrew Ward, Police Constable Maxton Semple , her sister Tulseidai Basdeo and her brother in law Arnold Reddy. The matter is continuing.
Teen rushed to hospital after being struck on head whilst playing cricket Remove powers from NICIL now Sherquelly Caesar called “Catty’, a 19-year-old of Penitentiary Walk, New Amsterdam and a second year student at the New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI) is said to have been stabilized after he had to be rushed to the Georgetown Hospital on Sunday evening for emergency treatment.
The lad was struck on his head by a ball during a friendly game of cricket at the Goed Bananen Land Ground in East Canje. Blood was flowing through his nose and the youth started to vomit blood by the time he was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where doctors contemplated doing emergency surgery.
According to information, Caesar was among scores that had turned up at the venue to witness a cricket match between Betsy Ground, the winner of the East Canje zone and Baracara, the winner of the Canje River Zone. The match was a playoff fixture in the ongoing NBS second division (Continued on page 27)
Financial analyst, Ramon Gaskin is saying that the Opposition should have three conditions before the Amendments to the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 can be addressed, the most important being the removal of the powers of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) which is headed by Winston Brassington. Gaskin opined that the government is not serious about good governance since the AML Law was not enforced prior to the current fiasco which surrounds the Bill. “Unless there is enforcement then all these amendments are just a waste of time. The government is at a deadlock with the
- Gaskin
Financial Analyst, Ramon Gaskin Opposition as it relates to this Bill and I do believe that the Opposition should not proceed with these amendments until the President signs the Local Government Bills… And if he doesn’t do that, then what
they are showing is that they are picking and choosing what bills they are willing to sign. I am going further than the leader of A Partnership for National Unity, (APNU) David Granger and say let him sign the bills and set a date for the elections and let that be a prerequisite before they even get to the Bill.” “Secondly, let him establish the procurement commission; if not, there should be a total boycott of the Bills. Also, the Opposition should not look at the Bill until the government straightens out the issue of NICIL. Now we are hearing that NICIL will be involved in the workings of the new bridge which will be built across the Demerara River. NICIL is operating like if it is the Government, Procurement Commission and Ministry of Public Works. How many things will they be involved in?” “This is an absurdity. Everything NICIL touches just goes wrong and it is goes without question. The Opposition should protest against this.” “When we get these three things, only then we can then look at the law and the amendments. We must ensure that the conditions necessary for the Bill to be enforced are in place.”
Wednesday October 30, 2013
BUDGET preparations… With national budget presentation being just about five months away, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is awaiting the High Court ruling on the legality of budget cuts before any moves at negotiation or compromise can be made. That was the position stated by the Party’s General Secretary, Clement Rohee, at a press conference held on Monday at Freedom House. At A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s last press conference, Opposition Leader David Granger had no qualms about stating that the national budget is condemned to suffer the same fate as the last two years, if all the issues that existed before are still there. He told media operatives that if the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA)
Kaieteur News
High Court ruling on cuts causes pause do not pull up their proverbial socks, budgetary allocations set aside for both agencies will be in jeopardy. Rohee, asked to comment on his government’s collaboration with the opposition and the likely reaction of more budget cuts, said that the PPP is not in possession of a “crystal ball” to anticipate what is going to happen. He told reporters that the most he could say “politically speaking, is that you will never have a budget to the satisfaction of the opposition. The budget, usually or by convention, is a responsibility of the government of the day and I haven’t noted any indication that the government wishes to resign from that responsibility. “But that is why usually when the budget is presented the government is expected to take blows from the
opposition, because in most countries, the Opposition is not fully satisfied.” Rohee pointed out that the High Court is likely to rule, soon, on the case of Budget cuts. “I would say let us hold our breath until the court ruling is made on this subject and that will provide guidance for all the Parties on this subject in the future.” The General Secretary said that in the meantime, from his understanding, the Ministry of Finance continues to invite stakeholders to participate in consultations with respect to the budget. Asked to list some of the “stakeholders” who were invited, since APNU said it has not been, Rohee responded, “I can’t answer for APNU; I cannot say with any certainty, that they were invited.” Last Friday, Granger told
Reg. 10 Chairman urges unions to become relevant ...as GTUC Triennial Conference gets underway In citing that Trade Unions are perhaps becoming a thing of the past, Chairman of Region 10, Sharma Solomon last evening urged that trade unions make themselves relevant. He was at the time delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony of the 4th Triennial Delegates Conference of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) which, under the theme ‘Empowering Citizens for Societal Development,’ will conclude on Thursday (October 31) with the election and installation of officers for the period 2013- 2016. Referring to a ‘Peeping Tom’ column filed in a May 2013 edition of the Kaieteur News, titled ‘The Trade Union Movement is on the Decline’ Solomon said that this only serves to underscore the fact that for many Guyanese workers, particularly the young, labour unions are a thing of the past. It was to this end that he pointed out that it is not that labour unions are not needed, but “it is that our unions are not making their presence felt.” He added that “in order for our unions to begin to empower Guyana’s workers, they must first empower themselves...each other, and thus show their strength...collectively, for in union there is strength.” In identifying what he believes is the fundamental problem, Solomon said that the average working person does n o t h a v e
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much power and input into the economic processes which determine the size of their paychecks. He told the small audience at the Critchlow Labour College that only Economic Democracy would change this, as the concept hinges on empowerment of working people. “Economic democracy means the working people gaining control over the economy at all levels and ensuring that economic processes serve their best interests, rather than the interests of a wealthy minority,” Solomon explained. He added that more specifically, economic democracy operates at two main levels, with the first being at the micro or company level, where workers gain greater control of the workplace and participate in management. He said that the second would be at the macro or societal level, where working people as citizens democratically allocate resources to achieve social goals. “(For example supporting specific industries, helping depressed communities, promoting, environmentallysafe practices) and also vetting investment decisions through region-level investment councils.” Solomon posited that “without strong unions, it would be difficult, if not impossible to build a more democratic economy, but
surely unions can become stronger if they take up the cause of economic democracy.” He believes that in so doing, labour unions will not only carry on the great tradition of defending and expanding workers’ rights, but would also gain a new purpose, one aimed at the transformation of the economy and its power structure. Additionally, Solomon maintains that in empowering citizens for societal development, the labour unions and workers cannot work in isolation, and therefore all stakeholders - workers, unions, employers, and Government, must sign a pact...”one which reflects an understanding of the constitutional rights of workers and promotes a harmonious working environment.” Solomon further noted that this pact must reflect a respect for the rights of workers , i n c l u d i n g t h e right to sign with a union of his/her choice, emphasizing that there must be a commitment on the part of Government to put Guyana and G u y anese first when welcoming foreign direct investment, especially as it relates to insisting that these companies observe international best practices. In closing, the Region 10 Chairman wished the participants of the congress a productive discourse.
the media that the Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh neglected to invite APNU’s Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge, to hammer out the framework on the 2014 budget. The Opposition Leader told reporters that there are many issues that need to be addressed, changed and ventilated during the ongoing budget preparations. Granger sought to explain that his party’s move to instigate budget cuts is driven by principles.
He affirmed that should there be no changes at NCN and GINA, as it relates to impartial media coverage, APNU’s axe will fall on allocations set aside for both agencies. The joint parliamentary opposition—APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC)— has been arguing that GINA and NCN only provide coverage for the ruling administration. Last year, the opposition called for the NCN board report on alleged fraud in the
organization as a prerequisite to grant the agency its budgetary allocation. Just as was the case last year, the allocations set aside this year for the National Communications Network (NCN) -$81,337,000 and Government Information Agency (GINA) – $135,858,000, were reduced to $1 each. However, the capital funding remained as provided for by the government with NCN having $65M and GINA $13M.
Teen rushed to hospital after... (From page 26) competition organized by the Berbice Cricket Board, for a place in the quarter finals. The main game was finished, with Baracara winning handsomely. Due to the early completion of the match, the youths of Baracara decided to engage in some friendly matches among themselves. Caesar, who was part of the Baracara support crew,was batting when he was accidently struck on the temple by a beamer delivered by one of the bowlers. The youngster collapsed
immediately, with blood gushing through his nose, sending his family and friends into a frenzy. He also started to vomit blood. He was picked up and rushed to the New Amsterdam hospital. An Xray showed that there was no fracture, but the brain was swollen. His condition started to deteriorate. He began to suffer bouts of dizziness and blackouts. Doctors contemplated immediate surgery. However it was decided to transfer the teen to the Georgetown hospital for more evaluation
and possible emergency intervention. At the Georgetown Hospital, it was decided that there was no need for emergency surgery and doctors managed to stabilize Caesar. According to his mother, Madonna Caesar, he cannot eat anything solid and cannot sit upright for the time, but she is thankful that he has been stabilized. She said that she cannot blame anyone since her son, who is studying plumbing, was injured by accident.
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Kaieteur News
VACANCY 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 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
Vacancy exists @ Survival Two guards for a marine Shopping Complex; 173 company; one manager for a Sheriff St – For cashiers & mining company. Attractive drivers. Apply with written salaries. Call 223-7165; 226- application & passport 8645; 223-5180 photograph – Contact:227One gardener; contact M. 5288-89 Vieira Houston Estate or call: Vacancy exists @ Survival 623-1202 Shopping Complex; 173 One bartender to work in Kitty Sheriff St – For IT Technician. with written area- Call:675-3061/610-8269 Apply application & passport One cook to work in Interior. photograph & CV – Salary $100,000- Call between Contact:227-5288-89 8am-6pm 664-5199 Operators: Apply in person to One handyboy to work in BM Enterprise Inc, Guyana Interior. Salary $80,000- Call Fisheries Limited Wharf, between 8am-6pm 664-5199 Houston, East Bank 2 Attractive waitresses @ Demerara – Tel:592-227-8176/ Mombo’s Barr, Kitty – 7 Call:622-7201 Chefs, cooks, waitress, Urgently upholsters, joiners, bartenders, cashiers – Apply spray painters ( Furniture) in writing: 89 Robb & Sts; handyman – Contact S. Oronque stlago7@yahoo.com Khan: 225-6810 Waitresses living within West 1 Female domestic worker Coast Demerara – Tel:660- $20,000 weekly – contact: 2230595 1248 Skilled experienced 1 Able body man to work on carpenters – Apply to farm $25,000 weekly – Alabama Trading Contact:223-0595 Georgetown, Ferry Stelling 1 Maid – must be good in Stabroek. Indian cooking & One maid must be able to experienced in housekeeping cook & clean; between the – Call:223-5451/227-4799 age 25-40yrs Telephone:6106168 One cook to prepare one meal a day. Call 223-7165; 6444284. Attractive salary offered One cleaner, living between Cove & John & Unity, 3 times a week: Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday – Call:623-3231 Office Clerk: CXC English/ Mathematics- Call:225-0188/ 225-6070 One domestic, live in & live out babysitter from 12pm8pm- Call:225-4492
SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 647-1773 LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & Sons Driving School , First Federation Building Call 225-4858, 6445166,622-2872,615-0964
VEHICLE FOR SALE One Skid Steer Thomas with Japanese Kabota Engine – Call:259-1370, 650-3447 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 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) 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 First Class Auto: Premio, Axio, Passo, Runx, Allex, IST, Fielder, Raum – Call:609-8188; 602-6307 Two Toyota Tacoma 2006 unregistered: 4wd $3.9M & 2wd $3.1M- Call:662-1396/ 678-0573 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 One Toyota RZ mini-bus BJJ series – Call:678-5887 3-Ton Canter excellent condition – Model M.Bush truck for interior – Tel:2318417; 231-6560; 231-1238; 6240443 One (1) – TATA Truck for sale, GEE 9962, price negotiable – Contact:6299286;219-2395
Wednesday October 30, 2013
VEHICLE FOR SALE 2007 Toyota BB, fully loaded, unregistered special price $2.350M – 617-2891 White 2008 Tacoma 4x4 lift kit, off road tyres. Excellent condition- Call:610-5370 Toyota Hilux, 2L Turbo – price $2.5M – Tel:609-3426
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 rooms, modern facilities, generator, beautiful landscape, gated community- Call:592-6248704/592-684-9203 Prime 2-storey concrete building 80x23, 6 bedrooms, 2 master bedrooms @ Leonora next to Primary School – call: 652-0709, 268-3572 Two storey building 172 Parafield Leonara WCD – Call:227-7675, 619-3503 One (1) 2- storey 5 bedrooms recently built house, $25M; Mon Repos E.C.D (Transported) – Tel:6179316,220-0818, 651-0744 111 Collinswood Avenue, Nandy Park, EBD – Contact:616-9775;687-0835 Agriculture Road: 2 Storey 3 bedrooms house; land 600x36Ft - $17.5M – Tel:6122522 Diamond -$6.5M, Kitty $30M, Alberttown - $33M, Queenstown – $23M, call Diana:227-2256; 626-9382 1 Unfinished concr ete house at Recht Door Zee W.B.D – Tel:643-4740 Road side business property – Tel:687-3017
1 Nissan – Cargo mini van PKK series, E24 Caravan – Tel:644-5096; 697-1453 1 Toyota Ipsum; fully powered; AC & music – Tel:223-6948; 642-4379 One AT192 PLL966 $1.1M; with DVD player – Tel:6399528 1 Toyota – Hilux Vigo pick up, AT212, AT192, AT170, Ceres, Caldina Wagon, Fun Cargo, IST, Tundra – Tel:644-5096; 697-1453
PENPAL Businessman in Trinidad seeks Guyanese woman for friendship & marriage between ages 30-40; email:ramphal mahadeo@live.com – Tel:0011-868-724-3155; 0011868-4681075
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
Honda welders; 270 amps – 15,000 watts generator – Tel:611-5114/220-4495
1 Potters wheel complete; price negotiable – Contact A.Etwaroo: 216-0683;6949862
Massey, Yanmar Ford 5000 Logging/ Agriculture Tractors, parts, Loader & Ford Truck- Call:615-1578/ 694-3595: Tools & Chainsaw-668-2831 Cheapest Online Vehicles!!! – Tel:626-2771 1- Caterpillar D5 Bulldozer and 1- Caterpillar engine 3406 Contact number 6500402
One circular sofa suite; one metal frame single spring bed; one toilet bowl set – Tel:6130836 1- 5705 John Deere tractor, 1Rome plough 20 dish, 1- 1630 Bedford truck articulated with 2 trailer- Call:693-4596 1 going sawmill with new equipment, customers, land space, ideal for exporting containers; side to Public Rd – Tel:624-8683 2 Ice machine, 1 smoothe machine, small fridges – Tel:231-0655, 683-8734.
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
Pre-painted and unpainted corrugated zinc sheets at affordable prices- Call Tel:2267054 Short fluffy pups, de-wormed & vaccinated - $10,000 – Call:220-4247 2- M132 Lavarda Combine, 122RB Dragline, 3- Pressure pump 4x3 for gold field, 12640MF tractor 4WD, 1385MF tractor- Call:627-0447
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 Need help making your business better – call:2643320
1 CAT standby 3306, 194 KVA 3 phase 60 cycle- Call:641-8472
Thick infestation yard spray – Tel:650-3327; 670-7206
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
Christmas cleaning: Power washing for homes & commercial buildings – Tel:648-1544
6 months pitbull pups – Tel: 650-3327; 670-7206 Sawmill Located at Linden Equipped with planner, ripsaw & one portable mill for more information – Call:687-6844/649-6837 Whole sale: Pluck Chicken – Tel:676-0931
Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves: Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick) Private driving tutorials; learn on your own pace & on your own time – Tel:6253265 HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000CALL:694-9843/227-2766 FOR HIRE One truck to transport goods into the interior for more info – contact:602-5755 (Continued on page 29)
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 29
Letters... Where your views make the news
WHEN BURNHAM AND JAGAN EXPLOITED RACE DEAR EDITOR, I read Mike Persaud’s letter, “Rashleigh Jackson needs to be more explicit,” (KN 10-29-13) in which he stated that I had said that Brig Granger possessed the values of Hindu Dieties. I have never said or written that. I have written that he had all the requiste qualities of a king or leader as prescribed by Vedic scriptures. I trust Mike will accept this correction. Other than that I agree with Mike’s views on the PPP and PNC power sharing farce and that Guyana needs democracy not shared governance or power sharing. As I read more of the Indelible Red Stain by Dr Mohan Ragbeer, I came to realize that our political strife was initiated when Jagan introduced confrontational politics in 1947, and Burnham stepped it up with mob politics in
1962 in their quest for personal power. They led us into racial hostilities and the parties they founded are still trapped in the aura of their egomania psychology. That is why the PNC has resisted efforts at reform by Winston Murray and Stanley Ming. Mike gave some advice on how the PNC can attract Indian votes. It is not the first time such advice is being given. Burnham himself had an Indian adviser in from 1957 to 1964. Dr Ragbeer in The Indelible Red Stain wrote of a Singh who served in the RAF in the Second World War with Barbados’s Errol Barrow who flew 45 bombing missions. After the war both men enrolled at the London School of Economics (LSE). At the LSE Singh also met Michael Manley of Jamaica, Pierre Trudeau of Canada, and
Lee Kwan Yu of Singapore. Singh met Burnham several times at meetings of the West Indian Students Union (WISU). They were billeted together in Paris at a World Youth Festival. Singh returned to Guyana in late 1956. He served behind the scenes as an economic and fiscal adviser to Jagan in 1957 but his budget guidelines were rejected as “too bourgeois.” Jagan severed ties with Singh and Burnham soon approached Singh. They established a secret arrangement whereby Burnham would consult with him on Indian matters, usually over a bottle of JB whisky. On one such occasion in 1962, after Burnham had drunk one third of a bottle, Singh told him that to win over Indian support he should accept Jagan’s offer to share power, support Jagan in
Rampant corruption in... From page 4 forward out of fear of victimization. Hence a possible method of finding out is by planting an undercover officer in the area and the culprits are bound to be caught.
I know for sure, though, that a Special Branch rank is being used as a strong arm for an influential businessman in the area. I know for sure that a GGMC officer was given a bribe by a dredge owner in exchange for
Some questions... From page 5 9. Did she commence building her home in Pradoville 2 before she got a transport? 10. What was the final construction cost of her opulent home in Pradoville 2? 11. Did she take a mortgage to build it, if so, how much mortgage, the date of the mortgage and which bank? 12. Did she ever get land from the Ministry of Housing before? 13. Is she proud that she has personally benefitted at the taxpayers’ expense from land in a prime residential area for a fraction of the development cost built and developed exclusively for special PPP people like her so she can acquire it cheaply and sell it off as a profit for
personal gain at a selling price that is probably several thousand percent higher than what she originally paid for? 14. Is she proud of the fact that her government through NICIL spent hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars to first remove NCN Tower then build up and develop Pradoville 2 into prime first class real estate exclusively for selected PPP officials like her so they can profit personally from it? I look forward to our upstanding Minister responding to these questions in the public interest since I am sure taxpayers will be happy to know the details of how their taxes are spent to enrich the fat cats in public office. K. Khan
the officer’s disregard for alleged infringements of the Mining Act. I will be in the area for a while and will be looking to see the response of those in authority especially in view of the recent pronouncements of the governing party on the issues of racism and corruption. Somehow I am not confident that anything will be done since I know of two Ministers of Government, one in the Local Government Ministry and the other in the Ministry of Agriculture who are downright bigoted, and I can tell them that to their faces. These men were elected to the Central Committee of their party. I also know of a former Regional Executive Officer, who was dismissed from his job in Region Six. He too was elected to the Central Executive Committee. If the government is serious about corruption and racism, these men have got to be purged; but then again, this in my opinion is asking too much of the leader of the party. Carl A. Parker (Snr) Regional Councillor Region Nine
Parliament but expose his antiIndian policies, call for more Indians in the Police and Public Service, propose policies to help rice and cane farmers, stop targeting Indians, call off the mobs, declare belief in peaceful struggle, openly acknowledge the religions and teachings of Indians especially the Bhagwat Gita. Burnham put his drink down and exclaimed, “Bhata what! Look we are not here to joke!” Singh explained that the Bhagwat Gita was a Holy Book for Hindus and that they tried to live by its principles. Burnham asked, “If I do the things you say how will it take me to get power,” and Singh replied, “One full term. Two at most.” Burnham retorted, “ Too long.” He calmly said, “Two years at most. Cheddi is too blind with ideology to see my trap. Besides he picked the wrong side in this Cold War.” Burnham also spoke of Jagan and Indians, “ Cheddi is promising government control of production and of the means of production, but they don’t know language enough to understand what he is saying. So they believe each will get free tools to do what they like with, instead of state ownership of everything, even their labour. That’s the mentality we are dealing with. Primitive. Almost bestial. We know it we exploit it; but the poor suckers don’t know it.” Malcolm Harripaul
(From page 28)
LAND FOR SALE 10 Acres land at Long Creek – Contact:699-3723 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 Citrus farm at Yarrowkabra with over 300 bearing trees and creek running through – Call Paul at:602-7740
FOR RENT PRIME BUSINESS SPOT LOCATED AT 251 THOMAS STREET LOTS OF LAND SPACE PLUS BUILDINGTHEREON.TEL: 683-4803. One three bedroom; preferably family – Call:2269659; 667-3124 Hairdressing salon; Rushelle – Tel:684-3384 Wedding dresses – Tel:6893910 V/Hoop Junction: Office, clinic, taxi service, salon, barber shop, internet, canteen, classes, day care/ school – Tel:680-9905
TO LET One- 3 bedroom upper flat apartment @ Industry, E.C.D - Call:613-4057 1 Room apartment at ‘B’ field Sophia- Call:661-3801 Furnished executive one or two bedroom suite in Diamond. Ideal for foreigners. Call: 609-2466. One semi furnished apartment to rent; preferably couple or single person – Tel:223-2742;225-7454;6128305 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 Paradise (furnished house) $38,000, Atlanic Gardens – US900, Kitty - $120,000 Call Diana:227-2256; 626-9382 Fully furnished Vacation home with all amenities- Call during working hours- 2271218 One bedroom house; Lusignan E.C.D – Tel:6629043 Apartment to let from 1st January – Call: 223-9725, after 4pm
2 bedroom apartment; fully grilled – Tel:671-8457 WANTED Labourers/ painters/ carpenters with own tools to work with limited supervision – Tel:225-6070 Hotel receptionist; Restaurant cook – age 25+ (shift systems) – Contact: 2236284 One male care taker between the age 25-35yrs; single or with family for a farm in Craig – Tel:654-1029 Snackette attendant, cook must have experienced in baking – Call: 223-9728, after 4pm. Worker wanted for restaurant and roti shop in Trinidad; accommodation provided. For more information contact – 0011-866-760-1426. Minibus driver for contract, living in Georgetown – Call:675-3093
Furnished short term/houses to rent – 687-3017; business place Carmichael St.
EDUCATIONAL CXC/CAPE classes for students and adults. Highly qualified teachers & CXC examiners – Call:683-3887
CAR RENTAL Premio, vitz call: 679-7139 Dolly’s Car Rental- Call: 2257126/ 226-3693dollysautorental@yahoo.com/ www.dollysautorental.com
Institute Academic Supremacy; East Street, 4 building before Balwant Singh Hospital – Forms 1-5, CXC, adults/classes – Call:226-8468, 690-5008
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
MASSAGE American Style massage services- Call:678-7499
Page 30
Kaieteur News
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Drama school lacks vital Aerosol containers likely resources - lecturer Beepat’s bond fire…
cause – Fire Chief Investigators of the Guyana Fire Service have strong suspicions that the fire which destroyed the bond of a city business and the home of four persons in Ogle two weeks ago was caused by “exploding aerosol containers”. According to Fire Chief Marlon Gentle, although the fire service is still conducting its investigation, there is a “strong belief” that the inferno was caused by aerosol containers which were not stored under the recommended room temperature. Gentle also told this publication that the fire service has ascertained that a fire which destroyed the home of eight persons including five children two weeks ago in La Parfaite Harmonie was caused by an exploding kerosene stove. Based on their investigation, Gentle said that one of the young occupants at home at the time of the fire had confessed that he and the other occupants were hungry and had decided to turn on the stove. “During our investigation the child said they were hungry so they lit the stove to go prepare something. After the fire we found knives and some other things they were cutting up with, so this confirmed our previous suspicious,” Gentle said. Gentle also confirmed that both fires in Castello Housing Scheme and Sisters Village, West Coast Demerara were set by an arsonist.
“We have all assurances that both these fires were deliberately set by someone,” Gentle said. On October 11, fire ripped through the bond of a city business and a two-storey house at Ogle, East Coast Demerara, leaving a family of four homeless and dozens of employees displaced. The bond belonging to Beepat’s Trading was completely razed as well as an adjacent house. A week later, fire destroyed the home of eight occupants who managed to save some of the appliances at their La Parfaite Harmonie home. According to Lorna Fraser-Robertson, the homeowner, around 17:00 hours she received a call from her daughter that their home was on fire. “I was in Georgetown to drop off something for my son who resides in the city but then while I was in Demico I got a call that my house was on fire. I travelled home and when I go up there I see me house in flames,” FraserRobertson said. At the time of the fire, Fraser-Robertson said that her three grandchildren were at home but luckily, were not harmed. “They were at home but they were outside because I locked the doors,” the woman said. Fraser-Robertson further explained that she and her daughters along with her grandchildren had been residing at the home for the past 10 years.
Meanwhile, on September 31, three persons were homeless after a fire which ripped through their onebedroom home at Lot 19 Good Intent, West Bank Demerara. The fire, which started about 01:00 hrs, quickly ravaged the one -flat building located in a yard with two other buildings. Luckily the fire only scorched one neighbouring building. Those left homeless as a result were Taemattie Neils, her husband, Leroy Dixon, and their daughter. Neils and her husband operate a fish shop just a few doors from their now burnt out home. According to information, the family was standing at the front of the yard when they heard a loud blast and within a few minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames. And a fire ravaged a twostorey house located in Castello Housing Scheme, West La Penitence recently, leaving a family of six homeless. According to neighbours, at around 15:00 hrs (3:00 pm), smoke was seen billowing from the middle section of the upper flat before the entire top flat became engulfed with intense flames. “I been sittin’ down over the corner with some boys and all I see is the black smoke in the air so we run over and go fuh go in the house fuh see if we could save anything, but the house start ketch quick because the top is wood,” an eyewitness said.
Students of the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama performing an extract from the play, “Ramilla”. The National School of Theatre Arts and Drama graduated its inaugural batch on Monday last, and one of the lecturers, Dr. Al Creighton, has highlighted that the programmes offered at the school are severely affected as the entity lacks vital resources - chief among which is trained lecturers. The school of drama was established under the ambit of the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport in 2012 and was officially launched on January 29, 2013. Classes began at the National Cultural Centre on February 11 with an initial enrollment of 26 students reading for the Diploma in Theatre Arts and Drama. The school offers a twoyear programme with certification at two levels - the Diploma in Theatre Arts; and at the higher level - the Diploma in Theatre Arts and Drama. This is the first time that a formal academic institution has been established locally to train and certify persons at the tertiary level in theatre arts and drama. Dr. Creighton in his report during the graduation ceremony said that of the 26 students, only 12 earned passing grades. “The School started with an initial enrollment of 26 students but only 12 successfully completed the programme. This represents a high rate of failure and a high dropout rate as 14 - or more than 50 percent -failed the courses, did not earn enough credits to graduate, dropped out in the middle of the Semester or officially withdrew from the programme.”
Creighton however pointed out that despite these odds, several of the students have been recruited as “mentors” in the public school system. “The students are equipped to assist the Ministry of Education in the secondary schools. These schools need trained persons to teach the CXC Theatre Arts and the School of Drama is poised to contribute to the register of persons who can teach this subject.” He also spoke to one of the biggest problems facing the school; the unavailability of properly trained persons to serve as lecturers on the programme. “Persons with formal training at the university level or a sufficiently high tertiary level are fairly rare within Guyana. This poses a problem for the school, which has to make use of experienced practitioners such as tutors and demonstrators to assist the lecturers in running the courses.” He added, “In the end, the school delivered, but the situation and the conditions were far less than ideal and it took a tremendous serving of commitment and goodwill on the part of those who saw it through to this final stage. Frankly, it has to be said that several crucial things and many vital resources that were necessary for the school and its programmes were not in place despite the fact that they were prerequisites. It is therefore, strongly recommended that these be corrected forthwith.” Supporting Creighton’s call for the development of the School was Dr. Hilary Brown,
Programme Manager for Culture, Youth and Development at CARICOM. Brown expressed that the School itself is evidence at the national level, that the commitments made by many CARICOM governments are becoming a reality as they have declared in their 2012 meetings that more emphasis should be placed on the development of cultural and creative industries within the country. But while this step can be applauded, Brown stressed that more can be done. “We now have a Regional Development Strategy for the development of the cultural industries in CARICOM member states, which was approved by the Ministers of Culture in 2012,”Brown said. “It calls for a number of important actions including improving and expanding infrastructure within training institutions for arts, education and for commercial presentation of the arts.” The programme manager urged those in attendance to take up the charge to establish sustainable national and regional associations of artistes to lobby the government and the private sector to support the enabling of the necessary infrastructure to ensure continued development of the arts. She stressed that it is important for the government and the private sector to work together towards achieving this, as the creative and cultural industries were identified by the CARICOM governments as a strategic choice for reinvigorating economic growth, employment and social cohesion.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 31
‘Picture boy’ trial... Home alone toddler rescued by welfare officials Investigating ranks testify as second hearing progresses
Social Workers of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) stepped in once again to ensure adequate care and protection for children when they rescued a toddler who was left alone in a Charlotte Street residence. According to Social Worker Pamela Heywood, at around 18:40 hours yesterday, the protection agency received a hotline report which indicated that a child, no older than three years old, was left alone in a house. The Social Worker said that the report came from a contractor who had visited the house to carry out works. The contractor, John Peters, informed Kaieteur News that when he arrived at the house he saw no one, but since his work was being done outside, he assumed that the occupants were inside. After completing his work and while he was leaving the premises, he opted to inform an occupant of his departure, however when he called out, there was no response. “I calling ‘inside, inside’, but when nobody ain’t answer I started checking the rooms. Then I discovered that there was no one there. I went to the back of the building where there was no back door and no back step and I saw the child in a room. He had a knife,” Peters said. The sight of the child, alone in the unkempt house, prompted him to immediately get in touch with the Child Protection Agency. According to the social worker, upon receiving the report she immediately acted by going down to the premises, only to meet up with the child’s grandfather. She said that the man, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol “was giving a whole lot of trouble” when she requested to enter the house; and as such she had no choice but to seek assistance from the police in order to gain entry so as to rescue the child. “When we got inside the house, the child was with a knife on the bed, he looked very hungry and he was crying. There were no lights; rats all over the place and dirty clothes all over,” the Social Worker recounted. This newspaper observed that apart from a urine-soaked pamper, the child was naked. Kaieteur News was also informed that the child would be heard “screaming” on a regular basis and it is neighbours who would feed him. She said that due to the “total squalor” under which the child was forced to exist,
Social Worker Pamela Heywood with the toddler who was rescued from the Charlotte Street home. She holds the knife that the child was playing with at the time of his rescue. the agency saw the need to rescue him immediately. This decision, however, did not meet well with the grandfather who lashed out at the social worker. “The grandfather was rowing all the time. He said nobody can take the child, Government don’t mind the child,” Heywood said. She added that the man told her that he “minds the child” with his pension. According to her, the
child was left in the care of his grandfather after his mother left to dwell in the interior. The social worker said that as of now, the child will be taken to one of the agency’s centres where he will be kept for the night and will be taken for a medical examination today. She said that after this is done, the agency will be working to find a suitable home for him.
CLARIFICATION The article on the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Biodiversity Assessment Team exploring Rupununi in our October 29 issue was incorrect in stating that the expedition was coordinated by National Geographic. The expedition was facilitated, coordinated and funded by the WWF-Guianas with the support of a number of local and international organisations. The team is conducting research on the rich biodiversity of the South Rupununi and the expedition is scheduled to end on November 7. Kaieteur News regrets any inconvenience this error may have caused.
Inspector Nolan Burnett and Detective Deputy Superintendent of Police Lyndon Lord were back in the witness box yesterday to give evidence in the second hearing of the doublemurder trial of Cyon Collier called ‘Picture Boy’. The matter is being heard at the High Court before Justice Navindra Singh. Burnett was the first witness of the day. He testified to being one of the investigating officers after the murder of Ray Walcott called ‘Sugar’ and Carl Andrews called ‘Alo’ which occurred on September 23, 2006, at Victoria Four Corner, East Coast Demerara. Burnett said he had collected evidence at the scene of the crime and had witnessed the post mortem conducted on the deceased. He said he had collected two spent shells from the scene of the crime and a warhead from the body of the deceased, before describing to the court what he had done with the evidence after collecting it, during its storage, and its subsequent upliftment for the purpose of the preliminary inquiry, previous and current court hearings. Burnett was led in his evidence-in-chief by Senior State Prosecutor Judith GildharieMursalin. Defence lawyer Lyndon Amsterdam in his cross examination, questioned the officer about his statement and sought to find out why he had not written in his statement what he had done with the evidence while in his possession. The policeman had explained what he did with the evidence, but said it was not written in his statement. Another witness returned to the stand for
further cross examination by the defence. Mohan Singh, a bus driver, had given evidence about his alleged encounter with Collier on the day of the shooting. He had testified that Collier had entered his bus and made certain statements to him. During yesterday’s hearing, Singh admitted that he could not read and after the defence lawyer asked Singh about certain words in his statement, he said he could not spell them. This came after the lawyer had highlighted that the statement reportedly given by the witness said that he had read the document before he signed it. Amsterdam pointed out that while the witness claimed that he could not read the statement, he said that he had read its contents. The Judge however asked his own questions about the witness’s abilities. Singh was later asked about his acquirement of his driver’s licence and after telling the court that he had done no written test to attain his driver’s licence, the court ordered that an investigation be launched into the manner in which Singh acquired the document. Lord was the next witness on the stand. He was at the time in charge of the Vigilance Police Station on the East Coast of Demerara. In his evidence-in-chief, he told the court what he did during Collier’s time at the police station and during the processing of the accused. Collier is accused of fatally shooting Walcott and Andrews who were brothers. This is the second hearing since the last court case saw the matter ending in a hung jury. The matter continues.
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Wednesday October 30, 2013
CCJ chides Court of Appeal over tardy decisions In at least two recent rulings of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), it would appear that the Guyana Court of Appeal has caused some setbacks in the smooth flow of the judicial system. Chancellor Justice Carl Singh at the ceremony of the Modernization of Justice System Project at the Duke Lodge on Monday last,
opined that the performance of judges in the High Court is ‘awfully inadequate’. He said that the hallmark of an efficient and effective judicial system is timely delivery of decisions by judges. The Chancellor expressed disappointment over the slothfulness at which High Court judges are conducting matters. It has however been
presented that in at least two cases where the Chancellor was the most senior on the panel, the Court of Appeal failed to deliver its ruling in a timely manner thus forcing the parties to seek special leave to take their issues to the CCJ. In the matter of Madanlall Mahamad and S&R Abdulla Cane Farming Inc., the CCJ on
$65M in contracts awarded for supply of material to forensic lab As the commissioning date for the much anticipated police forensic laboratory nears, the Ministry of Home Affairs has awarded contracts for the supply of photograph and forensic equipment for the Guyana Police Force.
Traffic advisory The Guyana Police Force is informing the general public that tomorrow Wednesday October 30, 2013, the East Bank Road between the Houston Bypass (Rahaman Turn) and Ramp Road, in the vicinity of Banks DIH Limited, will be closed to vehicular traffic from 09:00 hours to 22:00 hours. This traffic restriction is in order to facilitate an activity associated with the World Cup Football Trophy.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry informed that the laboratory is at an advanced stage of completion. Using the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) Process, the supplier, International Pharmaceutical Agency (Guy) Limited of Lot 22 ‘B’ Camp Street, Georgetown was awarded the contract to supply and deliver items to the Forensic Laboratory. These comprise small apparatus and glassware (150 items) in the sum of $39,616,509. The items include beakers, test tubes, pipettes and storage containers. The company will also supply the lab with chemicals, reagents, acids and solutions in the sum of $10,174,812, which will be used to perform daily analysis, testing and sampling. Additionally, the supplier, Pressy Enterprise of Cowan and Parade Streets, Kingston, Georgetown was awarded the contract in the sum of $15,024,000 for the procurement of photographic and forensic equipment.
July 22, 2013 made several rulings that highlighted where the Court of Appeal erred and thus caused a setback in the course of justice. Madanlall Mahamad had brought an action against the S&R. S& R later filed an action against Mahamad before Justice Rishi Persaud in the commercial court. Again S&R filed an action to amend the initial ruling of the High Court judge, and that was later done. On a subsequent date, Mahamad was granted by a single judge of the Court of Appeal, Justice B. S. Roy leave to appeal “out of time” against the orders of Justice Rishi Persaud. S&R Abdulla Cane Farming in response applied to the Full Bench of the Court of Appeal for an order reviewing the order of Justice Roy. On the hearing of that application, the Court of Appeal held that Justice Roy had erred in making the order since the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from an order made in chambers by Rishi Persaud. S&R then appealed to the CCJ for special leave to appeal the order of the Court of Appeal discharging the orders of Roy in both the first and second actions. The CCJ also outlined the basis for the application of special leave after outlining the principle issue. Among the issues touched on, the CCJ said in deciding whether to exercise its independent discretion to grant special leave, the Court is entitled to look at the reasons why the Court of Appeal declined to give leave to appeal. “Because the Court of Appeal clearly erred and set aside the order of Justice Roy, it is appropriate to grant special leave to appeal to correct an error of law and to
treat the hearing of this application as the hearing of the appeal.” In the case of Godfrey Andrews and Lester Moore where the CCJ ruled on July 23, 2013, it was said that the application is about the interpretation of rules of procedure designed to reduce the delays. The CCJ had to determine whether the case was in fact deserted in light of facts before the Court, but beyond the knowledge of the Court of Appeal. The Applicant, Godfrey Andrews, was said to be the titled owner of a property, while the Respondent Moore was also claiming the property. It was determined that Andrews was the rightful owner and Moore was the trespasser. However, Moore requested to appeal the matter, which was said to have been done within the stipulated time frame for an appeal to be made. It was however noted by the Court of Appeal that the matter was deserted at that time and documents showing that an appeal was made within the time frame were
omitted. The CCJ noted that the “13 and 14 of the Index of the Record of Appeal settled by the Registrar were inadvertently omitted from the Record of Appeal.” The Court of Appeal stated, “At the commencement of the hearing of this appeal, the Court sought the views of Counsel appearing for the parties on its observation that at the time the matter was adjudicated on in the High Court, it appeared that on interpretation of the provisions of Order 32 Rule 9, the matter seemed deserted and in the absence of a consent to or an approved application for a revivor, it was not competent for the Judge to proceed to a hearing of the matter.” While the two sides spoke on the documents relating to the appeal, the CCJ noted that the two documents relating to the request for appeal had to be submitted. The CCJ thus ruled that the application for special leave would be extended. Special leave to appeal the order of the Court of Appeal was also granted.
Guyanese killed in Trinidad after struck by out-of-control truck Trinidad -(Trinidad Express) – A Guyanese was killed in Trinidad over the weekend. Dead is Looknauth Balkissoon, 31. He had been living in Trinidad for the last nine years. Some of his relatives were at the Forensic Science Centre Monday said that around 10 p.m. on Friday, Balkissoon was standing at the side of the Las Lomas #1 Road when a threetonne truck slammed into three cars that had been parked at the side of the road but as the out-of-control driver continued, there was little time for Balkissoon to escape. As the truck ran into him he was thrown several feet into a drain. His relatives said that he suffered in agonising pain for five minutes following which he died. The truck driver in the meantime was described as being drunk. He was dragged out of the vehicle by villagers who according to relatives, “gave him a sound licking”, following which he was handed over to Chaguanas Police.
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Sparendaam plane crash…
Eccles biker’s execution…
Task Force completes probe, compiling report
Cops await advice on charges
The Task Force responsible for reviewing all aspects of licencing of operations for contracted foreign aircraft and making recommendations to improve the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has completed its duties and a draft report is being compiled. This is according to one of the Commissioners, Kit Nascimento, who represented the Aircraft Owners’ Association during an interview yesterday, when an update on the status of the Commission of Inquiry was sought. According to Nascimento, on June 1, he received a letter from the Permanent Secretary of Public Works Ministry inviting him to be a Commissioner on an Air Transport Task Force to specifically review all aspects of the licencing of operations for contracted foreign aircraft and making recommendations to improve the GCAA. The Task Force had two months to carry out its mandate and during that period many meetings were held. Not mentioning anything about the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry, Nascimento said the Task Force chaired by Hugh Denbow met with senior players in the aviation sector and senior personnel of the GCAA. Kaieteur News learnt that the Task Force was created owing to concerns raised by the Aircraft Owners’ Association after an American-registered aircraft crashed into a house at Sparendaam, killing the two persons on board. On April 18, members of the Association wrote to President Donald Ramotar about the accident, which occurred on April 13. They expressed serious concerns over the circumstances of the accident and the fact that air traffic in Guyana’s airspace has increased significantly. As such, they called for better oversight and safety regulation and a thorough independent investigation of the accident. The Civil Aviation Regulation provides for the President to appoint an Inspector of Accident and decide whether a Commission of Inquiry would be held publicly or private. Cabinet Secretary, Dr.
Kit Nascimento Roger Luncheon during an interview with this publication had said the Task Force has a series of Terms of Reference that allow them on the basis of Cabinet’s instructions to investigate precisely what happened. “Remember, GCAA has a statutory obligation to investigate all aviation accidents, but in addition to this statutory obligation, GCAA, the Cabinet, and stakeholders felt the need to have some aspects of the handling of this matter examined,” Dr. Luncheon said. He said Cabinet decided that the Task Force would include the GCAA, in an effort to specially examine the aircraft crash. However, Denbow said he was unaware of what Dr. Luncheon is speaking about since the Task Force which is chairing, is not investigating GCAA in relation to the crash. He said the Task Force is looking at the licencing aspect of foreign aircraft in Guyana’s airspace. Denbow contended if the Task Force were investigating the GCAA in relation to the crash it would involve a wide scope that would have to review many factors. According to Nascimento, “While the Terms of Reference are not specifically directed to the investigations of the accident they are wide enough to have allowed the Term of Reference to inquire into the circumstances leading up to the accident and circumstances which would have led to the accident and make appropriate recommendations.” He stated that GCAA was not part of the Task Force since it was the subject of inquiry.
When we pause and experience silence, we discover answers that activity does not have time to reveal. During your day, take three-minute “vacations”. Relax and re-energise. Take time out to feel the peace of silence.
Police were last night still awaiting word as to whether city businessman Rondy Jagdeo is to be charged in connection with the murder of Kirk Davis. Kaieteur News was told yesterday that investigators are optimistic that they have enough evidence to lay charges against the 28-yearold Alexander Village resident. However, police officials have declined to say what that evidence might be. While there are reports that at least two individuals saw the gunman kill Davis, it is unclear whether any of the eyewitnesses are assisting the police. Investigators have received information that one of the eyewitnesses is a woman who was accidentally shot in the foot after accompanying the gunman to the scene. However, Kaieteur News understands that the woman is overseas and is unlikely to give evidence in the matter. Police had said that she has refused to cooperate with them. Despite the arrest of the prime suspect, relatives of the slain biker said that they were not optimistic that justice will be served. “He (the suspect) has now come forward and said that he didn’t do it and that he feared for his life,” a close relative told Kaieteur News
- alleged female eyewitness overseas
MURDER SUSPECT: Rondy Jagdeo yesterday. “Who threatened him?” Jagdeo’s lawyer, attorney-at-law Roger Yearwood, alleged on Monday that his client had been receiving death threats and is concerned about his safety. Davis’ relatives also expressed concern that police did not inform them that Jagdeo had been detained. “They never contacted us to say they have him, and what the next step would be.” According to the relative, the family had tried to contact a senior police official after Davis was slain, but never got a response. The relative also complained that after Jagdeo’s arrest, he saw the suspect “standing in the yard
DEAD: Kirk Davis (at the Brickdam Police Station) like a normal person,” before being taken to some other location. Jagdeo, who was accompanied by attorneys Roger Yearwood and Mark Waldron, surrendered at the Ruimveldt Police Station around 15:00 hrs on Monday. Kaieteur News understands that Jagdeo denied any involvement in Davis’s death, which is said to have stemmed from a dispute over a woman. Police had issued a wanted bulletin for the suspect, while
checking on reports that he was in Suriname. The 31-year-old Davis, of Seventh Street, Eccles, East Bank Demerara, was riddled with bullets on Tuesday, September 5, outside his residence by a man who called him out of his home. There are reports that after the first bullets struck him, Davis tried to run back inside his house, but collapsed after more bullets struck him in the back. The gunman reportedly then stood over Davis and pumped several more bullets into the fallen man. In the end, Davis was shot at least 11 times. It was reportedly at that point that a woman who was with the gunman was accidentally shot. Police have received reports that Davis was the victim of a jealous husband, who reacted angrily to a text message that was sent to his wife. It is alleged that threats were also sent to Davis after he allegedly kissed the man’s spouse in a popular night club.
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Scotland breakaway vote a risk to national security, Britain says LONDON (Reuters) Britain’s national security could be weakened if Scotland votes to leave the United Kingdom next year, the British government said yesterday. An independent Scotland would also be less able to protect itself, a government report said. The intervention, part of the government’s campaign to keep Scotland inside the United Kingdom, feeds into an emotive debate which Britain’s three main parties think they are winning. Opinion polls suggest only a third of Scots back independence ahead of a vote on September 18, 2014. Prime Minister David Cameron’s ruling two-party coalition and the opposition Labour party strongly oppose Scottish independence and fear a “Yes” vote could dilute Britain’s global clout and imperil its Scotland-based nuclear deterrent. The report said it would take an independent Scotland a long time to
build up its own security i n f r a s t r u c t u r e a n d that would directly affect the security of what was left of the United Kingdom. It was also have only a fraction of Britain’s security budget at its disposal to do so. “In the meantime the risk would be of security levels diminishing to the detriment of both Scotland and the continuing UK,” said the report, presented by Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Wi t h o u t proper planning and investment, an independent Scotland would also be less able to protect Scotland against threats from everything from international terrorism to cyber attacks, it said, saying such a situation would “result in an increased risk to the Scottish people.” T h e “ Ye s S c o t l a n d ” campaign, led by the S cottish National P a r t y (SNP), wants independence to be a
reality by 2016 after next year’s referendum. It has tried to tap into an emotive cocktail of historical rivalry, opposing political tastes, and a perception that the British parliament in London does not nurture Scotland’s interests, but has so far struggled to boost its support. The SNP has argued that its pledge to remove Britain’s submarine-based nuclear arsenal from Scotland in the event of a “Yes” vote and its determination to ensure Scottish troops no longer take part in what it calls “illegal wars” would make it less of a target for terror attacks. But the report flatly rejected that contention, saying an independent Scotland would still face a wide range of risks. Nor would an independent Scotland be able to rely on Britain’s various intelligence and security agencies, the report said, saying it would have to create its own from scratch.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
NSA chief defends agency amid U.S. spy rift with Europe (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency defended his beleaguered organization yesterday, saying it acts within the law to stop militant attacks and calling reports that the NSA collected data on millions of phone calls in Europe false. Army General Keith Alexander, testifying with other U.S. spy chiefs before the House of Representatives Intelligence committee, sought to defuse a growing controversy over reports of NSA snooping on citizens and leaders of major U.S. allies. The hearing took place as Congress is weighing new legislative proposals that could limit some of the NSA’s more expansive electronic intelligence collection programs. “It is much more important for this country that we defend this nation and take the beatings than it is to give up a program that would result in this nation being attacked,” Alexander said, referring to criticism of his
agency. On Monday, that criticism broadened to include Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate’s intelligence panel and a long-time ally of U.S. spy agencies. The White House has moved to limit some NSA programs, including one that monitored the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Reuters reported on Tuesday that U.S. President Barack Obama has also curtailed NSA monitoring of United Nations headquarters in New York. But under sympathetic questioning from the committee chairman, Representative Mike Rogers, Alexander said reports of NSA spying in Europe were exaggerated. He called media reports in France, Spain and Italy that the NSA collected data on tens of millions of phone calls in those countries “completely false.” Some of the data referenced in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden
were collected not just by the NSA itself but was also “provided to NSA by foreign partners,” he said. “This is not information that we collected on European citizens. It represents information that we and our NATO allies have collected in defence of our countries and in support of military operations.” The U.S. intelligence officials also sought to turn the tables, saying that Europeans also spy on the United States. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper replied “absolutely” when Rogers asked him whether allies conducted espionage against the United States and its leaders. Rogers got into a heated debate with Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, an NSA critic, who questioned Clapper about whether the intelligence community thought eavesdropping on allied leaders was important enough to have informed the committee.
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EU makes new bid for deal on Syrian deputy PM Ukraine’s jailed Tymoshenko dismissed after U.S. talks KIEV (Reuters) European Union mediators resumed a push yesterday to secure the release of jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, with EU politicians warning time was running out before the signing of a landmark trade agreement next month.Russia, dismayed by the westward course of its former Soviet ally, gave vent to its anger again, charging Ukraine with being way behind in its payments for gas deliveries. Its words revived concerns of a new gas “war”. The agreements on association and free trade, to be signed at an EU-Ukraine summit on November 28, offer the former Soviet republic of 46 million people the chance of a historic shift west away from Russia. But signature hinges on the release of ex-prime minister Tymoshenko, a fierce opponent of President Viktor Yanukovich. She was jailed in 2011 for seven years for abuse of office after a trial which the EU says was political. Her case has become symbolic for the 28-member EU of what it calls “selective justice” in Ukraine, which it wants ended before the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Last week, EU ministers warned Yanukovich the clock
Yulia Tymoshenko was against him for reaching a deal that could ensure the signing. Irish politician Pat Cox and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who have shuttled in and out of Ukraine for more than a year and a half in an effort to nail down a deal, arrived in Kiev yesterday and met Andriy Klyuyev, a close aide of Yanukovich. A statement from Klyuyev’s office said only they had discussed preparations for the signing in Vilnius. The envoys are focusing attention on a compromise under which Tymoshenko, 52, can travel to EU member Germany to receive medical treatment for spinal problems.
Yanukovich has balked at granting her a pardon but says he will sign into law any draft from parliament which would allow her to take a break from prison and go abroad for treatment. Her supporters are still pressing for a “full amnesty” so she can be cleared of her jail sentence and free to return to politics one day. She said on Friday however she would accept any compromise agreeable to the two-man mediation mission. “We are determined to do everything we can to encourage the Ukrainian authorities to find the solution acceptable to all sides in Ukraine and acceptable to any host state in the European Union that would receive Mrs Tymoshenko for treatment if she’s released on humanitarian grounds,” Cox said in Lithuania on Monday. “This remains the core objective of our mission, and we are determined to do everything we can to make it succeed.” EU foreign ministers are due to give an assessment of Ukraine’s record at a meeting on November 18 and decide whether it has met the key criteria, including ending “selective justice”, to allow the signing to go ahead.
Canada scandal deepens as prime minister accused of cover-up OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian legislator at the heart of a spending scandal on Monday accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of being involved in a cover-up deal, deepening a crisis that has engulfed the Conservative government. Senator Mike Duffy made his allegations just days before a Calgary convention of the ruling Conservatives, who have lost support in the polls since the scandal broke in May and are now trailing the opposition Liberals. The crisis is the worst to hit the right-leaning government since Harper
came to power in early 2006 on a promise to boost accountability. Harper exercises strict control over the Conservatives - also known as the Tories - and such broad signs of division and dissent inside the party are unprecedented. Duffy made his allegations in the Senate chamber, where comments are subject to Parliamentary privilege and make him immune from prosecution. Duffy and two other senators - all appointed by Harper - face suspension without pay for allegedly charging too much in expenses. Duffy denies he did anything wrong but he
said agreed in February to repay C$90,000 ($86,000) in expenses after Harper told him to so on the grounds the affair was becoming a political embarrassment to the party’s core supporters. Duffy said he had been coached by the prime minister’s office to say he had taken out a loan to pay back the C$90,000. In fact, Harper’s chief of staff, Nigel Wright, wrote him a check to cover the amount. Referring to the aftermath of the February meeting, Duffy said: “So I’m back home ... after the Prime Minister’s decided we’re going to do this nefarious scheme”.
BEIRUT (Reuters) Syria’s deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, was dismissed yesterday for leaving the country and acting without government permission after meeting U.S. officials in Switzerland, state media said. The sacked minister is a member of what President Bashar al-Assad calls the “patriotic opposition” political parties that consider themselves rivals to the president but have not joined the 2-1/2-year revolt against his rule. “Jamil was dismissed because he left his center of work without prior permission and did not follow up on his duties ... Additionally, he undertook activities outside the nation without c o o r d i n a t i n g w i t h the government,” said a statement posted on Syria TV. U.S. and Middle East officials told Reuters that Jamil met the former American ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, on Saturday in Geneva. The two discussed the proposed “Geneva 2” talks
Qadri Jamil that aim to launch negotiations between Assad’s government and the rebel movement seeking his removal. “He saw Ford after meeting Russian officials in Moscow. The meeting was long but useless,” the Middle East official said, asking not to be named. “Jamil put forward what Ford apparently regarded as unworkable proposals regarding the Geneva talks.
He also unsuccessfully tried to win U.S. backing to including him on the opposition side in the Geneva talks,” he said. Syria’s conflict began as a peaceful protest movement against four decades of Assad family rule, but has degenerat e d i n t o a c i v i l war that has killed more than 100,000 people. The United States and Russia are keen to get peace talks started but the rebels want assurances that Assad will be removed, while Assad’s government rejects any preconditions over the deal. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said yesterday Syria would attend the planned peace talks but that it was up to Syrians to decide their political future and leadership. State television said Moualem made the remarks during a meeting with international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in D a m a s c u s , i n which he said Syrians also rejected “any form of foreign intervention”.
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Push for immigration action targets House Republicans
WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) U.S. businesses, religious leaders and other supporters of overhauling the nation’s immigration laws mounted a massive lobbying push yesterday to urge a reluctant House of Representatives to tackle the issue before the end of the year. More than 600 people from 40 states planned to meet one-on-one with lawmakers to encourage the House to act soon on a
top priority of labor groups, Latinos and businesses ranging from apple growers to software companies. Measures aimed at dealing with the estimated 11 million people who are in the United States illegally have broad support among Democrats and many Republicans in Congress. But Republicans who control the House face resistance from some grassroots conservatives who object to giving
millions of undocumented immigrants a potential pathway to U.S. citizenship, which those critics see as “amnesty.” The divisions between conservatives in the Tea Party movement and more pragmatic Republicans have been at the fore in recent weeks during a government shutdown that t a r n i s h e d t h e p a r t y ’s public support. As part of the new lobbying push on immigration, labor advocates planned to draw attention to their cause next month with a hunger strike by several activists on the National Mall. “The time is now. We need to deliver a message o f u rg e n c y, ” M a rg a r e t Mimms, the sheriff in Fresno County, California, told a crowd at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Tuesday. The issue has attracted a broad coalition that stretches across the usual U.S. political fault lines. Farmers and high-tech firms say they can’t find enough qualified workers under the existing quota system for immigrants, while Latinos and liberal groups are pressing for legal status for millions who are in the United States without authorization. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber and labor unions such as the AFL-CIO have set aside their usual differences to push for a broad overhaul of immigration laws.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
Turks and Caicos Islands former premier to be extradited Miami Herald - A former leader of the Turks and Caicos Islands, who is facing trial in the islands’ high court on corruption-related charges along with four of his exministers, is on his way back to the British-dependent territory after losing his bid to stay in Brazil. Brazil’s courts decided yesterday to honor the extradition request by the United Kingdom for former Premier Michael Misick, who has been the subject of an ongoing $11-million-a year probe by British investigators with help from the U.S. Department of Justice. “The decision of the Brazilian courts today to extradite Michael Misick is welcome as it is in the best interests of the TCI that allegations of wrongdoing are thoroughly investigated,” Turks and Caicos Attorney General Huw Shepheard said in a statement. “Michael Misick’s lawyers vigorously opposed his extradition, but after hearing arguments on both sides, the court was unanimous in its decision.” Misick was first arrested
Michael Misick Dec. 7 by Brazilian Federal Police on an international arrest warrant. On Jan. 28, Turks and Caicos prosecutors formally submitted documents requesting his extradition. Yesterday’s decision comes almost a year after Misick’s former party returned to power in the Turks and Caicos after the British suspended the constitution and fired the government. Retired British Judge Sir Robert Auld, heading the inquiry, concluded there was “a high probability of
systematic corruption and/or other serious dishonesty” in the Turks and Caicos. Auld also criticized the high-flying lifestyles of Misick and former government officials. Last month a judge in the Turks and Caicos high court set a July 7, 2014 trial date for 11 individuals, including four of Misick’s former government ministers. Investigators have combed through tens of thousands of pages of evidence as part of their case against Misick and the others. Among their findings: suspicious land deals, unpaid government bills and possible fraud, bribery and money laundering. Lawyers also have recovered $20 million in cash and 3,000 acres of illgotten land worth $100 million that is owned by the government. The islands are located 575 miles southeast of Miami and are a popular tourist spot with U.S. celebrities, several of whom own homes there. Shepheard said that arrangements will be made to return Misick to the Turks and Caicos as soon as possible.
Jamaica, T&T, Bahamas lead in improving Caribbean business climate WASHINGTON, United States - CMC – Jamaica, The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago are leading the Caribbean in improving the region’s business climate, according to a new World Bank report released yesterday. The Washington-based financial institution said the three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries took steps to improve their business regulatory environment over the past year. The World Bank said the ‘Doing Business’ report analyses regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycle, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes and resolving insolvency. The report titled ‘Doing Business 2014:
Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises’ finds that “Jamaica led the way in the Caribbean by adopting new legislation for private credit bureaus, reducing the corporate income tax rate and streamlining procedures for starting a new business”. It said the Bahamas reduced the cost of transferring property and improved its insolvency process, while Trinidad and Tobago is featured in a case study highlighting its efforts to lower the cost of connecting to the power supply. Port of Spain is also recognised for simplifying procedures for registering a new business. “It is encouraging to see countries in the Caribbean engaged in reforms aimed at reducing burdensome
regulations and building stronger legal institutions,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, director, Global Indicators and Analysis, World Bank Group. “Even after these achievements, however, more can be done to improve the quality of the rules underpinning the activities of the private sector, to ensure continued convergence toward the better practices seen elsewhere in the world,” he added. The report’s global annual ranking on the ease of doing business shows that Singapore has the most business-friendly regulations. Joining it on the list of the top 10 in the ranking are Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United States, Denmark, Malaysia, South Korea, Georgia, Norway and the United Kingdom.
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Overwhelming UN vote against US embargo of Cuba UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) - A record-equalling 188 countries yesterday condemned the five-decadeold US embargo against communist Cuba in an annual UN General Assembly vote that signalled hardening opposition to US sanctions. Only Israel joined the United States in opposing resolution, the smallest number ever. Last year two allies voted with the US government. Three Pacific island states normally close to the United States — Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau — abstained as the barrage of criticism of the embargo reached a new peak in the 22nd annual vote at the UN Assembly. China, Iran, which has launched a bid to thaw relations with the US administration, Latin American and African nations all publicly condemned the United States. “The US policy against Cuba is suffering from an absolute international isolation and discredit and lacks every ethical or legal
ground,” Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said. While the United States has eased travel restrictions on Cubans, Parrilla said: “Sanctions remain intact and are being fully implemented.” Cuba has lost more than $1.1 trillion dollars because of the embargo, according to the minister who told the meeting how the blockade prevents Cuba from getting heart and anti-AIDS drugs for children. The United States is being used as an “external scapegoat” for the island’s problems, a US diplomat, Ronald Godard, hit back in an address to the meeting. “Our sanctions policy toward Cuba is just one of the tools in our overall effort to urge respect for the civil and human rights” upheld by the UN, Godard said. He said that two billion dollars in remittances were sent to Cuba from the United States in 2012 and that the United States is the biggest foreign food supplier to the island. “The international community cannot in good conscience ignore the ease
and frequency with which the Cuban regime silences critics, disrupts peaceful assembly (and), impedes independent journalism,” Godard said in an appeal to other countries to oppose the resolution. The United States started imposing measures after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959 and nationalized US-owned properties. An official embargo was imposed in 1962. Envoys from around the world slammed US policy. Iran called off a diplomatic ceasefire with the United States to condemn the embargo as a “despicable practice.” The blockade “flouts international law,” said Iran’s deputy UN ambassador Hossein Dehghani. “The call of the international community is getting louder and louder, demanding that the US government change its policy toward Cuba,” China’s deputy UN ambassador Wang Min told the debate. Bolivia’s UN ambassador Sacha Llorenty Soliz said the embargo was “sullying the history of mankind” and finished his speech with the rallying cry: “Up with Cuba — dear Cuba!” European nations now
oppose the embargo because US legislation even punishes foreign firms that trade with Cuba. The United States last year eased restrictions on visas for Cubans. The Cuban government has also made travel easier for its nationals. Cubans have made more than 180,000 trips abroad this year, according to official figures. The US interests section in Havana granted 16,767 visas to Cubans in the first half of 2013, up nearly 80% over the same period in 2012. Esteban Morales, a Cuban intellectual and specialist on relations with the United States believes the increased travel could be a chink in the armor that could help “end” the embargo. But other experts say the measures are too timid. Mavis Anderson of the Latin America Working Group, a non government groups, said that the US administration would have to take a stronger step such as taking Cuba off its list of countries supporting terrorism if it wants better relations. “The international community believes that Cuba should not be there ,” said Anderson.
Argentina’s Supreme Court upholds controversial media law BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina’s Supreme Court yesterday upheld a controversial media law that government proponents applauded as an effort to reduce market concentration but opponents viewed as state meddling aimed at quieting dissent. The ruling, which will require media conglomerate Grupo Clarin to divest some of its units, comes as a relief for President Cristina Fernandez’s government only a few days after a setback in midterm elections. The government has championed the reform as the start of a new era of media diversity. A statement from the court said it had deemed four clauses that it was reviewing in the anti-monopoly broadcast law to be within the terms of the constitution. “A law that set limits a priori is legitimate because it favors freedom of speech by limiting market concentration,” the court’s ruling said. Clarin, the country’s biggest media group, has argued that the
law’s most controversial clause, Article 161, violates the constitution by forcing companies to sell off previously acquired radio, television or cable TV operating licences. The law has been tied up in Argentina’s courts for years. Fernandez, who is convalescing from an October 8 operation to remove blood that pooled on her brain, used to have harmonious ties with Grupo Clarin and its chief executive, Hector Magnetto. All that changed in 2008 when Clarin’s news outlets turned against her government over its handling of tax protests by farmers. The media conglomerate has resisted pressure from Fernandez to comply with the law, which would force it to divest dozens of operating licenses or have them auctioned by the state. Critics of the reform have accused Fernandez’s centerleft government of trying to stifle dissent and see the law as a thinly veiled attempt to punish Clarin and other powerful opposition voices.
Barbados looking towards investors for waste to energy projects BGIS - Government is having discussions with investors in the waste-toenergy area and Prime Minister Freundel Stuart is hopeful that these talks will translate into projects for Barbados. Mr. Stuart made this disclosure recently when Austria’s Ambassador to Barbados, Egrhard Mayer, paid him a courtesy call at Parliament. The Prime Minister said there were dividends to be gained from exploiting waste-toenergy and Mr. Mayer agreed, saying that his country was conducting preliminary studies on waste-to-energy projects. Mr. Stuart further
disclosed that within a few weeks he would be piloting a new Electric Light and Power Bill in Parliament. He pointed out that Barbados, like Austria, was concerned about clean energy and suggested that both countries could share the experiences they had garnered. During the wide-ranging discussions, the Prime Minister said he would like to see more Austrian tourists coming to Barbados and Ambassador Mayer expressed the view that with additional promotion, those numbers could improve, since the country was very beautiful.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
Pooranmall prevails as National draughts C/ships conclude Khemraj Pooranmall employed shrewd tactics and eventually emerged victorious when the Guyana Draughts Association (GDA) staged the Annual National Draughts Championships, the International Squares, at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, over the past weekend. For his efforts he won the P&P Insurance Trophy, while Steve Bacchus finished second and carted off the Berbice Bridge Inc trophy. Mark Braithwaite ended on similar points with Esan
Anderson but had to settle for the third place by dint of the tie break system. He won the trophy donated by Attorney-at-Law, Gentle Elias as well as a gift. The defending champion, Carlton Simon did not participate in the tournament. Earlier, Braithwaite triumphed in the ‘B’ Division while Anderson and Franklyn Thomas finished second and third respectively. They received trophies and other gifts donated by the National Sports Commission. Jairam also failed to
defend his title in the ‘A’ division and Pooranmall took advantage of the situation to emerge on top. Veteran player, Wilfred Robinson, finished in the second place while Carlton Simon benefited from the tie break system to close off the podium spots in front of Jairam. GDA President, Jairam is extending heartfelt gratitude to the corporate entities and individuals that contributed to the success of the tournament. These also include Courts (Guyana) Ltd, Brans Security Services and the Guyana Beverage Inc.
Wednesday October 30, 2013 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Your inbox is probably crammed with party invitations. There's no such thing as a simple RSVP for you. Every call to accept or decline results in a lengthy conversation as you catch up with relatives and old friends. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): The planetary energies today are emphasizing family. This may be a good time to do some research, delving more deeply into your roots. Have you picked your grandmother's brain about her mother and grandmother? ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Your hard work is finally paying off. You can expect to receive acknowledgement and advancement, along with a possible salary increase or substantial bonus. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): This is a day for good news, particularly regarding the home. It's likely that some positive changes are occurring or are about to occur. You may be considering a move or a major renovation. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): Good news from distant lands could have you feeling good about your life and eagerly anticipating the future. Your thinking is sharp and clear. This is a good day to make plans, particularly if they involve travel or education. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22): When you give your imagination free rein, you have a creative way of expressing yourself. Today you might feel like doing some public speaking or creative writing.
LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): Your mental acuity is high today. A recent innovation of yours could bring you some much-deserved recognition. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 Nov. 21): Today you'll feel inspired to express yourself in fun, creative ways. Don't be afraid to let loose with your wild sense of humor. You could play a prank on a friend that makes him or her laugh and creates good feelings. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21): Expect a visitor to put you in touch with people who could make a real difference in your life. Changes are manifesting more quickly than you realize. .********************* CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19): Today's celestial configuration may leave you feeling more spiritually inclined than usual. As your thoughts turn to more positive horizons, you'll be optimistic about your future and the future of humanity. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 Feb. 18):This is bound to be an interesting day as you meet some new people who have fascinating ideas about esoteric subjects. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): It's time to admit that your hectic lifestyle is catching up with you. Today you must start to get organized. Waiting until the last minute to take care of important tasks only causes anxiety. Make a list of everything you need to get done and prioritize it.
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Anticipation high as FIFA World Cup arrives in Guyana this morning The dreams of local footballers to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup football championships evaporated when Guyana’s premiere football team, the Golden Jaguars, despite their commendable efforts, failed to qualify after advancing up to the third round stage of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers. The hopes of Guyanese ball weavers to lay eyes, much less hands, on the prestigious accolade fizzed out like a damp squib but will be somewhat reignited when the ‘Holy
Grail’ arrives in Georgetown this morning following an extensive 267-day journey, covering 89 countries. The activity is coordinated by FIFA and Coca Cola and already 20 Caribbean countries have had the rare privilege of viewing the masterpiece, weighing 6.1kgs, of solid 18 carat gold. To this effect, the media corps will join President Donald Ramotar, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Dr. Frank Anthony, Brazil Ambassador Luis Gilberto Seixes de Andrade,
Opposition leader, David Granger and Guyana Football Federation President Christopher Matthias at the Cheddie Jagan International Airport, to herald the arrival of the trophy in Guyana at 09:00hrs this morning. Several of the top executives of Banks DIH Ltd will also comprise part of the entourage including CoManaging Director, George McDonald, Sales Marketing Executive, Carlton Joao and Communications Manager, Troy Peters. Shortly after the trophy arrives, there will be a press conference where several of the dignitaries will deliver short speeches. President Ramotar will also enjoy the special privilege of holding the trophy, a concession offered only to Heads of States in the respective visiting territories. Meanwhile, Mr. Peters explained that the event is a first for many countries, Guyana being no exception. He said that local footballers as well as coaches, administrative staff and other affiliates have been invited to experience the thrill and importance of viewing such a prestigious accolade. The Communications Manager further revealed that renowned footballer, Dwight Yorke, will be among the dignitaries arriving this morning. Meanwhile, activities were heightened yesterday morning at the Banks DIH Thirst Park headquarters as workmen worked tirelessly to transform the area around the Sports Club, where the trophy will be mounted for viewing, to an ambiance comparable with the occasion. He said that lots of work has been done to transform the venue and he is indeed happy with the weather. The trophy will be transported to Trinidad and Tobago for the next leg of the trip.
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Kaieteur News
CMRC November 24 Race Meet
Superbikers’ aiming to steal spotlight No one could deny that Superbike racing has made a strong resurgence over the past four years after a period that saw few riders demonstrating an eagerness to take to the track to compete in organised racing. Thanks to the bold initiatives taken by several past administrations of the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) the Superbike segment of the sport has now become a staple on the Programme of Race Meets and a feature that many fans enthusiastically look forward to. Come November 24 when Guyana host the final leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) there is no doubt that the local daredevils will once again be aiming to thrill the fans with their skill and daredevilry that has now been embraced by a vast majority of fans who will turn up at the South Dakota Circuit fro the final showdown in the Region’s premier motor racing Series. Guyana’s quest for regional supremacy will be spearheaded by Stephen ‘Valentino Rossi’ Vieira, who has represented this country with much success against his fellow counterparts from
the Caribbean. This country has a long history of producing racers of high quality and one just have to remember the likes of Lawrence Van Sertima, Johnny Thijs, Kevin Jeffrey, Terrence Clarke, just to name a few and Vieira has followed in their footsteps, dominating the Region for a couple of years now. Vieira as many would know learned a lot from the expertise of Canadian Kevin Graham in his early years which has helped him develop into a speed monster, becoming the most dominant rider on the regional circuit since and while he has not been at his best this year, his vast experience will definitely make him favourtite to regain the mantle of the best in the Caribbean. Then there is the in-form Joel Neblett, who many regard as a superb rider, but one who has not given justice to his immense talent until this year. Neblett currently leads the point’s race for the local riders and now seems to be enjoying the sport once again and he cannot be taken out of the equation when the argument as to who will most likely dominate the day is asked. After them, Maurice Menezes is the next rider with
some amount of regional exposure and he too possesses admirable talent, but so far has not been able to fulfill that gift. Could it be a breakout Meet for him on November 24, only time will tell if he has the fortitude to come out of the shadows of Vieira and Neblett. Carey Griffith and Ricardo Fagundes have been admirably consistent over the past year and a half showing gradual improvement all along and they too are expected to feature on race day so fans could expect keen and exciting rivalry. The younger brigade of Nikhil Seereram and Matthew Vieira are two of the most exciting riders that display skill and dexterity that belie their age and their raid improvement has not gone unnoticed and must be counted in the reckoning as having legitimate chances of upstaging their more established rivals. The Ministry of Tourism which has been on board for the past three years will once again partner the GMR&SC in an event that has evolved into a major sport tourism attraction. GT&T, Seaboard Marine, Valvoline, Banks Beer and Kings Jewellery World are the major sponsors for this event.
Anti-doping officials from Wada to start Jamaica drugs audit Officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have landed in Jamaica to carry out an audit of the country’s anti-doping programmes. WADA is meeting with Jamaica’s Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) after claims of gaps in their screening of athletes. A former JADCO official said there was only one out-ofcompetition test in the six months before the London Olympics. Jamaican athletes Asafa Powell, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Sherone Simpson all recently failed drug tests. The credibility of Jamaica’s anti-doping work has been called into question by ex-JADCO senior official Renee Anne Shirley. But athletics’ world governing body the IAAF subsequently said that the 19 Jamaican athletes in their registered pool of competitors were, on average, the most tested for any country in the lead up to the London Games. WADA’s officials will examine JADCO’s drug testing programme, staffing, governance and education programme, as
Asafa Powell well as current cases of adverse analytical findings against some of the country’s athletes. WADA was invited to conduct an audit of the antidoping programme by the Jamaican government, but JADCO initially said they could not accommodate the visit until 2014, leading officials from the world governing body to express their anger at the delay. Former world 100m record holder Powell, twice 200m Olympic champion CampbellBrown and London Games 4x100m relay silver medallist Simpson all failed drug tests and were left out of Jamaica’s
athletics team for the World Championships in August. Campbell-Brown has since been censured for a positive test for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, which is on WADA’s banned list as a masking agent, but escaped a ban. In a separate issue WADA claimed it is “very frustrated” with Kenyan authorities over their lack of progress in a doping investigation promised over a year ago. Kenya’s government and national track and Olympic organisations said they would appoint a task force to look at allegations of an emerging doping culture in Kenyan athletics but 12 months later, Wada has not been told whether the investigating team has even started work. WADA’s Africa office director Rodney Swigelaar said: “We are very frustrated, it’s more than a year now since we went there in October and even longer since the rumours started to spread and we have not been informed that this task team is in place.’’(BBC Sport)
Wednesday October 30, 2013
F&H Printing Est. Million Dollar Plus Country Wide Dominoes
Corporation Zones continues today; All Season Pick Up and Courts also on board The corporation zones in the F&H Printing Establishment Countrywide Dominoes Competition continues today at the F&H Venue – 90 John Street Campbellville, with semi finals and finals for Zone Five. Also sixth and seventh round matches are expected to commence involving teams such as CARICOM, NIS, Ming’s Product and Services, GPL and Banks. Corporations are asked to note that all remaining matches will be played at F&H every Wednesday and Friday, respectively, beginning this Wednesday, October 30, 2013 at 18:00hrs. The organisers are encouraging teams to register early since there are only three weeks remaining, with a cutoff date of November 13. Teams must therefore register to play no later than November 7, 2013. Last Friday, the semifinals and final of Zone Four were completed at the F & H Printing Establishment. In the semi-finals Caribbean Container Inc. acquired 81 games with All Season Pick Up marking 73 games and one of the Guyana Police Force teams in the cellar with 64 games. R. Wray, S. Ragoonauth and K. Parsram made 17, 16 and 15 games, respectively, for Caribbean Container Inc. D. Bennett and F. Seaforth of All Season Pick Up contributed 17 and 15 games respectively, while GPF highest score of 14
Raymond Ali (left) of All Seasons Racing Service handing over the winner’s trophy to Hazim Hakh of F&H Printing Establishment. All Seasons Racing Service also sponsored the 2nd and 3rd place Trophies. games was made by P. Howard. The love birds were, Caribbean Container Inc. (B. David and K. Dudnauth), All Season Pick Up (M. Persaud) and Guyana Police Force’ G. Calder and C. Phillips. The final was then contested among All Season Pick-Up, Mayor & City Council and Caribbean Container Inc. Mayor & City Council won outright with 81 games followed by All Season Pick-Up on 75 games and Container Inc. in the cellar with 73 games. C. Cadogan and S. Paul of M&CC made 15 and 14 games respectively while M. Persaud of All Season Pick Up made 16 games and B. David of Caribbean Container Inc., 16 games. He was supported by S. Ragoonauth and K. Dudnauth with 14 games each. Qualifying teams both
from the Corporations and external zones already making it to the playoffs at the Mandela Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, November 15th, 16th and 17th, 2013 are Gangster, Mix-Up, Republic Bank, KTS, Guyana Gold Fields, Ministry of Health, Phantom, Providence Sports Club, C7, Delta Force, Assassins, Scramblers, Mayor & City Council and All Season Pick Up. Sixty (60) teams are expected to make the playoffs. Meanwhile, All Season Pick Up has decided to sponsor all trophies for the tournament, while Courts is expected to sponsor the jerseys for the playoff segment. The sponsors would like to express their appreciation for the support, since this augurs well for the sustainability for the event.
Sepp Blatter’s apology to Real Madrid FIFA President Sepp Blatter has written a letter of apology to Real Madrid President Florentino Perez over comments mocking Cristiano Ronaldo. Madrid reacted angrily after Blatter made a joke at Ronaldo’s expense while addressing the Oxford Union on Friday. Asked to compare the Madrid player with Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, Blatter said: “One has more expenses for the hairdresser than the other.” Blatter explained to Perez he had meant the comment as an “amusing” aside. In his letter, the FIFA President added that he has “huge respect” for the former Manchester United forward. He has also apologised for any offence that may have been caused. Earlier on Tuesday, Real Madrid said Blatter’s comments lacked respect and that they were seeking a
retraction. Ronaldo has since taken to his Facebook page to express his anger, writing: “This shows clearly the respect and consideration that FIFA has for me, for my club and my country.” Madrid Coach Carlo Ancelotti had backed Perez’s earlier demand for an apology from Blatter. “I’m completely in agreement with our president,” said Ancelotti. “He’s sent a letter to FIFA asking to retract what I consider to be a lack of respect to a very professional player.” Ancelotti said he had not spoken to Ronaldo about Blatter ’s comments but confirmed the Portuguese star “trained very well today, as always”. “He’s shown every day that he’s a great player, serious and professional, respectful to everyone and he has to continue like that,”
Sepp Blatter added the Italian Manager. Ronaldo and Barcelona star Messi are both on the 23man shortlist for FIFA’s Ballon d’Or award, with the winner to be unveiled on 13 January in Zurich. Messi has won the award for the past four years, with Ronaldo finishing runner-up to the Argentine in 2009, 2011 and 2012. (BBC Sport)
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 41
Letter to the Sports Editor
The changing state of football sponsorship – A Georgetown review DEAR EDITOR, Undoubtedly, beverage giants Banks DIH Limited over the last few decades have remained the single largest and longest sponsor of football, in Georgetown dating back from the 1970’s – 80’s with the Demico League (Division 1) being the b e n e f i c i a r y. A n d t h e standard of football at that time was higher than what i s o b t a i n e d p r e s e n t l y. Additionally, the crowds and club support was larger at GFC, while it must also be taken into serious consideration that the level of administration was by far superior and more efficient than what is obtained today. H o w e v e r, when sponsorship of the Demico League had ceased, the late Kenneth DeAbreu, who was in charge of the entire Demico House Complex, still committed sponsorship to football. The Demico House Under 16 K.O. Challenge Cup along with the Demico House Pee-Wee (under -12) K.O were the two youth competitions, coordinated
and organized under the auspices of the then Georgetown Football League. The former competition in the 80’s was a learning experience for me, since my position at the time was a Divisional Representative. Editor, strange as it may sound, Divisional Councils was an extended arm of the Executive, which also had its own Secretary, which I later graduated to. While each Vice president, functioned as a Divisional Chairman. Credence must also be given to Demico House for its sponsorship of the GFL Club Leadership Training Seminar #1&2, that as a participant in 1986, apart from receiving a Certificate, the knowledge acquired was tremendous towards shaping my administrative capabilities. When the Pee-Wee came on board I was elected as the Asst. Secretary/ Tr e a s u r e r, a n d s p e n t 8 years as the Coordinator for the 1 day Knockout Competition. Gregory “Jackie Chan” Richardson, who became the first Guyanese to play in the Major League Soccer
(MLS) was a product of the Pee-Wee Competition, and was also voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP), in one instance. His former coach, Gordon “Ultimate Warrior” Braithwaite can be credited as the most successful coach (of the then YSM Deacon). The Coco-Cola Inter-School K.O under the auspices of a previous GFF administration can be construed as a dismal failure, since it was never decentralized properly. And the only difference under the NSC was participation by more schools, but nevertheless it went into oblivion. The Annual Kashif & Shanghai K.O, which was in receipt of sponsorship for 19 years, from Banks DIH, possibly the longest period ever, (re) presented “the changing state of football sponsorship”! Wherein, volume sales of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, presumably outstrips the sponsorship. This also was applicable to the Annual Mayor’s Cup K.O to some extent, in addition to the Guinness Greatest in the Streets Round-Robin/K.O
and the year-end GFA Banks Beer K.O. The latter 2 tournaments within its phase of advertising offered the accredited alcoholic beverages at “rock bottom prices” which cannot be matched by Carib and Mackeson! While this remains a good marketing strategy, from all indications however, the sponsorship dollar is definitively not reflective in the development of the sport! “With the level of any sport, being determined by the level of administration in place”! Hence it comes as no surprise that youth football is affected, since at the nursery level gate receipts would be absent; non-advertising and non-sales of beverages! Nevertheless I am recommending a meaningful approach to the giant sponsor(s) entailing: 30% of the profits are reinvested into youth football, along with a similar amount from gate receipts can go a far way towards development. This in no way should deter approaches being made to other potential sponsors, outlining the mileage that
Men’s shortlists for FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013 revealed Four days after announcing the names of the candidates for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year and the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football for 2013 awards, FIFA and France Football have today revealed the names for the men’s awards. The candidates for the FIFA Ballon d’Or and for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football awards have been unveiled. The final decisions will be made by the captains and head coaches of the men’s national teams as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football. The winners of all of the awards will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d’Or as part of a televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus on January 13, 2014, during which the FIFA FIFPro World XI, the FIFA Puskás Award – for the most beautiful goal of the year – the FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented. The list of 23 male candidates has been drawn
Lionel Messi up by football experts from the FIFA Football Committee and by a group of experts from France Football. The list of ten coaches has been drawn up by the Committee for Women’s Football and FIFA Women’s World Cup and by the FIFA Football Committee, as well as by a group of experts from France Football. In early December 2013, FIFA and France Football will announce the names of the three men and three women, as well as the three coaches for women’s football and three coaches for men’s football, who have received the most votes (without unveiling the winners).
The three nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award and the FIFA FIFPro World XI shortlist for the best forwards, goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders will also be unveiled in early December. Men’s shortlists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013 The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013: Gareth Bale (Wales), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimoviæ (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Luis Suárez (Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Brazil), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands),
Xavi (Spain). The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order, first nationality and then team) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football 2013: Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/ Paris Saint-Germain FC/Real Madrid CF), Rafael Benítez (Spain/Chelsea FC/SSC Napoli), Antonio Conte (Italy/ Juventus), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United FC former coach), Jupp Heynckes (Germany/FC Bayern München former coach), Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), José Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid CF/ Chelsea FC), Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil/Brazil national team), Arsène Wenger (France/Arsenal FC). The official FIFA Ballon d’Or Facebook page has also been launched: w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / FIFABallonDor To discuss who YOU think should win this year’s prizes on Twitter, use the hashtag #BallondOr (FIFA.com)
would be offered in both the electronic and print media, in pre and post match write-ups. In addition to allowing a few hundred youths over a protracted period of time to train with their respective clubs, ahead of participating in a competition, while eliminating the infiltration of negative attributes at the community level. By the way has anyone ever attempted to ascertain sponsorship inclusive of prize monies amounting to $30M for a 1 day horse-race meet,
as against a 4 month League, with by far less prize monies, and far more publicity? And why is it 1 footballer is not being used as an advertising agent for an energy drink from Banks DIH? At the end of the day can the Banks Beer K.O year end competition be reflective of development, along with attracting potential scouts from foreign clubs, in pursuit of players securing contracts? Unlike what has occurred with the Annual K & S knock-out. Lester Sealey.
Cape Verde appeal to CAS over World Cup expulsion (Reuters) - Cape Verde have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the FIFA ruling which resulted in them being kicked out of the World Cup qualifying competition. The Lausanne-based tribunal said on Tuesday (yesterday) it had registered the protest, although it could not yet give a date for the hearing and decision. Cape Verde, who beat Tunisia 2-0 away to finish top of African Group B, forfeited the match after FIFA ruled that defender Fernando Varela had been ineligible to play. Tunisia were awarded a 3-0 win which put them top of the group and into the playoff
round in Cape Verde’s place. The Tunisians have already played the first leg of their playoff, drawing 0-0 at home to Cameroon last month. Varela was banned for four matches after being sent off in an earlier Group B game against Equatorial Guinea, which Cape Verde lost 4-3. That result itself was overturned, and the game awarded to Cape Verde 3-0, after FIFA ruled that Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue, who scored a hat-trick, was not eligible to play. Cape Verde argued that the red card and subsequent ban should not have counted as the match had been declared void.
Colts, Ravens clash ... From page 45 Crawford gained some important points from second chances. They took advantage of some erratic defensive plays from Jets that committed several unforced turnovers in vital parts of the game. Joseph and Shane Webster each got 10 points while Allister Webster scored nine and
Amaniki Archibald seven in a losing effort. The tournament continues tonight with Half Mile Bulls playing Wismar Pistons at 7:30pm and Kings taking on Bankers Trust Falcons in the feature game. Meanwhile, in Georgetown, Ravens will play Colts in the other game involving Georgetown teams.
Defending champs... From page 45 Fraser and Kendall have offered the right support. Colts’ swingman, Dave Causway has led the team with immense experience and skill, turning an old empire into an innovative running unit. Ravens loss earlier this year prompted Sereah Clarke to admit that his team may be in a slump. For Ravens, guard/forward, Akeem Kanhai, Ryan Gullen and Dominic Vincente will try to offer some resistance to a team that believes they are the best in Georgetown, however flawed that belief may be. Nets will play Pepsi sonics in the first game tonight.
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Kaieteur News
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Rubel six-for sinks New Zealand
Rubel Hossain’s six-wicket haul, including a hat-trick, turned the first ODI on its head, helping Bangladesh win by 43 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis method. The visitors were starting to get away with the game despite a steep target after the 105-minute rain break, needing 124 off the remaining 13 overs, but Rubel’s spell marked the turning point. The last time Rubel faced New Zealand in Mirpur, he took four wickets including the last one of Kyle Mills that sealed the 4-0 series win. This time, he took the wickets of Corey Anderson, Brendon McCullum and James Neesham in consecutive balls in his third over, and later added two more to become only the second Bangladeshi, after Mashrafe Mortaza, to take six wickets in an ODI. New Zealand’s target was revised from the original 266 to 206 in 33 overs after heavy rain forced a long interruption 20 overs into the chase. New Zealand were behind on D/L at that stage and had there been no further play, Bangladesh would have won. Play resumed, but the visitors failed to grab
Rubel Hossain finished with 6 for 26
their second chance. New Zealand’s chase lost momentum from the promising position after rain, when they needed 86 off 60 balls before Rubel started his third over. They smashed 38 runs off the three overs immediately after the rain break, having been set a stiff total to chase.
The game changed in the 24th over. Anderson had smashed four sixes and three fours till that point and hence posed a threat to Bangladesh’s chances. But he tried one too many slogs, and was bowled by Rubel off the third ball of the over. McCullum got a ball that took off on him as he advanced on
Jamaica are CFU U-20 Women’s Champs - it was a title we set out to win, says coach Gilbert Following eight pulsating days of intense play in 16 matches and some good quality sporting excitement, Jamaica captured the Caribbean Football Union Women’s Under-20 title by beating Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 in the final at the Anthony Spaulding Sport Complex on Sunday night. Fittingly, Khadija Shaw, who was voted the most valuable player of the tournament, scored in minute 13. It was her sixth goal in the tournament and was good enough to land the gambit and gave Jamaica a welldeserved victory. Apart from some good individual play from amongst the other seven teams, none outshone Jamaica in performance. The Dominican Republic looked the team with the best network and they and Cuba reached the last four with both playing for third position with the Dominican Republic edging Cuba 2-1 in their final game, which was the curtain-raiser for the CFU final. The principal focus of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago coming to the tournament from the out start was to qualify for the bigger CONCACAF tournament and by virtue of contesting the Caribbean Football Union Final, will now advance to the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championships to
the front foot, taking a leading edge that was taken easily at point by the substitute Shamsur Rahman. Rubel had taken a hattrick in a domestic one-day competition only last month but oddly, it escaped his attention. This time, he had the 25,000-plus crowd to remind him. He bowled a short one down the leg side and Neesham tried to flick it away. Mushfiqur Rahim took an excellent catch diving to his right, and once the umpire Enamul Haque was convinced, Rubel wildly celebrated with his team-mates, among whom was Sohag Gazi who took a Test hattrick earlier this month in Chittagong. Rubel became the third Bangladeshi to take a ODI hat-trick, after Shahadat Hossain (2006) andAbdur Razzak (2010), both against Zimbabwe. He added the wicket of Nathan McCullum in his fifth over to claim his maiden fivewicket haul. He claimed his sixth when Mortaza took a superb running catch in the 30th overs and the game ended at that point, because Kane Williamson, who had injured his hand while fielding, did not come out to bat. New Zealand made a poor start to their 266-run chase. Hamish Rutherford tried to hit
Gazi down the ground, but missed and was bowled in the fourth over. Grant Elliott was promoted in place of the injured Williamson, but he didn’t force matters. In the 11th over, debutant Anton Devcich missed a heave across the line to Mahmudullah, to be clean bowled like Rutherford. Ross Taylor started off luckily, under-edging one past the wicketkeeper’s left-hand and one past the first slip in the same over off Mortaza. He became Rubel’s first victim when he tried to cut close to his body but ended up edging to Mushfiqur. The other side of the rain break belonged to Bangladesh. Earlier, Mushfiqur and Naeem Islam took hold of a situation that had all the makings of a typical Bangladesh collapse, when they were struggling at 25 for 3. Naeem’s dour start, alongside Mushfiqur’s flair, guided the home side out of trouble, as they added 154. Mushfiqur brought out a range of shots, from his favoured slogsweep to the spinners to the more conventional cuts and drives. He played the upper-cut on a few occasions and also pushed the singles, especially when
Naeem got stuck early in his innings. Naeem took 17 balls to get off the mark, but slowly started finding the gaps. Naeem got to 50 off 75 balls, while Mushfiqur reached his halfcentury off 53 balls. Mushfiqur continued to be aggressive towards the latter part of his innings, but fell in the second over of the batting Powerplay, edging Neesham’s off-cutter to the wicketkeeper for 90 off 97 balls. Naeem too fell to the same bowler for 84 off 115 balls, trying to hoick a slower one but edging it to the wicketkeeper. Before that, Naeem added 51 for the sixth wicket with Mahmudullah, which was crucial because Bangladesh’s usual finisher, Nasir Hossain, was out in the same over as Mushfiqur, the 37th. The New Zealand bowlers held things back in the last ten overs, conceding just 62 runs. They took four wickets in the last five overs after Naeem fell in the 45th over, with Neesham ending with four wickets. In the end, rain and Rubel came in their way. Scores: Bangladesh 265 (Mushfiqur 90, Naeem 84, Neesham 4-42, Southee 3-34) beat New Zealand 162 (Elliott 71, Anderson 46, Rubel 6-26) by 43 runs (D/L method)
Hamilton gets his hands dirty as Mercedes driver visits under-privileged kids in India
be hosted in the Cayman Islands on January 9 through 19, 2014. Eight teams from across the region will then vie for the three available spots in the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup to be held in Canada later that year in July, with Canada as hosts as fourth team qualifier. “It was a title we set out to win and although we played mostly in patches the young ladies must be commend highly for a job well done,” Coach Xavier Gilbert said. His counterpart Izler Brown had nothing but high praises for her Soca Princesses. “We created enough chances that could have given us a different
result. But our main aim was to reach this stage. We did it with only our local players and that is s p e a k i n g volumes for our women’s football. We can now look forward for much improvement in our play in January when we will have the services of our overseasbased players. But for now we did a great job and the girls should be highly commended for doing a decent job to get us where we are now.” To bring the curtains down on the CFU leg of the journey, individuals and teams were specially recognised for their talent, and for the way they played the beautiful game. (Jamaica observer)
Open book: The British driver, who finished sixth on Sunday, described the reading statistics as ‘shocking’ Lewis Hamilton took time out of his hectic Formula One schedule to visit a number of India’s under-privileged children following Sunday’s grand prix. The Mercedes driver, who finished sixth in the race at the Buddh International Circuit, spent time in Kolkata on Monday, meeting a number of kids affected by poverty. Working on behalf of Save the Children, who are highlighting the damning statistic that a third of children around the world cannot read, Hamilton said: ‘It was heart-breaking to speak to children who are desperate
to learn, but are either too poor, or too far away from the nearest school to get a decent education. ‘No child should be consigned to a life of labour – every child should have the chance to learn. It’s shocking in this day and age, to think that some children have never touched a book. ‘It is inspiring to see how Save the Children’s work helps children, but much more needs to be done in India, and across the world. We need to make sure every child has an education to raise them out of poverty.’ The F1 circus arrives in Abu Dhabi this weekend with
Hamilton’s team Mercedes challenging for second place in the constructors’ championship. The fight for the drivers’ race was settled on Sunday after Sebastian Vettel claimed his sixth victory on the spin, and with it, his fourth consecutive Formula One title. It is an incredible achievement for such a young individual,’ said Hamilton. ‘He is in a class of his own, and he is on his way to becoming the greatest driver in F1, if he is not already. ‘Big congratulations, I’m really happy for him.’ (Mail Online)
Wednesday October 30, 2013
Kaieteur News
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DCB/Raj Singh Insurance Brokers Over-40 Competition bowls off today The Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) Over-40 20Overs competition sponsored Raj Singh Insurance Brokers and Trophy Stall commences today with four matches. A release from the DCB informed that despite the threatening weather, the competition will commence as scheduled, but if a match is rained out, points will be awarded in accordance with the playing conditions. This competition has being reintroduced after a long gap and has attracted immense interest from the four constituted areas in Demerara. Several former national players have been selected to participate and have been distributed quite evenly among the eight teams. Each constituted area will be represented by two teams, giving the Contest eight teams, making it extremely competitive. It is expected that a strong Demerara team will be selected to oppose their counterparts from the other Counties at a later date. The DCB is reminding team captains and managers that they have to submit their match reports no later than 72 hours after the completion of the match. Failure to do so will result in a penalty of one point being deducted from their team.
Umpires named for first two Rounds Teams West Coast Demerara Seals: Krishnchand Mangal (Captain), Rabindranauth Seeram, Asgarally Nazarali, Nigel Viera, Dhanpaul, Muniram Persaud, Lloyd Harper, Mukesh Persaud, Mohamed Willie, Abdul Zaman, Marlon Blacks, Asthon Headley, Manniram, Mook Persaud, Ashraf Ali, and Sean Mckay. West Bank Demerara Mavericks: Terry Daniels (Captain), Abdul S. Samad, Anand Sanasie, Steve Harripaul, Shaun Persaud, Emran Sullivan, Haimadan Panday, Eon Williams, Harmanand Singh, Danraj Bipath, Randolph Shivrattan, Inwajeet Etwaroo, Arnold Shamshudeen, Abid Hanniff, Shaheed Khan, Deoram Persaud, and Shameer Imran. The Manager is Omar Hussain. Upper East Coast Tigers: Sheik Mohamed (Captain), Naim Chand, Jacob Persaud, Mark Malone, Anil Persaud, Sunil Dyal, Ronald Goolnar, Desmond Butts, Deonarine Chatura, Anthony Carto, Jagdesh Persaud, Bridgelall Heeralall, Gangaram Ramraj, Nandram Budhram, Nandalall Khan, and Kenneth De Freitas. Manager is Patrick Singh.
Lower East Coast Bulls: Samaroo Jailall (Player/ Manager), Clifton Anderson, Jeffrey Ramgopaul, Rockey Ramgopaul (Captain), Chandrashekar Jeenarine, Charlie Outar, Nazir Baksh, Chathram Gagadin, David Singh, Azad Mohamed, Raymond Karim, Rohan Lance Persaud, Baldeo Persaud, Vicky Bipta, Kassim Khan, Steve Hookum, Zamaladeen Khan, Ronald Jagmohan, Seeraj Bhimsain, V. Gobin, Seemangal Yadram, Latchman Yadram, Chatapaul Singh. Upper East Bank Colts: Raymond Jaisingh, Daniel Singh, Calvin Singh, Sudesh Latchman, Lancelot Easton, George Niles, Mark Grenville, Roy Mahadeo, Rohan Sarjoo (Captain), Vijay Ramgobin, Otis George, Owen Grannum, Steve Waldron, Kenneth Debidial, Sanjeev Datadin(Player/ Manager) Latchman Singh. Lower East Bank Lions: Johnny Azeez (Captain), Basil Persaud, Ronald Jaisingh, Clement Archer, Sewnarine Kallicharan, Rudy Jairam ( Player/Manager), Nigel Bissu, Ramautar Bissoon, Roy Persaud, Dennis Mangru, Rafiq Alli, Sahadeo Hardeo, Latchman Persaud, Rakesh Gangaram, and Deonarine Debidial. Georgetown Buffaloes:
Alfred Mentore (Captain), Sherlock Atwell (player/ manager), Lynden Lyght, Gladwin Brandis, Edward
New Amsterdam Town Week T10 cricket
Keith Fraser hammers Memorex
in Canefield upset win A brutal display of power hitting by Berbice all-rounder Keith Frazer helped his team Canefield upset favourites Memorex by five wickets with one ball to spare in a thrilling and controversial final of the New Amsterdam Town Week four-team one-day knockout Ten10 softball cricket competition, played on Thursday last under lights at the All Saints Scott Church ground, Princess Elizabeth Road, New Amsterdam. In the final played between two of Berbice’ top softball teams, Fraser, who plays at the senior Inter County level, was a one man demolition force belting the bowling attack to all parts in and out of the ground, plundering sixes and fours at will in a whirlwind unbeaten 84 (8x6 8x4). Batting first, favourites Memorex scored a formidable 149 for 5 from their allotted10
overs; Waheed Edwards 38, Vishal Phillips 26 not out and Roy Jafferally 25 were the principal scorers. Canefield had to restart their innings after being 32-3 in pursuit of the Memorex score when it was discovered that Memorex had 12 players on the field. That was just after the fall of Fraser’s wicket when they batted the first time. After a lengthy delay, Canefield was offered an additional 43 runs by Memorex which would have taken the score to 72 but Canefield refused the offer. A decision was then taken to restart the innings. Canefield’s strategy was to get the pugnacious Fraser back at the crease. The decision paid off as the West Berbician, who entered the fray at number three proceeded to hammer the bowlers to all parts of the small ground. Fraser and
Joshua Diaram (16) added 102 for the third wicket in quick time. Memorex kept themselves in the game by keeping Fraser off strike while taking wickets at regular intervals. However, try as they may they could not keep the ruthless Fraser out of the action for long and with 11to get off the final over, Fraser was able to get back on strike and took his side home with one ball to spare. The losers did not help their cause, conceding 32 extras, the second highest score. Earlier, Canefield who came into the tournament as underdogs defeated the formidable Universal DVD in a thrilling encounter, squeezing home by one wicket with one delivery to spare. Batting first Universal DVD reached 115 for 8 off their 10 overs; in reply Canefield reached 116 for nine
Burnette, Andre Legall, Fitzroy Colley, Barat Mangru, Linden Wilson, Anthony Rigby, Curt C a e s a r , Reginald Rodrigues, Linden Gilbert, Troy Halley and Gavin Nedd. Georgetown Bears: C a r l o s R e i d ( c a ptain), Vijay Gangaram, Surendra Heralall, Manoj Lall, Y. A Persaud, Mohamed Najar, Orin Bailey, Caramchand Rambarran, Rajesh Singh, Rudolph Chapman, Riaz Hussain, Feroze Khan, Denis Mangru, Omar Persaud, David Harper and
Nazimul Drepaul (Player/ Manager). Players can be added to the team list during the preliminary rounds but no player would be allowed to participate in the Semifinals and finals if they did not play in the preliminaries. All matches will begin at 13:00 hours. Each Round will see four ma t c h e s playing at different venues. T h e fixtures inclusive of the Umpires for the first two rounds are as follows;
GSSC beat Maria’s Pleasure by 28 runs in Mac T20 comp. Keith Fraser off 9.5 overs. In the other game, Memorex whipped No. 19 All Star by 113 runs. Memorex took first strike, blasting their way to 173-5 in their 10 overs. In reponse Number 19 All Star was sent packing for 60 in seven overs. For their winning effort, Canefield received the GT&T trophy and $20,000, Keith Fraser was named man-ofthe-match. (S. Whyte)
Good Success Sports Club (GSSC) defeated Maria’s Pleasure by 28 runs in the final preliminary round game of the Mac T20 cricket competition on Sunday last at the Wa k e n a a m C o m m u n i t y Centre ground. Batting first after winning the toss, GSSC made 119-8 in 20 overs; Vickram Ramnarine top scoring with 27 while Imran Khan and Alex Hill chipped in with 23 and 18 respectively. Off spinner Kennard Lewis claimed 3-
19 and Ryan Gordon 2-20. Maria’s Pleasure were bowled out for 91 in 20 overs in reply. Leorayan Ramlakhan smashed four sixes in a top score of 40 from 15 balls; Ramnarine showed his all-round prowess with 3-13, Khan picked up 2-17 and Chandrika Ragnauth 2-26. The competition continues on Sunday with GSSC facing Noitgedacht and Sans Souci battling Sans Souci Jaguars in the semi final games at the said venue.
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Kaieteur News
Rain wins 1st ODI as match abandoned Port of Spain, Trinidad West Indies Women and England Women were left frustrated as a rainy day in Trinidad forced the 1st One Day International between both teams to be abandoned, yesterday. The rain greeted the players at the ground, inevitably forcing a delayed start. Between, the scheduled start of 9am ECT and the eventual start time of 2pm ECT, there were two rare moments of hope. The rain poured constantly but for two brief periods when the
groundsmen were allowed to work on the pitch. After lunch, a lengthy period of sun shone some hope on the match. It dried the Queen’s Park Oval surface quickly, and allowed the groundsmen to comfortably go about their jobs. By that time, the umpires had a chance to the match going. It was decided that each side would bat a minimum of 23 overs. Merissa Aguilleira won the toss and elected to field first. As the match started at 2pm, the Windies Women got
off to a good start. Treyamaine Smartt’s first two overs cost just four runs. Subina Munroe at the other end conceded one run from her one over. But after the third over, the dark grey clouds that hung above burst down. It was a heavy shower that sent the players scampering off and the groundstaff scampering on. Without a doubt, the day was over. It was made official at 2:25pm ECT that the match was abandoned. The 2nd One Day International is on Friday.
Chandrika guides Enterprise to successive wins Opener Rajendra Chandrika slammed successive centuries as Enterprise Busta Sports Club recorded consecutive victories in two feature 30 overs matches played last weekend. On Saturday at Enterprise, the host defeated St. Cuthbert’s Mission by 113 runs. Enterprise batted first and posted 229-4 off their allotted overs. Chandrika stroked 108 and got support from Arif Habib 65 and Rohan Mangal 26 not out. The visitors were bowled out for 96 in 23 overs in reply with
Brian Ferreira scoring 42. Afzal Mohamed claimed 3-8 and Zaheer Mohamed 2-17 for the winners. On Sunday at the same venue, Enterprise overcame La Bonne Intention (LBI) A by 189 runs. The home team took first strike and rattled up 252-2 in 30 overs. Chandrika cracked an unbeaten 117 while Habib supported with 63 and Mohamed 55 not out. M. Veerasammy took 2-41. LBI were routed for 63 in 23 overs in response. Mohamed returned to capture 3-8 while Kamesh Yadram snared 3-11 and B. Samaroo 2-8.
Rajendra Chandrika
President applauds amazing Women BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – President of the WICB Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron has showered praise on the West Indies Women’s Team following their capture of the Women’s T20 International Tri Series in Barbados, and has also applauded the large number of spectators who came out to see the recent Women’s T20 International Tri Series. West Indies beat England by eight wickets at Kensington Oval on Saturday night, in the Grand Final watched by a crowd of approximately 4,000. Stafanie Taylor won the Player of the Match Award while Deandra Dottin took the Virgin Atlantic Player of the Series Award. Speaking on behalf of the WICB and the cricket-loving public of the Caribbean, Cameron said: “It was an amazing performance in front of a packed 3Ws Stand. I spoke to the players the night before and I told them to make us proud and that is exactly what they did. It was a champion performance from our women.” He added: “It was the way they went about the game that was particularly pleasing. The effort and the passion reminded you of what West Indies cricket is all about. We will continue to support the women’s game and
WICB President Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron hands over the winning trophy to Captain, Merissa Aguilleira. I want to encourage them to do the same as they move in to Trinidad for the three ODIs against England at the Queen’s Park Oval.” As part of its commitment to women’s cricket the WICB produced and broadcast all seven matches in the Tri Series. It was the first time a women’s series in the region was aired live on television. “The well-put-together coverage attracted large viewership and we will continue to look at other ways of bringing
the women’s game to the supporters who continue to be impressed with the style of play and dedication of our girls.” Cameron said, as a result, there had been growth in the team’s fan base. “It was heartening to see how the crowds came out and cheered on the teams. We saw fans from England, we saw New Zealand fans joining the West Indies fans as they enjoyed some very entertaining matches and a fantastic tournament,” he added.
Wednesday October 30, 2013
NAMILCO/Bakewell T20 KO
Guytrac Upper Corentyne & RHT Gizmos & Gadgets advance The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/NAMILCO/ Bakewell Twenty20 cricket tournament bowled off on Saturday last with Guytrac Upper Corentyne and Rose H a l l To w n G i z m o s & Gadgets recording victories to advance to the next round. Playing at the No. 69 Ground in the first match of a double header, Guytrac Upper Corentyne defeated Edinburgh by 17 runs while Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets crushed Skeldon by 68 runs. Guytrac Upper Corentyne batting first after the match was reduced to fifteen overs due to extra moisture in the pitch, raced to twenty without loss in the third over before opener Farazz Mohamed was bowled by Deonarine Seepersaud for 19 (4x4). Next out was Neeam Yacoob at 40 for 2 after Seepersaud trapped him LBW for 8 in the fifth o v e r. Permashwar Chatterpaul 21 and Satruhan Singh 14 batted well as Upper Corentyne was dismissed for 115 off the last ball of their allotted fifteen overs. Shafiq Khan took 3 for 21, Raid Ally 3 for 23 and Deonarine Seepersaud 2 for 14. Needing to score 116 in 15 overs to record an upset victory, Edinburgh lost opener Shawn Baksh caught off the bowling of L. Latchman for 12. Shafiq Khan and Raid Ally then added 30 for next wicket before Khan was dismissed by O. Khemraj for 15 and Ally for 12. Geraish De Gees (27) with two massive sixes and a boundary was the only other batsman to reach double figure as left arm s p i n n e r N e e a m Ya c o o b
spun webs around the Edinburgh batsmen to claim 5 for 12 and was well supported by Latchman who took 2 for 15 off his three overs. In the second match, Rose Hall Town Gismos & Gadgets won the toss and without hesitation batted first watched by a large and colourful crowd. Openers Dominique Rikhi and Clinton Pestano blasted their way to 53 runs off 5.2 overs before Rikhi was stumped off the bowling of former Guyana Under-15 offspinner Parmanand Narine for a well played 31 (6x4). Renwick Batson was bowled by Narine for 01 at 60 for 2 in the 7th over. Pestano and West Indies ODI batsman Royston Crandon added 26 for the 3rd wicket in four overs before Pestano was brilliantly caught on the deep mid wicket boundary by Narine off the bowling of Deon Esau for 33 (4x4 1x6). Crandon then played a captain’s knock of 68 not o u t a s R o s e H a l l To w n Gizmos & Gadgets blasted their way to 179 for 6 off their allotted 20 overs. Jason Sinclair and Rajiv Ivan supported Crandon with 15 runs each. Crandon blasted three boundaries and five massive sixes including three off successive balls from off spinner Sherwin Murray in the 19th over which cost 22 runs. Parmanand Narine with 3 for 27 was the leading bowler for Skeldon. In reply, Skeldon were restricted 111 for 5 off 20 overs as the Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets bowlers kept them under control throughout the
i n n i n g s . O p e n e r s Ry a n Ramdass was dismissed for 02 in the first over by pacer Clinton Pestano at 4 for 6. Viendra Gooniah and Colin France then laboured to add 23 from six overs as Pestano and fellow pacer Keon Sinclair bowled with genuine pace. France was caught at the wicket off Sinclair for 10 (16 balls) at 27 for 2 and then Parmanand Narine 01 was well caught by Dominique Rikhi off Pestano as Skeldon found themselves 32 for 3. Skipper Sherwin Murray was then bowled by veteran left arm spinner Ravi Narine for nought at 44 for 5. Darshanand Chantar then struggled for 08 off 15 balls before off spinner Khemraj Mahadeo bowled him at 55 for 5 in the 13th over. Opener Gooniah and Gajendra Nauth then batted out the overs as Skeldon ended on 111 for 5 to lose by 68 runs. Both Gooniah (43 balls) and Nauth (28 balls) ended on 40 not out with Gooniah hitting four boundaries and Nauth three boundaries and two sixes. Pestano took two wickets for 16 runs while Narine 1 for 9, Mahadeo 1 for 8 and Sinclair 1 for 16 were the other wicket takers for Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets. Guytrac Upper Corentyne has advanced to the quarterfinals where they will play the winner of Bermine vs Port Mourant match. Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets are into the semifinals after drawing the bye in the next round. The winner of this tournament will pocket $200,000 and a trophy and the runner up $100,000.
SCI to honour players during GSC 3 Softball Cricket International (SCI) which is based in the United States will honor a number of past and present outstanding players during the Guyana Softball Cup 3 which is scheduled to be played in Guyana from November 8 -10. New York All Stars are the defending champions in the Open category having defeated Trophy Stall of Guyana in last year’s final while Guyana’s Savage XI overcame New York’s Legend in the over 45 division at Everest Cricket Club.
A release from the SCI stated that the New York Softball League (NYSL) will once again be represented by All Stars and Legend and expressed many thanks to the Guyana Floodlight Softball Cricket Association (GFSCL) for affording their teams the opportunity to play cricket in Guyana once again. “As defending champions of the premiere competition we wish to signal our intention to successfully defend the Cup as well as to add the Over-45 trophy to our collection. However, while it
is our expressed desire to win both categories our principal mission is to entertain the cricket loving fans of Guyana, “New York Style”. Parallel to that we anxiously look forward to bonding with our “brothers and sisters “in the Land of Many Waters”, the release stated. The SCL wishes to congratulate the GFSCL for organising this wonderful competition and indicated that this tournament is top priority on their cricket agenda.