Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
Gunmen stick up ‘bush truck’, escape with raw gold Bandits in a car escaped with some $1M in raw gold after holding up the occupants of a truck near the Soesdyke junction at around 17:00 hrs yesterday. Police sources said that the occupants of the truck had come from Linden with goods and had reached the Soesdyke Junction, near the East Bank Demerara Public Road, when a car blocked their path. Four men then
emerged, held the driver and another man at gunpoint and relieved them of about $1M in raw gold. The robbers then drove off in the direction of Georgetown. A senior police source said that two men are being questioned. The attack came at a time when there appears to be a resurgence of robberies and other serious crimes.
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Brian Tiwarie says Minister Benn getting personal - Shipping of stone will increase when orders are made
Intruder torches couple’s car A Princes Street, Lodge, family is now concerned for their safety after an unknown intruder sneaked into their yard early yesterday morning, during a heavy downpour, and set their Toyota Premio alight. Sherwin Fraser and his wife were sound asleep around 04:40 hrs, when their car alarm went off. The couple then heard the persistent blowing of a car’s horn and looked outside to see a taxi driver standing outside their home and shouting that their car was on fire. Mr. Fraser then ran outside and put out the flames but by then, the vehicle was badly scorched.
Some of the electrical wires had been burnt, rendering the vehicle inoperable. The couple said that the taxi driver alleged that he had seen a man running out of their yard and then saw the burning car. An empty bottle that had contained fuel and matches were found nearby. A baffled Fraser, who holds a senior position at a city establishment, said that he has no idea who the arsonist could be, since he has no problems with anyone. However, his wife suggested that someone who is envious of the family could be behind the incident. The matter has been reported to the police.
A mini health check is the first step to donating blood
“Robeson Benn is a director on Rahman’s quarry, Rahaman has two quarries and he is only working one. But he gave him two licence; we have the capacity in any area; we don’t say it, we do it. Anybody who brings a cheque or money for stone and they don’t get it can bring the press and then everyone will know.” These sentiments were made by Managing Director of BK International, Brian Tiwarie, as he carried media operatives on a tour of the stone quarry in Essequibo, yesterday. Insinuating that Minister Benn’s attack on him seems personal, Tiwarie said, “Robeson Benn would never allow me to walk an excavator on the public road, but he would allow someone else to walk with a bulldozer or an excavator on the Supenaam Stelling just to damage it.” Underscoring that Government claims to have done a survey that shows there is a shortage, Tiwarie said that these document and claims have not been sent to quarries. “We don’t know what’s the government demand; they have not shared any documents but we
are saying if that is the case we can step up production.” He explained that over $50M in credit was given out to contractors and “when they take credit from you they buy cash from Toolsie. When they taking credit from Toolsie they go buy from another quarry, because they keep climbing their overdraft all the time.” As such, a hold has been put on issuing credit for stone, with a requirement for payment being made on delivery of materials. Tiwarie said that if Government decides to import stone, and the local market is soft, he has an export order of 50,000 tonnes for Trinidad that was requested by a Brazilian company and he will begin to export immediate if necessary. He noted that as soon as the government ship comes in with stones his will be going out. Omar Persaud who is a Geologist attached to B.K International, said that if demand is created the quarry can increase production at anytime. “It is not business smart or economical to subject the machines and personnel to triple production
and produce a stockpile which cannot be sold.” He added that if there is an increase, the machines are ready to produce a variety of stone, however, there are no requests at the company with any orders relating to stone supply. “We made applications to the GGMC to expand our quarry license, and our intention is to put in place smaller mobile machines and other permanent large plots and to expand our foreign productions,” Persaud said. Manager of the Quarry, Dayanjae Persaud said per day a minimum of 280 tonnes of aggregates are produced per hour and it is broken down into various sizes. He said materials are stocked piled. “The company has the capacity to produce to meet demand since the quarry has more barges and ships to shuttle materials on a large scale.” “We cannot stockpile it because we have the difficulty with
overloading the wharf. So if the movement of the material increases at the Kingston headquarters, then the shipping will also increase.” According to Ms Gail Tiwarie, Sales and Marketing Director of BK Quarries Inc, for the past week there has been no outstanding order and the company can supply any volume on demand. “We ask that the Public Works Ministry to supply us with forecast and projection with what the demand is for a quarter so that production can be tailored towards the quota in order to supply demand.” “We have local and foreign contractors that we supply and our quality has been tested by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards.” “The Minister cannot be talking about B.K Quarries when he said that he didn’t see a stockpile. Our company is very active with production and distribution.”
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KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210
Editorial
CRIME AND INTELLIGENCE The official police reports show that the number of armed robberies, especially with the use of guns, has continued its upward march, with a 10 per cent jump over last year. And we have not completed the year as yet. But last year’s figures were themselves reflective of an increase of 16 per cent over 2011. However, in the face of citizens’ outrage at the last week’s spurt of robbery under arms that included two murders, the Commissioner of Police advised that we should “not hit the panic button”. The Commissioner is out of line to make such a suggestion since the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has not acted in a manner over the past years to engender a more measured reaction by the citizenry. As crime in all categories has risen, especially in the “serious crime” category that subsumes robbery under arms, and the Police appearing completely clueless, the question is what button should the GPF hit? The GPF is not an institution that has just begun operating: it has been around for 171 years. That is a long time to accumulate an institutional memory on how to solve crimes like robbery under arms in a population that has remained more or less constant for the last fifty years. For this type of crime it is not a secret that the police have always gone after the criminals even before they execute the robberies. The police did this by cultivating good contacts (“informants”, if you will) in the community in which the criminals live. The same technique is relied on after the fact. Beginning in the 1980’s in the metropolitan countries, the Community Policing (CP) model emerged out of the recognition that the community had been involved in the problem that emerged out of its malfunctioning. While the CP model was resource intensive and led to problems in coordination between the regular police and the community police, it was supposed to improve the information gathering capabilities of the force. In Guyana this model was imported at the beginning of the millennium. From all indications it does not appear that the extra eyes and ears in the communities have helped the Police. In fact the GPF seems to have even abandoned its long tradition of information gathering. This is rather ironic in view of the fact that in Britain, the model of much of our policing techniques and tactics, and the source of the Community Policing innovation, the latter has been supplemented by what is now defined as “intelligence led policing” (ILP). We believe the GPF should consider its adoption since it is actually driven by new resources that would be additional to the present manpower. The process begins with information on crime and other deviant sociological behaviour that is collected not only from police informants and being fed to a department of analysts. This raw data is sorted and reformulated to discern trends and patterns of criminal activity both geographically and chronologically. The analyst in a word, turns the raw data into “intelligence” in which a visual map is created that can be used by police officers in the field to better deploy their resources. Police officers should still cultivate their sources but with ILP they become more focused and are less likely to be “played” since they already have information on the probability of criminal behaviour. The focus of ILP is on prolific offenders which are just what Guyana needs since the information suggests that, overall, most crimes are committed by repeat offenders. We know that at present, the GPF is implementing a modernisation strategy. We believe this initiative must be supported but it should be modified to include ILP techniques. As in the metropolitan countries, other intelligence gathering units should also share their information with the ILP analysts. In Guyana, we have learnt to our cost that what might now be random criminal behaviour can quickly morph or be moulded to take on a broader and more insidious role against even the state. To stop the citizens from hitting the “panic button”, the Commissioner of Police should hit the “reset button” on intelligence gathering.
Sunday September 15, 2013
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IS HUGHES FORGIVEN? DEAR EDITOR, Since the revelation that Vernon Griffith, foreman of the jury that acquitted the two accused in the Lusignan massacre trial was a client of Mr. Nigel Hughes, Chairman of the AFC for six continuous years, and that both Hughes and Mr. Griffith failed to disclose this fact to the trial judge, the AFC have failed to make any clear and unambiguous public statement on this fact. It has deliberately chosen to remain silent hoping that it will go away. This deliberate failure on the part of the AFC
to make an unambiguous public statement suggests either of both of two things. One, the AFC has brushed aside the issue as one of little or no significance or cares nothing about the pub outcry. This has indeed left many lingering, but quite legitimate questions on the lips of every decent and law abiding Guyanese. It seems to have even left the Guyana bar association dumbstruck because it has failed to issue a statement on this act. Among the questions being ask is one that is
correctly directed at the AFC. ‘Has the AFC forgiven Mr. Hughes?’ If it did as it would appear, then on whose behalf or authority it did so? I am sure that those who believed the AFC’s deception and voted for it are not the ones since the majority of them have already seen its true colors. So, did the AFC seek the opinion of those who they are claiming to represent, the public or at least their voters? What about the survivors and relatives of the victims? Did the AFC give any thought to them? It is
inconceivable that the leadership of the AFC, a party that promises a new political culture in Guyana, has failed to censure one of its top leaders. Now that the AFC has publicized its code of conduct, one is left to wonder even more about what are the principles that govern this party. The leaders of the AFC promise to be selfless in their efforts to make Guyana a better place, but it turned out they are selfish and destroying everybody’s future. Faruk Mohamed
Sunday September 15, 2013
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Mismanagement is one of the I hope that the Chancellor has main factors for GPL’s decline taken note of the news report DEAR EDITOR, Reading the reports about GPL and the fight against electricity lost/theft during the past week in KN and SN, I come to the conclusion that the officials are hell bent on trying to make the public believe that electricity theft is the only problem hindering the development of the power company whilst they fail to admit mismanagement is one of the main contributing factors for the company’s decline. Editor, it would please me a lot to see both KN and SN publish a list of all the organisations/companies that Brassington is involved with and then ask the public if they have any confidence that GPL is getting the service from him that he is being paid for apart from sitting at press conferences, doing selective interviews and giving tours to officials. Is it no secret that electricity lost is having a heavy impact on GPL and as they admit, instead of seeing a decline, they are seeing an increase and that clearly states something is definitely wrong! Their slothful attitude in providing electricity to homes and areas causes residents to find other options and as a result, they get accustomed to cheap/free electricity. Apart from that. They refuse to provide electricity to certain homes/ areas, whilst similar places get. Their quick response in disconnecting people for a small amount of money is another ingredient that helps them to steal electricity via illegal connection which is being used mostly at nights. Because of mismanagement, after investing heavily on numerous types of meters (the latest iTRON), they are going invest on another project, Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and
install meters on the power poles. If they were paying heed to various suggestions, they could have installed meters on the power poles years before, instead of investing heavily on different types of meters and not seeing changes. I’ve written about the street lights before, and again I would reiterate that it would be cheaper to purchase street lamps without sensors (that turn on the light when place gets dark) and the difference used to purchase wire and a switch for the lights. There are enough people living with disability that cannot get a job who could be employed to go every morning and afternoon to switch the lights off and on. It makes no sense you airing a video commercial advising people to switch it off when not in use, and you are guilty of the same. Many lights that are installed illegally/legallly on the poles malfunction, and
most cases the residents would come together and pay someone to fix it. In some cases the sensor goes bad and the person would bypass it, thus the lights would be on all the time. Also, during the day when it is raining, the place would get dark sometimes and the lights would come on when clearly, there is no needed for it. Is GPL is serious, they should work that system and at the same time, train whoever they employ to switch the lights on/off to spot illegal connections and report it immediately. Finally, Editor, whenever a power post is changed, the workers often sell the post (wallaba) to people. GPL should instruct the workers to take in all the posts. Guysuco purchases lots of wood for their boilers and GPL could supply/sell them those that they change. I see nothing wrong with that! Sahadeo Bates
Mr. Sherlock Isaacs is an excellent public officer DEAR SIR/MADAM, I was very impressed with the article written on the 12th September 2013 by Mr. Freddie Kissoon about Sherlock Isaacs, Clerk of the Parliament . Forty years ago as a young public servant, I met this gem of a man( then boy) at the Bartica regional office ,both of us working as Class 11 Clerks. There we became close friends . While most of his colleagues after spending sometime in public office, they moved onto greener pastures, Sherlock stayed and served the public office for both governments with professionalism, distinction and great leadership. If my memory is correct I am sure he has served the government for over forty years.
Knowing the kind of leader he is, I am absolutely certain that he would have trained and guided his subjects to take higher offices. If Mr. Isaacs wants to take it easy, then the government should allow him to bow out gracefully with more than his fair share of benefits. He is truly a distinguished and wonderful person and a great public officer. He is very dependable, reliable, hardworking, conscientious, honest, peace-loving and courteous person that I have happened to cross path with during my early years of serving public office. May the all mighty God bless and guide this great servant of the people. Yours sincerely Nazar Mohamed Mohamed’s Enterprise
DEAR EDITOR, We assume the facts in the report “Accuser testifies at PI into molestation charges against Muslim scholar”, (SN Wed Sept 11, 2013) are correct. The First Schedule s.43, Paper Committals For Sexual Offences of the Soa 2010 spells out the procedure to be followed by magistrates in a paper committal. Paragraph 11(4) of this Schedule instructs evidence to be taken as a deposition before the magistrate in certain circumstances. Paragraphs 12 -14 spell out the ways that evidence should be tendered as a result of submissions by the defence (14: 2(b) ….by being read out loud….or description shall be given of so much of any statement as is not read aloud). There is no mention of taking evidence and cross-examination of witnesses anywhere in the schedule. So what does the September 11 report mean? That the magistrate and the defence lawyer have decided to revert to the Laws which have been repealed by the SOA 2010 and are acting in contravention of the
law? Given the successful training being done by the Chancellors office in relation to the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, I hope that the Chancellor has taken note of the news report,
and that the supervisors of judicial and magisterial matters will ensure some clarification and if need be, correction of this situation. Karen de Souza For Red Thread
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Sunday September 15, 2013
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NACTA Poll shows overwhelming support for minimum wage, Amalia, & Subsidies to GPL DEAR EDITOR, An opinion survey conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) last month found that the overwhelming majority of the nation supports the Amalia Hydro project, subsidies to GPL, and the introduction of a new minimum wage policy. Voters are divided over the Marriott Hotel and the rescuing of Guysuco. The poll interviewed voters to determine support on various government initiated projects as well as popular support for the
parties should a snap election be called. The poll randomly interviewed 520 voters to yield a demographically representative sample (44% Indians, 30% Africans, 16% Mixed, 9% Amerindians, and 1% other races) of the population. The poll was conducted in face to face interviews and was coordinated by Vishnu Bisram, pollster, newspaper columnist, and educator in NY. The results of the poll were analyzed at a 95 per cent significance level and a statistical sampling error of plus or minus four percentage
points was found. Sampling results based on subgroups such as Indians or Africans have a larger sampling error. Asked if they approve of the opposition’s rejection of the Amalia Falls hydro project, 67% said no with only 23% backing APNU’s position to oppose the project. People feel Amalia will lead to cheaper electricity bills. Even supporters of AFC overwhelmingly endorse the Amalia project with APNU supporters breaking with their party for its opposition to Amalia. Asked if they support the opposition rejection of
funding subsidy for GPL, 65% said no with 21% saying yes and 14% saying they are not sure. Asked if they agree with the opposition rejection of funds for the construction of Marriott Hotel, 42% said yes, with 34% saying no and 24% “not sure”. Asked if they approve of the opposition decision to reject funding for the Specialty Hospital, 39% said yes with 51% saying no and 10% “not sure”. Asked if they back the opposition’s position against the airport expansion project, 37% said yes with 52% saying no and 11% not sure. Asked if they endorse the increase in the minimum wage policy, a whopping 88% said yes with 7% saying no and 5% not sure with workers showering accolades on Labour Minister Dr. Nanda Gopaul for this initiative but many feels the minimum wage needs to be much higher given the country’s ever increasing cost of living. This is the highest approval rating in support of any government project in recent times with people it is the best thing that has happened in Guyana. Asked if they think the sugar industry can be rescued, 44% said no with 47% saying yes and 9% not offering a response. People feel the industry needs to undergo significant structural reform in order to save it. Vishnu Bisram
Using sheet metal to cover the holes on the Supenaam wharf is dangerous DEAR SIR, Your front page picture showing the collapsed portion of the Supenaam wharf revealed that the contractor used quarter inch BRC wire as reinforcement for the six inch concrete surface of the wharf, when he should have used at least fiveeighths to three quarter steel rods matted at no less than six inch intervals. This is not technical civil engineering procedure, but simple common sense practice used by any person working with concrete who has a third standard education. How did he get away with this?
My congratulations therefore to contractor BK International, and Mr. Benn who was doing the quality control monitoring of the construction. Common sense also tells me that using sheet metal to cover up the holes is very dangerous, as this would eventually result in the collapsing of a bigger area, the size of the sheet metal. Common sense further tells me that limiting the weight of trucks that are using the wharf is a ridiculous approach to solving the problem. Gokarran Sukhdeo (a former construction worker)
Unfair treatment by this security firm DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me a space in your newspaper to talk about the unfair treatment by our employer.. I have been employed with a security firm for about four years, My issues with the company are working hours and salary. In a meeting with the security guards on the month of August 4, 2013, our employer addressed us and told us our hourly rate would increase to $203 per hour; since the Ministry of Labour has addressed this issue recently. However, as of August 13, 2013 our salaries have not been raised. The salary ranges from $90-$120 per hour no more or no less. The hourly rate is not fixed despite addressing us about it in the meeting held, the location we
work have different hourly rate. Working hours are a basic 12hrs per day. We start a shift from 7 am to 7 pm. Unfortunately, we are being released sometimes until 9 9:20pm and do not receive any payment for extra hours stayed on location. We would like to make it known that our employer has not paid us for the period of November 15 2009 to December 31, 2009. When asked about this, he was unable to provide any favorable response to date. Because of our need for employment, it does not mean we have to be underpaid. Whatever, location we guard, we do it to the best of our abilities and we would expect to be treated with the same respect by our employer. Underpaid
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
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Sunday September 15, 2013
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
Police Commanders could face sanctions for Division’s failure By Dale Andrews It is not surprising when blame is cast upon the Home Affairs Minister and the Commissioner of Police for the steep rise in crime. In fact the Home Affairs Minister has within recent times borne the brunt of criticisms for the apparent lack of proper measures to deal with the country’s security crisis. There have been calls for his resignation and the Opposition has even issued a no confidence vote in the National Assembly against Clement Rohee, who has been responsible for the security sector for the past seven years, a period that has seen mild success and embarrassing failures. But what about the people who are directly tasked with executing the security plan--the Divisional Commanders? Well according to a number of security experts, they too should be held accountable for what is apparently the rise of another crime wave. Within the past two weeks there have been serious crimes and rumours of crimes that bear an eerie resemblance to the unforgettable days of the 2002-2008 crime wave. And while Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell has indicated that it was not time to press the panic button, sanctions against those Divisional Commanders who fail to implement the required strategies to deal with growing crime in their Divisions have not been ruled out.
Commissioner of Police (ag) Leroy Brumell
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee
According to Home Affairs Minister Rohee, his Ministry has put in place systems whereby every Commander, every month, submits an accountability report. That accountability report is drawn up on the basis of a matrix which tells the Ministry what it needs to know. “The accountability report of each Commander, it is sent to us through the Commissioner and we analyse and if we’re not satisfied with what we see on it, we send it back. It has things like response time, it has things like the number of traffic accidents, work with the community, domestic violence. All the key and critical areas that are of a sensitive nature to the society have been captured in that matrix,” Rohee explained. That document is studied by the Ministry of Home Affairs and a response is then
sent to the Commissioner of Police with notes on the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of what is contained in it. He said that if the Commissioner of Police is of the view that the comments received from the Ministry of Home Affairs require sanctions, he can do so. But this may just be giving lip service to the measures that are necessary to ensure that those directly responsible for the nation’s security are made to answer for any shortcomings that are identified. At a previous press briefing earlier this year, the Police Commissioner (acting) had said that he had met with his Divisional Commanders and that they were restrategising to deal with the crime situation. Since then, Divisions A (Georgetown and its environs) and F (interior) have been locked in a race to see which is the murder (crime) capital of the country.
Both Divisions have been under the same Commanders since Brumell made his remark. “In the midst of all of this, yet you have an experienced Commander remaining in exile. It is evident that there is a laissez-fair attitude at the command level,” one security expert with prior experience in the Guyana Police Force told this newspaper. On more than one occasion, Commissioner Brumell had indicated that he had given his Commanders a free hand to manage their Divisions, and they will be held accountable. But in the current conundrum of the present crime situation it would not be unfair for one to interpret that arrangement in a negative way. As far as Minister Rohee is aware, the Ministry has never completely rejected an accountability report which would necessitate implementing sanctions against a Commander. “As far as I can recall we have never rejected in its entirety an accountability report and sent it back to the Commissioner to say we reject it and he must deal with the Commander, no, because there are certain things they do well and there are certain things they are not up to scratch. “So on balance, there is no way for example you can say that this Commander is not performing well. His division may be performing well in a certain area, and it may not be in another area,” Continued on page 14
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Dem boys seh
De Bees gun bend over When dem boys read bout de hole in de Supenaam stelling right away dem remember Dave Martins and de Tradewinds when dem sing bout de young lady. Dave sing every time she bend over he could see Arizona. Well de people using de Supenaam stelling sing that every time dem bend over dem could see de whole Essequibo River through de hole in de floor. Robeson was quick to tell de world that is Bee Kay build de stelling and Bee Kay seh that is Robeson wid he spite mek de stelling bruck. But people done singing bout de bending over. Dem seh that de Rat and all de Bees gun be bending over but de difference is that dem ain’t gun see nutten; dem gun feel. People already know that dem got to go to jail fuh all de wrang things dem do to de people of de country and in jail is nuff bending over. Brazzy is de man who deh in de thick of things and he gun be in de thick of bending over. He got people now telling dem reporter that dem got to send dem questions in advance. When de questions come then Brazzy, de Rat, de Chronicle and de Mirror, dem lawyer and all of dem sit down and wukking out wha answer to give. It ain’t got to be de truth. Now dem boys seh that if people ain’t got nutten to hide dem ain’t got to screen questions to mek sure that everybody tell de same lie. Simple question got dem asking fuh time to answer. People ask who is de investors fuh de Marriott and Brazzy and he scampish colleagues dem want de question in writing. Who is de board members in GEA and dem want that question in writing. That is why when people ask Brazzy alone de question he quick fuh seh not he because he got he hand, he foot he mouth and he behind in everything. When he get corner he does holler how he can’t answer because de issue is confidential. Who hustling fuh do business and wouldn’t talk? Talk half and watch how all de Bees gun bend over.
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Sunday September 15, 2013
Govt. skirts question on US$157M commitment to Hydro Sithe Global is still majority owner of AFHI - Dr. Luncheon Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, says that Amaila Falls Hydro Inc (AFHI) is very much in existence, with Sithe Global still holding the majority shareholding in the Company. AFHI was created to build and operate the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Plant. The company is 60 per cent owned by Sithe Global for committing to invest US$157M while Government had claimed that it will only invest US$100M and will own the remaining 40 per cent. Leaked Confidential Project Documents have since unearthed that Government in fact committed US$157M. Dr. Luncheon, during his weekly post Cabinet press briefing on Friday, told media operatives, “I don’t even know that there was a day that we could agree on that Sithe Global walked.” He said to the best of his knowledge, “Sithe Global has majority ownership of the company AFHI...If you say to me the company was dissolved then I would understand that they walked. That eventuality has not occurred” According to Dr. Luncheon, “That company, as far as I know, has not been dissolved.” He was asked why Government has consistently maintained that it would be investing US$100M when in
fact the financial commitment by Government in the project, according to the leaked confidential document, is US$157M. He challenged this publication to make public that document. “I will suggest for the satisfaction of the skeptics in our midst that the conclusion that logically arises that the government made two contrary claims be attested to by the provision of these documents.” He said that should the document be made public then he is certain there would be clear cut explanations. Dr. Luncheon told the media operatives that he has been a part of the delegation that provided information on what Government’s investment in the project is and that “we were building the road and we had the GRIF (Norway) contributions.” Asked about what the total commitment for the road and GRIF money is, Dr. Luncheon said, “It depends on the time.” He said that if Guyana was building the road at the time and cost during the time of Synergy Holdings Inc it would have been a different figure. At that time, the road contract had been set at US$15.4M. Dr. Luncheon pointed to the fact that after the reversal that led to the abandonment of the Synergy (Holdings Inc)
road building option and going out to tender for the seven lots there would be a different price. According to the leaked project document Government has committed US$35.2M to the Amaila Falls access road. “You probably would need to expose the sources to deal specifically with the commitment made, the time the disclosures were made so that you could assure yourselves and others whether there was indeed some reason for it to be bandied as a deceitful and obvious effort by Government to conceal.” According to the leaked Confidential Document on the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric project, dated July 11, 2013, the Guyana Government has committed finances as follows: (see table below)
An extract of the Confidential Project Document outlining Guyana’s financial commitment to the project
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
Region Four officials to halt slaughtering of animals at market - businessman threatens legal action A Mon Repos businessman is threatening legal action against the Neighbourhood Democratic Council that is responsible for the sanitation of the community over the wanton dumping of carcasses by vendors in the village market tarmac. Khemraj Tula, whose family operates a business just behind the Mon Repos Market Tarmac, said the situation has reached crisis stage. It is putting his relatives as well as his customers at risk of contracting diseases. Poultry vendors at the Mon Repos roadside market on East Coast of Demerara are allowed to slaughter their animals on site, the remains of which they dump at the back of the tarmac, a few feet from the homes of residents and other established businesses. Sometimes the waste is left for days before it is removed by employees of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council’s sanitation crew, much to the disgust of those affected. “From Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, you can’t even come out onto your verandah. You have to lock up all your windows and by the place is hot now, it is unbearable,” one resident complained. Attempts to burn the waste only result in additional hardship since the smoke invariably gets into the nearby homes. When the flies that feast on the waste are taken into account, one does not have to wonder at the potential health crises the situation poses. Kaieteur News observed sheep entrails and even small
Regional Chairman Clement Corlette embryos in the drain at the back of the market tarmac during a recent visit to the site. Itinerant vendors from all over converge on the market with live animals, which they kill on site and then dump the waste at the back of the tarmac. “These people who sell here and dump their chicken guts and feathers here don’t have to live through this,” Tula told this newspaper. He noted that repeated appeals to the NDC have apparently fallen on deaf ears. He had to personally seek the intervention of Regional Chairman Clement Corlette. Yesterday, Corlette confirmed that he had received a complaint, which he dealt with expeditiously. The Regional Chairman said that he had spoken to the overseer responsible for the area and to the Regional Environmental Health Officer, with a view to having the situation rectified. He declared that while the slaughtering of animals on site may be a cultural thing“people like to see their animals slaughtered”-there is need for proper supervision of such activity.
“No inspection is done. If an animal has disease nobody will know,” the Regional Chairman said. On the question of the timely removal of the waste from the market, Corlette said that the NDC admitted that to having problems with its vehicles, a situation that lasted close to a week. But this explanation did not go down well with the businessman. “Tractor wheel puncture Continued on page 51
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Garbage, including animal carcass is creating havoc for some residents of Mon Repos.
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Sunday September 15, 2013
Delegation inquired on Guyanese attitude towards Venezuela
…ARMED SOLDIERS, CORRECTED SITUATION WHEN BREACH WAS POINTED OUT - DR. LUNCHEON
The Venezuelan delegation that was in Guyana accompanied by armed military personnel from that country, was in fact a breach of the agreement under which they were allowed to enter this country but once this breach was drawn to their attention, they made the suitable apologies and corrected the situation. This is according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Chairman of the Defence Board, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who said that the recent media reports of armed Venezuelan soldiers in Guyana, was never an issue. Dr. Luncheon told media operatives this past week that “I was unaware at what point
it was declared an issue.” The Chairman of the Defence Board said this past week that what in fact happened was that Guyana was visited by a delegation of Venezuelans, primarily University students and officials. He said that these officials were accompanied by members of the Venezuelan border military. Dr Luncheon added, “This was a visit that obtained the approval of the appropriate authorities at the point at which the delegation entered Guyana.” He said that this is according to the official reports from the Guyanese authorities in the area. Asked about the nature of the visit, Dr. Luncheon said “I don’t pretend to be as au fait as others who have pronounced and displayed their knowledge of the purpose of the visit but official sources from the Guyanese authorities at the border were that they sought permission and received permission to engage Guyanese communities on the border.” He said that these Guyanese on the border communities that the Venezuelan delegation wanted to visit “assumedly had some relationship with Venezuela”. Dr. Luncheon said that these relationships could either be biological or trading in nature “or such,” and that the Venezuelans were inquiring on the Guyanese side, “their thoughts feelings and attitudes towards Venezuela.” Dr. Luncheon was asked specifically, why the Venezuelan military personnel were allowed to bring their weapons into Guyana, to which he said this assumption would be “putting the cart before horse.” He insisted that the Venezuelan military personnel were not allowed to bring their weapons, “and it was as far as the authorities there were concerned, a breach of the agreement, the understanding
A photo depicting the armed Venezuelan soldiers with the group that visited Guyana under which they were allowed to enter Guyana.” Dr. Luncheon said that it was “a breach, once drawn to their attention, (they) made the suitable apologies and corrected, this is the report that was provided.” The excursion by the Venezuelan delegation to Guyana occurred on the very day that country’s President Nicolas Maduro was on an official state visit locally sparking a myriad of speculations. It was reported in a Venezuelan publication that the visit was being viewed as an act of provocation by certain fringe groups in Venezuela, to embarrass
President Maduro. According to Venezuela’s El Universal online newspaper, “On August 31, while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was paying an official visit to Georgetown, Guyana to offer economic and social support to that country, 45 Venezuelans went on a mission crossing the Cuyaní River and into the GuyanaVenezuela disputed area accompanied by officers of the Venezuelan Army.” Law student, Ricardo de Toma, a member of the organization, is quoted by El Universal as saying that “We came here to carry out a civil
exercise of sovereignty, but we do not understand what was Nicolás Maduro doing there (in Guyana).” Also there were administrator Jorge Luis Fuguett, and internationalist Rajihv Morillo. De Toma was critical of his President’s visit, saying that in spite of the mining projects Guyana has been developing in the Essequibo disputed area, and the granting of oil concessions in front of the Venezuelan Atlantic front by Guyana, Maduro’s bilateral visit was to spread an “ideological model.” El Universal published a number of photos of the visit
by the group. One of them showed a Guyanese flag on a property at Eteringbang, where the group landed. The GDF also has a base at that border area. Another photo indicated a soldier donned in what appeared to be GDF clothing in conversation with an armed member of the Venezuelan army. Yet a third photo was of a GDF official being recorded on camera and speaking to members of the group. A fourth photo depicted persons wearing Venezuelan army outfits and armed with guns awaiting members of the group to board a boat.
Above the law?
Despite complaints to the authorities and even publications in the Kaieteur News, authorities have failed to ensure that the roadways,
especially parts of the fourlane on the East Bank Demerara, remain clear. At McDoom and Agricola, persons have been
daily parking heavy vehicles, forcing vehicles to proceed into one lane. This is causing backups especially at peak times. It
seems as if the Traffic Chief, the Minister of Transport and/or the Commissioner of Police are all asleep, or…
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Environmentally friendly food containers available on local market Keeran Danny and Javon Vickerie A cultural shift from biodegradable containers for food packaging as an alternative to Styrofoam is necessary in the food industry and pertinent for a healthy environment. With Government planning to restrict the importation of Styrofoam, alternatives are already available in Guyana. Last year, Caribbean Containers Inc (CCI) located at Farm, East Bank Demerara, launched Eco Pak as the new environmentally friendly way to package food. Eco Pak products are said to be 100 percent non-toxic, harmless and healthy. The containers are 100 percent biodegradable 90 days after use. ECO PAK ON THE MARKET According to Patricia Bacchus, CCI’s Chief Operating Officer, Eco Pak, which is not manufactured locally, is available on the domestic market. Currently, a number of restaurants such as Cara Lodge, Oasis Café, the New Palm Court and German’s Restaurant are using this bio-degradable product line as their food packaging solution. She added that many Government Ministries and departments and the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana purchase Eco Pak containers occasionally for functions. The line was on the shelf of Budget Supermarket for some time. Bacchus said that the cultural shift has not happened as quickly as CCI would have liked. “The price differential between this (Eco Pak) and Styrofoam is negligible- in some instances you talking about less than $20. With the type of mark up in the food industry it is usually about a 150 percent to 200 percent mark up on cost. “You would have thought restaurant owners would
- Distributors call for cultural shift, tax breaks, concessions have taken it upon themselves to absorb that cost or even share it with the consumer. But I don’t think they have been inspired enough to adopt that cultural change to prefer bio-degradable products.” In an effort to promote the line, CCI has created a number of services including delivery of products to Georgetown and a credit approval process that allows companies and individuals to purchase in bulk and settle their bills on a monthly basis or fortnightly. Bacchus believes that “unless there are some monetary levies or prohibitions of some sort .most businesses would not see the need to adopt a more environmentally friendly packaging solution”. According to Bacchus, CCI imports and distributes Eco Pak containers. The company is capable of meeting the local demand in event there is a ban on Styrofoam. “We have a large stock on hand that we continue to carry in event there is an upsurge in Eco Pak order.” Bacchus enlightened that CCI purchases Eco Pak from a manufacturing company in Far East Asia. The manufacturer supplies a lot of companies on the European, Middle Eastern and American markets. And, CCI is the first client in this Region. JERMIN’S ENTERPRISE CCI is not the only company that introduced biodegradable containers on the local market last year. Jermin’s Enterprise located on Regent Street is another distributor of biodegradable food containers. According to Office Manager, Aduni Simon, at GuyExpo 2012 the company launched its biodegradable food containers. A number of
restaurants including Supreme Snackette, German’s Restaurant, Red Cherry, Guinness Bar, Oasis Café and Excellence Food Court utilize these food containers. Simon noted that the enterprise provides a wide range of boxes for cakes, food, soup bowls, fries, wedding cakes and an assortment of cups. All are made from 100 percent biodegradable materials. According to Simon, all of the containers are being imported into Guyana. “Well we receive the boxes from Trinidad and Tobago and we get the cups from United States of America,” Simon said. She added that although most of their sales are made in Georgetown and Linden, the enterprise is now looking at ways to have the boxes distributed nationwide. However, accessing tax concessions is one of the main problems that the enterprise encounters. At the moment the entity is finding it difficult to compete with Styrofoam as it tries to provide the boxes at a cheaper price to consumers. “What can happen is that government can levy more taxes on Styrofoam boxes making them competitive with the biodegradable boxes so that the consumer can have a choice not based on their pockets,” Simon noted. During the Children’s Mashramani Competition this year, Jermin’s Enterprise donated over 10,000 food boxes to the Allied Arts Department of the Ministry of Education. “Well we did this initiative because we believe
Patricia Bacchus CCI’s Chief Operating Officer displays samples of the various Eco Pak containers that in order to send over a message the best way to do it is through children. Since the donation we have not gotten any report from the Ministry as to how the boxes were used or how was it disposed,” the Manager said. “It is time to be aware about what is happening to the environment and we need to learn that biodegradable is the way to go,” Simon added. One of best selling boxes according to Simon is the polycoated boxes. This container when closed becomes sealed around the edges which prevents seepage Apart from the containers, Simon told Kaieteur News that the enterprise plans to introduce wooden spoons to replace the regularly used plastic ones. RESTRICTION OF
STYROFOAM CONTAINERS According to Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Styrofoam has played an inordinately important role in the accumulation of solid waste for disposal by local authorities. Because of its non-disposable and chemical nature that does not make it useful in recycling operations, Styrofoam ends up in landfill sites, where the evidence shows it exists indefinitely. He said that Government has not formulated precise and implementable interventions to ban this non
bio-degradable material. Last June, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, obtained Cabinet’s approval on a menu of measures to restrict Styrofoam products in Guyana. They are the “imposition of taxes and duties on Styrofoam importation and use with the intention, of course, of being a disincentive to its importation and use in the food industry; and, the second was the creation and the offer of incentives to importers and the users of alternatives to Styrofoam in the food sector”.
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Sunday September 15, 2013
TravelSpan applies for Non Stop ImmigrationINFO (Immigration News For Our Community) Certain Waivers Filed In U.S. Service to Guyana, Trinidad And Not At U.S. Embassy
Director General of Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Zulficar Mohamed has confirmed that TravelSpan Incorporated has expressed an interest in plying the Guyana route. The travel service had operated in Guyana, providing air transport from Guyana to the Caribbean North America and even India. However, in 2008 the company’s operation collapsed. Its owners cited crippling losses and poor investment initiatives. In 2011 a fire ravaged the Main Street, Georgetown, building that housed TravelSpan. The company ceased operations in Guyana subsequently after. Mohamed said that the GCCAA will be meeting with representatives of the company during the upcoming week for discussions. Earlier this week,
TravelSpan Vacations Inc., announced that it is currently applying to the US Department of Transportation for authorization to begin non-stop service to Guyana and Trinidad, using a widebody 767, effective December 2013. TravelSpan will be joining forces with Vision airlines, which together brings more than 30 years o f a v i a t i o n c a p a b i l i t y, along with its fleet of three 767s, three 737s and several DORNIER 328 aircraft. TravelSpan has been serving these markets for over 18 years and now recognizes the need for a new carrier to operate in the market based on the principals of fairness and customer service. TravelSpan will resume its tradition of using outstanding In-Flight Customer Service Representatives for the
comfort of our passengers and our flights will be staffed with both Caribbean and American Flight Attendants. Rob Binns, former Chairman and CEO of Global Aviation – whose subsidiaries include North American Airlines and World Airways – have joined the Company in an advisory role. Mr. Binns holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Kansas and a Master’s degree in Political Behavior from Essex University in England. The proposed flights – subject to government approval – will depart John F Kennedy International Airport for Guyana on Thursdays and Saturdays and Trinidad on Tuesdays and Fridays with additional flights for the peak season. Schedule and fares will be forthcoming subject to governments and U.S. Department of Transportation for approval.
Police Commanders could... From page 9 the Minister explained. It was pointed out that the very Ministry had taken action by instructing Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell to effect change at the command level in the Linden division during unrest there last year. However, Rohee explained that was not based on any accountability report. He said that instruction was based on a specific request by the Leader of the Opposition David Granger. “That was a specific issue where the Leader of the Opposition, having met with the President and assess the situation at Linden, told/requested the President to remove (Commander) Hicken from that place,”
Rohee explained. Meanwhile, there is evidence that the man who holds the direct portfolio for crime in the Guyana Police Force, Seelall Persaud, has been caught between a rock and a hard place. According to a well placed source within the force, it is apparent that when the Crime Chief brings stringency to bear on the Divisional Commanders, they seek refuge under the protective cloak of other senior officials. “The bottom line seems to be though that a lot of officers are indifferent to their roles and responsibility in the sense that their attitudes on the job and towards the job do not seem to reflect the seriousness that is required presently,” the source added.
By Attorney Gail S. Seeram Previously, applicants for immigrant visas outside the United States filed Form I-601 or Form I-212 with supporting evidence at a U.S. Embassy or consulate if a consular officer found the individual inadmissible for a reason that may be waived. However, since June 4, 2012, individuals abroad who have applied for certain visas and have been found ineligible by a U.S. Consular Officer or U.S. Embassy, are able to mail requests to waive certain grounds of inadmissibility directly to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Lockbox facility (in the U.S.). T h i s c h a n g e affects where individuals abroad, who have been found inadmissible for an immigrant visa or a nonimmigrant K or V visa, must send their waiver applications. In the past, applicants experience processing times from one-month to more than a year depending on which Embassy or Consulate accepted their waiver. This centralization of filing the waivers with USCIS in the U.S. will provide customers with faster and more efficient application processing and consistent adjudication. It is part of a broader agency effort to transition to domestic filing and adjudication; it does not
reflect a change in policy or the standards by which the applications are adjudicated. Individuals filing waiver applications with a USCIS Lockbox will now be able to track the status of their case online. The change affects filings for Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility; Form I212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal; and Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, (if filed after a denial of a Form I-601 or Form I-212). The advantages of using a USCIS lockbox are (a) the applicant can avoid a second trip to the consulate/ embassy to file the waiver after the consular interview takes place, (b) consulateby-consulate variations in filing requirements are eliminated, (c) delays in forwarding cases from the consulate to USCIS are eliminated, (d) the applicant will get a receipt notice and can take advantage of online case status updates and instant email notification when there is a change in case status, such as an approval, and (e) there will be an expected increase in consistency in the standard for approval. In practice, once you attend your interview and you are found inadmissible to the U.S. and your pending petition is denied, then the
Gail S. Seeram applicable waiver, supporting evidence and filing fees are sent to the USCIS lockbox in the U.S. (not to the U.S. Embassy). The Nebraska Service Center (NSC) will now be adjudicating or making a decision on these waivers. If USCIS/NSC approves the waiver, then USCIS has to notify the consulate and the consulate has to get the immigrant visa into the applicant’s passport. The whole process from filing the application to getting the visa in the passport (if approved) is more likely to be six to nine months. Note, this is a new process and until it is fully implemented, we cannot be convinced that the processing times are better than those previously given at the U.S. Embassy. Again, this new process is only available to visa applicants OUTSIDE the United States seeking a waiver for a denied petition based on a ground of inadmissibility.
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Sunday September 15, 2013
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Ravi Dev Column
For a Professional Police Force
In condemning the brutal slaying of young businessman Zulficar Namdar, the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) noted: “the recent upsurge in criminality bears a sinister likeness in the modus operandi of the 2002/2003 crime wave where efforts were made to destabilise our country.” I agree, but also believe that the overtly political attacks of 2002/2003 germinated in the robberies and slaughter of 30 IndianGuyanese (mostly businessmen) in 1998/99. We hear once again calls for the police to “do their job”. The scholar Cynthia Enloe, who focused on the phenomena of ethnic conflict in the seventies (she taught at UG for a while) wrote: “The resolution of inter-ethnic conflict demands that armies and police forces be examined not as neutral instruments that cope with problems, but as potential causes of the problems as well.” Over the last three decades, I have always looked at the tribulations of our disciplined forces from this perspective. It is a political perspective. One
The more the warning the less people listen. Psychiatrists say that it is human nature to ignore anything that promises to threaten the peace and stability of the human mind. Danger warnings tend to do this and the more the warnings the more the opposite reaction. In some parts of the country there are road repairs, but this is merely an opportunity for some young people to get what the Americans now call an adrenaline rush. With a speeding car three of them are going to approach a diversion and refuse to
can, of course, look at those forces (or any other phenomena) from any other number of angles, but we have to ask ourselves what is our objective in conducting the examination. The objective of my analysis and comments is to confront our most fundamental structural problem and bring stability with justice in Guyana. The elemental cause of our endemic conflict has been a political one based on the ethnic cleavages in our society. While each state institution will have to confront and deal with the area of national concern for which it was organized, we can never lose sight of the relation of the institution to the underlying political conflict. If we ignore this nexus, we ignore the reflexive stance in which these institutions are viewed by the citizenry at large: State institutions are, by definition, institutions through which the power of the state is exercised, and are flashpoints for social struggle. Enloe went on to state, “Any lasting resolution of ethnic conflict may require
that the distribution of political authority and influence in the society be basically reordered and that, as part of that reordering, the police and military be ethnically reconstituted at the top and the bottom. Resolution of inter-ethnic conflict will be tenuous if the security that is achieved is merely state security and not security for each of the state’s resident communities.” In Guyana, the Disciplined forces could not even secure state security: the unsolved murder of a sitting Minister only a few years ago is now not even a cause for comment. Few objective analysts would argue that our Police Force has served the interests of our people well over its history, beginning in 1839. The problem is not necessarily with the individuals who comprise the Force (even though any organisation will have its share of bad apples) but with the nature of the force itself. Our Police Force was constituted as a force to pacify, first the African exslaves and then the Indentured Indians. Its organization, modus operandi
stop to allow the approach of another vehicle. Some parents are going to express regret to some other victims, but the fact remains that the warnings went unheeded. ** The police are going to make a breakthrough in a
recent murder. They are going to find out that someone actually paid for the killing and like an earlier one, not too dissimilar, the interested party would be on the scene. A relative of the victim is going to come forward after being tormented by her conscience. ** Gunmen are going to strike against a cattle farmer because they suspected that he would have had cash. Needless to say, the household would realize that it would be a job involving an insider. Vengeance can be a bad thing.
and its ethos were all geared towards keeping the “natives” in their place. I ask anyone: “what has changed in those areas since independence? The problematic with such a lack of professionalism is the leaders of the force will inevitably resist civilian control. Unfortunately in Guyana we only complain when our group is facing the fire – literally. Our calls from the late eighties for the Disciplined Forces to be professionalised were interpreted as partisan – and anti-PNC, since the forces by then had been made appendages to that regime. Our calls as ROAR for the forces to be professionalised by “streamlining, decentralising and balancing them” after the January 12th 1997 ethnic riots were again seen in that light. Ironically, events had unfortunately unfolded in accordance with the predictions of our analysis. Most focused only on the “balancing” recommendation – disregarding the wider recommendations for professionalisation – many of which have been incorporated in later official (domestic and foreign) recommendations - most gathering dust. During the 1998/99 carnage, IndianGuyanese cried foul. After the Police Target Squad swung into action, and many young Africans were killed, African-
Guyanese cried foul and some organised an African Guyanese Armed Resistance (AGAR). There were deadly reactions to the last onslaught – all of which betrayed a total lack of confidence in the Police Force. Our central contention, however, is that we cannot only focus on the tasks of the police and ignore its fundamental flaws that impact on our major ethnic security dilemmas. This goes to the very survival of our state. I repeat the warning of Enloe: “The resolution of inter-ethnic conflict demands that armies and police forces be examined not as neutral instruments that cope with problems, but as potential causes of the problems as well.” Our country needs a
Ravi Dev
Police Force, but the Police Force as presently constituted and constructed cannot satisfy that need. It has become part of the problem. We repeat our call to all our fellow citizens: let us not lose sight of the forest for the trees. Let us use the present imbroglio to further the cause of all Guyana. Let us work to create a professional Police Force.
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Sunday September 15, 2013
The cop who killed himself twice By Michael Jordan If there is one thing that retired Senior Superintendent of Police Ivan Daniels is sure of, it is that his son is no killer. Call it a father’s love, but the last time we spoke, Mr. Daniels still refused to believe that his son, 32-year-old Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ivelaw Murray, went berserk and shot a 22year-old police constable dead, before going to his Hashim Street, Springlands home and killing himself. And the trouble is, some of Mr. Daniels’s former colleagues also feel that there are bits and pieces that just don’t add up; like the two gunshot wounds to the head, and the absence of warheads at the crime scene, among other things. Then there are the rumours that persist, that the ASP found out something that caused his death. But first, the official version of what happened. According to the police, at around midnight, on Sunday, July 4, 2010, ASP Murray and Constable 20631 Kevin Shepherd were heard arguing in the barrack room at the Springlands Police Station. Later, a gunshot was heard in the barrack room and the Subordinate Officer in charge of traffic ran to see what had happened. As the Subordinate Officer was going up the stairs leading to the barrack room, he allegedly saw ASP Murray hurriedly coming down the stairs. He enquired from Murray what had happened, but Murray did not answer and left the station compound. The Traffic Subordinate Officer then entered the barrack room where he found Constable Shepherd lying motionless, with a gunshot wound to his head. He was dead. No spent shell was found at the scene, despite checks.
Constable 20631 Kevin Shepherd Senior police officers then attempted to locate ASP Murray, but were unable to. Eventually, at around 03:25 hours, ranks entered his home through an open door and found him on the living room floor, with a gunshot wound below the chin and one of the Force’s service revolvers in his hand. He was also dead. The revolver reportedly had three live rounds and there were three spent shells. Two days after the tragedy, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene told reporters that the two policemen had an “inappropriate relationship.” Commissioner Greene said he was informed that “the young man” (Constable Shepherd) used to drive ASP Murray’s car, and that the senior rank used to provide meals for the constable.
Greene also said he was informed that the two policemen would stay at each other’s home. Adding fuel to the suspicions of an inappropriate relationship were allegations by the constable’s father, Gurtley Shepherd. He said that his son was on four days’ leave and was to have returned to work on that fateful day, Sunday, July 4. However, he said, on Saturday, July 3, his son informed him that he had to go to work, because “his boss man had called” and told him that “he has to report for duty”. But then some troubling things happened to raise questions about the entire scenario. On Wednesday, July 7, 2010, forensic pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan performed autopsies on the two men. Police officials confirmed that Dr. Brijmohan discovered that Murray had been shot twice. One of the bullets had passed through the bottom of his chin, shattered his tongue and palate before exiting in an area between his eyebrows. The other bullet pierced his right temple and exited through his left temple. The opinion of some medical experts was that the wound below the chin would have rendered Murray incapable of pulling the trigger a second time. But opinions differed as to whether Murray could have shot himself again. One medical source opined that if the bullet had missed the brain, “the possibility exists” that Murray could have shot twice. “It’s not something that you see often, but it is possible,” the expert said. Explaining that persons could survive for hours with such gunshot wounds, the medical official recounted an incident in which a man who was shot in the mouth, bled to death some three hours later. “I also got a case where a man was shot in the nose. The bullet lodged behind the
Assistant Superintendent of Police Ivelaw Murray eye and he could not remember being shot.” He died before undergoing surgery. Medical data also show that there have been cases of multiple gunshot suicides. Some of the data stated that “multiple gunshot suicides engender controversy because of the popular misconception that it is impossible for an individual to inflict more than one gunshot upon themselves. “Forensic medicine has discovered, however, that suicides by firearm involving multiple gunshots, although uncommon, are by no means rare.” But pathologist Dr. Brijmohan was reportedly so troubled by the presence of the two bullet wounds on ASP Murray’s body that he requested to be taken to Murray’s home, where he could examine the scene. The source said that Dr. Brijmohan observed that the bullet that had exited just
below Murray’s forehead had pierced the roof of his house.There was reportedly an indentation on one of the walls, where it is believed that the other warhead struck. None of the warheads was recovered, though one was reportedly retrieved from Constable Shepherd’s body. Acting on information about the case, Dr. Brijmohan reportedly examined the bodies of both victims for evidence of a homosexual relationship. He reportedly found no such evidence. Perhaps the only two people who were not surprised by the autopsy were retired Senior Superintendent Daniels and his wife, Jenitta. For them, it only helped to confirm their suspicions of a conspiracy. Perhaps nothing has incensed ASP Murray’s parents more than the suggestions that he was a homosexual, and that Constable Shepherd’s murder and his ‘suicide’ were as a result of a soured relationship. “He was definitely not (a homosexual)”, Mr. Daniels said. “All of his ‘squaddies say that there was not an iota of evidence that he had those tendencies. “He was a real man. He had a wife and a oneyear-old daughter. The people who are spreading these rumours are part and parcel of a plot to murder him.” The parents have claimed that their son had information about an apparent cover-up in a murder. According to Jenitta Daniels, her son had confided in her about the case, while claiming that the suspect was attempting to bribe him. Even the surfacing of an apparent ‘suicide note’, allegedly written by her son, failed to shake the couple’s belief that he had been murdered. Mrs. Daniels revealed that police officials showed her a note, which was allegedly found at her son’s home after he died. She said that the note was dated June 27 and was written in script. “It said ‘mommy, I love you. I’m sorry,’ and it had two faces (drawn) on it; one smiling and the other with tears.” Mrs. Daniels is convinced that her son never wrote that note. “Are they saying that he shot himself twice, then got up and ‘disappeared’ with the warhead? What are they hiding?” But things would become
even more bizarre when the slain constable’s mother, Patricia Shepherd, came forward with a recording from her son’s phone. The recording appeared to be between Murray and Shepherd, with ASP Murray apparently berating the constable about a relationship that the constable was having with a female. And perhaps the police must take some blame for failing to eliminate all doubt of a cover-up. Working on the assumption that they were dealing with a murder/suicide, detectives reportedly did not bother to place Murray’s hands in bags so they could be checked later for traces of gunpowder residue. Gunpowder residue is said to remain on surface areas for 78 hours. It was said that forensic experts swabbed Murray’s hands within this period and found no trace of gunpowder. Nevertheless, a forensic expert believes that there should have been substantial traces of gunpowder on Murray’s hands, given the fact that he allegedly discharged three gunshots on the fateful night. “It (the residue) is supposed to be heavy, taking into account the number of shots he was supposed to have fired.” In addition, some investigators feel that the forensic team should have also checked the ranks who worked on the day of the tragedy for traces of gunpowder. Mr. Daniels had said that he is determined to find out the truth about his son’s demise. He contemplated soliciting the assistance of a second pathologist to show that either gunshot his son sustained would have rendered him incapable of firing a second time. But the couple had also hoped that their son, who served the Guyana Police Force for 16 years, would have been buried with honours. This was not to be. If you have any information about these or any other unusual cases, please contact us by letter or telephone at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office. Our numbers are 2258465, 22-58458 and 2258452. You need not disclose your identity. You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address: mjdragon@ hotmail.com
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
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== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==
Let me make it quite plain; I will never live in Norway. They say one should never say never, but I am saying I will never live in Norway. Life has fantastic, unseen ironies, in that my only child may one day live in Norway. That is her choice. But from what I know of that country the past two years, I want nothing to do with it. I have read a plethora of columns in which analysts and commentators around the world expressed absolute horror at the light jail sentence Anders Brevik got. This man blew up part of a Ministry killing eight innocent public employees. He then took a sub-machine gun, went to a summer camp and killed not nine or ten or fifteen teenagers but sixty-nine. It was one of modern civilization’s worst sociological crimes. Is Norway a normal country? This man got 21 years in jail for one of the most unspeakable criminal acts since the Second World War. In 21 years he will be out walking the streets of Norway and living like any other Norwegian citizen. Now read this. Anders Brevik applied for admission to the most prestigious university in Norway and was accepted. Books will be sent to him in prison from the University of Oslo. What was most nauseating was the defence of his admission by the rector of the university. This incredibly shameless man said that
Brevik is welcomed because everyone has a right to education. You know there is a popular saying in Guyana – “who feels it, knows it.” If that University President had lost his kids in th a t m a s s shooting would he have said those mellifluous words about Brevik? And to think there were no protests in Norway against this university rector. Ask the victims of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany a n d R w a n d a . I would suggest you read an interesting column in the June 28, 2012 online edition of the New York Times on why Obama won a victory in the conservative Supreme Court over his health care Bill. The writer suggested that the conse r v a t i v e C h i e f Justice sided with the four liberal Justices because in 2007, he suffered a seizure and was hospitalized overnight. He knew the value of health care. Yes, who feels it, knows it. The University rector’s statement was one of the most sickening things I have ever read the past forty years. I was reading the Guardian online edition when I saw the University’s shameless support of this man’s application and my daughter was in front of me looking at the television. I turned to her and said; “Something is definitely wrong with this world.” The organization to which
Brevik belongs, the Progress Party, came in third in the election last week and now is part of the coalition that forms the Government in Norway. The sixty-nine teenagers that Brevik murdered in the summer camp were part of a Labour Party outing for young members. Some of the survivors were on the party’s election list. Yet the Labour Party lost the poll. The people of Norway turned their backs on the victims of the Labour Party and voted into power the entity that Brevik belongs to. The Progress Party is an extreme right wing, racist
group that hates non-white people and Muslims and they are boastful in this attitude. Such a party is now part of the Government of Norway. How do you comprehend this modern form of nihilism in one of the world’s richest countries? Every night in last week, my wife and I saw a movie on Nazi Germany. One of the most interesting ones was a French film, “The Army of Crime” about Nazi-occupied France and the French resistance. The Nazis were brutal in trying to put down the French resistance and after each act of bestiality, my wife would say; “how could people be so
cruel to each other.” I turned to her and said; “it could happen again.” How do you as a human comprehend what is going on in Norway? Is it surreal? Is it real what is taking place in Norway or is our imagination deceiving us? I don’t believe in the death penalty and I am revolted at torture by state security, but Brevik needed to have some “nice treatment” that came from the American administration that preceded the Obama presidency. How in God’s name can you give a mere 21-year sentence to a man who murdered 77 humans in the
Frederick Kissoon space of one hour, then accept him as a student at the most eminent university in the land? Why was Brevik treated so favourably in Norway and his party is now in power? At his trial, Brevik said he killed to protect Norway from multiculturalism. Remember the Jews and Hitler? It can happen again in this world! Yes it can!
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Succeeding against the odds, Levi Nedd is a ‘Special Person’ By Leon Suseran Like many other persons we have featured in this column, Levi Lawrence Nedd had it rough growing up. He lived with foster parents and had little or no knowledge of his biological mother or father, Levi Nedd and Vilma Andrews. As a result, he had to fend for himself and learn a lot of tasks that children should not really have to learn. He cooked, washed and sold on the streets, just to get by. At the tender age of nine, Nedd planted rice and fetched firewood for baking in the home. He also walked the streets selling bread, cakes and provisions as well as planting cassava, plantains, bananas and legumes on the family’s farm. Young Levi was also very active in the Lutheran Church at D’Edward Village and also became a Sunday School teacher. It was in church where he sang his first song at age nine—‘Our Father’ and since then he developed a passion for singing. He received requests for three encore performances. Not surprising, Nedd came from a family that sang. He recalled his uncle John Braithwaite more popularly known as ‘Johnny Braff’ and one of his brothers in the United States, as part of a large band. As he looks back at those days, he saw the purpose of it all. He now sees the bigger picture and appreciates the lessons life has taught him. Those
struggles have shaped him into who he is today. This week’s ‘Special Person’ can be described as one-of-a-kind. Levi Nedd has a wealth of talent and has been sharing it all over for many years. He has nurtured his love for sports—volleyball to be precise—over the years and has won dozens—yes— dozens of trophies performing at various athletic events, nationally and internationally. He is the national volleyball head coach and is one of the few-afro-Guyanese whose passion for chutney music is as great as it comes.
Rosignol Primary School and due to poverty, could not have attended the school at which he gained a place, the New Amsterdam Multilateral School - so he attended one much closer to home, Rosignol Secondary. After high school and the exams, Nedd, being sponsored by Blairmont Estate, entered for training at the GuySuCo Training School as a Fitter Machinist in 1979 and graduated in 1983, after which he worked at the Estate. He also talked briefly about his “return” to Islam in 1981, a religion he has become
“At a very early age, I had to forage for myself. The challenges were many, and there was nobody to spoon-feed me, so I went out and learned very quickly. I always believe that a child who struggles to get what he or she wants in life is a better child in the long run.” Yes, he writes and sings his own chutney songs! And Levi Nedd has spent the past ten years nurturing and training the future of the sugar industry. He is the person in charge at the hostel of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Training Centre at Port Mourant (GTC/PM) on the Corentyne, where he is the ‘Sir’ and ‘Father figure’ to over 115 young apprentices. Young Levi moved with his foster parents from Stanleytown in New Amsterdam to D’ Edward on the West Bank of Berbice where he attended the
fascinated with over the years, since he stated it was the religion of his ancestry (his father practiced it at a young age and converted to Christianity). In 1990, he moved completely from working at the factory to being assigned as Industrial Welfare Officer, and dealt with workers’ issues and problems. During this time and also way before, Nedd was quite a sportsman. He won several titles, including Champion Athlete for the GuySuCo sports countrywide. He was also a national athlete. He threw the javelin and mastered
high jumps at the Schools’ Nationals Championships in Georgetown. However, due to poverty again, Nedd could not pursue his dream of becoming a “real sportsman”. Sports suddenly became something he played only for pleasure. He played First Division Cricket while in school. Nedd, who speaks fluent French, spent a long time in the French island of Martinique playing professional football and made the national volleyball team in July 1984 - playing against countries such as Barbados, Russia, St. Lucia and Suriname - and was adjudged best player several times in a row. His excellent sports skills earned him world travels to over 28 countries, playing volleyball especially. He captained the National Volleyball Team on several occasions, too. In 1990, he attended coaching sessions and this eventually resulted in him becoming the National Coach of the Guyana Volleyball Association (GVA). He also has Coaching Certificates in Football and Table Tennis. Nedd did not neglect his academic studies. He was the Best Graduating Social Work student at the University of Guyana and is a recognized Social Worker in the Berbice area. Those are just a few of the many caps our ‘Special Person’ wears, and he wears them very, very well. His international stints did not end there. He represented
Sunday September 15, 2013
Levi Nedd
Guyana in Hungary at the Olympic Solidarity Programme (OSP) in 2001, and participated in a special course—which he topped —beating the other 37 countries that participated. He was presented with a Medal and presented the Valedictory Speech. Seeing the rich talent that Nedd had to offer, the sugar company made him a Community Development Officer (CDO) in 1991 to look into the operations of the numerous Community Centres that the sugar corporation had across Guyana. Nedd also acted as Human Resources Officer (HRO) at Skeldon and Blairmont Estates. He worked in the Personnel Department and then became a Student Affairs Officer at GTC/PMTC in October 2003. On the cultural side of things, Nedd participated in numerous singing and chutney competitions. He knows how to entice and excite a crowd— whether it is GuySuCo’s Honour Roll Function, or an Indian Immigration Day
Goalkeeper Nedd (2nd from right, back row) with the GuySuCo Berbice football team in 1980
function; a religious function or funeral; GTC/PM Graduation or birthdays— when Levi Nedd takes the microphone and starts to sing chutney, you become awestruck. He was an active member of the Kirtan Groups that went around, not only visiting places, but singing bhajans in the Berbice area as well. In 1997, he placed second at the National Chutney Singing Competition in Trinidad. He composes his own songs too. He sang with the likes of ‘Hitman’ as well as Canadian singers, and also performed at the Phagwah Melas in the United States. He sings Chowtal music too. Nedd was also quite the dancer of Indian music on stage. He later composed a CD which should have been released a few years ago. He stated that ‘Ouchay—the Jhanjaat’, has thirteen chutney songs. His favourite hit is ‘Ouchay’. When asked why he is passionate about the Chutney genre, he stated that he hails from a mixed background since his mother’s parents were East Indians. Also, he hopes that the Chutney music would “unite Guyanese given our ethnic differences”. “I can sing other music— I sing soul and oldies and pop/ rock, but Chutney can bridge some of the gaps in Guyana being socio-cultural and an Afro- Guyanese guy going on stage and doing these hits—I support everywhere and everything pertaining to culture and support other religions.” “Every time I go to the U.S.A, I am there signing—I sing for free,” he noted. “I don’t do it for any gains, but for the love of it, so that people can see what it is for Afro- Guyanese to go up there and do that.” Nedd as indicated before is passionate about Volleyball and Football and enjoys playing table tennis. He participated in ‘B’ Division tournaments. He and the Guyana team just returned from Suriname and competed in a Beach Volleyball tournament. The PMTC (continued on page 37)
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My column
Guyana, the land of shortages Not so long ago the authorities used to boast that Guyana was self-sufficient in food. Forbes Burnham had conducted a studied campaign to ensure that Guyanese grow their own food, since the imported food was costing the country too much. Indeed, when Guyanese consumed imported foods they were actually supporting the foreign farmer and foreign producer at the expense of the locals. The ban on certain items, although being cussed to this day, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for many Guyanese who would have remained poor nobodies to this day. As a result of the ban, Guyanese began to produce the salted fish that is now so common, eschallot, the various kitchen garden vegetables in such quantities that at one stage people actually exported these things, and the numerous packed products that serve as condiments. During the ban, too, Guyana actually experimented with the canning industry which failed largely because of the high cost of electricity.
Better days came when certain commodities were allowed to return and with each passing year more and more imported foods enter Guyana. Those who can afford them really splurge and there are many these days. Forget the harsh reality that more than half of the country lives in poverty. We have grown accustomed to chicken, the ubiquitous protein provider. Everywhere one turns there is chicken. One goes into a restaurant and one would invariably see people eating a chicken dish. Whether that restaurant is Chinese, or Indian or Creole, there would be chicken. I have seen in the Creole restaurant, people eating a large serving of cookup rice with a piece of fried chicken on top. Inside the cook-up would be the other parts of the chicken that are not very marketable. In the Chinese restaurants the meal is almost invariably chicken fried rice or chicken chowmein. The Indian restaurant would serve curried chicken. There is chicken everywhere. The government granted franchises to a number of fast food places
that specialized in chicken. The first was KFC, which, when it came, attracted long lines at the only franchise. It was madness. A few years later others came. Names like Popeye’s, and Church’s became household names. But before them there were Rendezvous, and I distinctly remember the Chicken House on Regent Street. Of course there was always the Banks DIH Chicken. People who just wanted fast food had a wide range of places to select their chicken. However, a shortage was never far away. There was a time when every Christmas people looked forward to Guyana Stores importing tons of chicken. Three years ago, the then Agriculture Minister announced that Guyana was preparing to export chicken. I thought that this was a remarkable turnaround when just a few short years ago the government had to grant import licences for chicken. Where did these local producers come from to effect such a radical turnaround? Today I say that it is a good thing that the idea to
export never took serious root. Indeed, there were those enterprising people on the Corentyne who smuggled chicken across the river but for the others, it was either finding increasing sums or do without. The price kept rising because the local producers claimed that they were having to pay more for the basic stock—the hatching eggs. When there was a poor batch of eggs, then there was no need to ask about the chicken. Today there is a yet another chicken shortage, despite the best efforts of the producers. Pork is in short supply, too. Now we are hearing that stone is short. Stone producers insist that there is no shortage, but the government says that there is. The government said that its contractors cannot get enough of the produce, but the stone producers all say that it may be a question of the contractor seeking credit and being refused.
I have since learnt that the Marriott could have been responsible for some of the stone shortage. If that is indeed the case, then Guyana’s stone production is in a woeful state. The message would be that one single hotel construction could use up most of the stone produced. The few road constructions would accommodate the rest. Now this is a horrible situation, and I ask myself about the capability to provide the stone for the Amaila Falls hydro project. If that project has not yet started and there is a stone shortage, then what would happen? Surely Guyana is not the developing country one expects it to be. The government has been talking about all these areas of development and now it is turning out that there is not enough stone to support the projects — that is if we are to quote the government. There is the Cheddi Jagan
Adam Harris International Airport expansion programme. This is bigger than the Marriott; it would need stone. And I have deliberately ignored the large four-lane road projects now underway along the coast. One thing is certain; the major stone producer says that he can supply once he is supported, but that is another story. For now, Guyana seems to be a land of shortages. Skills are short, textbooks are short and money is short for many people. Electricity is short and in that sector there is a shortage of wallaba poles.
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Sunday September 15, 2013
AFC wants energy security for Guyana In keeping with our Action Plan, the Alliance for Change (AFC) will table in Parliament a Green Paper that outlines comprehensive policy measures for energy security in Guyana. The party will pursue a sound renewable energy platform, which is good for the
people, the private sector, the economy, energy security, and the environment. The AFC has a sound development agenda to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuel by pursuing meaningful off-shore and onshore oil/gas exploration, bio-
fuel ventures, hydro projects, etc. AFC sees hydro power as a clean energy source that guarantees not only cheap and affordable electricity for all householders, but will ensure rapid development of the manufacturing and industrial sectors for job security and
eventually, a green economy. With a sound energy policy, AFC will ensure that our Guyana, the sleeping Caribbean giant, awakens to her true potential. For decades, our people have endured an electricity supply that has been expensive, inefficient and unreliable. Blackouts remain a daily feature of the dis-service from the stateowned Guyana Power and Light (GPL). Our people carry high electricity tariffs for poor delivery of power supply though the Treasury provided in recent years, G$40 billion to “modernize” GPL, and an additional G$11 billion in shortterm “bailout” subsidies. As a condition for short-term energy supply, AFC demands the formation of a new Board of Directors consisting of competent and professional persons to man the troubled GPL. Whilst we prepare for alternative clean energy, we must remove the technical losses and
commercial theft which plague GPL and re-integrate key private sector businesses into the grid, Towards this end, the AFC supports the construction of one or more hydro-projects as a primary solution to our energy insecurity. All of these would be based on genuine public-private partnership. For any future hydro project, the AFC will insist on sound geotechnical studies, cost analyses and realistic rate of returns, instead of the hocus-pocus projections by the PPP Government that had placed the costs of the derailed Amaila Hydro project in 2010 at US$650 million, which climbed within three years to US$840 million, then US$858 million and, now, US$915 million. The AFC will ensure that all technical evaluations for a hydro project are completed with financial support from Norway’s low carbon development “redd+ fund” which has a vested interest
in reduction of greenhouse gases. Unlike the PPP, we insist on having the best technical and investment advice on any hydro scheme, and all transactions must be executed in a transparent fashion As a pre-condition to activate a hydro policy, AFC will do away with secret deals by establishing the Public Procurement Commission to oversee the procurement processes for all consultancy and contracting services, and guarantee full access by Parliament to all documentation. The AFC’s vision includes doing feasibility for (a) Hydro Power Plant at Tiger Falls to produce electricity for an alumina smelter to revitalize the bauxite industry; (b) a bio-fuel plant in the Canje Basin to pump 10% Guyanese ethanol into the imported fuel pool; (c) wind farm at Hope Beach, and (d) local production of solar panels for domestic use.
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What about the Syrian people? Do they count? By Sir Ronald Sanders The last month’s chessboard politics about Syria and the use of chemical weapons have done nothing to stop the large-scale suffering of the mass of Syrian people, but they have underscored the inadequacy of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Throughout the last two years of the civil war in Syria, the veto-privileged members of the UNSC continue to show that they each place higher priority on their own narrowly-defined national interests than on the welfare of people in affected countries. The Syrian statistics speak for themselves: over 2 million people have fled from the country and many of them are refugees in bordering states; over 6 million people have been displaced from their homes; and over 100,000 people have been killed, including children. These figures are not disputed but in their cold statistics – huge though they are – they fail to portray the full scale of suffering being endured by the Syrian people. A UNSC, concerned with global peace and the welfare of people, would have joined together at the outset of the Syrian conflict to avoid its escalation and to promote and enforce a solution. Instead, the five veto powers on the UNSC – in particular the Russian government – did everything possible to advance their own interests. In the result, the civil war escalated, fuelled in part by two regional
neighbours, Iran and Saudi Arabia, who are fighting a proxy war in Syria of Sunni against Shia Muslims. There have been many instances in the past that starkly revealed the absolute necessity to reform the UNSC, especially to remove the wholly undemocratic veto powers of each of the five permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States of America – that have consistently paralyzed the body. Once again, the utter failure of the UNSC to act together in Syria has emphasized how poorly it serves the people of the world in its present form. It is unlikely that the vetonations on the UNSC will act with any greater sense of global responsibility as events over Syria unfold in the coming weeks. The potential proposal to avoid a military strike by the US is extremely difficult to implement. It should be recalled that it is Russia that responded to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s suggestion that a US military strike could be avoided, if Syrian President Bashar Assad gave up his chemical weapons under international supervision. Assad has seemingly agreed to do so after years of denying that his government had any chemical weapons at all. It is also important to remember that both the Russian government and he jumped on this potential solution only in light of US President Barack Obama’s threat of a military strike. The process of identifying the location of
Sir Ronald Sanders stockpiled chemical weapons requires the fullest cooperation of the Syrian authorities, including those elements of the military that would be strongly opposed to it. Additionally, quarantining the stockpiles and guarding them necessitates the use of external forces authorised by the UNSC – this calls for close and meaningful collaboration by the five veto power nations. In the best of circumstances, this would be a feat difficult to accomplish; in a country beset by a civil war where movement is a major challenge, it is almost impossible. Add to this already poisonous brew the mistrust that exists on all sides and the difficulty of the situation assumes enormous proportions. And while these manoeuvres take place, the war in Syria and its terrible consequences for the Syrian people continue. The only good thing that might have come from them is that they
should deter the further use of chemical weapons. The cruelty and prolonged agony chemicals inflict on victims cannot be hidden. Any further use might arouse enough anger in a world community - that has so far been content to be spectators to the conflict in Syria – to demand action by their governments. But, of course, ending slaughter by chemical weapons does not end carnage by other means. Public opinion on whether their countries should intervene in Syria has been influenced by two things. The first is the deceit by governments – in particular the US and British governments under George W Bush and Tony Blair - about weapons of mass destruction held by Saddam Hussein to justify the invasion of Iraq; and the second is the widespread view held in many parts of the world that Muslims are terrorists. Therefore, even though no government or political party dares to say it publicly, they are keenly aware that the overwhelming sentiment in their constituencies is that the Muslims in Syria should be left to get on with their war
against each other. Many governments around the world have concluded that military intervention in Syria by any country or group of countries would be illegal in the absence of authorisation by the UNSC. This position is, of course, legally correct. In stating their position, these governments have also rightly condemned the use of chemical weapons. They have called for a diplomatic and political solution to the civil war in Syria. But, while a diplomatic and political solution might have been possible at a very early stage of the internal Syrian conflict, history of other civil wars instruct that in the midst of current intense conflict, such a solution cannot be achieved, especially as governments of major countries within and outside the Middle East have a stake in who wins. Therefore, the death count that is already over 100,000, the displacement of millions of people from their homes and the millions of refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries and even across the globe will continue relentlessly until
one of the many groups in Syria bludgeons the others into submission. Much Syrian blood will be spilled and many innocent Syrians, including children, will die while the world watches on. This would be a terrible stain on the conscience of all mankind. As the UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon recently observed: “Our collective failure to prevent atrocity crimes in Syria over the past two and a half years will remain a heavy burden on the standing of the United Nations and its Member States”. As the UN General Assembly is set to convene, at the very least the governments of the world should call on the five veto power nations of the UNSC to act responsibly and together in Syria, and that should not exclude a credible joint UN military intervention to end further slaughter. (The writer is a Consultant, Senior Research Fellow at London University and former Caribbean Diplomat) Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com
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Sunday September 15, 2013
Hinterland development has been hindered by PPPC’s hubris The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration, despite its boastfulness and bluster during the current ‘Amerindian Heritage Month,’ has actually hampered the long-term development of the hinterland and hindered the happiness of the indigenous people living there. The PPPC’s series of short-term, hasty, ‘ad hoc’ remedies to emergency situations and the administration’s preoccupation
with showmanship, rather than strategic planning are delusional. The results, after two decades, have been the underdevelopment of physical infrastructure, unsettled Amerindian land issues, an unsafe environment and widespread uneasiness among residents in the hinterland. The sight of scores of Amerindian protestors in front of the National Assembly and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs on 7th-9th August
tells its own story. The protestors had to travel at great expense from the distant Barima-Waini, CuyuniMazaruni and Rupununi Regions. The protest – timed to coincide with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in August – called attention to unsettled land issues, mainly in those three regions. These included titling and the conflicts with miners who occupy these lands. The unworthy response
of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs was to marshal representatives of the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC), The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG) and the National Amerindian Development Foundation (NADF) to dismiss the mass protest as “nothing more than an advocacy group trying to boost [its] significance.” The Ministry of Human Services is still to start a serious enforcement campaign to bring
the scourge of trafficking in persons in the hinterland under control. The administration ignored this crime for several years. This changed this year when the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation started to rescue girls who had been trafficked and APNU piloted a resolution in the National Assembly demanding a Commission of Inquiry. It is a notorious fact that girls have been trafficked to brothels near the mining camps and timber grants for sexual exploitation. The Ministry of Education seems to have been shocked by the revelation that failure rates at the annual National Grade Six Assessment examinations are astronomically high in the hinterland. The majority of children fail all four subjects. Dropout rates for boys and girls in primary and secondary schools in hinterland areas double the rates for the coastland. The Ministry of Education, however, has been slow to respond to the crisis. In the recent past, it blamed the hinterland children for their own poor performance on account of their “emotional problems, early adult responsibilities, learning disabilities and parenthood.” There seems to be no plan to bring hinterland education closer to the standards expected on the coastland. The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Home Affairs are not the appropriate institutions to conduct ad hoc training courses for children and youths. These misguided ministries, instead of grappling with the serious problem of student underperformance, have been experimenting with unsubstantial, multi-milliondollar, training courses. The latest being the $200M Youth Apprenticeship and Entrepreneur Programme (YAEP) for hinterland youths to be trained in culture, education, governance, health and sports, instead of educational and vocational skills. The Ministry of Home Affairs, on the basis of remarks made at the recent economic forum at the Guyana International Conference Centre, seems to be deeply delusional. It feels that, despite the rising rate of serious crime, the security and public security situation in the country was ‘normal.’ The absence of “wars, riots, and bombings” was cited as proof. Crime, on the contrary, is rampant in the hinterland.
Banditry, contraband smuggling, robbery under arms, narcotics-trafficking and gun-running are, indeed, prevalent. Bandits easily exploit the Guyana Police Force’s lack of resources and inability to effectively patrol the hinterland in order to commit violent crimes. The Ministry has never promulgated a credible border and hinterland security plan. The Ministry of Health, alas, is still to investigate the deadly outbreak of gastroenteritis in the Barima-Waini Region and give residents the assurance that there will not be a recurrence when the December-January rains come. This year’s outbreak caused the deaths of ten children and affected over 500 others in the first quarter of 2013.In the face of the resurgence of vector-borne diseases, the Ministry, apart from the passive response of distributing hundreds of mosquito nets in communities affected by the disease, is still to launch a serious antimalaria campaign. The Ministry of Public Works has been unable to make hinterland aerodromes and rivers safer, roads more accessible all-year-round and bridges sturdier. There have been a number of aeroplane accidents, fatal road and river accidents largely because of the administration’s reluctance to invest in building proper roads and ensure stricter enforcement. Official attempts to blame the condition of roadways – such as Kwakwani-Ituni and Linden road corridors – on “unusual weather patterns” are nonsensical. The hinterland is the largest and, potentially, the richest area of this country with its rich agricultural, human, mineral, timber and tourism resources. The People’s Progressive Party Civic administration needs to see the hinterland in a holistic way, rather than a few “vote farms” to be cultivated for the next electoral harvest. The PPPC needs to radically change its hinterland development policy, if at all it has one. It needs to create a secure environment for Amerindian and other residents, visitors and investors; it needs to improve the standard of education and adopt genuine technical and vocational training for youths; it needs to introduce a new policy for the rehabilitation and construction of safe bridges, roads and other physical infrastructure. These cannot be achieved by ignoring the legitimate demands of the residents themselves.
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Succeeding against the odds, Levi Nedd ...
Posing with his numerous medals and trophies won in sports and for singing over the years From page 24 Alumni took two pairs and gained second place in the Finals - a big achievement, he stated, for Guyana. And it doesn’t end there. Nedd is a teacher too at the GTC/PMTC where he lecturers English to the young apprentices. He is wellrespected and looked up to by his young boys and girls.
He is a disciplinarian (which he says he inherits from his mother who worked for the Englishmen in the sugar industry back then) and tries his utmost to instill a high level of discipline in them. “It’s exciting dealing with young people especially at this age and era—a guy at 51 having to support, develop and assist these youths to
cope with the challenges of life and the (sugar) industry. This is a very, very difficult job.” “If you have passion for the job, you can win them and it’s a victory for you—it’s very challenging, you have to know them well and understand their music—their social life in this technological age and listen to them when they are not speaking.”
He sees his current portfolio as one not where the salary counts, but as one “which is about how much you can do for young people in this country.” A typical day at the Training School begins at 04:00 hrs with physical fitness. On Sundays, he conducts inspection on the apprentices followed by
religious services from the three denominations. During the week, Nedd supervises the apprentices and caters to their needs. He also does a lot of office and clerical work. He is very busy on any given day, since parents would be constantly calling or visiting, concerning the welfare of their children. He would also have to deal with matters and even problems that arise from time to time among the apprentices, like he recalled having to take one of them who fell sick, to the hospital, and they returned way after one in the morning, getting just three hours of sleep before the morning wake- up call. But he insists that the job of being in place of the parents is quite “satisfying.” “You feel good when you see them [the apprentices] coming in here from the start, not knowing anything much and they blossom out…” Having dealt with and trained over 700 apprentices over the past ten years, “the phone calls keep coming—at weekends a lot of them visit— those overseas would text or call.” For relaxation, Nedd reads and enjoys a good game of table tennis or
dominoes. “I do a lot of reading and my favourite author at present is Jeffrey Archer as well as Sidney Sheldon, and as you know, I am into music too. Some weekends I just sit and sing—my two kids and I.” He is happily married to Elise Sophia Nedd and the union bore three children: Julian Joshua, Levi Jr., and Levina Elisha who passed away. Nedd is proud of his life achievements and appreciates the experiences life has thrown at him—both good and bad. “I am only here to disseminate those experiences to young people so they can understand what life is like and I am happily doing that. “I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer and I am very proactive—I think this is what is propelling me in life— because at a very early age, I had to forage for myself and get stuff for myself and I had to survive—The challenges were many and there was nobody to spoon-feed me, so I went out and learned very quickly. I always believe that a child who struggles to get what he or she wants in life is a better child in the long run.”
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Kaieteur News
SUNDAY SPECIAL BANDITS SHOOT, ROB WAKENAAM RESIDENT Bandits escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash and other valuables at around 20:00 hrs last week Saturday night after shooting Wakenaam resident Anand Danishore in his home. According to reports, Danishore had just returned from a wedding when several armed men invaded his premises, located near the Wakenaam Ferry Stelling. They reportedly relieved the occupants of their valuables and shot Danishore in the left arm. Residents said that the robbers fired several shots while fleeing the scene. Residents reportedly heard a speedboat moving off shortly after. The wounded man returned to the wedding house on a motorcycle and informed the guests that he had been shot. He was then taken to the Wakenaam Cottage Hospital. E’BO COAST, WAKENAAM, LEGUAN, BARTICA WILL NOT RECEIVEELECTRICITY FROMAMAILA The Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project, whenever it is completed and becomes operational, will not be supplying any electricity to Essequibo. At present the project seems dead, but recently the government has been saying that it is only delayed for a year. The non-supply of electricity would be extended to villages along the coast between Supenaam and Charity, Bartica and the two largely populated islands — Wakenaam and Leguan. This was confirmed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL), Bharat Dindyal, when the top brass for the power company met with members of the public on September 6, to discuss its performance over the past year and the first half of this year. According to Dindyal, it would have been too expensive to have a transmission line erected and strung to supply that county with electricity. He said that the cost of a transmission line to supply that section of the country with electricity would be in the vicinity of US$32M. MONDAYEDITION MASON SHOT DEAD BY POLICE IN HOUSE A 44-year-old mason of Sophia was shot dead during a confrontation with heavily armed ranks of a police mobile
Bharat Dindyal patrol unit at his home Sunday night. The man, Kampta Persaud called Krishna, received a bullet to his head from a police rifle after the ranks opened fire in an attempt to arrest him. He died five minutes after arriving at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation around 20:15 hours. Police claimed that the man had earlier attacked one of the ranks, chopping him on his hand with a cutlass. Reports reaching this newspaper stated that the police went to the area to investigate a report that Persaud had threatened his neighbour. The police claimed that upon confronting Persaud, the man refused an invitation to go with them to the Sparendaam Police Station. “He came out the door and say, ‘I ain’t going nowhere with y’all. Ah gon kill alyuh’. He run back inside fuh a cutlass and start fire chop,” a police rank told Kaieteur News. He said that after one of the chops struck the unit leader, Corporal Ramdat, who was standing just outside the front door of the house, on his hand, Persaud then ran back into his house and secured himself. According to the police, a few warning shots were fired in an attempt to get Persaud to surrender and when he did not, the ranks fired a round which pierced the wooden wall of the house and struck the victim at the back of his head. TUESDAYEDITION GDF PROBES ARMED “VISIT” OF VENEZUELAN SOLDIERS INTO GUYANA - Foreign Affairs Ministry said group claimed it doing border research The army has mounted a probe to determine whether its soldiers guarding a border base at Eteringbang, erred in allowing a group of Venezuelans to enter Guyana in somewhat strange circumstances on August 31. The group, called “My Map of Venezuela also Includes Our
Essequibo”, reportedly came to “carry out a civil exercise of sovereignty”. The group was accompanied by armed members of the Venezuela Army, according to El Universal, a newspaper in the neighbouring Spanishspeaking country Monday. While there was no explanation what exactly the exercise involved, online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, explains that sovereignty is the quality of having independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. The visit is now being seen as an act of provocation by certain fringe groups in Venezuela to embarrass President Nicolas Maduro who came to visit Guyana on state business the same day. Venezuela is claiming a large swath of Essequibo. The issue has been rearing its head from time to time but took backseat under the administration of Venezuela’s former President Hugo Chavez. Chavez, who died earlier this year, had agreed to
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have the matter settled by a UN Good Office process. Jamaican-born Norman Girvan, an expert of international relations, was appointed back in 2010 to see the process through. ‘DJ CHEDDIE’ GUNNED DOWN IN TUCVILLE -ALLEGED SHOOTER CAUGHT, BEATEN BY RESIDENTS A 37-year-old former disc jockey (DJ) was gunned down at around 20:30 hrs Monday as he sat with friends outside the Turning Point snackette at Tucville Housing Scheme. Sheldon Cheddie also known as “DJ Cheddie,” of 39-949 Jackson Street, Tucville, was shot at least seven times by one of two men who rode up to him on a bicycle. He died as he was being rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. The alleged shooter was apprehended after some of Cheddie’s associates gave chase on motorcycles. He was taken to
Kampta Persaud called Krishna the GPHC under police guard and treated for minor head injuries. WEDNESDAY EDITION CORENTYNE RICE MILLER, 74, SHOT DEAD IN BOTCHED ROBBERY LallaPersaud Juggerdeo, a 74-year-old Corentyne rice miller was shot dead Tuesday night when bandits stormed his Number 55 Village,
Corentyne home. According to reports, the elderly man was responding to a commotion in the bottom flat of his residence when one of the gunmen discharged a round which hit him. He died before he could receive medical attention. Kaieteur News understands that five bandits entered the bottom flat where some of Juggerdeo’s relatives were relaxing around 19:45 hours. The elderly man who was upstairs heard the commotion and went downstairs to investigate. A licenced firearm holder, Juggerdeo responded to the situation without his firearm. One of the startled bandits saw him and opened fire. By this time other residents who heard the screams began converging on Juggerdeo’s residence and the bandits, fearing that they would be cornered, shot their way out and escaped. When they left, the wounded man’s relatives picked him up and rushed him to the hospital where he was (Continued on page 39)
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From page 37 pronounced dead on arrival. WEST DEM. BUSINESSMAN SHOT DEAD AS BANDITS TERRORIZE VILLAGE A well-known West Demerara businessman was shot dead Tuesday night after heavily armed bandits descended on his Meten-Meer-Zorg home, leaving the community in shock and anger, and continuing what has been a surge in violent crime across the country in recent weeks. Dead is Zulficar ‘Vicky’ Namdar of 76 Third Street, Meten–Meer–Zorg. Also shot in the leg during the ordeal which lasted less than 10 minutes was Stephen Mohamed, a teenager who works part time for the Namdar family. Namdar, in addition to running his popular grocery, also has a trucking business with the Guyana Sugar Corporation and is a prominent member of the Muslim community. Crowds of shocked residents, relatives and government officials converged at the scene. THURSDAY EDITION AFC WANTS GEA THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED Acknowledging that the National Assembly has not been focusing on state entities with the thoroughness that is required, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has announced plans to move a motion in the National Assembly for an inquiry into the operations of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA). This is according to Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, who said that he is disgusted by improprieties and illegalities of the governance of GEA unearthed by Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram on his website, chrisram.net. Ram highlighted that with poor accounting practices and no word on who are members of the Board of Directors, the GEA headed by Mahender Sharma, was last year responsible for a whopping US$350M of the nation’s transactions related to fuel purchases from Venezuela. Ram stated that while the GEA came into existence in late 1997 and commenced operations in 1998, it was more than 12 years before any accounts were tabled in the National Assembly. The records indicate that audited financial statements and not annual reports were tabled in the National Assembly for years up to 2009. And, according to the GEA 2012 activities, the audits for the
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years 2010 and 2011 have been completed, but these have not been tabled. MAN DRINKS POISON AFTERATTEMPTINGTO KILLGIRLFRIEND The staff of the Shack Inn and Bar located on Norton Street between George and Camp Streets, Georgetown, were Wednesday in a state of shock when they got embroiled in a confrontation with a customer who allegedly wanted to kill his girlfriend then poison himself, but was only successful with the latter. Dead is 38-year-old Wilbert E. Grant, a sign artist from Linden, who poisoned himself after allegedly trying to kill his younger girlfriend, Sherry John (also from Linden). She is currently staying in town with family members. Kaieteur News understands that around 09:00hrs Wednesday, Grant entered the lobby of the hotel and made a phone call to his girlfriend enquiring if she would be coming. Upon confirming that she was coming to the hotel he booked a room for 24 hours and paid for it. The man then left the premises and came back with his girlfriend and was escorted to Room 12 on the third floor of the building where persons paying for a whole day would be housed. Simone Johnson, the room attendant, relating what transpired said that about 15 minutes after she left the couple in their room, she heard rumbling sounds coming from upstairs and when she went to enquire what was happening, she saw the woman screaming and sprinting down the stairs. The hysterical woman then said to the attendant that the “man was choking her and wanted to kill her.” She luckily was able to escape by punching the man in the groin. FRIDAYEDITION METEN-MEER-ZORG ROBBERY/MURDER… STOLEN PHONE FOUND ON SUSPECT Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell said Thursday that the murder of MetenMeer-Zorg grocer Zulficar Namdar “appears to be a hit” and investigators have detained four suspects and impounded a car that the killers may have used. “It appears to us to be a hit, because the information that we got is that the men came in firing. The deceased was shot early…” the Commissioner said, while fielding questions from journalists at the Ministry of Home Affairs
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boardroom. Reassuring that investigators were “working assiduously,” Brumell also revealed that an individual who had allegedly threatened Namdar was among those detained. Another suspect who was held with a phone that was stolen during the robbery is also in custody. CORENTYNE RICE MILLER ROBBERY/ MURDER…SIX HELD FOR QUESTIONING Police are questioning six people in connection with the murder of 74-year-old Lallapersaud ‘Lall’ Juggerdeo, who was shot dead Tuesday night at his home in Number 51 Village, Corentyne. Juggerdeo was shot in the left side of his chest when he reportedly confronted gunmen in his yard. Reports indicate that the bandits, who went to great pains to conceal their features, fled emptyhanded into the backlands. Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell told reporters Thursday that the elderly farmer owned a licenced firearm. An autopsy performed Thursday by Government Pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan revealed that he died from shock and hemorrhage. Juggerdeo’s son, Basant Juggerdeo, criticized the response that evening by claiming that the police at the Number 62 Village Impact Base had great difficulty starting their pick-up. “Their vehicle battery wasn’t starting up and they had to get a push-start.” He claimed, too, that it took them awhile to arrive after the bandits had left, and that when they came, “they came with pen and paper—I don’t know if pen and paper can find the bandits.” The man’s son also stated that police arrived at his home Thursday afternoon and conducted a search. He lives in the front house in the yard. He stated that they were searching “for ammunition.” He questioned the “stupidity” of the search and stated that someone dropped a plastic bag with money from a transaction Thursday at his home and that the police at Number 51 Police Station might have been ‘tipped off’. SATURDAY EDITION THREEYEARS LATER, $600M SUPENAAM STELLINGFALLING APART - SECTION COLLAPSES UNDER TRUCK WITH RICE FOR VENEZUELA More than three years after being commissioned, the $600M-plus Supenaam Stelling in Essequibo, which
provides a critical link to the capital, has started to fall apart. A section of deck slab leading to the ramp that allows vehicles to load into the ferries has collapsed, forcing transportation officials to restrict heavy vehicles and leaving rice farmers angry over the delays. This latest incident would bring to fore the questions of the quality of work on government projects. This particular project, because of its costs, problems and importance, had sparked an inquiry involving the contractor, BK International,
the government nor the consultants taking blame. On Friday, Transport Minister Robeson Benn, confirmed that repairs have been done to the hole and an assessment team is carrying out other checks to ascertain whether additional emergency works will have to be done. The concrete stelling is built on piles. The Minister disclosed that about two weeks ago, workers noticed erosion in a particular section of the stelling. It quickly developed into a problem about six days ago and collapsed under the weight of a laden rice truck
heading for the city. It left a gaping hole through which people could see the Essequibo River. Engineers managed to repair the problem using steel sheets. As a result of the problem, Benn said, a decision was taken to restrict the weight of vehicles from 22 tonnes to 16 tonnes. While the restrictions have been lifted, they have caused delays. Both the Chinese ferries, MV Sabanto and MV Kanawan, which ply the Supenaam/Parika route, are now working two return trips per day to ease the backup.
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ANNETTE ARJOON Changing the face of local aviation with an Amerindian heritage By Zena Henry It wasn’t being thickskinned that soothed Air Services Limited (ASL) executive, pilot and conservationist Annette ArjoonMartin when she was called ‘Buck Banana’, during her school days; it was the rich heritage of persistence inherited from her Amerindian ancestors. That is the same persistence she gave credit to when describing her role and survival in the very prestigious and maledominated field of aviation. The 48-year-old has been involved in aviation for over 25 years now, playing a pivotal role in the 51-year-old company her father, Yacoob Ally, started. It was not a walk-in-the-park being one of the few women involved in
little to eat she would take fresh pepper from the yard, rub it on cassava bread, and that was our meal. I can look back and appreciate that my grandmother hadn’t turned to begging the church for help, or stealing; by her example, she prepared me to make do with what I had. Later on, during my conservation career whether I was in the rough Atlantic Ocean at night heading for Shell Beach or in the middle of the swampy crabwood forest in the Waini I was able to cope.” After early schooling in Guyana, she went on to Codrington High; an all-girls boarding school in Barbados. Her father was instrumental in ensuring her development. “Being in that school,
our country’s development.” Fresh out of high school, Arjoon joined her dad’s timber business, A. Mazaharally and Son’s; the genesis of Air Services which had one aircraft accessing remote timber concessions. “In those days, the scarcity of pilots resulted in some of them having prima donna attitudes, and in order to be independent of that I went to Briko Flight School in Trinidad and obtained my Private Pilot’s Licence.” She built flying hours around timber concessions, but as fate would have it, she grew into aviation management. When Annette entered aviation management in 1985, there were few female pilots, she said. “There were no female engineers, a few in
Annette Arjoon in front of her latest idea, the country’s only state-of-the-art fuel farm worth US$1M. aviation in the mid 80s. The perception of Amerindians being ‘jungle people’ offered no assistance either, but “in a male dominated industry you had to work hard to prove yourself,” Arjoon told Kaieteur News. She spent her early days with Santa Rosa, Arawak grandmother, Rosalind Murray, who cultivated coffee for a living. That is where she developed a love for the outdoors and an attachment to animals. “Those years cemented my identity of first and foremost being an Amerindian and all that meant. You learned to look out for yourself; swimming across the river to meet friends or finding a fruit tree when you were hungry.” “Looking back, the Amerindian trait of persevering through difficulty and hard times grew in me, and in later years, as a working mother in the business world, that attitude of not giving up when problems loomed, was naturally there.” It is part of my Amerindian heritage, Annette continued. “My grandmother was poor and when there was
with the structure and discipline, I learned to focus on setting goals. It brought out my competitive spirit.” With limited airline connections between Barbados and Guyana, Annette Arjoon’s fatherwhose family was involved in the timber industrypurchased a Cessna 310 for work and to take his children to and from Barbados. “From that I saw, even as a student that limited airlift to and in Guyana would hamper
flight operations but none in aviation management.” “As a female Manager in a maledominated industry, I felt I had to work harder to earn the respect of the macho aviation fraternity. I had to work harder to prove myself.” Arjoon recalled at one time being involved in an important meeting with big names in the sector. “Every time I said something I was shut down. I got so angry that I slammed my hand on the desk and yelled, what
Region Four officials to... From page 11 was their excuse. But which tractor wheel will tek a week fuh patch? Dey gat plenty vulcanizing shop around hey,” Tula declared. Only recently he entertained some overseas guests and was embarrassed by the sight of flies all over the lunch he had prepared for them. Then there was the stench emanating from the garbage which was dumped in front of his yard. One of the overseas visitors said that he was forced to cut short his vacation after having to relocate from the premises where he was originally scheduled to stay. “Honestly, I can’ believe that people are forced to live like this. This place (Guyana) is a real turn off. When we thought of coming to relax in our homeland, we are forced into an existence like animals. The stench and sight are really a turn off,” the New York-based Guyanese told this newspaper.
do I have to do to be heard around here? That is when I was finally given an ear,” she said. Nonetheless, Annette Arjoon is most proud of overseeing the transition of ASL’s piston-engine fleet to the fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly turbine engines; the establishment of satellite operations at Mahdia, the involvement of more women in the sector and having a hinterland internship programme. Another treasure of the ASL General Manager is, “One incomplete, but massively beneficial project; the utilization of our state of the art fuel farm. Not only has it raised the standards of fuel handling, but most critically, enabling us to control our aviation fuel supply and operational cost with tangible benefits to the travelling public. “Additionally, for the first time at Ogle other aviation operators will have a choice of fuel suppliers. This is of course assuming that there are no additional costs we are expected to comply with which will make us uncompetitive.” For Arjoon, the Ogle Airport where ASL operates has changed drastically. Major players have been able to upgrade from piston engines to turbines. Five operators have their own hangars, and three have their own maintenance services. “There has also been an expansion, though somewhat limited, of aviation services such as an engineering school and a flight school, both authorized by the Civil Aviation Authority, that provides personnel to meet the industry’s needs.” Ogle Airstrip consists of State land and was operated by
Arjoon on one of the Mangrove planting exercises. Guysuco for decades. In 2000 Government leased the land to a group of private investors known as Ogle Airport Inc (OAI) in a public/private partnership. The partnership made Ogle Airstrip an International Airport with Airport Authority being responsible for the safety, security and operational affairs of stakeholders. A prerequisite of an international airport, Arjoon pointed out, is the establishment of an Airport Authority and an Airport Operations Manual which serve to procedurally organize the relationship between the Airport Authority and its stakeholders. Additionally, there are challenges hampering Ogle’s growth. “From a macro perspective, the public private partnership between the Government of Guyana and Ogle Airport Inc., which was premised on this public utility being developed for the benefit of the aviation industry has come a long way but can improve from the lessons learnt along the way.” “In that context,” Arjoon opined, “when there is the possibility of abuse stemming from a dominant position, or from preserving monopolies, for example, a mechanism for redress by aviation
stakeholders, such as an Aviation Review Panel is crucial.” The panel, made up of a broad cross-section of respected qualified aviation stalwarts, is an essential component for monitoring and regulation of the industry in the future. “For example, when ASL is being asked by airport management to comply with new rules which are not in its operations manual and unsanctioned by the GCAA, that Panel comes in.” Arjoon prized her success, however, on her strong belief “to persevere when the truth and facts are on my side to ensure due process; to remain firm when persons whom you once held in esteem have given you every reason to lose such respect.” “In ASL where staff had code names for managers, I was pleased instead of offended when I overheard a radio operator saying ‘The Iron Lady is on her way.” “But back to my Amerindian roots, “Kai” with his selfless action to serve and save his Patamona people is my example of the level of service and action I would take in the interest of the greater good!”
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GPHC looking to attain baby- TB initiative friendly status by next year to roll out in - encourages support as National Breast Feeding Week is celebrated hinterland communities
Although the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) may never be able to realise a 100 per cent baby-friendly status where all babies are breastfed, there are certainly fervent moves being made to embrace the principles that go along with such a status. Principles in this regard entail not only mothers regularly breastfeeding their newborn babies and remaining with them, but it also warrants that the entire staff of a baby-friendly hospital is au fait with its breastfeeding initiatives. “Even if persons are not working in the Maternity Unit or are even working at the surgical-end, they should have some idea of the baby friendly initiatives of that hospital,” said Senior Departmental Supervisor of the Maternity Unit, Sister June Cato. The Baby-friendly Hospital concept was first launched by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children Fund in 1991, following the Innocenti Declaration of 1990. The initiative is a global effort to implement practices that protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Moreover, Sister Cato said that efforts are usually made at the GPHC to have
Sister June Cato staffers exposed to workshops and continuing education programmes to make them more aware of the importance of breastfeeding even as moves are made to attain the baby-friendly status there. Sister Cato’s comments were forthcoming during an interview with this publication as it relates to the public hospital’s preparation to celebrate National Breastfeeding Week over the period September 15 through 21. She explained that the GPHC’s inability to attain this status has been linked to the fact that it is a national referral hospital which accommodates patients from the various Regions who could have a number of health issues that may require the services of the Intensive Care Unit. Added to this Sister Cato said that it will be impossible for some babies to be breastfed since some mothers may be HIV positive or have other health issues and will therefore be encouraged to take advantage of other feeding options. However, Sister Cato noted that with education it is anticipated that the hospital will be able to attain the Baby Friendly status,
though to a limited extent, by this time next year. She disclosed that the Hospital has already had a preliminary assessment in this regard and an international assessment process is continuing. “I am positive that we will be able to get that status by early next year...We are working pretty hard with the mothers who will be breastfeeding and so we have been encouraging mothers not to give any other feeds,” said Sister Cato. “Even if the baby is being taken to the baby clinic or has to see the doctor at the Paediatric Department, we are looking to have those babies not have bottle feeds,” added Sister Cato. And in order to ensure that the GPHC is able to realise its ambitious goal, the Maternity Supervisor said that efforts are being made to revise the existing national breastfeeding policy with a view of ensuring that even mothers who are HIV positive are accommodated. A planned week of activities to commemorate National Breastfeeding Week will be introduced with a church service today within the post-natal section of the Maternity Unit and the mounting of a banner to enlighten the public that breastfeeding week has started. The activities, according to Sister Cato, will be held under the theme ‘Breastfeeding Support: Close to mothers’, a notion which is being embraced globally. She explained that although the importance of breastfeeding is highlighted year-round, it is during this period that efforts are made to emphasise its usefulness. “At this time we give a little more attention to
breastfeeding and we do this by trying to involve everybody in breastfeeding,” she noted. Other activities this week will include a mini-fair tomorrow during the Maternity Unit’s Antenatal Clinic to which fathers are encouraged to accompany mothers to clinic with a view of getting a better understanding of what is being done. “Our aim is to have the fathers become involved in breastfeeding; it is not only about the mothers because they have the breast to breastfeed, we need the fathers as well to support them,” asserted Sister Cato. She noted though that not only is the support of fathers being encouraged but also that of other family members who can prove to be equally supportive. The continuation of the celebration on Tuesday will be characterised by talks on breastfeeding which will also be held at the Enmore PolyClinic, as well as at Clinics in Kitty and Campbellville. On Wednesday a breastfeeding workshop will be conducted in the Maternity Unit, and according to Sister Cato, new staff members of the hospital will be targeted to heighten their awareness about breastfeeding and the need to attain the Baby-Friendly status. Another Antenatal Clinic will be held on Thursday, and there are plans for a meeting with support group members on Friday. The latter session is designed to foster discussions with persons outside of the nursing personnel who are also expected to support mothers in the move to encourage breastfeeding.
An initiative of volunteers treating and caring for Tuberculosis (TB) patients to reduce deaths in hinterland communities would soon be launched in Region Eight by the National Tuberculosis Programme. It would be rolled out to Region One and other hinterland communities with assistance from Global Fund. This is according to Dr. Jeetendra Mohanlall, Head of the National Tuberculosis Programme, during an interview with this publication yesterday. He enlightened that this project is part of the DOTS (directly observed treatment, shortcourse) Programme that has been implemented in Guyana for more than 10 years. Dr. Mohanlall said that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) supported the earlier implementation of DOTS in Regions Three, Four, Six and Ten through the public health in Guyana strengthening project. According to Dr. Mohanlall, the implementation of this initiative in the hinterland communities is not related to any increase in persons infected with the TB virus. In fact, Region Four is the highest burden with over 60 percent of the TB cases. He explained that one contributing factor for the high record of TB cases in Region Four is that patients are transferred to Georgetown depending on the severity of their diagnosis and treatment necessary. However, most of the patients residing in the
Dr. Jeetendra Mohanlall hinterland are diagnosed at their Regional and District Hospitals. In addition, there are 18 sites across the 10 Administrative Regions that are equipped to diagnose and treat patients. According to Dr. Mohanlall, through the new initiative the DOTS model used on the coastland would not be employed in the hinterland. He explained on the coastland trained TB outreach workers, called DOTS workers, take pills and oversee patients taking those medications daily for at least six months. Sometimes this process could extend beyond six months with a maximum of 12 months depending on the type of TB. “We have a big difference in terrain and also the population density so in the hinterland you have small pockets of population. We have to engage more Community Health Workers for the DOTS Programme in the hinterland. We need to see more of them involved with this because we cannot hire a specific person to do DOTS in the hinterland,” he noted. Dr. Mohanlall said that one of the many challenges the programme encounters is staff not being able to cope with the additional tasks. As such, the hinterland initiative would be employing the services of retired Community Health Worker, medic or nurse living in various hinterland communities as volunteers. They would be required to oversee patients taking their pills, look out for side effects, guide them, help with making clinic appointments and conduct follow-ups. According to Dr. Mohanlall, at the end of the six-month period when the TB patients would have been cured the volunteer would receive a hamper worth $6,000 for working with one individual.
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GUYANESE MEN CAN’T TEK LEF…CARIBBEAN AIRLINES RESPONDS TO MY CRITICISM By Ralph Seeram My old friend and late Guyanese folklorist, Wordsworth McAndrew, would say, ‘It’s the “typee”’. The Mighty Sparrow said that it’s the “bag of sugar down dey”. For me, I think it’s the “cave man mentality”. Guyanese men think they own women and must control them, “Deh can’t tek lef”. Before I get deep down to the subject, I want in fairness to Caribbean Airlines to follow up on my article last Sunday on Caribbean Airlines, to which Caribbean Airlines responded. I have received many responses to the article from readers; in fact, an unusually high response via emails and Facebook. Ninety percent of the responses were not complimentary of the airline. Following the publication of the article last Sunday I received two emails last Monday morning, one from Ms Sharon Marquezdass who is the Customer Experience Manager of CAL, and Mr. Earl Browne who is Caribbean Airlines Manager Florida/Nassau. Both requested details of the family trip from Orlando to Guyana to which I responded by email. Mr. Browne requested to speak with me personally, which we did last Tuesday. They both expressed their sincerest apologies on behalf of the airlines for the problems I encountered. Mr. Browne emphasized that is not the level of service Caribbean Airlines want their customers to experience. He
conceded that there was a “system” problem that day, but said that was no excuse, the airline strives to give excellent service to its passengers. Mr. Browne was very apologetic and said that an investigation was being done at the “highest level” to ensure there is no repeat of this situation. He said the company is undertaking a review and is also looking to review its meals policy. He further explained that they are in discussions with the Jamaican government with regard to their policy of having intransit passengers bound for Guyana and Trinidad go through Immigration, Customs and Security at Norman Manley Airport. So far the Jamaican government has agreed that if there is no change of planes, intransit passengers will remain on board. Mr. Brown also hinted that Caribbean Airlines will “make it up to my family” for our troubles on completion of their report. I await the latter. They would like me to continue using CAL. Now we can get down to this business of Guyanese men killing men for their women, man kills himself for woman, man stabs man for complimenting his woman. Murder on the rampage in Guyana and women are at the receiving end in domestic cases. Strange enough I don’t read of woman killing other woman for their man, or killing themselves for man, women smarter than that, women smarter than man. Unlike man they know “plenty man out deh” and they gat
the “bag of sugar” men want. Man killing for “one fish” no pun intended. He think that is the only fish and he own it. Nobody else must eat it. Now let me see if I get this straight, one guy book a “short time” room for a rendezvous with he woman, she turn him down, and he tried unsuccessfully to kill her then kill himself. For what? One “fish”. Then we have the businessman who did not like he friend eat the same “fish” he eating. He decided he is going to stop he woman from seeing “sweet man”so he put fifteen bullet in the “sweet man”. He never hear “once a cheat always a cheat”. So what he going to do? Kill the next “sweet man”? Yes, she is going to find another man and another man. What he going to do? Kill them all? He is going to get arrested, most likely jailed. He lost the good life he had, lost the business and, while he is in prison trying to protect his rear end from other prisoners, she on her rear end with another “sweet man” in his bed, drinking his liquor. The “new lover” might be even wearing his clothes and
driving his car. All he had to do was play stupid, drop the lady off at the “lover” like nothing wrong, go home change the door locks, send her “belongings” to the “sweet man” and tell him he can take care of her, then go out fish for a new fish. That’s all he had to do Look men, if a woman want to “give you blows” she is going to finds ways to do it, even if you “watchman her 24 hours a day”. Then we have the stories of gold miners coming home from the “bush” to find they women “gat sweet man”. Same for seaman coming home. It’s an old story. The truth of the matter is “somebody had to water the garden” in their absence. I had a store in Orlando once. After customers get to know you, you would not believe how they would confide their inner secrets to you. One woman told me that her husband was very insecure and never trusted her, (rightly so). He always calling her to check up where she was. One day she was naked at her “lover’s house” the husband called to check up if she said she was home, he
was not sure, so he asked her to put on the microwave so he can hear, she put on the “sweet man” microwave, he ask her to put on the TV, she put on the TV, convinced he hang up and she went back to bed with her lover. Another told me how she was in the act when her husband called to check on her, since she was breathing heavy from her “riding” she told him she was doing her work out, the conversation ended and she continued her “exercise”.
Look men if you so insecure and don’t trust your woman, leave her. One “fish” is not worth going to jail for. Leave the woman and go “fishing”. There are more fishes in the sea. But I suspect that most of these men are already “fishing” in other men’s houses, but can’t stand the thought of someone “fishing in his pond”. “Do suh no like suh” Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: ralph365@hotmail.com
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Kaieteur News
SERVICES
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
VEHICLE FOR SALE
Hell the doctor is back! Have your Gas Stoves repaired and serviced- Call:601-0595/ 220-4073/220-5785
500 Ton Cargo Ship with Contract- call: 687-6174
LARGE QUANTITIES O F H IGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICKSILVER) 99.99995% PURITY $18,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. BLACK PLASTIC BAGS W/S- CALL:695-4785/6137437
ALYEA’S AUTO SALE: PREMIO 2002/2003, AXIO 2008. ALL PRICES ARE NEG. 40 CROAL STREET STABROEK- TEL:2317284/622-3823
Spare for washing machine, microwaves,fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call:225-9032,647-2943
Toyota Premio PRR series $2.2M- Call:642-3185
Diabetics- Have your insulin & other medications delivered to your home/ office. Professional advice offered- Call:225-4292/6260872/227-7910 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Profressional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call:225-6496,6626045,223-8115 Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves: Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick) House Plans, estimates and construction- Contact T. Boodhoo 625-9883/ 6759296 Professional and affordable landscaping and tree trimming services. Budram’s Landscaping ServicesCall:656-1326/678-0058 We Refill HP cartridges for $1800 call: 650-7699 For all your computer services & repairs: pick up/ drop off & house calls available- Call:696-9801/6855653 Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer,fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call:225-9032,6472943 Computer repairs in HomesCall:675-7292 Upholstery, recovering of sofas chairs, recliner, couches and more- Call:6135132 Brian Moe @642-3543: Computer Technician: Home and Office visits at your comfort!! FB:brianmoe.165 Pandit Chrishna Persaud Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Oaths to Affidavits & Marriage Officer- Call: 225-6344/6425165
Used DVD duplicators $50,000, Xbox 360 $70,000 & power tools- Call:621-7497 (1) Crown amp Macro-tech 5002VZ. Price negotiableCall: 674-8992/665-1575 Pitbull pup 4 months oldCall:650-3327 Just arrived: Spring Filled Mattress from the US, Queen Size & King size etc. Call:6246471 (1) Blackberry Q10 2 months old. All accessories includedCall:661-9499 between 8:30am-4:30pm WHOLE PLUCK CHICKENCall:676-0931/686-7180 Power Mate Generator 5500 KVA- Call:696-3416 Live/pluck chicken-Call:6504421/220-9203 One stall (3 in 1) at La Penitence market. Also 1 glass cooler 110 volts & one 125cc Jailing ScooterCall:695-5815 Video recording Spy Pen $6,500- Call:671-6177 Potting Soil and quality cow mould- Call:656-1326/6780058 One Slate pools table for sale- Call:610-6322 15-15-15 Fertilizer in damaged bags- Call:266-2711/609-4594 Pure breed Cane Corso puppies 8 weeks. Tail crop, have shots & ready for new home- Call Tony 623-9099 4 German shepherd pups. Mother’s black, father’s white. They are six weeks oldCall:677-4364 Dell laptops & desktops complete computers from $45,000 Futuretech call: 2312206 Wine Vessel (Jue) Shang dynasty. Old print, paintings and painting on Bamboos, Qui paintings- Call:623-7029 Air, split, relay and blow valve, clutch cylinder, alternator for Leyland Daf truck- Call:691-1161/264-3268 Pure Pitbulls 10 weeks old, fully vaccinated $40,000 negotiable- Call:619-1570 or contact Beckles Lumber yard
FOR RENT One Business spot ideal for Pharmacy etc. also one upper flat three bedroomsCall: 223-9727/ 673-0373/ 6500077 Rooms- Call:225-9223 Bond Space for rent- Call:6413092 Business Spot to rent at 14 Peter’s Hall, E.B.D- Call: 2335110/668-0309
Exclusive designed Sarees blouse inclusive. Made in India. Price range between GY$6,000- GY$7,000- Call: 216-1210 or 648-8961 7 Weeks old Tibetan Terrier fully de-wormed & vaccinated- Call: 650-4649 Metal Drums Corks- Contact Ravi @627-1751 or 673-3974 Daily Pork wholesale- Call: 266-2711/609-4594
Tools: 2 Tool Kits, wrench, socket, air tool, scanner, tester etc.-Call: 225-0024/ 601-0706 Sale at Aaliyah’s cheap shop, items as low as $100Call:664-2209 1 Juggler Numark cdn 88 price $70,000- Contact:2740341 or 611-2592 Pure Rottweiler pupsCall:650-8496 Pure bred American Akita puppies for sale $200,000Call: 639-8924 or 227-4674 Massey, Yanmar Ford 5000 Logging/ Agriculture Tractors, parts, Loader & Ford Truck- Call: 615-1578/ 694-3595: Tools & Chainsaw668-2831 Used American made freezers, fridges, stoves- Call Ping: 667-3733 Video games café for sale/ rent up Soesdyke Linden Highway- Call: 223-1719/6000036 Household and office furniture, automotive parts and equipments, pipes, hand trucks. Affordable prices. Sale final- Call: 698-6391
1 Ford Ranger & 1 Honda Civic 2001 model- Call:2250709
One van veh# GKK 3262. One Mitsubishi Lancer Veh# PKK 7688- Call:641-3092 1 Leyland DAF single axle hauler truck with 40ft Trailer Call: 683-0632 EuroLuxAutos: 2009 UK made Vauxhall Tigra 2 doors convertible, 12,000 miles $4M- Call:667-1051/604-7806 (1) JL150T-3 motorcycle new, recently crashed- Call:2232812/661-1717/645-6413 Leyland DAF 150-45 21ft tray length. GNN seriesCall:673-9996/255-0618 (first owner) EuroLuxAutos: 2010 Nissan Pixo Hatchback 1300 miles. Excellent condition $1.8MCall:667-1051 or 604-7806 1 Hilux pickup solid DEF, 2 ton winch, crash bar etc. Call:644-5096/697-1453 Unregistered Toyota Tundra 4x4 and Toyota mini buses now in stock- Call:674-5911 or 647-7676 1 Low Bed (hauler & trailer), 1 Freight Liner Hauler, 1-48ft trailer- Call:613-6979 First Class Auto: Allion, Verossa, Axio, 212- Call:6098188/602-6307 1 Toyota- AT212, AT192, Ceres, EP71 Starlet, Tundra, E24 Nissan van- Call: 6445096/697-1453
VEHICLE FOR SALE 1 Toyota Raum (PKK series) Auto, F/P, A/C, alarm. Price $1.4M- Call: 621-5902/2251400 1 Honda CRV (PKK series) Auto, F/P, mags, A/C, crash bar. Price $1.9M- Call:6215902/225-1400 Driven Auto Sales- New Arrivals: Unregistered Toyota Sienta, Toyota IST & Mazda Axela. Lowest prices!!! Call: 643-6565/2269931 Cheapest- Premio, Spacio, Hilux, Stick Gear Buses- Call: 616-7635 1 Toyota single cab Diff pickup complete engine overhaul & re-sprayed (2) months ago. Price $2.5M- Call: 6248175
EuroLuxAutos: 2011 Mercedes Benz C250 AMG Sport from Germany. 8,000 miles, like new $11MCall:667-1051/604-7806 110 Corolla, Vitz- Call:6797139 1 Lady-driven Toyota Raum, PLL series, white, CD, mags, no serious offer rejectedCall:216-0044/639-4087 1 Toyota Verossa: HID, leather seats & mags. PPP series- Call:618-7618 Green 2008 S350 Ford pickup truck, 6.4 V8 diesel engine. Super duty, asking price $6.8M- Call:614-4201 Tractor from Canada: 285MF $2.5M, 265MF $2M, 165MF $1.8M, 135MF $1.3M, Ford Ranger pickup $1.5MCall:682-5230/628-9596 Toyota Altezza, PNN, tiptronic- Call:622-0108
Sunday September 15, 2013
VEHICLE FOR SALE One Toyota IST 2004 model: 16" rims, DVD, HID price $2.3MCall:621-7497/ 623-6600 1 Toyota Marino: A/C, music, rims, alarm, press start etc. $650,000 negotiableCall:622-4700/223-6490 One Mitsubishi canter. Latest series, 15ft tray- Call: 254-0247/613-2150 1 Jailing Scooter CF74 first owner- Call:268-3468/ 6667908 1-2003 Toyota Tundra 4x4. Fully accessorized, steps, crash bar, CD player, mag rims & alarm $2.875M- Call:2250024/601-0706 1 NZE Toyota Corolla PRR 2700, 5 months old, 55KMCall:684-4627 1 Spacio ‘P’ series. 1 owner, excellent condition $2M neg- Call:652-0709 Smart Choice Auto: Premio, Allion, IST, Runx, FielderCall:652-3820/665-4529 One Toyota 212, A/C, R.M.S, mags. Very good conditionCall:618-8040 1 Pearl white Premio: Chrome rims 17 inch, TV, Back-up camera- Call:624-6471 AT192, 212, Allion, Premio, Audi, BNN RZ mini buses, AT170, Marino. Cash or terms- Call: 680-3154 Corolla Axio- TV/ DVD $2.875- Call: 697-0294 Mitsubishi Pajero (Immaculate condition); automatic, fully loaded, 4×4, price $2.8M- Contact Rocky: 225-1400 or 621-5902 AT212 Carina (private), automatic, fully powered, A/ C, CD player, price $1.350Mcontact Rocky: 225-1400 or 621-5902 Toyota extra cab pick-up (22 R engine) manual, (EFI) 4×4, (GPP series) price $2.5MContact Rocky 621-5902/2251400 1 Toyota Hilux extra cab (5LDiesel). Manual, fully loaded $3.1M- Contact Rocky 6215902 or 225-1400 1 Toyota Ceres (4 door car). Automatic, fully powered, mags, alarm $800,000Contact Rocky 621-5902 or 225-1400 Toyota Tacoma (2006 model)VVTI engine, automatic, fully loaded, 22" chrome rims $4.3M- Contact Rocky 6215902/ 225-1400
LAND FOR SALE Providence: Next to the stadium & with infrastructure. Enquire 6158810 or 668-3100 Double lot in Agricola $8 Million negotiable. Serious enquires only- Call:6687917/629-7460 Parfaite Harmonie $1.2M, $1.3M, $1.4M & $900,000Call:675-7292 46 House lots residential area between Charles & Peter Sts. Parika, E.B.ECall:622-6971 Transported corner lot 58’x30’ at Garnett and Republic streets, NewtownCall:601-6000 32 Acres for sale, Lot 5 Content, Mahaicony, E.C.D: US$175,000: Call: 813-3194219: rpooran@ tampabay.rr.com House lot for sale: Friendship, Diamond, E.B.D & in Mocha- Call: 223-0733/ 692-8513 Durban & Breda Sts. $37MCall:600-0036 Bel Air. Eastern Highway/ Rubis Gas Station entrance $28M (120x40)- Call: 6000036 Gold & Diamond land in Ekereku, Parish Hill, Kurupung- Call: 223-1719/ 600-0036 Parfaite Harmony -$1.5m, $1.8m, $1.2m, $2.5m, $1m2250854,6869888 Tuschen- $1.5m, $1.8m, $2m, $2.5m, $3.5, 50x80 -$2M2250854,2250843 Vreed-en-Hoop -1.1 Acre$13m - 2250854, 2250843, 6869888 Crane H/Scheme 50x100$4m- 2250854,2250843,6727390 Moblissa Soesdyke, Linden Highway -$1.4 (neg) 2250843, 2250854 2369.664 Sq/ft of land @ Victoria Village, E.C.D- Call: 225-2626/225-3068
MASSAGE The Gent’s Spa: Let beautiful sophisticated masseuse pamper you: New masseuse available- Call:657-5979 (Continued on page 55)
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 55
The Abigail Column Reconsider future with boyfriend do. I am in love with him, and he says he loves me but that he does not want to have any more kids. Worried Woman DEARABIGAIL, I am a 30-year-old woman and am in a relationship with a man. We’ve been together for about a year now. He has two children from a previous relationship. T h e o t h e r d a y, I brought up the subject of having a child with him because I would love to be a mother soon. He flat-out told me he did not want to have any more children. I’m not sure what to
Dear Worried Woman, This may be the single most challenging issue that couples face as they contemplate their future. When someone gives you the benefit of his unvarnished view, and when he expresses this with frank honesty, you should believe him and then make your own choice based on the information he has provided. It’s not as though your
boyfriend is inexperienced or ambivalent. He has children and is certain he doesn’t want to have any more. I have heard from many women who have faced this. If they compromised or buried their desire to have children for the sake of the relationship, almost to a person they have reported regretting this choice. You need to determine if your desire to be a mother can be satisfied by any role you might play with his kids. If not, you should reconsider your future with him.
Sunday September 15, 2013 ARIES (MAR 21 - APR 19): Your outgoing nature makes you sparkle at a social gathering. It should be no trouble at all meeting new friends and romantic interests. If you’re already in a relationship, be sure to focus all of your attention on your beloved. ********************************** TAURUS (APR 20 - MAY 20): You’re extremely passionate toward those who are down on their luck. This would be a great day to perform charity work or raise money for your favourite cause. ********************************** GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUN 20): You’re eager to let down your hair and unwind with friends this evening. Reject work and responsibilities in favour of fun. Now that the weekend is here, you need to put life back in its proper balance. ********************************** CANCER (JUN 21 - JUL 22): Making a terrific impression on others will be no problem for you. Just be sure to dress the part of a tasteful sophisticate. If you don’t have any suitable items in your wardrobe, go shopping with a Libra or Capricorn. ********************************** LEO (JUL 23 - AUG 22): You’re friendly, vivacious a n d outgoing; in other words, you’re ready to party! Attending a festive social gathering makes your eyes sparkle with delight. If you’re single, you’re sure to make several love connections. ********************************** VIRGO (AUG 23 - SEP 22): You may be preoccupied with sex right now, wondering if you should really place so much emphasis on it. The answer is a qualified yes. If your physical needs aren’t being met, you need to discover why.
LIBRA (SEP 23 - OCT 22): Business and romantic relationships take on an added importance today. It’s time to address a sensitive subject, whether it’s sex, money or religion. The good news is that your partner is receptive to your ideas. Don’t feel defensive when stating your beliefs. ****************************** SCORPIO (OCT 23 NOV 21): Looking after a sick friend or injured animal makes you feel loved and appreciated. You’ve always had a soft spot for creatures who are in need of aid. Now is your chance to express all the love and sympathy you like to keep secret from the world at large. ****************************** SAGITTARIUS (NOV 22 - DEC 21): You are loved and admired wherever you go today, so be sure to make a public appearance. If you’re single, you could cross paths with a trim athlete who likes your adventurous spirit. ****************************** CAPRICORN (DEC 22 JAN 19): Having a stable home life is your biggest priority right now. One way you can promote domestic harmony is by preparing meals with your nearest and dearest. ****************************** AQUARIUS (JAN 20 FEB 18): You’re able to connect with virtually everyone you meet today. Maybe that’s because you’re open to new ideas. If you’re having trouble with a particular area of your love life, ask others for advice. ****************************** PISCES (FEB 19 - MAR 20): A love of luxury could prompt you to splurge on an expensive item for your home. Make sure that this purchase will afford long-lasting pleasure.
(From page 54)
LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & Sons Driving School @First Federation Building- Call:225-4858, 6445166,622-2872,615-0964 B & C Driving School: Lot 5 Hadfield streer Lodgecall:225-0150,229-7258,6806826 (Continued on page 56)
Yachts grace Guyana’s shores Nearly two dozen yachts graced Guyana’s shores as they made their way from Trinidad and Tobago to French Guiana, as part of the Nereid Rally. The first set of vessels arrived recently while the remaining yachts sailed up the Essequibo River, earlier this week, and were welcomed in grand style at the Hurakabra River Resort, owned and operated by Mr. Christopher Nascimento and his wife, Gem. A second convoy is expected in October; this will be led by former international
sailor, Simon Wall. When the vessels arrived, they made their way to Bartica, at the center of the confluence of three great rivers, the Mazaruni, Cuyuni and Essequibo, some 40 miles up the Essequibo River. Bartica is an official port of entry and welcomes the arrival of cruisers. Planning for this highly anticipated event began months ago. A team travelled to Trinidad and Tobago, in early August, to promote the event and to encourage maximum participation from yacht enthusiasts there.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday September 15, 2013
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
Controversial Marriott…
Deal being finalised with unknown person - govt. denies BVI investor -Brassington The Guyana Government has denied that it received an offer from a British Virgin Islands (BVI) incorporated investor to buy the Marriott Hotel building as it is at this stage for US$10M. The claim was made by Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan, who said that the offer was made as a result of Government, “finding it difficult to attract the investors and syndicated loans” to complete the hotel. Chairman of Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI), Winston Brassington, has since indicated that the company is in the closing stages of a deal with a foreign investor and that the name of this investor will be announced when there is financial closure. He said that “in general, private investors are usually reluctant to make premature public disclosures about their business and in this case there is greater apprehension to do so,
given the hostile and unwelcoming political environment created by the Opposition parties.” He said that the private investor is aware, and acknowledges, that given its intended relationship with the Government of Guyana, it will be required to make a public announcement which it is prepared to do at the appropriate time. Brassington, in a statement issued last evening, said that construction to the Marriott Hotel and Entertainment Complex remains a priority for the Government of Guyana. He said that while construction to the outer shell of the building is complete, design work on the interior continues to require great care and review in order to ensure that all aspects of design and construction achieve the Marriott standards for functionality and operations.
Government’s hinterland policies hamper development, hinder security
A Partnership for National Unity says that they would put the blame on government for the unsafe environment, underdevelopment of physical infrastructure, unsettled Amerindian land issues and the widespread uneasiness among residents in the hinterland. This statement was made by former Police Commissioner and Shadow Home Affairs Minister Winston Felix. According to Felix, he remembers clearly when scores of Amerindian protestors had to travel from the distant Barima-Waini, CuyuniMazaruni and Rupununi Regions to protest in front of the National Assembly and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs on August 7 and August 9. He said that the protest which coincided with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in August called attention to unsettled land issues. Felix explained that these included titling and the conflicts with miners who occupy these lands and the unworthy response of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs was to dismiss the protest “as nothing more than an advocacy group trying to boost its significance. According to him, the Ministry of Human Services is still to bring the scourge of trafficking in persons in the hinterland under control. Felix said that the crime only received attention when the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation started to rescue girls who had been trafficked and APNU piloted a resolution in the National Assembly demanding a Commission of Inquiry. He said that it was a notorious fact that girls have been trafficked to brothels near the mining camps and timber grants for sexual exploitation. “The Ministry of Education seems to have been paralyzed to learn that failure rates at the annual National Grade Six Assessment
- APNU examinations are astronomically high in the hinterland with the majority of children failing all four subjects,” Felix said. According to him, the dropout rates for boys and girls in primary and secondary schools in the hinterland are double the rates for the coastland. “However the Ministry of Education blames the hinterland children for their own poor performance on account of their emotional problems, early adult responsibilities, learning disabilities and parenthood.” He added that instead of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs trying to grapple with the serious problem of student underperformance, the Ministry launched a $200M unsubstantial six-month Youth Apprenticeship and Entrepreneur Programme (YAEP) for youths to be trained in culture, education, governance, health and sports instead of educational and vocational skills. According to the former commissioner, bandits in the hinterland easily exploit the Guyana Police Force because of the lack of resources and inability to effectively patrol the areas . Felix said that his party would be calling on the administration to radically change its hinterland development policy, if at all it has one. According to him, the administration needs to create a secure environment for Amerindian and other residents, visitors and investors. He said that there is the need to improve the standard of education and adopt genuine technical and vocational training for youths; it needs to introduce a new policy to the rehabilitation and construction of safe bridges, roads and other physical infrastructure.
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Sunday September 15, 2013
Handful of companies control $$$B state contracts - Govt. admits unhappiness, procurement changes needed - Benn
There is growing unhappiness over the current system used by government to evaluate contractors and award contracts for state jobs. Amidst growing concerns over the quality of work offered by contractors on Government projects, the administration has admitted that it is not happy. As a matter of fact, the current system of procurement, to hire contractors, may need some revamping, said Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn. The official was on Friday responding to questions relating to the quality of work delivered on Government contracts and the fact that Guyana may be seeing just a handful of firms awarded the majority of projects worth billions of dollars. There have been heavy criticisms about roads breaking up in the matter of months, cost overruns, delays and of contracts being taken away. There have also been widespread accusations of collusion between Government engineers and supervisors and contractors. However, to date, there have not been any arrests made nor have there been any public examples of guilty contractors or government officials. During a press conference at his Kingston office to speak on a reported stone shortage, the Minister said that his administration has been encouraging new contractors over the years to bid for government contracts. Of course, with contractors varying in experience and capacity, the problems may very well lie in the bidding process used to evaluate the tenders submitted. Under the laws, government contracts for the supply of goods and services are supposed to follow strict procurement methods with contracts over a certain amount handled by what is known as the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. Contracts below a certain amount may be handled by the agency but these still have to follow a three-quote system and official notifications to the Tender Board.
LINGERING QUESTIONS But still the questions have been lingering. There were accusations of information about bids being leaked to contractors and even questions about the actual awarding of contracts. One of the major contracts that come time and again under scrutiny by the National Assembly is the multi-million pharmaceutical contracts for the Ministry of Health and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. Under the laws, the company generally winning the bids is the lowest qualified one. Based on past performance and capacity, the bidder is awarded the contract. During examinations of the Government accounts by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), it was disclosed that some contractors, specializing on works for the different regions, would tender for projects and despite problems and leaving work incomplete, would move to another area and tender again for work, without fear of penalties or even being blacklisted. With little or no records or proper checks being made, contractors were getting away with murder. On the level of the large government projects, it is not unknown that one contractor would be issued several contracts and in the scramble to get all done at once, quality and deadlines are sacrificed. Recently, there were disclosures of a $75M well being dug at Mon Repos. That project has been abandoned for several months as the contractor moves to other jobs. Several new housing schemes have complained of roads and other infrastructures falling apart. The Black Bush Polder road project, in Corentyne, East Berbice, has seen several such time extensions. Until there are changes to the process, the lowest qualified tender will remain
the norm, Benn said. UNHAPPINESS Disclosing that Government is not happy, Benn was quick to point out that there are a number of measures existing to place responsibilities more on the shoulders of the contractors. These include an official engineer ’s estimate and clauses in the contract for penalties and even for termination of the actual works. “We are constrained to tendering…the engineer’s estimate. There are ways of leveraging. We don’t have to accept the lowest bid but the general constraint is that if you are qualified and competent and able to do the work, from among the persons, the lowest qualified bid will win.” In the past, Public Works has penalized contractors and even taken away contracts for nonperformance. However, there may be circumstances in which works are delayed because of other reasons. These include the bad weather this year, among others. The current four-lane road extension from Providence to Diamond is one example where several time extensions were granted, Benn disclosed. This is to facilitate the relocation of water mains, drainage, electricity poles and telephone lines. “But we are doing well under the circumstances,” the Minister said. Over the weekend, there has been news that one major project, because of reported bad works, has fallen apart. The project in question is the $600M stelling at Supenaam, Essequibo which has started crumbling. There are accusations now that steel, the matting used, may not have been appropriate. The long-awaited Public Procurement Commission, an independent body to oversee the country’s contracts, has not been established despite increased calls by stakeholders.
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
Government Ministers above the law- Greenidge Lots of things that Ministers of Government do in Guyana will render them liable to prosecution in other jurisdictions. It isn’t a case where other countries have stiffer laws than Guyana. Rather, the sad reality is that our government holds its Ministers and friends above the law. Former Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge made the above declaration yesterday as he commented on the state of affairs in Guyana with regards to corruption in comparison to other jurisdictions in the region. Greenidge’s specific reference was to the ongoing Cuban light bulb trial in Jamaica. The former Jamaican junior Energy Minister, Kern Spencer and his former personal assistant, Colleen Wright were sanctioned for corruption. Spencer and Wright are on trial for Money Laundering and illicit enrichment arising from the implementation of the Cuban light bulb programme in Jamaica. A prosecution witness who gave evidence on Friday stated that Spencer tried to retrieve several copies of multi-million dollar transactions he conducted after being tipped about his pending arrest of fraud. Greenidge said yesterday that Guyana will never see such accountability under the
Former Finance Minister, Carl Greenidge present administration. “No Minister under the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C) government has ever been fired or taken to the courts for corruption which occurred under their watch or for other illegalities.” The Member of Parliament, who sits in representation of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), said that in the past, Ministers were held accountable; “Junior Ministers lost their jobs and Home Affairs Ministers were sanctioned for using state resources for personal agendas.” Greenidge pointed out that the only Minister that was ever held accountable under the PPP/C administration, was former Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj “and that was because of external forces.” Greenidge said that the
‘Corruption widespread throughout T&T Govt’ Trinidad Express - An incestuous scam! That is how Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley Friday described the decision to have National Gas Company (NGC) evaluate propo-sals for the $1.5 billion Water Recycling Plant. He noted that the chairman of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), Indar Maharaj, who was requesting the works, was also the chief executive officer of NGC, who would be managing the tender process on behalf of WASA. “This is a classic case of himself to himself for herself,” he said. Stating that the “billion-dollar rape of the Treasury” had to stop, Rowley called on the Prime Minister to “immediately put a stop to this NGC/WASA incestuous scam, much in the same way that she jumped into the Milshirv project in Tobago, where she had no business”. Rowley suggested there was a preferred bidder. He
said there was a mere sevenweek tender period. The usual tender period for such a project would be three to four months, he noted. “A careful perusal of the document of invitation reveals a very loose and low level requirement to qualify to be an approved bidder,” the Opposition Leader said. He said “this rape of the Treasury” was taking place even as the Finance Minister was “again” promising procurement legislation. “This cancer (of corruption) is widespread throughout the Government and State enterprise sector... I was appalled when a minister of this Government recently told me... that one of his colleagues of recent vintage is known to have stolen at least $1 billion from programmes under his purview. He said he was not guessing... He emphasised that the Government knows it. Who am I to argue?” Rowley asked.
government has created such an atmosphere where even if a Minister is taken before the court, judges will be skeptical to hand down fair rulings in fear of being penalized. The former Minister said that there have been many cases where persons were penalized “just for doing their jobs. The APNU Member of Parliament cited former High Court Justice, Jainarayan Singh, former Chief Magistrate, Juliet Holder Alleyne and Former Attorney General (ag) the late Doodnauth Singh as some who suffered at the hand of government when they were only guilty of doing their jobs. “These people’s benefits were withheld.” Greenidge said that the government has created a reputation to scare these people. “To get your benefits and live a decent life after retirement, you have to do what we want you to do; that’s what the government is saying and that is the fear those officials face.” Greenidge said that the opposition tried to curb these inadequacies in the system by making the agencies for justice independent but the government refused to pass the Bills to do so.
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U.S., Russia agree on Syria weapons, Obama says force still option G E N E VA / B E I R U T (Reuters) - Russia and the United States put aside bitter differences over Syria to strike a deal yesterday that by removing President Bashar alAssad’s chemical arsenal may avert U.S. military action against him. After three days of talks in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded Assad account for his secret stockpile within a week and let international inspectors eliminate all the weapons by the middle of next year - an “ambitious” target, Kerry said. The accord leaves major questions unanswered, including how feasible such a major disarmament can be in the midst of civil war and at what point Washington might yet make good on a continued threat to attack if it thinks Assad is reneging. Under the Geneva pact, the United States and Russia will back a United Nations enforcement mechanism. But its terms are not yet set. Russia is unlikely to support the military option that President Barack Obama said he was still ready to use. “If diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act,” Obama said. “The international community
expects the Assad regime to live up to its public commitments.” But for Assad’s opponents, who two weeks ago thought U.S. air strikes were imminent in response to a gas attack on rebel territory, the deal was a blow to hopes of swinging the war their way. Kerry and Lavrov said it could herald broader peace talks, as warplanes hit rebel positions again near Damascus. The accord, however, was as much about U.S.-Russian ties as it was about Syria. The conflict has chilled relations to levels recalling the Cold War. In reaching a bilateral deal after what one U.S. official described as three days of “hard fought” debate, Moscow and Washington can each count benefits. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, it brings management of the Syrian crisis back to the United Nations. For Obama, it solves the dilemma created by Congress’s reluctance to back
military strikes that he was preparing without a U.N. mandate. Lavrov told a joint news conference in Geneva: “It shows that when there is a will ... Russia and the United States can get results on the most important problems.” “The successful realization of this agreement will have meaning not only from the point of view of the common goal of eliminating all arsenals of chemical weapons, but also to avoid the military scenario that would be catastrophic for this region and international relations on the whole.” Kerry acknowledged, however, that further success was far from guaranteed: “The implementation of this framework, which will require the vigilance and the investment of the international community, and full accountability of the Assad regime, presents a hard road ahead,” he said.
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What about the Syrian people? Do they count? By Sir Ronald Sanders The last month’s chessboard politics about Syria and the use of chemical weapons have done nothing to stop the large-scale suffering of the mass of Syrian people, but they have underscored the inadequacy of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Throughout the last two years of the civil war in Syria, the veto-privileged members of the UNSC continue to show that they each place higher priority on their own narrowly-defined national interests than on the welfare of people in affected countries. The Syrian statistics speak for themselves: over 2 million people have fled from the country and many of them are refugees in bordering states; over 6 million people have been displaced from their homes; and over 100,000 people have been killed, including children. These figures are not disputed but in their cold statistics – huge though they are – they fail to portray the full scale of suffering being endured by the Syrian people. A UNSC, concerned with
global peace and the welfare of people, would have joined together at the outset of the Syrian conflict to avoid its escalation and to promote and enforce a solution. Instead, the five veto powers on the UNSC – in particular the Russian government – did everything possible to advance their own interests. In the result, the civil war escalated, fuelled in part by two regional neighbours, Iran and Saudi Arabia, who are fighting a proxy war in Syria of Sunni against Shia Muslims. There have been many instances in the past that starkly revealed the absolute necessity to reform the UNSC, especially to remove the wholly undemocratic veto powers of each of the five permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States of America – that have consistently paralyzed the body. Once again, the utter failure of the UNSC to act together in Syria has emphasized how poorly it serves the people of the world in its present form. It is unlikely that the vetonations on the UNSC will act with any greater sense of
Sir Ronald Sanders global responsibility as events over Syria unfold in the coming weeks. The potential proposal to avoid a military strike by the US is extremely difficult to implement. It should be recalled that it is Russia that responded to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s suggestion that a US military strike could be avoided, if Syrian President Bashar Assad gave up his chemical weapons under international supervision. Assad has seemingly agreed to do so after years of denying that his government had any chemical weapons at all. It is also important to
remember that both the Russian government and he jumped on this potential solution only in light of US President Barack Obama’s threat of a military strike. The process of identifying the location of stockpiled chemical weapons requires the fullest cooperation of the Syrian authorities, including those elements of the military that would be strongly opposed to it. Additionally, quarantining the stockpiles and guarding them necessitates the use of external forces authorised by the UNSC – this calls for close and meaningful collaboration by the five veto power nations. In the best of circumstances, this would be a feat difficult to accomplish; in a country beset by a civil war where movement is a major challenge, it is almost impossible. Add to this already poisonous brew the mistrust that exists on all sides and the difficulty of the situation assumes enormous proportions. And while these manoeuvres take place, the war in Syria and its terrible consequences for the Syrian people continue. The only good thing that might have come from them is that they should deter the further use of chemical weapons. The cruelty and prolonged agony chemicals inflict on victims cannot be hidden. Any further use might arouse enough anger in a world community - that has so far been content to be spectators to the conflict in Syria – to demand action by their
governments. But, of course, ending slaughter by chemical weapons does not end carnage by other means. Public opinion on whether their countries should intervene in Syria has been influenced by two things. The first is the deceit by governments – in particular the US and British governments under George W Bush and Tony Blair - about weapons of mass destruction held by Saddam Hussein to justify the invasion of Iraq; and the second is the widespread view held in many parts of the world that Muslims are terrorists. Therefore, even though no government or political party dares to say it publicly, they are keenly aware that the overwhelming sentiment in their constituencies is that the Muslims in Syria should be left to get on with their war against each other. Many governments around the world have concluded that military intervention in Syria by any country or group of countries would be illegal in the absence of authorisation by the UNSC. This position is, of course, legally correct. In stating their position, these governments have also rightly condemned the use of chemical weapons. They have called for a diplomatic and political solution to the civil war in Syria. But, while a diplomatic and political solution might have been possible at a very early stage of the internal Syrian conflict, history of other civil wars instruct that in the midst of current intense conflict, such a solution
cannot be achieved, especially as governments of major countries within and outside the Middle East have a stake in who wins. Therefore, the death count that is already over 100,000, the displacement of millions of people from their homes and the millions of refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries and even across the globe will continue relentlessly until one of the many groups in Syria bludgeons the others into submission. Much Syrian blood will be spilled and many innocent Syrians, including children, will die while the world watches on. This would be a terrible stain on the conscience of all mankind. As the UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon recently observed: “Our collective failure to prevent atrocity crimes in Syria over the past two and a half years will remain a heavy burden on the standing of the United Nations and its Member States”. As the UN General Assembly is set to convene, at the very least the governments of the world should call on the five veto power nations of the UNSC to act responsibly and together in Syria, and that should not exclude a credible joint UN military intervention to end further slaughter. (The writer is a Consultant, Senior Research Fellow at London University and former Caribbean Diplomat) Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com
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Know Your Nutrients - Proteins Bacteria from slim people could By Krista Brooks Nursey and I would like to apologize for how long it has been since our last article. I was away for a bit at a leadership and empowerment camp for girls called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). We had 75 girls ages 13-17 from almost every region of Guyana come to the Kuru Kuru Training College for a week-long camp. It was amazing! If you know any girls from your area that went to camp, you should ask them about it. They learned plenty of interesting things related to health, art, and vocational information. Okay, let’s get back to our conversation on nutrients. If you can remember back to the start of our nutrition topic, our body uses six types of nutrients from the food we eat to keep our bodies going strong and healthy. Those six nutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins, and water. Last time, Nursey told us about how carbohydrates give us energy but we should eat them more as whole grains or in fruits and greens instead of packaged snack foods or sugar. This week, Nursey wanted to talk a bit about proteins. Proteins also give us energy and help replace cells in our bodies when they are used or worn. If you want nice looking nails, hair, or want to build muscles, you should be sure that you are getting enough protein in your diet. It is also important for young children, adolescents, and pregnant mothers. The main source we can get protein is foods from animals, such as chicken, fish,
Krista Brooks beef, pork, milk, eggs, or cheese. These types of foods tend to be very high in protein. We can also get protein from plants by eating things such as channa, black eye, nut butter, soy, or other types of beans you might like. Nursey says to be careful in how you choose to get your protein. If you are eating meats with plenty of fat on them, this might raise something in your body called cholesterol, which can clog up your blood vessels if you have too much. Did you know you are not supposed to eat more than 4 eggs a week? Eggs are a very good source of protein, but unfortunately they have a very high level of cholesterol. If you like eggs, you can eat just the egg white to help reduce the amount of cholesterol you get from eating them. Also, you can cut off the fat from the meats you eat. Beans are a very good source of protein because they are low in fat and have fiber, which is good for your digestion Nursey says that you do have to be careful about getting too much protein in your diet. If you eat a diet with
a variety of foods, you should be okay, but I know there are some people that want to build some muscles. It is okay to get some extra protein for that, but be aware of products such as protein shakes or bars. Having too much of these can cause you to have too much protein and can make your kidneys work harder. Putting too much stress on your kidneys can lead to some serious health problems. Your diet depends on many different things, but to give you an idea about how much protein you should be getting Nursey has a few guidelines: Children ages 4-8 should get about 20 grams of protein a day Women ages 14-80+ should get about 50 grams of protein a day Men ages 13-80+ should about 60 grams of protein a day You can check food labels where it says protein to see how much you might be getting from the food you eat. A cup of dried beans has about 16 grams of protein and a small chicken breast has about 21 grams. As Nursey says, get to know your nutrients, the food you eat. I will be back next week to tell you more interesting things Nursey says. Until then! If you have any questions about nutrients or any other health issues please e-mail nurseysaysguyana@gmail.com. Krista Brooks is a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer working with the School of Nursing, which trains Nursing Assistants, Professional Nurses, and Midwifery Students.
help treat obesity, study finds Bugs that lurk in the guts of slim people could be turned into radical new therapies to treat obesity, according to a new study. The claim follows a series of experiments which found that the different populations of bacteria that live in lean and overweight people caused mice to lose or gain weight. The findings build on a growing body of work that gives the millions of microbes that live in the gut a major role in weight control. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis said the research paved the way for new therapies that tackle obesity by altering the types and numbers of bugs that make their home in the gut. Researchers led by Jeffrey Gordon recruited four pairs of women who were twins. One woman in each pair was obese, but the other had a healthy body weight. From each woman, the researchers collected faeces which contained a wealth of expelled gut microbes. Through a number of tests, the scientists then investigated what happened when they transplanted these into mice bred to have no gut microbes of their own. The scientists found that mice stayed slim when they received faecal transplants from slim women, but put on much more fat when the samples came from the obese twin. Tests revealed that one
type of bug, called Bacteroides, was more plentiful in slim women and protected the animals from putting on too much fat. In a follow-up experiment, mice with microbes from the slim women shared a cage with mice that had microbes from obese women. Because of the animals’ proclivity for coprophagia – that is their habit for eating each others’ poo – this caused a mixing of the animals’ gut microbes. After the mice had spent 10 days as cage mates, the obese ones had become more lean. But this only happened if the animals were fed a healthy diet that was high in fibre and low in saturated fats. When the diet was switched to high-fat, low-fibre meals the obese mice remained overweight. The scientists think that a healthier diet allowed “good” microbes to thrive in the animals’ guts, and even reverse obesity in the overweight mice. But a more
typical western diet, high in fat and low in fibre, blocked the effect. That would explain why there is no “epidemic of leanness” in the US and elsewhere in the west, the scientists say. Gordon said the findings, which a re published in the journal Science, would steer the development of foods and new therapies that treat obesity by altering the makeup of microbes in the intestines.
“In the future, the nutritional value and the effects of food will involve significant consideration of our microbiota, and developing healthy, nutritious foods will be done from the inside out, not just the outside in,” he said. In an accompanying article, Alan Walker and Julian Parkhill at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge called the work “a step toward the ultimate goal of developing relatively simple mixtures of bacteria for testing as anti-obesity therapeutics”
Exercise may help alleviate depression: review Making the Case for Eating Fruit Experts agree that we are eating too much sugar, which is contributing to obesity and other health problems. But in the rush to avoid sugar, many low-carb dieters and others are avoiding fruits. But fresh fruit should not become a casualty in the sugar wars, many nutrition experts say. Dr. David Ludwig, the director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, said that sugar consumed in fruit is not linked to any adverse health effects, no matter how much you eat. In a recent perspective piece in The Journal of the American Medical Association, he cited observational studies that showed that increased fruit consumption is tied to lower body weight and a lower risk of obesity-associated diseases. Whole fruits, he explained,
contain a bounty of antioxidants and healthful nutrients, and their cellular scaffolding, made of fiber, makes us feel full and provides other metabolic benefits. When you bite into an apple, for example, the fruit’s fiber helps slow your absorption of fructose, the main sugar in most fruits. But fiber is not the full story. “You can’t just take an 8ounce glass of cola and add a serving of Metamucil and create a health food,” Dr. Ludwig said. “Even though the fructose-tofiber ratio might be the same as an apple, the biological effects would be much different.” Fiber provides “its greatest benefit when the cell walls that contain it remain intact,” he said. Sugars are effectively sequestered in the fruit’s cells, he explained, and it takes time for the digestive tract to break down those cells. The sugars therefore enter the bloodstream slowly, giving the liver more time to metabolize
them. Four apples may contain the same amount of sugar as 24 ounces of soda, but the slow rate of absorption minimizes any surge in blood sugar. Repeated surges in blood sugar make the pancreas work harder and can contribute to insulin resistance, thereby increasing the risk for Type 2 diabetes. “If we take a nutrient-centric approach, just looking at sugar grams on the label, none of this is evident,” Dr. Ludwig said. “So it really requires a whole foods view.” Fruit can also help keep us from overeating, Dr. Ludwig said, by making us feel fuller. Unlike processed foods, which are usually digested in the first few feet of our intestines, fiber-rich
fruit breaks down more slowly so it travels far longer through the digestive tract, triggering the satiety hormones that tend to cluster further down the small intestines.
Exercise may help ease symptoms of depression, according to a fresh look at past research. Researchers who analyzed data from previous studies found people who exercised experienced a “moderate” reduction in their depressive symptoms compared to those who did other activities, such as using relaxation techniques, or received no treatment. “This review provides some additional evidence that there may be some benefit (to exercise),” Dr. Gillian Mead, the study’s senior author from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told Reuters Health. A 2009 review from the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research, found similar results, but more studies looking at the link between exercise and depression have since been published. “We’d become aware of some
new trials in the area and - in general - the Cochrane review should be kept updated if there is new evidence that may lead to changes,” Mead said. About one in ten Americans reports being depressed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most popular treatments for depression include antidepressant medications and psychotherapy. Mead and her fellow
researchers write in The Cochrane Library, however, that many people prefer alternative treatments, and some doctors recommend exercise as a potential option. For the new review, they
searched databases for all medical trials conducted through M arch 2013 that compared exercise among adults with depression to other activities or no treatment.
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“Ode to the Mighty Sparrow – A King of the Caribbean and the World!” Colin E. H. Croft It can be argued, demanded in some circles, that Slinger Francisco “Mighty Sparrow” - is greater, and has made a much bigger and better contribution to Caribbean life, than compatriot Brian Lara, (Sir) Vivian Richards or (Sir) Garfield Sobers. To some, only Robert “Bob” Marley compares to Sparrow, or vice versa. Sparrow has sung for real Queens and Kings around the world, in places, like Japan and parts of Africa, where cricket is not yet played in any real sense. Like Brother Bob’s, Sparrow’s music has lived on its own! Yet, the man who once claimed that he is “Trinidadian by boat; Grenadian by birth”, and proclaimed himself “Calypso King of the World” long before anyone else did, and who, officially, was 78 last July, has always been such a humble, if mischievous, ambassador for us all; everyone’s friend. Sparrow has helped so many people in so many ways, it probably could not be counted in another lifetime! Even if you disagree with those, you must allow that he has also sung about cricketers, women, men, politicians, fellow calypsonians, every other situation, with equal fervor, as only Sparrow can. The man has a tune for every occasion, all wonderfully composed; even better sung. Mighty Sparrow is a living, still, thankfully, genius - absolute legend - to be fully
Colin E. H. Croft
Mighty Sparrow
Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner are introduced by captain Clive Lloyd at Lord’s as The Queen meets West Indies’ pace attack in their prime in 1980. (Daily Mail) celebrated, always and forever! I use present tense because I will always hope, and pray, that he will be with us for some time yet, even as he battles, in hospital in New York, with a suspected stroke. The news brought tears to my eyes! As he himself would put it in that strangely grotto voice, “M’boy, the Old Man will keep on trying, regardless!” I could not try to match many other contributions to such a wonderful life, but as a former West Indian cricketer, I too, with many others, were either praised or demonized, by Sparrow. Who could forget “Kerry Packer”, when Sparrow
suggested that we, the real West Indies cricket team then, were all banned from playing for West Indies, 1978 and 1979, because cricketers had suddenly started to make relatively decent livings for their efforts, courtesy of the Australian’s World Series Cricket. According to Sparrow, the establishment were jealous, still wanting us to operate like servants, not like the representatives we were! “Maria” and “Ten to one is murder” were the first calypsos that I heard from Sparrow. I have since tried really hard to not only hear all of his renditions, and attend his concerts whenever possible, but to collect all of his music.
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They are so many, I am still trying! Those two, though, gave a vivid introduction of the life that Sparrow had led, overall, always loving and warring, both at exactly the same time! I would suggest that “Slave” is Sparrow’s best tune ever, by a million miles; like the Hallelujah Chorus, an anthem! The only other calypso that comes close, but not parallel, is Winston Bailey’s – Mighty Shadow – “Poverty is hell!” “Slave” is much more succinct, a tune for all times, good and bad, and always relevant, to this very day! Another magnificent rendition was a calypso that really epitomizes the West
Indian diaspora and its dilemma of love of beloved country, balanced with love of self and trying to make a good, productive life. After being, as he put it, treated badly in his own home, and having to move to live in New York to make a good living, Sparrow produced “Sparrow come back home”, a song which described West Indians brilliantly, with natives desperately begging him to come back to Trinidad & Tobago. He eventually did: “I make up meh mine to ketch the aero-plane, back to Port of Spain; but from Piarco to the city, they start back heckling me; a woman shout ‘Look de hog, yuh did bong to come back, yuh dirty dog!’............” Sparrow’s greatest opponent, and perhaps the man he respected most, must have been his arch rival, Aldwyn Roberts – Lord Kitchener – the banter, picong and insults going back
and forth for decades. In sports, perhaps Dennis Lillee against Sir Viv, in cricket, Smoking Joe Frazier v Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard v Roberto Duran, in boxing, or Michael Jordon v Larry Bird, in basketball, could compare! Yet, the real mettle of Sparrow came out when “Kitch” died, Sparrow openly chastising the then feuding politicians in Trinidad & Tobago about their fight to ‘claim’ that other calypso maestro. Sparrow suggested that “Kitch is neither PNM nor UNC (The ruling political party at the time), but simply a Trinidadian, one of the best people that this country has ever produced!” Sparrow left what he was doing overseas to get to T&T for his chief rival’s funeral and openly cried there. That is greatness personified! He also suggested that “we must never wait until someone is dead to revere them and eulogize them. We must give them all of the praises, their due, when they are alive, when they can enjoy them!” Quite! Let us all hope that Mighty Sparrow endures to celebrate much more success! Enjoy!
Ambrose - Structure needs to... From page 68 young aspiring cricketers. It’s something I have always wanted to do and as a matter of a fact I never thought I would have been involved in cricket so much after I retired,” he said. “Spending 15 years or whatever in cricket, I wanted to get away from it but I have no problems giving back and that was something that was really enjoying to me. At the end of whenever I decide to call it a day in the coaching arena, I would feel some sense of satisfaction that I have given back quite a bit of what I have learnt over the years, so I am quite enjoying it.” Ambrose, when asked how he felt after having beaten Antigua Hawksbills on home soil during the
Curtley Ambrose tournament, said: “I enjoyed it. From the time I was selected to join the Guyana franchise, walking around Antigua, everybody couldn’t wait for Antigua to play the
Guyana franchise so that they could beat me up,” he said. “I came back to Antigua and from the time I landed at VC Bird International Airport, all the way down to the hotel in the bus, everybody running behind the bus … and I said, ‘you know what? I can’t lose to this Antigua franchise. There is no way.’ So I had to beat up Antigua. I want the general public to know that I could have beat up on Antigua very badly, but I said, ‘you know what? Let the game come a little close to give them something to cheer about.’” Ambrose, during his one-day career, claimed 225 wickets in 176 matches. He also topped the ICC Player Rankings for much of his career, being rated the best bowler in the world.
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From a struggling group to a successful organisation RHTY&SC celebrates 23 years of steady progress Twenty three years ago, a group of residents from the Rose Hall Town community convened at the old Port Mourant Community High School building at the behest of founder member and then Public Relations Officer of St. Francis, Hilbert Foster, and formed the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club with an aim of positive life changing activities as an alternative to a deviant life. Since then, the club has engaged in several initiatives, including tutoring youngsters in the intricacies of cricket. Those activities have served to address the club’s objectives and recently, the executive reminisced on those achievements and their importance in the social stability of youths in that community and even further afield. Today, Sunday, September 15, the club would be reminiscing on those 23 years since its formation. Mr. Foster also served as Secretary/CEO and described the first year as challenging since executives were forced to operate devoid of adequate finances and by extension, unavailability of gears. It was only after the club gained membership under the Berbice Cricket Board in January 1992 that it became widely recognized and by May 1992, hosted the Barbados Cricket Team with such starts as Carlisle Best, Roland Holder and Courtney Browne among others. It was around that time that the club ventured into charity related activities as well as educational and community development programmes. Administrators also initiated a weekly feeding programme while offering assistance to less fortunate students as well as contributed to the restoration of
President of the RHTY&SC Keith Foster
The club also host the annual Republic Bank August holiday camp.
The Basil Butcher Cricket Trust for young cricketers was also initiated through the club.
Berbice Table Tennis Tournament culminates today All is set for the final segment of the Berbice Table Tennis Sub Association (BTTSA) team tournament set for today at The Port Mourant Training Centre with play in one semifinal, the third place play off and the final beginning at 11:00 hrs. The tournament, which was slated to be a one day tournament, was so well supported that it has spilled over to two days. Last Sunday saw eight teams taking part in the tournament which has the blessing of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA). Four of the teams were from New Amsterdam, while the other four were from Corriverton with the teams being made up of two and three players each and were divided into two groups, with
the winner and runner up of each group advancing to clash in the semifinals. The two groups wereGroup one, New Amsterdam “A”, New Amsterdam “B”, Corriverton “C” and Corriverton “D” Group two were Corriverton “A’, Corriverton “B”, New Amsterdam “C” and New Amsterdam “D”. The day’s action will serve off with the second semifinal between New Amsterdam “A” and New Amsterdam “C”, with the winner advancing to play with Corriverton “A in the final, while the loser with take on New Amsterdam “B” for third place. The first semifinal has already been completed with Corriverton “A” beating New Amsterdam “B” 3-0. The tournament is being
used as a yard stick for the second annual Berbice Open tournament which is expected to be bigger and better this year. The Berbice Open, which is sponsored by overseas based Guyanese, Berbician Souvenir Ranmdyal, a 2009 Hall of Fame Realtor of Queens NY, will be held over two days this year with a number of overseas based Guyanese expected to return to participate. President and general Secretary of the GTTA, Godfrey Munroe and Linden Johnson, were both present and are expected to be on hand today to assist with the coordination of the tournament. They both commended the BTTSA for doing a commendable job. (Samuel Whyte)
the Lower Corentyne Secondary School in 19911992 at the cost of $4M. Administrators also boasted that they were able to transform the Area “H” ground from a swampland into a modern sport facility while constructing the pavilion in January 1991 with support from then Executive President of Guyana and Club Patron Hugh Desmond Hoyte. The pavilion according to Foster was a major boost for the Club because prior to its construction, players were forced to seek relief from the hot sun under a cherry tree. The club also benefited from a multi-million dollar grant from the Andrew Mitchell Charity Fund of England which assisted in fencing of the entire ground, installation of sanitary facilities, score boards and sight screens. Administrators also facilitated an adequate water supply and a concreted
practice facility. The club also engaged in ‘beyond the boundary’ activities in the areas of culture, education, charity, anti-drugs, social, religious, youth development and community development. To this effect donations and awards supported by economic ventures have reached insurmountable heights reaching well over $200 million dollars in cash and kind. I n d e e d , t h e C l u b ’s fortunes underwent positive changes following the installation of S e c r e t a r y / C E O , Hilbert Foster, in September 1998. The dynamic leader joined with his executives to transform the Club into a dynamic entity, organizing numerous projects that contributed to the club maintaining its status as one of the Guyana’s leading cricket club. Several founder members were also present at the meeting
including Leon Wiggins, Keith Foster, Moses Ramchanden, Alston Hendrax, Errol Hendrax, Keith Hicks, Linden Ross and Rabindranauth Kissoonlall. Keith Foster was elected first President of the Club, Moses Ramchanden - Secretary, Leon Wiggins - Treasurer, Hilbert Foster - Public Relations Officer and Leonard Lashley - Club Captain. The support rendered by corporate Guyana over the years has been noted and came in for commendation. These include Bakewell, Courts, GT&T, Farfan & Mendes Ltd, Gizmos & Gadgets, Windies Sports Bar, DDL, Pepsi, Metro Office Supplies, Republic Bank, Scotia Bank, New GPC Inc, Ansa Mcal, Busta, Banks D.I.H Ltd, Mings Products Service, John Fernandes Ltd, Berbice River Bridge Company, Western Union, The Gift Centre, Universal DVD, Sentinel Security, DTV8, Ricks & Sari Agro Industries Ltd, Impressions, Sterling Products Ltd, Bounty Farm, Beharry’s, Namilco, ENetworks, H.A Snacks, Trophy Stall, Hand-in-Hand, GTM, F&H Printery, TCL Guyana and Food for the Poor. Several individuals also came in for high praise including Ralph Ramkarran, David Burgess, Feroze Barakat, Conrad Plummer, Chetram Singh, Bishwa Panday, Bissoondyal Singh, Alfred Mentore, Minister Jennifer Westford, Stanley Ming, Dr, Jose DaSilva, June Mendes, Peter Ramsaroop, the late President Desmond Hoyte and Wystan Robertson. The outstanding services of its four honorary patrons have been noted including the late President of Guyana, H.D. Hoyte, Peter Ramsaroop, June Mendes and Beverley Harper. Media entities also came in for commendations. Consequently, executives would be meeting on the September 23 next to map the course of the Club over the next two years, leading up to the grand 25th anniversary celebration in September, 2015.
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
GSCL 12\12 tourney
Gittens slams half century as Regal XI made light work of Trophy Stall By Zaheer Mohamed Chien Gittens stroked a fine half century as Regal XI defeated Trophy Stall by 8 wickets when the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) 12\12 tournament commenced yesterday at Everest Cricket Club. Gittens reached the boundary on three occasions and cleared it seven times in a top score of 69 and got valuable support from fellow opener Richard Latiff 31 (1x4,2x6) as Regal XI successfully chased 125, ending on 128-2 in 10.3 overs. Fazal Rafeek took both of the wickets to fall. Earlier, Martin Dutchin top scored with an even half century which contained two fours and six sixes to lead Trophy Stall batting, while Shailendra Ramnauth contributed 23 (3x4) and Surajpaul Deosarran 21 (2x6). Mohamed Ayube claimed 323 for the winners. Wolf’s Warriors overcame Romain XI in another encounter on pitch number two. Romain XI took first strike and managed 102-8 in 12 overs. Mark Babb led with 46 (2x4, 2x6) and Samuel Kingston made 15; Reaz Karim captured 2-3. Karim and Amrit Rai then blasted Wolf’s Warriors to victory with an unbroken opening stand of 106 in 5.4 overs. Karim smashed ten sixes in a top score of 68, while Rai, who played the supporting role,
Wolf’s Warriors’ Reaz Karim plays reverse sweep. made 31 (1x4,4x6). Regal XI got the better of Farm XI by 17 runs. Regal XI posted 125-7 in 12 overs, batting first. Patrick Rooplall was their leading batsman with 40 (3x4,3x6) while Lakeram Roopnarine supported with 34 (3x4,3x6) and Chien Gittens 20 (2x4,1x6). Imran Hamid took 217 and Sheldon Perch 2-24. Farm XI were restricted to 1098 in 12 overs in reply. Aftab Bacchus 34 (5x6), Lennox Marks 31 (4x6) and Rajesh Reddy 23 (3x4) were the batsmen that showed fight. Balram Roopnarine claimed 312 and Ricky Sargeant 2-15. Wolf ’s Warriors beat
Invaders by 5 wickets. Invaders made 106 all out in 11 overs, batting first with Vikash Dhaniram scoring 28 and Arvin Seepersaud 24; Diaram Persaud picked up 318 and Albert Gill 3-20. Wolf’s Warriors replied with 107-5 in 11.4 overs. George Gill led the chase with
39 while Safraz Karim made 27 and Amrit Rai 19. Trophy Stall turned back the challenge of Farm XI, winning the game by 64 runs. Trophy Stall posted 139-7 in 12 overs after taking first turn at the crease. Delroy Perreira top scored with 48 not out, Martin Dutchin chipped in with 38 and Fazal Rafiek 21. Patrick Khan was their leading wicket taker with 3-25. Farm XI could only muster 757 in 12 overs in reply. Aftaab Bacchus 30 and Rajesh Reddy 13 were the only batsmen that offered any resistance as Fazal Rafiek snared 2-14. Invaders got pass Romain XI by 16 runs. Avinash Dhaniram 38 (3x6), Ganesh Narine 29 (2x4,2x6) and Vikash Dhaniram 26 (3x6) ensured Invaders who batted first reached a respectable 123-6 in 12 overs. Mahendra Chunilall grabbed 3-17 for Romain XI who responded with 107-9 in 12 overs. Anand Rooplall scored 50 (7x6) and Khalid Haslim made 22; Arvin Seepersaud captured 2-6 and Abaas Zaman took 2-26. The competition continues today.
GCA\Banks Malta, Brain Street semis push back Persistent rain fall forced the Georgetown Cricket Association to postpone the semifinal games in the Banks Malta Supreme U-13 and the Brain Street U-15 competitions. The U-13 games were set for yesterday at the Gandhi Youth Organization ground while the U-15 matches were slated for today.
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Guyana secure 2 gold medals at Caribbean Badminton Championships 2013 tourney Guyana secured two gold medals when play in the Age Group Events continued Friday at The Caribbean Junior Badminton Championships (CAREBACO) which is being held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Priyanna Ramdhani brought glory again for the Guyana Team by winning her Girls Under-13 Singles Finals despite battling a high fever and cold, while Abosaide Cadogan collected the second gold medal for the Guyanese in the Under-11 Doubles. This is the fifth Caribbean Championships Priyanna Ramdhani has medaled in a row.
She also gained a Silver in the Under-13 Mixed Doubles. The results were: Girls Under-11 Doubles Finals: Abosaide Cadogan (Guyana) & Erisa Bleau (Suriname): 21-17, 21-11 Girls Singles Under-13 Finals: Priyanna Ramdhani (Guyana) defeated Shezelle Mctyson (Jamaica): 21-11, 21-13 Mix Doubles Under-13 Finals: Priyanna Ramdhani (Guyana) Leon Cassie (Trinidad) lost to Edision Ramirez & Mileiki Munoz (Dominican Republic): 21-17, 21-13
Preparations advance ... From page 67 and trophy. The horses classified E and lower one mile event will be for a top prize of $600,000 and trophy. An encouraging $500,000 and trophy over six furlongs is available for the winner in the three Year old event for the Guyana and West Indies bred and born horses. A similar $500,000 and trophy is available for the winner of the event for two year old Guyana and West Indies Bred horses over five furlongs. The race for horses classified G3 and lower will be a six furlongs affair with the animals running for a purse of $400,000 and trophy. The ‘I’ and lower event is also over six furlongs for a winning purse of $200,000 and trophy. The J and K class match up will see the winner pocketing $150,000 and trophy over six furlongs. Among other sponsors
on board are Banks DIH Limited, Buddy Shivraj, Jumbo Jet, Trophy Stall Bourda Market, Inshan Bacchus Business Enterprise, Lakeram ‘Buddy’ Sukhdeo, Mohammed ‘Nanko’ Shariff Business Enterprise, Phagoo General Store, Eron Lall Civil Engineering and Construction, Baijnauth Sawmilling, Darmin Chattergoon, Romel Jagroop construction, Premo Baldeo and Rohan Oudit construction among others. The individual performers including top jockey, stable and trainer will be presented with trophies compliments of The Trophy Stall, Bourda Market and the organisers. Interested persons can make enquiries with Coordinator and Treasurer Lakeram .B. Sukhdeo on Number 232-0558 or 672-0810 or President R. Jagit (tel 2320231). Race time is 12:30 hrs. (Samuel Whyte)
15th Degree/DeSinco Trading 11 Race Cycle Meet
Stephen Fernandes topples star studded field for first major win By Franklin Wilson Former National Hockey player Stephen Fernandes, who considers himself a cross over athlete, upstaged a star studded field for his debut win in the feature School Boys and Invitational 25-lap contest when the 15th annual DeSinco Trading/ Degree sponsored 11-Race Cycle Meet came off at the National Park. Once a potent right midfield player, Fernandes got it right after many attempts to be the first rider crossing the finish line in One Hour 24 Minutes 17.31 Seconds, relegating last y e a r ’s w i n n e r M a r l o n ‘Fishy’ Williams to the second place. Closing out the top six places were Raymond ‘Steely’ Newton, Chris Persaud, Neil
Reece and Alonso Ambrose in that order. Fernandes, an unattached rider, made his move with ten laps to go having been in the company of Williams, McKay, Ambrose and both P e r s a u d ’s , C h r i s a n d Robin. Conditions while cool were very windy and this took its toll on the riders with the eventual timing of the race so reflecting. Twenty-one riders faced s t a r t e r ’s orders. Commenting on his maiden National Park feature race win, Fernandes noted that he does it for fun and enjoys the company of his new found friends in the cycling arena. Topping the field in the juvenile 10-lap event was Ray Rawle in 26 Minutes
35.70 Seconds, Andrew Hicks and Cleveland King followed in that order. Representatives of DeSinco Trading led by Marketing Manager Sarah Savory assisted with the presentation of prizes; all the competitors were presented with Degree deodorants apart from their trophies and cash incentives. Action will return to the National Park circuit on Saturday for another 11-race Meet, this time it will be sponsored by RRT Enterprise, the second such event under their sponsorship. On Sunday next, attention will switch to the roadways and West Demerara will once again be the venue for the Malta Supreme sponsored 50-mile road race.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday September 15, 2013
A tribute to the trailblazers part two - The second outing by a West Indies (B) team Statistician Charwayne Walker continues his look back at West Indies second string teams involved in overseas tours. In this second part of the series, he continues from last week, looking at the performances of the team and key players, to the second tour by the Windies. West Indies toured Zimbabwe in 1983 and it must be noted as was the case last week, several members of the Windies junior ensemble went on to representing the senior squad with distinction. Guyanese Timur Mohamed Captained the side which included Courtney Walsh, Philip Simmons, Andrew Lyght, Clyde Butts and Deryck Kallicharran. West Indies (B) performance against Zimbabwe 1983 started with a 50 overs match at Harare Sports Club October 9th: Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets. West Indies (B) 239 for 9 off 50 overs; Deryck Kallicharran 60, Skipper Timur Mohamed 48, Roddy Estwick 30; Bowling for Zimbabwe I.P Butchart took 4 for 58, Kevin Curran 3 for 49. Zimbabwe in reply - 241 for 7 in 49. 2 overs; Andy Pycroft not out 68, G.A. Paterson 66, Duncan Fletcher 41. Bowling for West Indies (B): George Ferris 2 for 28 from 9.2 overs, Clyde Butts 2 for 52 from 10 overs. Next up a 50 overs match – 16th October at Queens Sports Club. Zimbabwe won by 131 runs. Zimbabwe 274 for 7 50 overs, Andy Pycroft 83, Dave Houghton 66, Duncan Fletcher 24; bowling for West Indies (B) Courtney Walsh 3 for 44, George Ferris 2 for 39. West Indies (B) in reply 143 All out 40 overs Timur Mohamed 74, Victor Eddy 15. Bowling for Zimbabwe I.P. Butchart took 4 for 45 from 10 overs, P.W.E Rawson 3 for 13 from 6 overs. 50 overs match Queens Sports Club October 15th
Philip Simmons
Courtney Walsh
Timur Mohamed
Clyde Butts
Bulawayo. Zimbabwe won on faster scoring rate after been given a revised target. Zimbabwe 255 for 7 off 50 overs; Andy Pycroft 66, R.D. Brown 32, I.P Butchart 21 not out. Bowling f o r We s t Indies (B) Courtney Walsh 3 for 45, George Ferris 2 for 4 9 . We s t I n d i e s ( B ) i n Reply 187 for 7 off 44 overs. Victor Eddy 46, Shane Julien 42, Philip Simmons 34. Bowling for Zimbabwe PWE Rawson 3 for 29, Duncan Fletcher 2 for 27. Four day match October 21 to 24 at Harare Sports Club - Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets. West Indies (B) First Innings 289 All Out 90.5 overs. Andrew Lyght (114), Deryck Kallicharran 64, Clyde Butts 51, Roddy Estwick 27; Bowling for Zimbabwe P.E.W Rawson 6 for 77 I.P Butchart 2 for 39. Zimbabwe First Innings 264 for 8 declared 79 overs: Andy Bcroft 90, Dane Houghton 35, Kevin Curran 33. Bowling for West Indies (B) Courtney Walsh 5 for 40 of 19 overs, George Ferris 2 for 44 off 15 overs. West Indies (B) Second Innings 186 All out in 38.5 overs, Deryck Kallicharran 72, Shane Julien 43, Clyde Butts 21. Bowling for Zimbabwe Rawson 3 for 73 Kevin Curran 3 for 46 I.P Butchart 2 for 22. Zimbabwe Second Innings 215 for 7 from 57.4
overs; Andy Pycroft 75, Dave Houghton 48 Kevin Curran 21. Bowling for West Indies (B) George Ferris 3 for 46, Courtney Walsh 3 for 82. Two-day match 18th and 19th October at Mutare - Young Zimbabwe vs West Indies (B), West Indies (B) won by 5 wickets. Young Zimbabwe First Innings 200 All out in 56.4 overs; GC Wallace 74, D Hawtrey 40. Bowling for West Indies (B) Courtney Wa l s h 5 f o r 5 2 , R o d d y Estwick 3 for 43. West Indies (B) 215 All out in 42.2 overs; Shane Julien 67, Timur Mohamed 43, Clyde Butts 29, Roddy Estwick 28. Bowling for young Zimbabwe Graeme Hick 3 for 21, M.P Jarvis 3 for 62. Young Zimbabwe second Innings 172 All out 51.5 overs. A Van Beden 40, Kevin Curran 27. Bowling for West Indies (B) Clyde Butts 5 for 46, Deryck Kallicharran 2 for 34. West Indies (B) chasing
a victory target of 158, lost 5 wickets. Shane Julien 72, Andrew Lyght 37. Four day match October 7th - 10th at Harare Sports Club. Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets. Zimbabwe 322 for 8 declared, Dave Houghton 82, Kevin Curran 48, R.D. Brown 42, G.A. Paterson 39, Andy Pycroft 38, Graeme Hick 28 not out. Bowling for West Indies (B) George Ferris 4 for 75, Clyde Butts 3 for 107 off 35 overs. West Indies (B) first innings 140 All out in 42 overs. Timur Mohamed 45, Michael Wo r r e l l 2 7 , D e r y c k Kallicharran 22. Bowling for Zimbabwe, Rawson took 4 for 45, Hogg 3 for 6, A.J Traicos 3 for 35. West Indies (B) Second Innings following on; 324 All out 91 overs - Andrew Lyght 77, Victor Eddy 56, Odelmo Peters 40, Clyde Bu t t s 37, Deryck Kallicharran 30, Bowling for Zimbabwe Rawson took
5 for 97, A. J. Traicos 3 for 72. Zimbabwe Second Innings 143 for 7; Andy Pycroft 49 not out, R.D. Brown 29. Bowling for West Indies (B) Clyde Butts 3 for 58, Courtney Walsh 2 for 36. West Indies (B) performance against Zimbabwe 1983- 50 overs match Harare Sports Club October 9th Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets. West Indies (B) 239 for 9 in 50 overs, Deryck Kallicharran 60, Skipper Timur Mohamed 48, Roddy Estwick 30, bowling for Zimbabwe I.P Butchart took 4 for 58, Kevin Curran 3 for 49. Zimbabwe in reply 241 for 7 in 49.2 overs. 50 overs match October 12th at Hwange. Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets. West Indies (B) 202 all out Andrew Lyght 91, Victor Eddy 27, Michael Worrell 21. Bowling for Zimbabwe - Brent took 4 for 41, I.P Butchart 2 for 40. Zimbabwe in reply 206 for 6 49.2 overs; C.M. Robertson
Upgrading works at National Park Sports Facilities ongoing With sports facilities hardly ever taking on the level of importance it ought to have in the country and world that continues to present many challenges for our youths, the custodians of the National Park is striving to make a difference in this regard. Kaieteur Sports had carried a few articles highlighting the state of facilities at this venue with the authorities stating that upgrading was on the front burner. Yesterday, trucks were seen off loading sand at the Athletic Track while a few loads were seen in the vicinity of the Rugby Field, good news for athletes and others who would use the facility from time to time.
72, I.P Butchart 29 Not out. Bowling for West Indies (B) Roddy Estwick 2 for 30, Courtney Walsh 2 for 54. 50 overs match 23rd October Harare Sports Club West Indies (B) won by 16 runs. West Indies (B) 298 for 5 off 50 overs; Shane Julien 142, Timur Mohamed 102. Bowling for Zimbabwe, IP Butchart took 3 for 40. Zimbabwe in reply 282 for 9 off 50 overs - GE Peckover 102, Dave Houghton 35, Kevin Curran 28. Bowling for West Indies (B); George Ferris took 3 for 28, Rodd Estwick 2 for 46, Clyde Butts 2 for 48. Unlike the inaugural (B) team tour in 1981 which had amongst its ranks players with test and ODI experience, the 1983 team had no player with the above mentioned experience. 1983 West Indies (B) team to Zimbabwe Timur Mohamed Captain Guyana Clyde Butts – Guyana Deryck Kallicharran – Guyana Leslaine Lambert – Guyana Andrew Lyght – deceased – Guyana Shane Julien – deceasedWindwards Victor Eddy – Leewards George Ferris – Leewards Philip Simmons – Trinidad Odelmo Peters – Jamaica Courtney Walsh – Jamaica Michael Worrell wkt – Barbados Roderick Estwick – Barbados Thelson Payne – Barbados
Zimbabwe’s historic win pushes West Indies to Number 5 WICRICNEWS - A historic 24 runs win for Zimbabwe in the second and final Test of its series against Pakistan yesterday at the Harare Sports Club, has helped it return to the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings for the first time since May 2007 in the ninth place. The two-match series was drawn 1-1 with Zimbabwe finishing at 34 ratings points, ahead of 10th ranked Bangladesh. Zimbabwe had entered the series unranked and irrespective of the result of the series would have finished ninth on the table. Zimbabwe had pulled out of playing Test cricket in January 2006 and, since its return to the Test arena in August 2011 after a gap of
five years, it had been unranked, having not played the requisite eight qualifying Tests to be part of the rankings table. In sharp contrast, Pakistan has conceded five ratings points and has dropped behind Australia and West Indies. Misbah-ul-Haq’s side had only moved into fourth position last month following the conclusion of the Ashes, which England retained after defeating Australia by 3-0. The Test Rankings table, unlike the ODI Rankings table, is updated only after the conclusion of the series. To find out exactly how forthcoming Test series will affect the Rankings table, please click here. Reliance ICC Test Rankings table (as on 14 September)
Sunday September 15, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 67
Zimbawe square series with historic win ESPNcricinfo - It took a long time coming. The last time Zimbabwe won a Test against a team other than Bangladesh was in 2001, but they stayed patient through the final day even as Misbahul-Haq threatened to dash their hopes to win the second Test and square the twomatch series. Zimbabwe began the day just five wickets away. Pakistan weren’t too far either: they needed 106 with Misbah still around. By lunch it became two wickets and 47 runs with Misbah still fighting it out. However, despite some quick runs post lunch it took Zimbabwe just one over with the new ball to mop up the Pakistan tail and spark wild celebrations in the ground, in the dressing room, and possibly all over Harare. Tendai Chatara bowled that over, completing his maiden Test five-for. When the teams started after lunch, there were still four overs to come with the old ball, and Misbah was keen to make the most of it. He lifted the second ball of the second session over the umpire’s head, but was fortunate it dropped just short of a diving mid-on fielder. Misbah curtailed his instincts for the next two overs, taking singles towards the end of each as he shielded Junaid Khan from the strike. In the 79th over, he pressed forward and blasted a full delivery over extra cover, then stole a couple of runs to deep cover before walking down the pitch and driving another full delivery past midwicket to the boundary. Off the fifth ball, he took a single to make it 11 off the over. In the 80th, he scored two more boundaries, but crucially for Zimbabwe, the
The Zimbabwe players couldn’t control their joy after securing their first Test victory since 2001 against a team other than Bangladesh. (AFP)
Tendai Chatara was named man of the match for his five-wicket haul © Associated Press second came off the last delivery, which meant Junaid would be exposed to the newball. Chatara, who had taken two wickets earlier in the day, was entrusted with the new ball and his first delivery - an outswinger past the edge - set the tone as the cordon readied themselves. It didn’t take long as Junaid got a thick edge of the fourth delivery, straight to Malcolm Waller at gully. Rahat Ali was the new batsman, and was on strike. He, too, got an away-going delivery and was lucky his edge fell just short of Waller. Misbah, either sensing it wasn’t safe to leave the No. 11 even for one delivery or thinking the ricochet had gone far enough for them to take two runs, charged down the other end. He had one ball to face, and he had to make sure he kept the strike for the next over.
Mishah pushed the last ball softly towards cover, but after taking a couple of steps, he realised the fielder was too close. He tried to send the charging Rahat back, but by that time it was too late. The fielder lobbed the ball to the nonstriker’s end to complete an easy run-out, and the team erupted in ecstasy after completing their third Test win against Pakistan. The start of the day was more sedate and planned. The home team didn’t show any signs of restlessness as they stuck to their disciplined lines outside off and preyed on batsmen’s patience. Adnan Akmal didn’t last too long, falling in the fourth over of the morning to Chatara. Abdur Rehman provided more stubborn resistance. He partnered Misbah for 16 overs, but the stand didn’t
Guyana makes first... From page 68 won ahead of CARIFTA Games 200m bronze medallist Jason Yaw and Dequan Vancooten, one of Guyana’s South American Junior Games representatives. Yaw returned in the Boy’s 400m, which he won in 50.1 seconds. Quacy Simpson who clocked 50.4 seconds and Selwyn Foster (50.9 seconds) finished third. Jevina Sampson clocked 59.9 seconds to win the Girls 400m, which was steeped in problems owed to the scratch start. Natrina Hooper suffered a blow which left her flat on the ground in the race. Claudrice McKay won the Girl’s 3000m in 11:26.4 seconds as Cassie Kirton held on to second in 12.10.1 while Foster, another representative for South American Junior
Games dropped out of the race. Natrica Hooper won the Triple Jump with a 10m 13cm leap ahead of Linden’s Kelanie Griffith (9m59cm) and Shomane Daniels (9m28cm) respectively. Parish Cadogan bounded to two victories in the Jumps with best distances of 12m86cm in the Triple Jump and 170cm in t h e H i g h J u m p . Yo e l Benjamin secured the second position in the Triple with 12m56cm as Samuel Gray finished second in the High Jump after clearing a distance of 160cm. G r a y w o n t h e B o y ’s Long Jump with 5m88cm ahead of second and third place finishers Domon Williams and Devon Browne who had 5m80cm and 5m77cm
respectively. Mearisha Carter won the Girl’s Long Jump after leaping to 4m57cm. Griffith settled for another second with 4m50cm while Ruth Sammangoon came third with 4m19cm. Tiffany Pilgrim won the Girl’s Shot Putt after throwing the iron ball to 8m61cm ahead of Kristy Roberts (8m55cm) and Khadidja Ba (8m49cm). Michael Brummell won the Boys Shot Put with his best throw of 12m31cm with Laurel Stewart (11m12cm) second. Guyana last won the IGG Athletics title and yesterday’s trials was the first step to the country retaining its title. However, enthusiasts expressed their disappointment with the conditions the athletes competed in given it was a national trials.
really threaten Zimbabwe as only 34 runs were scored. Towards the end of that partnership, Rehman showed the first signs that Pakistan were getting a move on when he charged down the pitch against Prosper Utseya and smashed for four over midon. His eagerness to score he almost drove a slower delivery straight to cover in the next over - finally consumed him as he poked at a length delivery, and was caught behind. Zimbabwe had an opening, and they widened it further with the
wicket of Saeed Ajmal late in the session. Chatara pitched it just short of a length and got it to sharply jag back into Ajmal, who was hit in front of off as the ball stayed low. The bowler then sprinted towards the boundary in celebration knowing the team was slowly inching close. The celebration paled in comparison with the scenes the eventual win brought about. The magnitude of this win for a team that was not even ranked in the ICC Test team rankings before the series, in circumstances that were testing the fabric of the game
in the country, is huge. The signs were there. The team won a match in the ODI series, and competed hard in the first Test only to lose it at the end to some individual brilliance. There was a bit of Cool Runnings about it; only that the Zimbabwe team went one better than the Jamaican bobsleigh team to emerge winners. Scores: Zimbabwe 294 (Masakadza 75, Taylor 51, Junaid 4-67) and 199 (Mawoyo 58, Rahat 5-52) beat Pakistan 230 (Younis 77, Manzoor 51, Vitori 5-61) and 239 (Misbah 79*, Manzoor 54, Chatara 561) by 24 runs.
Preparations advance for BLUTC $7M Horserace meet Massive changes and improvements are ongoing at the Bush Lot United Turf Club (BLUTC), Sea View Park, Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice for that entity’s $7M horserace meet in collaboration with Inshan Bacchus Trucking Service and Nazrudeen Mohammed Jnr of Jumbo Jet at the Club’s racetrack on Sunday 29th September. With the BLUTC being on the improve and being rated as the most improved entities for the past two years, the principals of the club are bent on making it among the best in the country. With substantial renovation work and changes done to the venue including the construction of a new grand stand, new rails, new toilet facilities with running water and lights for the first time, more stables and viewing area and an expand parade ring, Jockey’s area and scale house along with the track being re-laid. The principals of the club are still hard at work and are constructing a reservoir, so that the horses can be refreshed before and after the
races. Two standby generators along with portable toilets will also be in place. According to coordinator Lakeram ‘Buddy’ Sukhdeo all preparation will be completed long before race day. An attractive seven races has been put together by the club with some lucrative prizes on offer totaling over $7M in cash and trophies up for grabs. Several new sponsors have come on board including Anwar (Valdez) Trucking Service, Tony’s Auto Sale, Electronic City with special giveaways and Hot and Spicy. The organiser will also be catering for the kids and others with Merry Go round and Trampoline and other side attractions and games at the spacious venue. Entries close tomorrow, Monday 23rd, however already over 60 horses have taken entry for the meet and Turfites cannot wait to be a part of the riveting action expected to unfold. Over the week a number of new entries have been entered for the meet including Wicked Revenge, Royal
Intention, It’s my Time, Flying Object and McGyver as they join up with the likes of Elle’s Vision, Swing Easy, Donut Prince, Fresh Again, Country Armagh, Settle in Seattle, Grande De Roja, Zelick, Africanist, Joyful victory Who is on the Case, Force Entry, Ameera’s Joy, Unsettled, Cat Messiah, Charismatic Boy, Celebrating Love, City Tune, Fresh Again, Prospectors Pride, California Strike, Silent Night, Top of the Line, Marathon man, Got To Go, Silver Jet, Another Jet, Settling Jet, It’s my Day, Nobody wants me, It’s My Turn, Princess Alicia, I Want Revenge, Rosetta, Blame The Jockey, Rosanna, Mary Ann, Royal Empire, Captain Crook and Golden Key, Traditional man, Silent Lizzy, Treacle, Prince Bayaya, Sweet Return, Smarty Light, She So Special, Gold Rush, Miss Karina, De Gump, Savion, Monsoon and Bridal Stone Corner among others. The Feature race will be for horses classified ‘C’ and with the animals set to cover a distance of one mile for a top first prize of $1.2M (Continued on page 65)
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Kaieteur News
Sunday September 15, 2013
Top athletes storm East Bank route for Ainlim 10k today Some of Guyana’s top distance athletes will storm an East Bank Demerara 10km route from 6am this morning for the fourth Neal and Massy Group 10km Road Race, which starts outside GBTI Bank at Diamond and concludes at the company’s Ruimveldt headquarters while the 3km Fitness Walk/ Jog is expected to start at the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Guyana’s most decorated and senior national distance runner, Cleveland Forde will be looking to defend his title against an impressive field that includes, Cleveland Thomas, Nathaniel Giddings, Dennis Horatio and Lionel D’Andrade, who is in Guyana from Trinidad and Tobago to compete in the Ainlim race today and Courts 10km race next Sunday. Forde, who has been at the helm of local and regional distance running for some time, is heavily favoured to win the Men’s overall title. He is the defending champion and has a field that’s well known to him since he has competed with them over the years. Forde is a multiple IAAF South American 10k winner and CARICOM 10k champion; there’s no doubt that Forde’s will be pulling all stops to continue his
- 3k Fitness Walk/Jog starts at Demerara Harbour Bridge
Marc Marquez was in sublime form to take pole.
Cleveland Forde
Lionel D’Andrade Alika Morgan
dominance; the big question today has to be who will challenge Forde for his coveted Ainlim 10k crown? The names mentioned earlier has their work cut out to change what has become a norm for Forde. The Women’s Open race presents more competitive battles if United States of America-based, Euleen Josiah-Tanner is in Guyana to compete against Alika Morgan in a rivalry that dates back as far as 2010. The two athletes have shared the spoils over the years. However, up to press time,
Kaieteur Sport could not confirm Josiah-Tanner’s participation. Morgan is the defending champion with Ashanti Scott also registered. Jevina Straker and Adama Roberts also lead the top registrants. In a Neal and Massy press release late last week, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Deo Persaud, said the athletic race and walk have been organised in an effort to promote health and wellness in Guyana. According to Persaud, the race is special since it coincides with the Group’s
45th Anniversary of operations in Guyana. Persaud encouraged runners, joggers, walkers and members of the public, who normally exercise to participate in today’s activities. Employees from the Group of Companies, which comprises AINLIM, CCS, Demerara Oxygen Company (DOCOL), Geddes Grant, Marketing and Distribution (M&D), NM Services Limited and NM Security Solutions will also compete for top honours as part of their internal rivalry.
Guyana makes first step to retaining IGG Athletics title - top athletes put on show amid poor conditions at trials
Guyana’s CARIFTA Games star athletes Jevina Straker and Cassey George faced off in two epic battles yesterday at the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary when the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) held the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) trials. Three-time CARIFTA Games gold medallist, Straker showed her superiority when she defeated George, a rising phenom, in the Girls 800m and 1500m races respectively. Straker ran 2:20.5 and 4:58.6 to defeat George, a Lindener, in the Girls 800m and 1500m races. George took the lead for the first two laps of the 1500m, but the stronger Straker took charge and jumped George on the final lap. George, who is nursing a hip injury clocked 5:10.1 seconds that was well below her best as Andrea Foster finished third in 5:19.1 seconds.
MotoGP: Marc Marquez breaks record to take pole at Misano
Jevina Straker
Alita Moore
George ran 2:25 in the 800m, while Latovia Moore clocked 2:59.1 for third place. In the Boys’ 1500m, Ornesto Thomas clocked 4:28.8 seconds to win ahead of Kevin Nicholas (4:31.2), who later returned to defeat distance sensation Samuel Kaitan in the 5000m.
Nicholas sprinted home from the final 180m of the 5000m to register 17:37.00 seconds ahead of Kaitan (17:54.50). Carl McKenzie (18:20.5) was third. Quacy Blair won the Boy’s 800m, after out-sprinting Thomas, in 2:02.9 seconds. Thomas stopped the clock at 2:05.3 as
Rondel Austin finished third in 2:06.7 seconds. Alita Moore was once again supreme, capturing a sprint double in the Girls’ 100m and 200m finals in 11.8 and 24.9 seconds respectively. Tirana Mitchell came second in 12.2 seconds in the 100m while Onika Eastman was third in 12.5 seconds. Moore left a pack of eight sprinters in the 200m scratchstart (no lane demarcation) race and won ahead of CARIFTA Games bronze medallist, Tirana Mitchell (25.5 seconds). Kevin Abbensetts of Mercury Fast Laners also won a sprint double. Abbensetts, clocked 10.6 seconds ahead of Tevin Garraway, who led the race until pulling up 5m before the finish line. Garraway hobbled across the finish line in 10.8 seconds. The officials failed to record anytime for the Boy’s 200m finals which Abbensetts (Continued on page 67)
BBC Sport Championship leader Marc Marquez set a new lap record at Misano as he claimed pole position for Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix. The 20-year-old recorded a time of one minute 32.915 seconds to break Casey Stoner’s two-year record at the course. Jorge Lorenzo will begin second ahead of Valentino Rossi in third, with British rider Cal Crutchlow fifth. Marquez’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa starts fourth w h i l e A l e i x E s p a rg a r o secured sixth on his CRT machine. Marquez is aiming to become the first rookie to win the world championship since American Kenny Roberts in 1978 and has taken 140 from a possible 150 points in the last six races. He has been quickest throughout the weekend and his record-breaking lap meant no other rider finished within
half a second, and only three clocked a time within a second. Meanwhile, former world champion Stoner - who retired from MotoGP last year - has reportedly decided to leave car racing at the end of this season. Misano qualifying times: 1. Marc Marquez (Spn) Repsol Honda 1’32.915 2.. Jorge Lorenzo (Spn) Yamaha 1’33.428 3. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 1’33.573 4. Dani Pedrosa (Spn) Honda 1’33.726 5. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Yamaha 1’34.014 6. Aleix Espargaro (Spn) Aspar ART 1’34.028 7. Stefan Bradl (Ger) LCR Honda 1’34.098 8. Alvaro Bautista (Spn) Gresini Honda 1’34.230 9. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 1’34.338 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 1’34.362
Ambrose - Structure needs to change Antigua Observer - ST JOHN’S, Antigua- Former national and West Indies cricketer, Curtley Ambrose, believes that for the standard of the game to improve at the national level, there needs to be an overhaul of the entire system. Ambrose, while speaking on the Good Morning JoJo Sports Show on Friday, said more attention should be paid to development at the grassroots level. “I mean, when you look at Antigua national team, Leeward Islands and even the West Indies team, we don’t have any Antiguans really on the West Indies team and that to me is sad because when West Indies were at their strongest they had Antiguans on that particular team and I am proud to say that. I think we need to look after our cricket here in Antigua a bit better and a little more so that we could get a few more international
cricketers,” he said “I believe that the whole structure needs to change from schools level and come right up because you can’t change the top level and the bottom isn’t good. You have to start from the grassroots level. “I believe sometimes there are too many teams and you got some teams that are just not ready and I believe we should not just have 12 teams so we have numbers. If it means taking six teams so that you can get quality, then so be it,” Ambrose added. The right-arm fast bowler, who bagged 405 wickets in 98 Tests, said he enjoyed coaching Guyana Amazon Warriors in the inaugural Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) and is looking forward to a second stint. “I do enjoy the coaching and I try to impart some of the knowledge that I have gained over the years to (Continued on page 63)