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Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
AVOID COMPARING CHILDREN We all know that children are precious and whether we know it or not, no two children are alike. Each child has his/her own identity and each thinks differently. Therefore, it is only natural for parents, teachers and all those who are involved in the well-being of children to notice these differences. However, it is unfair and perhaps irresponsible for parents or anyone else to compare children. This could make a child uncomfortable and he or she could develop a false impression of himself/herself. Several experts have opined that the idea of comparing children could be quite harsh, painful and difficult for them to comprehend. And even though it may not be the intention of parents to do so willfully, it could still cause a lot of harm to children. Instead of comparing their children to others, parents should strive to highlight the uniqueness of each. This is particularly important because being a sibling or a blood relative does not mean that children will have identical interests, abilities, talents or skill sets. Furthermore, children are very smart and sensitive; they learn quickly from their surroundings. Parents need to understand this and learn to appreciate each child’s qualities. Every child is gifted and no advantage or benefits are derived from comparing one child to another. It could lead to frustration. This is not to suggest that parents should not point out their children’s mistakes or highlight their areas of weakness that should be strengthened. In fact, some believe that it is normal for parents to be critical of their children but they should not compare them to a sibling, a peer, or a friend, because immediately they will know that you are telling them that they are not measuring up. Parents who compare their children to others could be sending a message that they are not pleased with them. It is likely that a child in this situation will become stressed and depressed trying to live up to its parents’ expectations. Such comparison could dampen the spirit, reduce selfesteem, make the child feel worthless and cause him to perform poorly. Feelings of low self-worth usually lead to self-doubt, and this could make children feel uneasy despite how well they are doing. Such feelings tend to follow them all the way into adulthood and into their professions. Children who are in this situation tend to become withdrawn for fear of being criticised or put down before others. They would avoid contact that could possibly expose them to more criticism. It could also destroy the parentchild relationship. The primary role of parents is to care, nurture, love, protect and support their children, but when a child feels that the opposite is occurring, it could result in a strained relationship. They may feel that their parents love them less, than they do the other siblings and are against them; even if their parents’ intention really is to motivate their children. Studies have shown that most children who are constantly being compared to other siblings might resent the siblings in question. This can be very dangerous, because the child is likely to develop feelings of jealousy which could eventually turn into hatred and other unhealthy emotions. It is discouraging for children to work hard constantly only to be told that their siblings or someone else is doing better than them. This would instill in them the belief that no matter how hard they work or how much they work, they will never be as good as their siblings, and their parents will always remind them of someone who did better.
Tuesday September 19, 2017
Editor’s Note; If your sent letter was not published and you felt its contents were valid and devoid of libel or personal attacks, please contact us by phone or email
The politics, activism, journalism and dishonesty of Freddie Kissoon DEAR EDITOR, Permit me to make a brief response to an issue pertaining to the WPA that was raised by your columnist, Freddie Kissoon, in the September 13, 2017 issue of Kaieteur News (KN) in an article captioned; “Why we expect the PPP to change if their rivals won’t change also?” In that column Kissoon stated, “The PPP is part of an enduring, primitive political culture. Its essential mentality is no different from the PNC and the WPA”. This formulation of Kissoon is to my mind erroneous and is deliberately calculated to unfairly ascribe equal responsibility, on the WPA, for what he called the nation “primitive political culture”. I am contending here that only a politically naive or, dishonest political analyst and social commentator, in trying to give the impression that he is attempting an objective evaluation of Guyana’s political history, will come to the
conclusion that Kissoon expounded on in his column. To support his flawed logic and deception Kissoon, from his KN, June 21, 2017 column quoted the following; “I called upon the WPA and Clive Thomas to explain if the WPA rejected President Cheddi Jagan choosing a minister on his own from the WPA in 1992, then how come the WPA allowed President Granger to allocate a minister from the WPA without the WPA formally selecting him? To date, the WPA has never explained this double standard to the Guyanese people. The answer lies in the political culture we have that never carried with it certain sacred values and still doesn’t”. Kissoon, in the quotation he referenced was fully aware that at the time of its making, he was being either too simplistic or, and this is not unlike him, being outright dishonest. I say this since he is known and takes great pride
in being referred to as an experienced political activist, analyst and theoretician and it is in that context of the characterization of his persona he is well aware that the two situations alluded to are politically and fundamentally different. It should be borne in mind that the Jagan offer did not come as a result of a PCD election victory. It came after the PCD negotiations failed due to the PPP take it or leave it attitude, which resulted in the failure of the PCD to put forward a joint slate of candidates to contest the 1992 elections and the PPP’s eventual victory at those elections. In short, Jagan was playing games with his ministerial offer. Kissoon is fully aware that I have addressed this matter on a number of occasions over the years in public polemics, with no challenge from him, and therefore there is no need for me to repeat the arguments I had made previously. Suffice it to say that at the
time Jagan made his offer to the WPA, the executive committee of the party did not consider it to be a serious one. This is borne out by the way in which Jagan quickly took it off the table at a subsequent meeting he had with WPA’s representatives. It also should be remembered that a ministerial position in a PPP government was not a WPA entitlement. The political situation in 2015 was different since the WPA, a founding partner in the APNU and member of the victorious coalition, was entitled to have one of its top leaders appointed to a ministerial post. It is true that President Granger did not adhere to political convention and offered the ministry to the party thereby allowing the WPA to name its minister. Instead, he named Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine to the position of Minister of Education in the coalition government. The way it was done offended the WPA but the executive felt that the political Continued on page 6
Are tattoos the Black man’s new swag appeal? DEAR EDITOR, In the black community there appears to be a recent upsurge in people getting tattoos. Some folks find them unattractive, while others view them as art work or selfexpression. When asked if I liked guys with tattoo, I immediately made my feelings known. In some cases the color of the skin hinders one from gaining a full appreciation of the beauty of the artwork, or conveyance of its intended message. Again, this is solely my personal opinion, which of course has absolutely no bearing on what others choose to do with their body. Now a number of questions repeatedly floating in my mind have left me wondering whether tattoos take away or add to the sexual ap-
peal of the Black man. Does the so called bad –boy appeal that tattoos exude attract women to men? Or better still areblack men getting tattoos more than ever because it adds a certain swag factor?Perhaps the rationale for getting tattoos varies as much as the tattoos themselves. With the increase in people stepping into tattoo shops one would think that this was something entirely new. Tattoo wearing is nothing new as they have been worn for thousands of years. It has been said that mummified bodies from different cultures have been discovered in different parts of the world. Dating from about 2000 B.C tattoos were found on Egyptian and Nubian mummies. The frozen and pre-
served body of a man was located high up in the Alps, at the border of Austria and Italy. The body was more than 5000 years old and was tattooed with 58 tattoos. So it is apparent that tattoos have been around for quite a while. Now the lingering question —Did those men get tattoos simply for the swag appeal? No one knows. Their tattoos may have showed off their male prowess or they may have been used to attract a female suitor. Much like today. Seeing that tattoos have been around for quite some time one wonders why have they become such a big deal and in some cases taboo with some members of our community. Could it be possibly due
to the celebrities especially athletes and rappers wearing them more? Or better yet, could it be due to the fact that people have chosen to wear tats in some places that are considered inappropriate such as the face and neck? Should we really be concerned with our brothers who have personally chosen to wear tattoos as if they are personal accessories? When a man tattoos himself for swag appeal, self-expression or just because it’s the-in-thing to do, should others really become concerned even when it does not affect them? Whatever the case may be it is obviously apparent that this is one argument that will continue to be a point of controversy for years to come? Yvonne Sam
A new National Unity Party should be born to help Guyana DEAR EDITOR, Perhaps the greatest dilemma facing Guyanese is who to blame, voters or their leaders or both in the progress (?) made since Independence. One finds it hard to understand how a country with a small population and endowed with mineral deposits, fishing resources and undeveloped agricultural land can
be continuously referred to by foreign media & others as impoverished? One wonders how a gold and diamond rich nation can remain poor. What will be different when oil revenues come in? One must ask whether we have leaders capable of seeing reason over race, sound economic & social policies over party partisanship.
Unfortunately, Guyana is not alone as a country with resources and still in poor condition due to leadership. To push diversified development, the government must invest in joint ventures with investors and where possible help start-ups and local enterprises to develop and expand into value added products. We should have negoti-
ated for a bauxite processing plant & small oil refinery under some form of joint venture as part of our development plans. It is time to become aggressive in seeking better outcomes for Guyana from our natural resources. A new National Unity Party or leaders seems necessary if we are to do better, just saying. Neil Augustus
Tuesday September 19, 2017
The action of the REO of Region 3 was commendable DEAR EDITOR, I have read in the newspaper dated Thursday September 7, 2017 an article bearing the caption, “koker breaks away at Meten-MeerZorg” and wish to pontificate for the purpose of sensitization and edification actions of the Regional Executive Officer - Mr. Denis Jaikaran on the day in question. To begin with, the Divisional Commander - Mr. Leslie James made contact with me through the Deputy Regional Executive Officer Ms. Jennifer Dougall and provided transportation to the site. On my way to the site I communicated with Mr. Jaikaran who was at the time travelling in the Essequibo River returning from site visits. Mr. Jaikaran upon his arrival was briefed by yours truly about the situation after which a GUYSUCO representative informed us that equipment is on the way to the site. A couple of minutes later we were joined by officers from the Sea Defence Commission, Regional Administration and NDIA. Infact the CEO - Mr. Flatts himself was present on site. Secondly, the Regional Executive Officer after being briefed of the situation left the site and visited surrounding communities. He interacted with worried residents and assured them that the situation was under control due to teamwork from
GUYSUCO, NDIA, SEA DEFENCE and REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION. Thirdly, the Regional Executive Officer returned to the site and stayed extremely late with the workers. He assured the workers that should more resources be needed he will happily provide same. Fourthly, the Regional Executive Officer revisited the site on the morning of September 7, 2017 and had a first hand look at the situation after which he went back into the surrounding communities and spoke once again with residents. Fifthly, the Regional Executive Officer revisited again in the afternoon of September 7, 2017 and again spoke with residents. He indicated that his presence would be felt until final normalcy is restored even though no severe flooding was reported. Editor, the REO did not surprise me with his actions and I am certain he did not surprise many others but for the sake of information I believe it is necessary to document on record his involvement with reference to this situation. In conclusion, it is necessary to congratulate all who made it possible in bringing the situation under complete control especially GUYSUCO, NDIA, SEA DEFENCE and of course REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION REGION 3. Ganesh Mahipaul.
Capital and Labour must compliment each other DEAR EDITOR, I remember, and rather liked, the statement made in the 1950s by one of B.G’s British Governors that “Capital and Labour must go hand in hand”. In other words, each needs the other for a country to long survive. In London, I worked both in the public service and in the financial centre, known as “The City of London”. They both had pluses and minuses. Although “The City” was staffed by well-mannered people, mainly men, among whom I enjoyed working, I found the work uninteresting and therefore boring. Capitalism reigned. In fact, my immediate boss was a member of the wellknown chocolate family. Then in my ‘closing years’, I worked with a giantsized public corporation, which happened to be Uniondominated, having a closed
shop policy, my grade being one of the few exempt from the closed shop condition of employment. When ‘closed-shop’ colleagues found out that I was not a union member, they turned nasty - sniping, passing the word along, becoming obstructive. I did not care for being treated like a child, being ordered to “down tools” and not being told why. Union behaviour can become spiteful and vindictive. When privatisation took place, the power of the union was curbed, then finally crushed. Fighting for their own survival, the union eventually relinquished its strangle hold. My own opinion would be that of B.G.’s former Governor - Capital and Labour must go hand-in-hand if a country is to be calm and survive. Geralda Dennison
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Reparatory justice for Guyanese for crimes against humanity DEAR EDITOR, After writing so many nasty anti African letters and being exposed by me, the propaganda machine called the Guyana Times are now in the defence by attack mode to further attempt to confuse their targeted ethnic constituency by misrepresenting facts. However, this barrage still will not and does not change the facts. Fact number one The Guyana Reparations Committee is seeking land as reparatory justice for “crimes against humanity” as supported by International law and the precedent the Guyana Government has set by providing lands for reparatory justice through the Amerindian Act of 2006. Any competent or honest lawyer would recognize this precedent as well as international law. Three Amerindian groups received lands as reparatory justice even though they came here 100 to 200 years after Africans. None of the three were here before the 1763 Cuffy rebellion. The propaganda machine still attempt to confuse the public and especially their ethnic constituency by purposefully mixing up “ancestral lands” with lands for
reparatory justice. Ancestral lands are lands bought by FREED Africans beginning with the Village movement and the Guyana Reparations Committee is not addressing ancestral lands. So, point one; ancestral lands and lands for reparatory justice are not the same and that you cannot change by willful propaganda. Fact number two. The Village movement was the greatest entrepreneurial initiative in any post slavery society and it was done by freed Africans in Guyana. It was not a British Initiative as one of the propagandists claims. In a recent letter, a certain propagandist continues to claim the Village Movement was not African entrepreneurship but a con job by the British. He wrote “After slavery ended, the planters wanted to get rid of their estates that were losing money. Recognizing that Africans had some cash saved during the apprentice period, the planters encouraged the exslaves to buy the estates or villages. This is not to put down Africans, but to show how the planters “duped” them into buying estates that the planters wanted to get rid
of”.(end of quote). Yet, the history books tell a different story from the propagandist’s claim. “The freed Africans saved money from the pittance they were given for overtime work after they had to work free for 45 hours before obtaining overtime. Within twelve years of the first purchase in 1839, freed Africans asserted their independence in a dramatic way. Of a total African population of 82,000 in British Guiana (Guyana), over 42,000 lived in the villages they had bought and for which they had established their own local government. They had acquired at the cost of over one million dollars, (25) twenty five communal villages and over 7,000 freehold properties in proprietary villages. This figure refers to the cost of the land. Estimating the average cost of a cottage at seventy dollars, the amount spent on hosing was nearly three-quarters of a million dollars. Governor Barclay places the improvements to the land at half a million dollars. So that altogether the Africans had spent nearly two and a quarter million dollars in an effort to obtain their economic freedom from the plant-
ers”. (end of quote) Fact number three The Guyana Reparations Committee is claiming lands for reparatory justice for crimes against humanity as defined by the International Court of Justice. I cannot fathom how indentured servants who were contracted and paid can claim reparations for “crimes against humanity”. It is not strange that the propagandist band at the “beacon of untruth” wants to label me a racist for correcting history and for seeking justice for African descendants. I can live with that. It’s a common ploy used by Indians in Guyana, as every time an African seeks justice he or she is called a racist. But their partner in racial propaganda , Jagdeo, who was a co-conspirator involved in the deaths of 400 Africans with drug lord, Roger Khan and who gave almost all of the all the contracts, licenses , jobs , lands , weapons and government subsidies to Indians , isn’t a racist. Finally, it was the Venn Commission which was done by the British and not Eric Phillips which stated Africans “had driven back the sea and had cleared, drained and reclaimed 15,000 square miles of forest and swamps.” This is equivalent to Continued on page 7
The right to privacy in the information age DEAR EDITOR, Recent events involving the interception of private messages to publicly bring someone into disrepute caused me to pause to consider the issue of privacy in this current information age. While we can justifiably condemn the content of the messages, if indeed those messages were acquired through a hacked Facebook account, then I wish to call to attention the problem involved here. The explosion of the internet and social media have led to a redefining of personal space, and, in many cases, a diminished sense of security in information shared or stored on the internet. The Arizona State Law Journal (2011) notes two main security concerns arising from the increased use of the internet. One concern surrounds businesses, and the hindrance that security concerns can present to the further development of e-commerce. The second concern, however, and the one in question here, surrounds individual data privacy in cyberspace.
At the national level, the challenge becomes striking a balance between individual privacy and freedom of expression. The right to privacy is recognized in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In spite of the fact that both treaties have been widely ratified, each country is challenged to define such concepts as privacy, security, and freedom of expression, and to determine what constitutes a breach of privacy. Specifically, the issue I am calling into question here is the sharing of information acquired by intercepting a private chat conversation. This stirred my curiosity as to what protections exists in our legislative framework to protect the individual right to privacy in Guyana, and led me to examine the draft legislation developed in this regard. The Cybercrime Bill no. 17 of 2016, which has been with special select committee since August 4, 2016 has been created to “combat cybercrime by creating offences of cybercrime; to provide for
penalties, investigation and prosecution of the offences and related matters.” It is my belief that the development of this bill is a major step towards protecting the rights and freedoms of Guyanese as it relates to cyberspace. Part II of the Bill, section 4(1) clearly states that “A person commits an offence if the person intentionally and without lawful excuse or justification, intercepts –(a) the transmission of computer data or any communication of another person to, from or within a computer system; or (b) any electromagnetic emission carrying computer data from a computer system.” This is a serious charge, and one that should concern
us all as many nonchalantly use cyberspace for personal conversations of varying content. Moreover, most of us would be horrified to find that those personal conversations have been intercepted and are at risk of being shared publicly. To be clear, discrimination of any kind has no place in a civilized society, and should always be denounced. By way of this letter, I wish only to draw attention to the issue of the right to privacy in this the age of the internet. Finally, I would like to urge Parliament to move this bill towards becoming law to ensure that such breaches can be lawfully penalised. Shameza David
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The recommendation by the PSC not to charge is atrocious DEAR EDITOR, Reading the one of the editorials in another newspaper (“PSC’s disturbing recommendation to Top Cop”), I was reminded of the time, when a former chairman of the Judicial Service Commission made a recommendation to President Hoyte, (the story is told in a case reported as Barnwell V The AG and Another (1993) 49WIR 88). The moral behind that chairman’s decision (matters of procedural impropriety notwithstanding) was that where there are serious allegations made against an officer (in that case a Judge) the officer must be made to account and disciplinary measures instituted. IN CONTRAST; and in contradistinction, the Omesh Satyanand chaired Police Service Commission’s recommendation in a 14th July 2017 letter to the Commissioner of Police that “no charge should be instituted against the officers”, portrays just the opposite: unaccountability, and tolerance for serious indiscipline in, of all institutions, a necessarily disciplined service, like the GPF. I submit that the PSCs decision amounts to a contu-
macious disregard of its public duties, and abuse of the public’s trust, serious enough to warrant condemnation and punishment. Yet, Omesh Satyanand seeks to discredit the editorial, (“Role of Police Service Commission – disciplinary matters” – KN, Monday, September 11). And coincidentally, there is a letter by retired Assistant Commissioner Clinton Conway (“some burning questions of 2017-09-11).In Mr. Conway’s letter we, are informed of “20 alleged acts of misconduct committed by 17 officers and inspectors”. And this is the gravamen of this matter. Was there really no real prospect of conviction or guilty finding in nine of those 20 allegations – hence, “no charge”?. That prospectivity, was the legal test as to whether in this matter “no charge” was justified. The evidential material on file was the determinant factor; not “interviews”. Both the DPP,and the chairman of the PC A (being a former Chancellor of the Judiciary), would be very familiar with, and of profound un-
The politics, activism, journalism... From page 4 principle, which is the basis of our objection, would have being lost in a public polemic given the celebratory mood among coalition supporters. We also felt that in the minds of the populace at the time that our principled position, given their political consciousness, would be seen by the masses as “splitting hairs”. Politically the matter in contention was not a simple one as events subsequently demonstrated. I know of no serious political party, movement or leadership that would not consider the prevailing situation in making decisions. I wish to conclude by ask-
ing, comrade Kissoon who in the 2015 General and Regional Elections, had decided to campaign for the coalition and speak at public meetings as a representative of the AFC, two questions– (1)Did you not do so Freddie as a result of your assessment of the prevailing political situation? (2) Your opinion now is that things are not what you had expected - Are you now saying that you were wrong at the time you had made your decision and actively participated in the campaign and were you then and now, in violation of your sacred values? Tacuma Ogunseye
derstanding of, that legal test. The present CoP (not being learned in law); and that PSC, have no such capacities. So, legalistic niceties about the due exercise of the PSCs and/or CoP’s discretionary powers notwithstanding, I submit that it must be the mother of all irrationalities, bordering on asininity, for the DPPs and PCAs recommendations to institute charges to have been overruled by that PSC and CoP, in their respective capacities. One should think this an indefensible irrationality; amounting to a breach of public trust. But Mr. Satyanand in arguing the PSC’s case for justification of the “no charge should be instituted against the officers” decision, does not alert us to this high figure of 20, but by a sleight of pen, mentions, ONLY two (2) “examples” as to why the “allegations leveled against these ranks” (ie the 20) “were recommended to be dismissed”. So,what about these other 18? Not a word, except that self-serving “interviews” were done with the ranks. The irresistible inference, as it seems to me, is that on the facts of those 18 other allegations a “no charge” recommendation was not justified by any standard or Continued on page 7
Tuesday September 19, 2017
We need to understand what drives the I recall when I was socialization process in us dogmatic. in Moscow in a discussion DEAR EDITOR, I commenced writing recently in an attempt to introduce a debate as to whether what we know is the only truth or is it that there is a need to seriously question what we have been taught, what we have been socialised into and what we have accepted to be true. The idea is that there is a need to possibly unlearn some of the things we have accepted. This of course is an extremely difficult task. This demands a separation of our egos from our information base. The information base can be replaced. I studied English history. It was a collection of events dates and individuals. No analysis; no system change; no information about the workers movements and organisations. The impression is clear, men makes history. There are no objective laws; no objective influence; we humans are in charge and we make history, we have free will. After all we make decisions. But what is behind the decisions; what influences and guides the decisions making processes. Or is it we are instruments
and we, with some relative independence effect decisions within some preset set of circumstances. And are we not product of history before we can act to change history. My understanding is that history does have some cause effect, continuum; cause creating effect which effect become cause creating other effects. History throws up some necessities. It alerts us as to a number of things that need to be done, or could possibly be done, historical necessities (objective conditions) . And then there are the chance factors (subjective decision making). We as historical creatures have to respond to these necessities. Depending on our own socialisation we do or we don’t. We make one choice or another. So there is this interaction between historical necessities and our personal decision making driven by our own socialisation. Our consciousness however tells us we are in charge as we make decisions. We are not ever taught that history itself and objective conditions determine how we think and so how we choose. So we are trained to be
with the leader of the African National Congress Group i said that we cannot blame the British for what they did in Africa and he was pretty upset with me. In fact he stopped talking to me. Three weeks later he came and apologised. He understood what I was talking about. The British did not sit down and plan the movement of history but in as much they took decisions and acted, circumstances dictated the decisions. They had 16 hours slave shops exploiting the labour force and accumulated more than they could utilise or even sell in England so they had to find foreign markets. This led to merchantilism as they needed ships. The growth in manufacturing demanded more raw materials. The system also needed cheap labour and eventually more markets. The Portuguese controlled the route to India and so Columbus sailed west to get to India. The gentleman from the ANC had begun to understand the flow of history and how this very development determined certain necessities. Continued on page 7
Is the new Demerara Harbour Bridge another scandal in the making? DEAR EDITOR, The Guyanese people, I am sure are ripe with some excitement and welcomes the news of a new Demerara Harbour Bridge. This excitement, however, I am sure is now tempered with the facts that are becoming public and as such a public discussion is current. They are a number of issues that the Minister of Public Infrastructure must come clean on and level with the masses. Now that there is an announcement by the Government that the bridge will be built from Houston to Versailles, some specific questions must be answered. 1. What would be the cost of the acquisition of lands at Houston and at Versailles? Why did the Ministry of Public Infrastructure only announce acquisition of lands at Houston? What about Versailles? Who is the owner(s) of the land at this location? 2. If a decision has been made for Versailles to be the agreed site on the western end, where the bridge will ter-
minate, what is the agreed figure with the owner(s) agreed upon for the acquisition of the lands? 3. With this new structure, what would be the cost of tolls for commuters and for commercial transporters? What would be the percentage increase in tolls? Since, the feasibility study indicated that increase of tolls will be inadequate to finance this project, what would be the level of Government subsidy/financing? We need to know the amount; it cannot be a blind date. Mr. Minister the figures please. 4. To support the construction of this bridge, there will be the need for other infrastructure, approach roads, vehicular overpass and other nonbridge infrastructure that would be priced separate and apart from the cost of the bridge. What would be the total or estimated total of such infrastructures? 5. Since we have not seen copies of the social impact assessment or the environ-
mental impact assessment, could the Minister inform the nation how will this site affect businesses in the vicinity of the proposed site on both north and south on both sides of the river? Since, within a specific distance determined by international standards mooring of vessels are restricted for safety purposes in the vicinity of this bridge, how will this impact the publicly announced on-shore oil and gas facility and investments made by Muneshwar’s Limited at the recently acquired Gafoor’s property, at Houston? Notwithstanding, other existing fishing establishment, fuel terminals and other wharfs that service ocean going vessels? 6. As it relates to traffic flow and congestion, is there a network of roads that was considered and how does the propose Ogle to Diamond bypass road fit into this scheme? 7. What is the financing model for this bridge? Would it be a Private Public Partnership (PPP) or the Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model?
Would the selected contractor be responsible for financing and building the bridge as well as other infrastructure to accommodate usage of the bridge or would it be two separate awards? 8. Why is the Ministry requesting that bidders sign non-disclosure agreements as well as waive their rights to protest the award, if aggrieved? Is it because the Government has already predetermined who will be contracted to build this bridge and the financing model secretly agreed on? Are the few selected bidders only to be windowdressing and to give the impression of a fair and open process? Why is it necessary to waive their rights to protest if aggrieved? 9. What are the experts estimated TOTAL cost of the bridge as well as other infrastructure to facilitate and operationalize the Houston to Versailles Demerara bridge link? Mr. Minister, my fellow Guyanese and I would like to have a bridge not another scandal. Juan Edghill, MP- PPP
Tuesday September 19, 2017
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This man in Berbice is GuySuCo’s mouth-organ DEAR EDITOR, I refer to Gobin Harbhajan’s letter- “Skeldon the cause of problems in sugar industry” of Sept. 10th, 2017 which is a response to my letter. Editor, Berbicians who know Mr. Harbhajan would not be surprised that he now assumes a new role that is of a GuySuCo’s mouthorgan. I will address the concerns raised: (1) In my letter, I demonstrated that Harbhajan’s inferences and comments (such as bad management, nothing ever worked at Skeldon, voodoo crop husbandry, etc.) are not true or accurate by providing verifiable evidence. I maintain that every single detail provided by me is verifiable. Mr. Harbhajan did not dispute those details. What other tangible evidence does he need? (2) It is Mr. Harbhajan who said that “nothing ever worked “at Skeldon. I debunked that statement by showing proof that Mr. Harbhajan himself confirmed that the Cogeneration plant was 100% operational which explains that the phrase “nothing ever worked” is a lie. In his characteristic, deceitful style, Mr. Harbhajan then twists the 100% operationalization of the cogeneration plant to create an impression that his Govt. made significant achievements after 1 year by return-
ing to service 2 Wartsilla engines after mandatory maintenance. Diesel/HFO engines typically undergo mandatory maintenance based on predetermined running hours. The “limping” engine and the “completely down” engine were due for and undergoing maintenance. To associate completion of mandatory maintenance of equipment as remarkable achievements is mediocrity at best. Mr. Harbhajan then continues to support his position of “nothing ever worked” by introducing new subjects such dryer in the processing area, automation in the factory, dumper section, etc. This RDC councilor wants to appear knowledgeable to citizens but has effectively drifted out to sea here. If Mr. Harbhajan understands the concept of sugar drying and operating conditions required for this process, he will appreciate the challenges to effectively dry low polarization raw cane sugar and why it is less challenging to dry higher polarization sugar using rotatory granulators instead of spewing nonsense that the equipment never worked. On the point of automation, all major processes at Skeldon have complete instrumentation and connected to a Distributed Control System (DCS) allowing start-up,
operations and shut-down of plant equipment to be done from a main control center. Mr. Harbhajan visited Skeldon but now barefacedly spews nonsense that the factory is fully manual. Maybe, Skeldon became fully manual since May 2015 or when he assumed the office of Board member for SEI. I would urge Mr. Harbhajan to ask Mr. Hanoman, the present CEO and Ex-BookerTate Director why Skeldon was designed & constructed with automation. On the subject of punt dumper, the design and equipment was sourced from a United States company, approved by Booker-Tate. Modification of one of the dumpers from hydraulic ram to cable & winch lifting commenced long before May 2015 and was completed in time for 2nd crop 2015 (after May 2015). That modification resulted in Skeldon reaching a weekly average cane processing rate of 260t/hr., the highest since commissioning. This better rate caused sugar recovery to increase by 15%. Mr. Harbhajan now barefacedly lies to this nation by saying that his Govt. fixed the punt dumper. The fact is, every employee at Skeldon and in GuySuCo’s management knows that the punt dumper modification was approved and work commenced before
May 2015. How more dishonest and deceitful can one be by claiming credit for something done by another grouping? On the subject of diffuser not working, again, Mr. Harbhajan displays his ignorance of the concept of diffusion and operating parameters for optimum diffusion efficiency hence his comment. If the diffuser never worked, how can diffusion extraction reach 95% at Skeldon? Can you explain this Mr. Harbhajan given your knowledge on sugar? (3) I urge the RDC Councilor and mouthpiece of the Prime Minister to re-read my letter on the issue of diversification model. My point is, Mr. Harbhajan’s Govt. should not propose a second model (privatization) when there is no evidence that their first model (diversification) is working. In short, show a track record of success before lobbying new models. (4) Mr. Harbhajan identifies Skeldon as the cause for voodoo crop husbandry. I encourage him to enquire from Mr. Hanoman an Ex-Director of Booker-Tate why GuySuCo took legal action on Booker-Tate for Skeldon. Assuming, that Mr. Hanoman and Mr. Bhim carried out ‘political dictates’, prior to May 2015 when they were CEOs, the performance
The recommendation by the PSC not to charge is atrocious From page 6 basis; and so adopting the aphorism that – silence is golden, he tactfully makes no mention, thereby avoiding having to also give details of these 18. Moreover, no recommendation should have been made at all in respect of offences involving any rank BELOW Inspector; for at that stage (not being some appeal) the PSC has no disciplinary function over those ranks. But readers, Mr. Satyanand’s tangled web of deceit gets even more tangled. We are reliably informed in the GCs editorial that his letter to
CoPSeelallPersaud recommending “no charge …” is dated 14 July 2017" (this date is important as to the time line of events he refers to in support of the “no charge” decision). But in his convoluted letter to the KN, he writes “Interestingly in correspondence dated August 15th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th 2017 the “Top Cop” has recommended that all charges be dismissed due to lack of sufficient evidence despite the recommendations from the Police Complaints Authority”. So, recognize that these correspondences from the beleaguered Top CoP were
sent ex post facto to the PSC, i.e. some 1½ month AFTER Mr. Satyanand’s letter of 14th July to the CoP. So, unless that Satyanand chaired PSC was somehow psychic, or telescopic in its perceptions, it could not have materially anticipated that the TOP Cop would have taken a similar position as that taken by the PSC some 1½ month before, and so those correspondences are of no value and wholly irrelevant to the critical question whether on that date (ie 14th July 2017) the PSC had information, or evidence, or even recommendation that justified its “no charge” decision in regards to
all 20 allegations. No such is discernible in his letter. So, plainly, on the merits of the facts, the PSC’s “no charge…” case is as weak as weak could be, and insupportable. So, Mr. Satyanand as justification, invokes the cloak of the “Constitutionality of the Police service commission”. Ironically, as I argue, it is this very “constitutionality” which contrives also to damnify him and the other PSC’s members whose decision/recommendation was “unanimous”. Maxwell Edwards Attorney-at-Law
Reparatory justice for Guyanese for crimes against... From page 6 9,000,000 acres of land. In short, all the fields on which the sugar estates are now based were cleared, drained and irrigated by African labor forces. All the plantations now turned villages and cities were built by unpaid African labor. In the process of building these plantations, careful research has shown that Afri-
cans installed the following (1) 2,580,000 miles of drainage canals, trenches and interbed drains, (2) 3,500 miles of dams, roads and footpaths, and (3) 2,176 miles of sea and river defense. The Venn Commission also reported that “to build the coastal plantation alone, a value of 100,000,000 tons of earth had to be moved by the hands of African slaves “(without machinery).
Can the band indicate how Indentured Indians cleared 3 times the amount of land that Africans did. By all logic, that would be that Indians cleared 45,000 square miles. This would mean Africans and Indians cleared 70,000 square miles.80% of Guyana is forested today. Perhaps another columnist at the ‘beacon of truth” Sase Singh, will quietly men-
tion that 80% of Guyana is 66, 400 square miles. Let’s see. Africans cleared 15,000 square miles. Guyana has 66,400 square miles forested today. This is a total of 81,400 square miles and Guyana is 83,000 square miles. If Indians cleared 45,000 square miles as you have stated with your “fake news”, then Guyana is 126,000 plus square miles. Eric Phillips
record shows that sugar production ranged from 186,754t to 233,736t for the period 2009-2015 in Hanoman/Bhim era. Under Raj Singh, sugar production increased from 186,754t in 2013 to 216,359t in 2014 then to 231,071t in 2015. In 2016, sugar production slumped to 183,652t. It is now Sept. 2017 and sugar production is stuttering at 74,198t as at September 09, 2017. This performance record shows that ‘political dictates’ under the previous Govt. yielded higher production levels. Since the industry is
now well-managed without ‘political dictates’, can Mr. Harbhajan explain why sugar production for 2017 is hopelessly at 74,198t? Why Skeldon repairs were not completed for it to commence 2nd crop 2017 as per schedule? Why a generator for Enmore Estate was stuck overseas causing the factory not to start 2nd crop, 2017 in keeping with the set timeframe? With sugar production at 74,198t for 2017, we may be witnessing the further miniaturization of the dependable sugar industry. Sookram Persaud
Our thanks to GPL for responding so quickly DEAR EDITOR, The Executive and Members of the Enmore Shiv Mandir wish to openly record our gratitude to Guyana Power and Light Inc. for responding positively to Mandir’s plea for the installation of a transformer to improve the supply of electricity to the Enmore Pasture area, including the Shiv Mandir. For over two decades residents of the Enmore Pasture Dam suffered from low voltage. Representations to GPL went unheeded. This time round the Mandir’s representation pro-
duced results and on the evening of 24th August 2017 smiles appeared on the faces of most Enmore Pasture residents, thanks to a more responsive GPL and all others, including GPL’s Chairman Mr Badal, who may have intervened. An additional transformer was installed. Residents can now enjoy their TVs and are certainly less fearful that their appliances will be damaged as a result of low voltage.Kudos to GPL! Taajnauth Jadunauth Member, Enmore Shiv Mandir
We need to understand why... From page 6 Of course I should add that the same does not pertain today as we have advanced and we have in place certain global standards and rules etc so genocide etc has become outlawed. It would be interesting to understand the development of ancient slavery. I recall when I was a Tutorial Master at UG, the lecturer Theo Morris asked me about the origin of ancient slavery and I told him of the development of the requisite technology.
He on the other hand, spoke of one tribe attacking another and enslaving those conquered. I pointed out to him that before those conquered were killed, technology created the basis for a man to produce more than he needs to live, it is then the material basis was in place to enslave instead of killing the conquered. Later I will discuss in a more detailed form the influence of technology in socio economic transformation. Rajendra Bisessar BSc, Sociology, LLB
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Tuesday September 19, 2017
Kaieteur News
Updated legislation needed to address complaints of drug shortages – Health Minister
Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence delivering remarks at the Pegasus Hotel In order to address complaints about there being drug shortages in the local health facilities, Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, said that there needs to be an overhauling of the out-dated legislation governing the sector. Lawrence made this remark at a consultation held on updating Guyana’s pharmaceutical sector at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston Georgetown yesterday. The theme for the event was “Strengthening Pharmaceutical Management and Services through Medicines Policy Review and Implementation.” The Minister said that the outdated legislation is constraining the pharmacy sector in Guyana. She said that updating the legal framework is critical to help deal with the endemic complaints emerging nationally about there being a short supply of drugs to treat patients. Lawrence told the attendees that unless corrective measures are implemented swiftly, the health system will continue to be defective and ineffective. “It means, therefore, that the existing policies, legal and regulatory frameworks and interventions must be reevaluated and updated. Policy decisions must be evidence-based and tailored to
meet the specific needs of our population and health services, she offered prescriptively.” The Minister pledged that the government, through her Ministry, is committed to ensuring healthy lives and the well-being for all Guyanese, regardless of age. “So it is opportune and imperative that all of us as stakeholders of our citizens’ well-being, continue to look and assess the existing Management Systems and strengthen them and make changes where need be, so that the systems can become efficient and effective and accessibility and adequacy of the supply of safe, essential, quality and scientifically sound drugs and medical products can be realised in all health facilities, in all regions.” Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, said that a revised medicines policy will reflect a goal and a guide for action by a national health authority. He said that it will express and prioritise the medium and long term goals set by the government for the pharmaceutical sector. He said that the policy provides for a framework within which the activities of the pharmaceutical sector can be coordinated and will cover
both the public and private sectors. Further, Dr. Persaud said that an updated policy is required to present a formal record of values, aspirations, aims, decisions and medium to long terms commitment of the government and to define the national goals and objectives for the pharmaceutical sector. In order to meet these objectives, the CMO said that a fresh policy will help to identify the strategies needed and actors responsible for implementing the main components of the policy, while creating a forum for national discussions to resolve issues and allow access to medicine. Following the event, a steering committee was appointed to review the National Medicines Policy in Guyana.
In her address at the 16th Annual Pharmacy Convention held at the Marriott Hotel yesterday, Minister Lawrence said that in her Ministry’s Vision 2020 the improvement of Primary Health Care is top priority. “It is quite heartening to know that the Guyana Pharmacists Association has prioritised this area of care and is exhorting all its practitioners to be cognizant of these fundamental objectives… Fundamentally, to my mind, it involves the level of satisfaction that a patient derives from the interaction that he has with the medical personnel concerning his medical condition and the treatment he receives.” She added that apart from dispensing prescribed medi-
cation to patients, pharmacists are the middle person between patient and doctor and is therefore a key individual. Lawrence indicated that a pharmacist interacting with the patient goes a far way since a clearer picture is had as it relates to having a better understanding of the patient’s condition. She added that in some instances a person is saved the trip to the emergency room by simply consulting with a pharmacist. “We may complain of feeling unwell, but make the decision not to consult the doctor, but to visit the pharmacist and relate the symptoms that we have experienced. Based on his knowledge and experience, the pharmacist advises us and dispenses
medication that brings relief and so prevents a trip to the emergency room.” She stressed the importance of high ethical standards. She said that standards influence all aspects of an organisation and if members act contrary to the best practices, the image of that institution is tainted. “You are dealing with drugs and people and you have the responsibility to protect your patients at all times, to dispense the medication with the dosage required and not to take advantage of the patient, financially or otherwise for your economical gains. This speaks directly to your value system, your accountability and transparency as you provide the essential health services”.
Chief Magistrate refuses bail for duo charged with illegal landing of aircraft at Lethem The two Lethem residents, who were charged last week Friday with conspiracy to facilitate the illegal landing of an aircraft suspected to be involved in trafficking in narcotics and firearms, were further remanded to prison yesterday by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Nathan Hamilton, 21, of Lot 107 Beverley Hills Drive, Lethem and Wazim King, 37, also of Lethem were not required to plead to the indictable charge which alleged that between August 10 and August13, last, at Lethem, they conspired with Hutshan Ram Singh also known as Seon Singh, to facilitate the illegal landing of an aircraft suspected to be involved in trafficking in narcotics and firearm, in an unauthorised port of entry. Hamilton and King, who are employees of Singh, were arraigned on Friday before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman who remanded them to prison after refusing bail applications from Attorneys-at-Law Jerome Khan and Michael Sommersall who are representing the accused. Magistrate Latchman transferred the matter to the Chief Magistrate for assignment. Nevertheless, the Chief Magistrate ordered Hamilton and King to return to court on December 5, after transferring the matter to the Lethem Magistrate’s Court. According to reports, the illegal aircraft, along with an illegal airstrip, was discovered about a month ago by police about 10 miles from Santa Fe.
REMANDED: Nathan Hamilton and Wazim King Kaieteur News understands that the airstrip which was discovered previously was destroyed by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). Hamilton and King were allegedly hired and paid to rehabilitate it. It is believed that the plane, said to be a Brazilianregistered one, and the airstrip, were being used for illegal activities. The plane has a similar registration number to an aircraft owned by a bank in neighbouring Brazil, but the authorities there have not indicated whether the registration number, PR-IMG, is authentic.
The plane has since been handed over to the army and police have reportedly seized the front-end loader. Meanwhile, ranks from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, confiscated two passports belonging to a Colombian and a Brazilian that were found on the illegal Beechcraft twin-engine plane. It is believed that the travel documents belong to two of the persons who managed to escape when police and others were closing in. A quantity of dry rations, medical supplies, clothing, footwear, two hand-held radios, flashlights, and
cellular phones were also found during initial inspection. The International Police Organization (Interpol) is also assisting in the investigation. President David Granger had travelled to Lethem days after the discovery of the illegal aircraft and airstrip. The President urged security officials to pull out all stops to ensure that the sovereignty of the country and its borders are protected since the matter is being treated as a national security issue. Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had said that there is information which suggested there was some level of collusion between those linked to the aircraft and law enforcement officers stationed in the area. While there are reports that a large amount of cash was offered to the ranks, the Minister said that a conclusion will only be made once the probe is completed. Kaieteur News had previously reported that a senior police rank had been allegedly providing security for the illegal aircraft. He has since been transferred to another division while some other ranks have been placed at different police stations. Reports are that after the plane landed, the senior police rank accompanied by other ranks went to the location to secure the landing. It is alleged that the senior police rank went into the aircraft and stole some monies. He reportedly shared a portion of the monies with a few of the other ranks.
Tuesday September 19, 2017
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Kaieteur News
Running from what? When one is in primary school, one is introduced to a concept called Simple Interest. This allows students to make a calculation on the interest that would accrue based on a given rate of interest over a particular interval. One can also use the Simple Interest formula to calculate the sum of money needed to be invested to earn a certain interest after a set interval. Simple Interest is used, for example, to calculate the interest earned in your bank book each year. Suppose, however, that instead of withdrawing all the interest you kept it along with the capital in your bank book, and suppose that you de-
cided to continue each year to add the interest to what you have already. You may, in such a situation, wish to determine how much money you will have at the end of a number of years. There is a formula which can be used to calculate this amount and the formula is called the Compound Interest formula. It is so named because the interest rate is compounded after each year by adding it on to your principal and then calculating the interest on this increased sum. Using the Compound Interest formula, any banker or investor can tell a client just how much money they will have after a certain number of years. They can, for example,
inform a client that at 4% interest rate compounded, a certain sum of money would increase to a certain amount over a given period of time. The Compound Interest formula is also used by economists to determine just how much a country needs to grow in order to achieve a certain per capita income or vice versa to determine what will be the per capita income of a country if it grows at a certain rate of growth over a number of years. In 1992 when the PPP assumed office, the per capita income of Trinidad and Tobago was ten times that of Guyana. It was calculated that even if Guyana enjoyed economic growth at an astronomical rate, it would take in
Dem boys seh...
Two men fail and still tun lawyer Not all dem lawyer and who deh practicing in court. pampazetting demself in fancy suit and tie and gown pass dem exam. Dem boys know nuff of dem who fail and strike deal wid dem professors—both male and female professors. Dem got two of dem who think dem know more law than anybody and dem boys ain’t calling no name. but just fuh name sake, one name Chin-2 and one name Willy-2. All two fail de final Law Exam and decided to mek a deal with the Professor. One of dem ask de professor if he can answer a question from Willy-2 Professor: Yes. Chin-2: If you can answer this question sir, I gun accept me final marks, but if you can’t, you got to give me an “A” grading. De Professor agree. Chin-2 asked: “What is legal but not logical, logical but not legal and neither legal nor logical?” De professor think hard and long bout
this. He scratch he head, he rub he eye, he scratch he ears and couldn’t come up with an answer. He had to finally give up because he really did not know the answer. Suh he give Chin-2 his “A” grade as he did promise. The following day, de professor ask de same question to all his students. He was shocked when all of them raised their hands. He decide to ask Willy-2 who answer. “Sir, you are 65; you married to a 28-yrold woman, this is legal but not logical. Your wife, is having an affair with a 23year-old boy, this is logical but not legal. Your wife’s boyfriend has failed in his exam and yet you gave him an “A”, this is neither logical nor legal. De Professor watch Willy-2 and fall down. When he wake up he give he, too, A grade. Talk half and question some of dem lawyer on how dem pass.
excess of fifteen years for our country to catch up with the per capita income of Trinidad and this was based on the assumption that Trinidad would not enjoy any growth. Therefore, so long as growth in the twin-island Republic is on par or close to that enjoyed by Guyana, a situation that is quite realistic, then Guyana could never achieve the per capita income of Trinidad and Tobago. However we twist it or turn it, the fact remains that Guyana slipped economically under the PNC to the point where we were the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, and to the point where regardless of whether we enjoyed consistent economic growth we would never within fifty years be able to catch up with an economy such as Trinidad & Tobago. I make this point to illustrate what I mentioned in a previous article. I make that point to highlight that it is precisely because Guyana had such a low per capita income in 1992 that it is impossible for there not to be pull factors luring Guyanese nationals to other islands in the Caribbean, in the same way as the nationals of those very countries to
which Guyanese run seeking employment also migrate to countries in which the per capita income is far higher. Thus it is fallacious to argue that it is because the government is not providing jobs that people are running away. There is no way, for example, that the government of Guyana would be able to pay the sort of salaries that are paid by the Bahamas, and therefore there will always be Guyanese teachers going there to teach. And this goes to the very heart of what is taking place in Barbados. There is no way that Guyana would ever within the next twenty years be able to catch up with certain countries in the Caribbean and therefore there will always be that pull factor. We simply cannot, and Compound Interest confirms this fact. Now suppose that the government was able to do all the things that people are saying should be done to avoid persons migrating.
Then it would mean that Guyana would be in a state where it needs no one and that is a fantasy by itself. Those who ran from Guyana after 1992, were running from what was created long before. And, of course, there would be no need for a single economy within the Caribbean because labour would not be migratory. And this is what goes to the heart of this column’s criticism over what is taking place in Barbados. We cannot have a single market if labour is not part of the trade between countries. You can also never have economic efficiency if there is no competition for labour skills. Guyanese are filling an important void in the economy of Barbados and in so doing are demonstrating how critical the free movement of skills is to the very existence of a single economy within the region.
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Tuesday September 19, 2017
Kaieteur News
=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===
Pathological liars who have lost power There has been an outpouring of sentiments the past week denouncing the hypocrisy of people like Gail Teixeira and Bharrat Jagdeo. The list includes well known Guyanese names – Khemraj Ramjattan, Adam Harris, Lincoln Lewis and Dr. David Hinds. No responding exposure from Guyanese who lived through the fifteen years of Jagdeo’s hegemony (August 1999- April 2015) will force the PPP’s leadership to apologise for vicious mistakes made. The apology awareness is nowhere in their thoughts. We will come to the 2020 elections and you will not find one instance where the dinosaurs and the brutal young Turks in the PPP’s Government would have admitted to even one mistake. How do you explain this psychology? One is that, they are afraid that if they confess to a dam-
aging error, there will be demands on them to admit to more nasty ones. The second explanation is that these people do not have a psychological understanding of human frailties so for them the PPP is a strong, invincible organism that has historically been the embodiment of the truths of Guyanese history. From the second theory you can read then that the PPP leaders have no consciousness of the political pathologies they have committed. The second one appears nonsensical to the average person but we must never dismiss the inexplicable mind of the human being. I honestly think that both Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham thought they were special people and that there were no others like them in Guyana; that Guyana needed them.
Possessed with this kind of mentality, they saw critics, detractors, enemies and competing leaders as mediocre souls who don’t know better and should be dismissed or stopped. While Jagan was conscious of his leadership faults because of a lack of intellectual endowments, Burnham was aware of his own erudition and it reinforced his instinct of invincibility. Which of the two best explains the barefacedness of the current PPP’s hierarchy? A hierarchy that keeps on accusing the Coalition leaders of immoralities that pale in significance when you think of the depraved monstrosities that hierarchy threw upon this nation. It depends on the types that are in the PPP’s kingdom today. I think both theories can be found inside the mind of the older generation of PPP leaders. This list includes Luncheon, Teixeira, Rohee, Ramotar, and even Ralph Ramkarran. These stalwarts have
been intimately connected with the soul of the two Jagans - Cheddi and Janet. This long intimacy has shaped who they are and their psyche. Ramkarran over the
Frederick Kissoon weekend used the adverb, “immediately” in asking for Donald Ramotar to be the Prime Minister and 49 percent of Cabinet given to the PPP in a power-sharing formula. No doubt Ramkarran feels that the PPP as the governing party will do good. His thinking is that the party is made of that stuff that will
enable them to do good in government. I would say the second concept does not reside in the bandwagon that Jagdeo brought into the PPP after he won the 2001 elections. Please note Ramkarran submitted Ramotar’s name for the PM slot and not Jagdeo’s. These are people who were never associated with the golden moments of opposition politics when the PPP and the WPA were comrades. Here is something readers ought to know. When he was on the stand in the libel writ that President Jagdeo brought against me and this newspaper, Roger Luncheon was asked by Jagdeo’s lawyer when he first knew Jagdeo. He said after 1992. It simply meant that for all the years the PPP was fighting in the wilderness, Luncheon never saw or knew who Jagdeo was. It is this bandwagon, along with the dinosaurs who will not acknowledge any wrongdoing when in Govern-
ment. Led by Jagdeo, this is a group of pathological liars that are in desperate mood – they have to fool their supporters to retain their loyalty. The second concept outlined above does not apply to these Jagdeoites. These are PPP’s newcomers who have no taste for even a modicum of political principles. They see Guyana in racial terms and in zero sums ways. It is either the PNC or the PPP. This is the message that they are telling their supporters. This is the fight for them. What PPP’s leaders are doing is obfuscating their venalities and depravities and accusing the present government of the very abominations that they perpetuated on this nation. It is important for every decent Guyanese to respond. It is important to document and publicise their corruptibility and semi-fascism when they were in power. It is important that this corruptibility finally climaxes in the courtrooms of Guyana.
rescue, capability. Field said that steps were taken to strengthen enforcement of navigation and safety regulations. The GCAA Head was at the time responding to queries regarding Guyana’s capability to conduct adequate search and rescue in light of a series of plane crashes and other accidents in the hinterland. Three GCAA air navigation officers who have already received search and rescue training in the United States (US), Peru and Mexico during the past 10 months, have since met with representatives of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA). Col. Field also noted that helicopter is an essential tool for search and rescue operations given the forested and mountainous features of Guyana‘s hinterland regions. The GCAA Director therefore lamented the absence of Guyana Defence Force, (GDF)Bell 412 helicopter that could deploy personnel directly to crash sites. “An important element of search and rescue, is a helicopter, in the event of a crash. I don’t know why the GDF equipment was allowed to deteriorate to the point where they don’t have a serviceable
helicopter for proper search and rescue which is the Bell 412 helicopter,” he said. He told the press nonetheless that he had “taken a serious look” at improving the search and rescue system. Field expressed optimism that GCAA’s Board and government will support in his efforts. Field added the GCAA is upping the ante in regards to navigational aids. He explained that steps have been taken to activate Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADSB) system, at strategic hinterland locations, Kaieteur, Annai, Kamarang and Port Kaituma The ADS-B systems which allow for satellite tracking of aircraft was currently being expanded to include planes at altitudes below 24,000 feet. The GCAA boss said that as part of the process the aircraft would have to be fitted with transponders so that they could be tracked right down to landing. At present, he said arrangements are being made for testing to be conducted by month-end by experts from the Canada-headquartered IntelCan to ensure proper data transmission of the ADS-B systems.
Efforts underway to boost search and rescue capability - GCAA Director
Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, (GCAA) (Rtd) Colonel Egbert Field, has revealed that steps have been taken by the authority towards developing Guyana’s search and
Tuesday September 19, 2017
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Kaieteur News
Security Minister disappointed Dynamic makes progress over leaked COI report on Blanhum on customer liabilities -cuts work force by nearly one-third
Minister Khemraj Ramjattan
Dynamic has cut a third of its staff as part of a structure to pay creditors. US (www.journalnow.com) - Dynamic International Airways has made significant progress in reducing its customer financial liabilities since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to a status update Friday. However, the High Point charter airline has cut its work force by nearly one-third and continues to face legal attempts to force it into liquidation. Dynamic also reported it has a new Chief Executive, Ray Lawlor, who has more than 30 years of aviation industry experience. He also serves as senior Vice President of cargo sales and marketing for Swift Air LLC. The company has eliminated 60 of 192 jobs since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 19. It has plans to add eight pilots and 22 flight attendants as part of expanding services through a new flight strategy that began Friday. Dynamic reportedly trimmed its customer liability debt from $7.98 million to $1.96 million as of Friday. It projects reducing the debt to $323,659 by mid-October. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Dynamic’s fleet featured six Boeing 767s serving routes that include New York and Ontario. International service is to Georgetown, Guyana; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Saipan in Northern Mariana Islands; and Changchun and Nanchang, China. The aircraft can carry 235 passengers using 21 lie-flat businessclass seats and 214 economyclass seats. The airline has ended the Ecuador service because of permitting issue with the Ecuadorian Government. It is planning to reduce its service to Guyana from five flights weekly to just one beginning in early October. Dynamic said its focus
will be on an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance strategy, known as ACMI, in which it gains business from a third-party vendor that sells flight tickets. An ACMI carrier receives a flat rate per flight hour. Dynamic said it has agreed to one ACMI contract with Swift Travel Services for flights between Port Au Prince, Haiti, and Santiago, Chile. It is negotiating for a second such contract for flights from Miami to Havana and Santa Clara, Cuba. Dynamic’s bare-bones filing came after Dynamic lost a legal fight in U.S. District Court for the Middle District. PMC Aviation LLC of Greensboro is owed $1.19 million, representing an arbitration judgment reached in April, that Dynamic disputes. Dynamic says its filing was prompted by recent arbitration judgments against the company, that it is challenging under the International Commercial Arbitration Act.
PMC claims in its motion for liquidation that Dynamic “is suffering from millions of dollars of continuing losses. ... The debtor has been grossly mismanaged.” Dynamic lists between 200 and 999 creditors, assets between $10 million, and $50 million, and liabilities between $50 million and $100 million. The company projects funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors. PMC’s motion is being opposed by unsecured creditor Worldwide Flight Services Inc. of Jamaica, N.Y., which is owed $123,773. Dynamic’s largest unsecured creditor is Air India Inc. at $10.5 million from another arbitration award that Dynamic disputes. B.K.P. Enterprises & Expim International of Greensboro, was awarded a combined $3.49 million arbitration judgment in December that Dynamic also disputes. Locally, in Guyana, Dynamic is handled by Roraima Airways.
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, yesterday expressed his disappointment over the leaked report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger. This comes after media reports surfaced of recommendations emanating from the COI. In fact, the report was carried in the state-owned Guyana Chronicle on Sunday. It spoke of the COI recommending that Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum be relieved of duties because of his handling of the investigations. The Minister, in a Government statement, said that the idea was to discuss the recommendations with the relevant authorities such as President Granger and members of Cabinet before it was released to the public.
Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum
Some of the recommendations in the report include the removal of Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud, and sanctions against Assistant Commissioner, David Ramnarine. The sanctions are as a result of the manner in which the above mentioned officers handled the investigation, according to the recommendations. Minister Ramjattan said that before the recommendations are enforced, a more indepth analysis of the findings must be conducted. “Yes, there were some negatives found and yes, we have to take care of that. We want a robust police force and we want a security sector reform. We are in the process of that and the report did bring out a couple of things, that ought not have been done; and to that extent is where I am go-
ing to make my statement as to whether all that was recommended must happen or all must not happen.” Additionally, the COI recommended that Deputy Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent of Police Rishi Das be removed from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and a replacement appointed. The Minister noted that such recommendations coming out of the COI can have negative consequences on an institution. With that he added that, “it is important to make measured responses so that we do not throw the child out with the bath water.” The COI was conducted by retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe with the report handed over to President David Granger two weeks ago.
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CLICO handed US$40M bill … wants to verify before paying
Central Bank Governor, Dr. Gobind Ganga The Bank of Guyana has recently handed representatives of Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO), a bill of the amount of money the company owes Guyana. Kaieteur News understands that the bill stands at just over US$40M. However, CLICO officials are not convinced that that is the true likeness of the outstanding cash. CLICO officials yesterday told Kaieteur News that they
only recently received the invoice. They indicated that the invoice only reflected the money owed to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the accumulated interest to date. However, CLICO is contending that that cannot be the amount of money owed based on the fact that government took control of all its properties left behind in Guyana when the company
Police “randomly” pick up men to clean Main Street fire site Men going about their daily routines on the streets of Georgetown were yesterday picked up by Police vans, ignorant of where they were going and why. Police officers yesterday morning picked up a number of men who were merely doing their daily work, to go to a site to clean the compound at Main Street. The men, who were at first described as vagrants, upon becoming aware of the reason that they were brought to the specific site, were very upset of the fact that they were brought to do work. One complained that he was not even in a physical condition to do work.
went belly up back in 2009. CLICO representatives are claiming that the government is holding over US$30M from the sale of the company’s assets. One official said that he was quite taken back at the fact that there has been no liquidation report. He learnt of this after requesting for same. CLICO said that that it would like to examine a procedure that is equally beneficial to both parties to verify how the Bank of Guyana arrived at that figure. A few months back, CLICO’s Lawrence Duprey returned to Guyana with an investment plan saying that he wants to apologize to the people of Guyana and to repay what he owed. But many are still incensed about the way Guyana was treated. Attorney at law and Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram, said that a simple apology and a promise to repay are not good enough.
The government should demand more based on respect for its people. Ram said that Duprey acted dishonorably in the past and should not be accepted with open arms. A few months back, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, met with Duprey. A statement from the Minister’s office indicated that Duprey wants to “renew his relationship with Guyana as well as publicly apologize to its people for the collapse of CLICO Guyana”. While Jordan committed to further meetings and the statement from his Ministry carried a somewhat accepting tone towards Duprey, Ram thinks that the government ought to take a firm stance. ”That man should be declared persona non grata until he returns all the money that he so improperly and unlawfully took out of Guyana,” said Ram. Ram said that before allowing any investments, gov-
ernment should secure a concrete guarantee from Duprey that Guyana will be compensated. The financial analyst said that Duprey should not be made only to give back to Guyana what was left outstanding eight years ago. “We want to recover the economic loss, not only the financial loss,” said Ram. To do so, Ram noted that Guyana can apply “a proper rate of exchange and a proper rate of interest and on that basis, we will determine what it is we have lost as a result of his breaching the laws of Guyana.” Duprey is interested in investing in several areas here, including providing solar energy at competitive prices, affordable housing, clay brick and solar technology for housing, as well as introduce a financial model that will generate savings and alleviate poverty, the statement from the Ministry of Finance said. Last year, Government announced a $5.6B long-term financing for NIS to help the entity recover its investments
in CLICO. Jordan had stated that going to court to recover the $5B-plus for NIS may be useless. He emphasized that the sad reality is that the CLICO situation might very well turn out to be a long drawn-out process, as Guyana is not even on the radar when it comes to the settlement process in the Caribbean as yet. ”So Government is going to have to step up to the plate and find another way of recouping the losses for NIS in this regard.” Jordan had referred to the situation as another “mess” inherited from the PPP/C administration. Government, in 2009, seized local properties from CLICO in Guyana to help pay policyholders, after it became clear that the regional insurance giant was in dire financial problems. Some 7,744 policyholders were paid a total of $4.1B. One of the properties that NIS received was the one on Camp Street where the current headquarters of the Guyana Revenue Authority is located.
Environmental protection top of Guyana’s agenda at UN meeting President David Granger and Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat during their meeting on the sidelines at the UN Headquarters, New York, yesterday.
“I de goin an buy ice and they just pick me up in the middle ah de road. We ain’t even know where we going.” He told of how even his bicycle was left in the middle of the road. Meanwhile, the owner of the burnt building was not even sure who the men were and why they were there. It caused much confusion, since the owner was of the opinion that the men were prisoners. The men were eventually sent to their respective dwelling places after relatives would have explained to the officers that the act was totally inappropriate. New York- As the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) gets under way; President David Granger has said that his main message to his fellow Heads of Government is the need for a more tangible demonstration of commitment to protecting the planet. He made these remarks, yesterday, during an interview on the sidelines of the meeting which is being held at the UN’s Headquarters in New York. “Guyana has committed itself to becoming a ‘green state’; Guyana has committed itself to contributing to the adaptation to measures, to
deal with global warming and climate change”. Guyana is ideally suited because of its presence in the Guiana Shield, because of our commitment to the conservation of our forests and our commitment to introducing green measures so that is important. “So our concern for the planet is real and this is one outcome we are aiming at, at this 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly,” President Granger explained. Speaking of the climatic catastrophes that countries in the Caribbean Region and the hemisphere have been grap-
pling with, the Head of State said that this is a direct result of global warming and noted that the UN is perhaps the most influential place where the cause of environmental protection can be furthered. The issue of climate change and environmental protection were also high on the agenda during two bilateral engagements between President Granger and the President of Costa Rica, Mr. Luis Guillermo Solís and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta, Mr. Joseph Muscat. President Granger said that it is prudent for Guyana
to seek greater cooperation and partnerships with likeminded states such as Malta, which has a strong commitment to the environment. Similarly, he said that his meeting with President Guillermo was aimed at opening the door of cooperation between Guyana and Costa Rica, a country which he noted has distinguished itself as a major player in the maintenance of the environment and from which Guyana can learn a lot. The UNGA is being held under the theme, “Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet”.
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SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.-CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyana passport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 6267040; 265-4535. INNOVATIVEMARKETING& PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/works, logos, business cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. Repairs at affordable prices: fridge, air conditioner, washing machines, dryers, TV, microwaves & freezerCall: 610-5846 or 661-8158 A.ENTERPRISE TRAVEL AGENCY INC. TICKETS GOING VERY CHEAP! OFFICE IN USA- CALL: 223-1332,613-7542, +13 4 7 - 6 1 7 - 7 5 8 2 . FACEBOOK: A ENTERPRISE TRAVEL
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236B caterpillar skid steer loader $3.9M,1-Cement Mixer Truck $3.5M, 1Honda S2000 Convertible Sport car $3M Contact #650-0402\603-1402
Grader Operator, hauler driver, truck driver, civil engineer, road foreman, technical e n g i n e e r. Contact via email (chungsmarketing@gmail.com) Live in domestic must know to cook Indian dishes & clean. Live in experienced waitress 1825yrs $20,000 weeklycall: 610-5043 Female Farm Supervisor for Plant Nursery @Soesdyke. Must be literate and knows how manage staff extremely well. Tel: 648-1821 Vacancy exists for 1 e xperienced pharmacy assistant to work at a reputable pharmacy in Diamond, EBD- Call: 6965098
RZ bus, good working condition, 2006 bluebird, 36,000KM, PVV 6406, 2009 unregistered Bluebird, 31,000 KM. Call: 265-2171/ 601-0223 Unregistered Axela 2011 $2.7M, dark interior, fully loaded, Nissan pickup double cab $2.3M. Call: 617-5536 Allion, Primo, Fielder Wagon, Spacio, Bluebird, 212 Carina, NZE, Honda CRV, Toyota IST, RZ & Pitbull – Call: 650-7501 To y o t a A l l i o n : A C , T V, alarm, magrims, reverse camera. In excellent condition $1.7M- Call: 639-2490
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Tuesday September 19, 2017
Kaieteur News
LAND FOR SALE
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E’bo men granted $1M bail each in US$60M coke case The duo who were charged for the trafficking of cocaine in the Pomeroon River on July 17, 2017, were yesterday granted bail in the sum of $1M each. John Da Silva, of Grant Strong Hope, Pomeroon; and Kevin Fitz Gordon, of Jib Housing Scheme, both made an appearance before Magistrate Esther Sam, in the Charity Magistrate Court. The men were both represented by attorney at law, Glenn Hanoman, who pleaded for bail on their behalf. During yesterday’s trial, however, Prosecutor of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit [CANU], Konyo Sandiford was absent. Hanoman said that the Prosecutor’s repeated absence is unfair to his client. Hanoman added that he thinks it’s only fair to consult the CANU prosecutor when making application for bail. The allegation against the two men states that on July 17, 2017, Gordon and Da Silva had in their possession, 94 kilograms of cocaine valuing some US$60M, for the purpose of trafficking. The discovery was made some four miles off the mouth of the Pomeroon River by a team of Coast Guards. The two men were subsequently taken into custody by CANU following the discovery of the drug.
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Pm’s roof gone as Maria, Category 5, batters Dominica Dominica - Hurricane Maria intensified into a dangerous Category 5 storm and pounded the little island of Dominica as it surged into the eastern Caribbean on Monday night, and forecasters warned it might become even stronger. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has taken to Facebook reporting that he has lost his roof. “Certainly no sleep for anyone in Dominica. I believe my residence may have sustained some damage,” Skerrit posted about 8 p.m. Monday night. Thirty minutes later, the Prime Minister reported that the situation had worsen. “My roof is gone. I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane. House is flooding,” he said. But within eight minutes, Skerrit said he had been rescued. “Rough! Rough! Rough!” he posted. The Associated Press says forecasters have warned that Hurricane Maria might become even stronger as it follows a path that could
take it on Tuesday near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then head toward a possible direct strike on Puerto Rico on Wednesday. Dominican authorities had closed schools and government offices and urged people to move from dangerous areas to shelters. In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika unleashed flooding and landslides that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 370 homes on the small, mountainous island. In Martinique, authorities ordered people to remain indoors and said they should prepare for cuts to power and water. Schools and non-essential public services were closed. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 kph) Monday evening. The storm was following a path that could take it on Tuesday near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then head toward a possible direct
Venezuela opposition blames Maduro for detained activist’s death CARACAS (Reuters) Venezuela’s opposition blamed President Nicolas Maduro’s government on Monday for the death of a sick activist in detention, saying he was framed and then denied medical help. Carlos Garcia, a local legislator in western Apure state, suffered a stroke in August after being arrested in late 2016 during protests and having money planted on him, his party said. Two days before his death on Sunday, Garcia was granted house arrest but was never transported home, the Justice First party added in a statement, saying the accusations were invented and he was never allowed adequate medical help. “He should never have been in prison and should never have died at the hands of a repressive government whose hands today more than ever are stained with blood,” said the party’s secretary general, Tomas Guanipa. Venezuela’s opposition parties accuse Maduro, the
54-year-old successor of Hugo Chavez, of being a dictator and maintaining hundreds of political prisoners on trumped-up charges. He denies that, saying all activists behind bars are there on legitimate charges, including for “terrorism” and coupplotting against his socialist government. Venezuela’s Supreme Court said Garcia had been detained on suspicion of theft, instigation of disorder, and arson. He had received “appropriate medical attention” in hospital for a condition of “immunodeficient infectious disease,” which may have led to the fatal brain problem, it added in a statement. “We request the nation’s political leaders to abstain from giving irresponsible opinions with false information intended to cause alarm in the population. On the contrary, we must give Christian respect to this Venezuelan citizen’s memory.”
strike on Puerto Rico on Wednesday. There were no immediate reports from Dominica after the eye wall moved ashore, but earlier zinc roofs blew off homes as the outer edge of the storm began whipping the island. Dominica authorities had closed schools and government offices and urged people to move from dangerous areas to shelters. “We should treat the approaching hurricane very, very seriously,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit warned. “This much water in Dominica is dangerous.” In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika unleashed flooding and landslides that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 370 homes on the small, mountainous island. Officials on nearby Guadeloupe said the French island would experience extremely heavy flooding and warned that many communities could be submerged overnight. In Martinique, authorities ordered people to remain indoors and said they should prepare for cuts to power and water. Schools and nonessential public services were closed.
Wi t h P u e r t o R i c o appearing destined for a hit, officials in the U.S. territory warned residents of wooden or otherwise flimsy homes to find safe shelter. “You have to evacuate. Otherwise you’re going to die,” said Hector Pesquera, Puerto Rico’s public safety commissioner. “I don’t know how to make this any clearer.” The U.S. territory imposed rationing of basic supplies including water, milk, baby formula, canned food, batteries and flashlights. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 kph) Monday evening. It was heading west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). “Maria is developing the dreaded pinhole eye,” the center warned. That’s a sign of an extremely strong hurricane likely to get even mightier, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. Just like when a spinning ice skater brings in their arms and rotates faster, a smaller, tighter eye shows the same physics, he said. Maria’s eye shrank to a narrow 10 miles (16 kilometers) across. “You just don’t see those
Dominica’s PM, Roosevelt Skerrit in weaker hurricanes,” McNoldy said. Hurricane warnings were posted for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat. A tropical storm warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Martinique and Anguilla. The storm’s hurricaneforce winds extended about 25 miles (35 kilometers) from the eye, and tropical storm-force winds as far as 125 miles (205 kilometers). Forecasters said storm surge could raise water levels by 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) near Maria’s center.
The storm was predicted to bring 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain for some islands, with the possibility of higher amounts in isolated spots. The current forecast track would carry it about 22 miles (35 kilometers) south of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands late Tuesday and early Wednesday, territorial Gov. Kenneth Mapp said. “We are going to have a very, very long night,” Mapp said as he urged people in the territory to finish any preparations. St. Thomas and St. John are still recovering from a direct hit by Hurricane Irma, which did extensive damage and caused four deaths on the two islands. Officials and islanders were also bracing in Puerto Rico, which did not take a direct hit from Irma but still saw blackouts across much of the territory. Nearly 70,000 people remain without power, and Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned of an island-wide outage. “This is going to be a catastrophic event,” he said. Forecasters said the storm would dump up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of rain across Puerto Rico and whip the island with heavy winds for 12 to 24 hours.
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London Tube attack suspects PetroTrin told to recover every cent were foster children, officials say from operator who never delivered oil
Emergency services secure the area around Parsons Green station after Friday’s explosion. London (CNN)Antiterror police in the UK are continuing to question two suspects arrested over the weekend on suspicion of attempting to blow up a London Underground train. An 18-year-old man and a 21-year-old were arrested separately by police on Saturday, a day after the incident, and searches are under way at two addresses on the outskirts of London, according to UK police. Both men had been fostered by the same elderly couple, and at least one was a refugee from Iraq, local officials told CNN on Monday. The 18-year-old was arrested by police in the departure lounge of Dover ferry port, which is the busiest ferry hub in Europe and a gateway to the French coast, police said. The second man was picked up by police at a fast food carryout restaurant, A l a d d i n ’s , i n E a s t Hounslow, a west London suburb on the way to Heathrow Airport, at about 11:50 p.m. on Saturday, police confirmed. The co-owner of Aladdin’s named the man arrested as Yahya Farroukh, a Syrian national. Suleman Sarwar said Farroukh had worked in the shop for a number of months and seemed normal. “Normal. Just like how you get along with your colleagues. Very normal. If he did do anything, you would never suspect it,” he said. “All we know is that he was arrested Saturday night and then the police came last night,” Sarwar told CNN. “The police didn’t tell us anything about the investigation. They gave no
details out. They’ve just done a search. They searched lockers and that was it. It was closed for four hours and then the police went.” Police have not released the names of either suspect. Local council leader Ian Harvey told CNN the 18y e a r- o l d s u s p e c t w a s fostered by an elderly couple, Ronald and Penelope Jones, and was living with them at the time of the attack during rush hour Friday morning. He said local residents had told him the teen was an Iraqi asylum seeker who had come to the United Kingdom three years ago after his parents were killed in Iraq. Harvey described the teenager as unhappy. A local official said the second suspect had also been fostered by the Joneses. That source asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release the information. Queen Elizabeth II honored Ronald and Penelope Jones for their fostering work in 2010, awarding them MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire) “for services to children and families.” Alison Griffiths, another local official, described the Joneses as “the sort of people who would never turn a child away, no matter what the circumstances.” Griffiths, a Surrey County councillor, said the Joneses had fostered over 280 children in 30 years. They have fostered about eight refugees in the past year, including children from Afghanistan and Iraq, she said. “This has come as a big shock to them. You don’t
expect it in your own house,” she said of the Tube bombing, which injured 30 people at Parsons Green station in west London on Friday. Police were continuing Monday to search their house in Sunbury-onThames, Surrey, on the outskirts of west London, PA reported. “We can confirm that a search is taking place at a residential address in Stanwell, in connection with the arrest in Hounslow,” Surrey police said in a statement. British TV showed images of the house as backing right on to the runway of Heathrow Airport. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, national lead for counter terrorism policing, announced Sunday evening the second arrest and said that the police were lowering the threat the UK was under from international terrorism from critical to severe. ISIS claim Shortly after the explosion, ISIS claimed involvement via its Amaq News Agency. But when asked if ISIS may have had a hand in the attack, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: “It is inevitable that so-called Islamic State or Daesh will reach in and try and claim responsibility. We have no evidence to suggest that yet.” Rudd said the government is releasing an additional £24 million ($32.6 million) for counterterrorism operations around the country, “particularly to support operations where they are protecting people in public places.”
Tr i n i d a d ( Tr i n i d a d Express) - PETROTRIN is being told recover every black cent of overpayment from a private lease operator who has been billing the company for oil that was never delivered in the sum of $100 million. The company, also on the advice of its audit committee, has suspended all payments to the operator and has also been told not to pay outstanding amounts being claimed. The committee has also concluded that the scam could not have been perpetrated without the involvement of some top management personnel of the Company. The committee wants appropriate action against those management personnel involved in what has been described in the report as ‘fraud’ by their failure to provide proper accounting of crude oil provided by one of the company’s private lease operators to its Pointe-aPierre refinery. Petrotrin is expected to initiate a full scale investigation this week on allegations that actual oil pumped from wells leased to one of its private lease
PetroTrin has been told by the Trinidad government to recover more $100M from a private operator who never delivered but got paid. operators was overstated and resulted in the Company having to pay more than US $11.5 million between January and July for oil not delivered. Petrotrin has been strongly urged by the audit committee to recover every cent overpaid to the lease operator. It has also recommended that the $45 million being claimed for June and July not be paid until the investigation is completed. G i v e n t h e r e p o r t ’s findings that management personnel may have been involved, the audit
c o m m i t t e e h a s recommended Petrotrin seek a legal opinion as there was evidence that fraud was perpetrated. In addition to probing the fraud, the audit c o m m i t t e e h a s requested that Petrotrin now seek to accurately calculate the difference in the volume of oil the operator actually produced from the wells, and the oil actually delivered to the refinery. It should then recover the monies from the TT$100 million payouts it made between January and July.
US government wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Washington (CNN)US investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the election, sources tell CNN, an extraordinary step involving a high-ranking campaign official now at the center of the Russia meddling probe. The government snooping continued into early this year, including a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump. Some of the intelligence collected includes communications that sparked concerns among investigators that Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign, according to three sources familiar with the investigation. Two of these sources, however, cautioned that the evidence is not conclusive. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which is leading the investigation into
Paul Manafort Russia’s involvement in the election, has been provided details of these communications. A secret order authorized by the court that handles the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) began after Manafort became the subject of an FBI investigation that began in 2014. It centered on work done by a group of Washington consulting firms for Ukraine’s former ruling party, the sources told CNN. The surveillance was discontinued at some point
last year for lack of evidence, according to one of the sources. The FBI then restarted the surveillance after obtaining a new FISA warrant that extended at least into early this year. Sources say the second warrant was part of the FBI’s efforts to investigate ties between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian operatives. Such warrants require the approval of top Justice Department and FBI officials, and the FBI must provide the court with information showing suspicion that the subject of the warrant may be acting as an agent of a foreign power It is unclear when the new warrant started. The FBI interest deepened last fall because of intercepted communications between Manafort and suspected Russian operatives, and among the Russians themselves, that reignited their interest in Manafort, the sources told CNN.
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Tuesday September 19, 2017
Kaieteur News
Indian batting depth raises Ashes alarm (From page 29) of those for a six. As soon as he got his length back a bit and made him go across the ball, he got him out. He just bowled a fraction full and paid the price.” Depth in batting tests a bowling unit in this manner. Second and third spells are required, wickets must be
coaxed from old balls as well as new, concentration and discipline must be maintained for longer periods than an initial burst. Granted plenty of overs in which to right the ship, Dhoni and Pandya proved capable of playing a longer game than Australia’s bowlers. It was an episode that could not help but be
noticed by England, particularly its lower middle order trio of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali. “That partnership changed the game,” Smith said. “They put on 120-odd and took them from 87 to 206. In the end that proved to be a match-winning partnership. Unfortunately we weren’t
Windies chase unlikely whitewash... (From page 27) competitive guy and he likes a good competition. Whether that (feud with Stokes) is something beneficial to him, he would have to decide that. I can’t really sit here and tell you,” Holder said. “Whatever Marlon needs to do to get himself fired up I’m quite happy for him to do it, once it is within the spirit of the game and he doesn’t go too overboard. “But Marlon has been a really good player for us over the years especially in one day cricket and hopefully he can bring that stability in the middle order for us and bat deep into the innings, and put us in a really
great position and give our bowlers something to work with.” The younger brigade including the likes of rising Test star Shai Hope, his older brother Kyle Hope, Lewis and Kesrick Williams, will also be expected to carry much of the burden for the Windies performances. And though there was heavy importance on the series, Holder stressed he would not be shackling his players. “Obviously player management comes in and just giving players the license and freedom to play their roles as best as they possibly can,” he said. “That’s one part of it. The
rest is ideally down to them to execute so I try to give everybody the leeway to execute their games so hopefully our guys can come in and put on a really good show in this series.” The contest bowls off at 12:30 pm (7:30 am Eastern Caribbean time). SQUADS: ENGLAND – Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes. WEST INDIES – Jason Holder (captain), Jason Mohammed (vice-captain), Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Miguel Cummins, Chris Gayle, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Kesrick Williams.
Berbice Volleyball... (From page 30) School venue. The top teams in the competition along with outstanding individual performances will be presented with trophies and other incentives compliments of the BVA and Director of Sports Christopher Jones and the National Sports Commission. Matches will begin at 09:30 hrs each day. The tournament is also being used to begin selection of a Guyana U18 team to represent the country ate Inter Guiana Games 2018. (Samuel Whyte)
Regal complete... (From page 28) was launched recently at the Everest Cricket Club, will be played in Georgetown starting on October 27 and conclude two days later. It is being held in collaboration with the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Education Department of Culture, Youth and Sport. Registration forms can be uplifted from Regal Stationery and Computer Centre, 69 Seaforth Street, Campbellville, Georgetown.
able to capitalise on the start we had. We started very well with the new ball. That’s a positive for us. One thing we have been working on. “Over the last 18 months, we haven’t started well with the new ball, we haven’t been able to draw things back. I thought we bowled to the conditions and bowled to the right areas.” When rain arrived between innings, reducing Australia’s allotment of overs to 21 and their target to 164, the time afforded to Dhoni and Pandya was sheared away from the touring middle order. This was doubly unfortunate, as the same inclement weather that reduced the overs also helped create an ideal environment for India’s seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Pandya himself. By the time the early overs had seen a titfor-tat loss of Australian top
order wickets not dissimilar to India’s, there was very little room for the middle order to manoeuvre in. “It was never going to be easy chasing 160 with two new balls. It was sort of a good new ball wicket to bowl with,” Smith said. “We could have perhaps played a little bit differently and try to take a little bit more time upfront. It’s always hard in 20 overs to judge that. We weren’t good enough. Batting for 20 overs is difficult when you are losing wickets. Trying to go hard, it didn’t work out as we would have liked. Hopefully we would turn things around in a couple of days in Kolkata. “I think 160 with one new ball would have made things a lot easier. When you have two new balls from both ends, as you saw the whole game, we took three wickets with the new ball and they
found it quite hard. It was the same for us. When you are playing 20 overs, you don’t have a great deal of time to make things up. You need eight an over basically from ball one. It was difficult in that aspect. Perhaps we could have been a little bit more defensive at the start, keep wickets in hand and harder later.” Stacked as it is with allrounders, Australia’s limited overs batting order is deeper than the Test match equivalent. They will hope that next time around the weather will not intervene at an awkward juncture. but at the same time, Smith will know that success for his teams this summer will relate very much to whether they can persist for longer periods than in Chennai - India now, and England in coming months, both have the depth to test Australian endurance.
Tuesday September 19, 2017 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Today you might plan a quick trip by air, Aries. This could be business related. Someone else may have been meant to go but couldn't, so you may be taking his or her place.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) If you've been studying astrology, numerology, or any other occult science, Libra, today you might find some of the concepts you're studying a bit confusing.
TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) A date to get together with a romantic partner might have to be broken at the last minute, Taurus.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) A friend could be having financial troubles and ask you for a loan, Scorpio. You like this person and understand what he or she's going through, so you want to help.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Sudden and unexpected problems could have your household in chaos, Gemini. This probably doesn't relate to difficulties with your housemates. CANCER (June 21–July 22) Too many communications may prove distracting today, Cancer. The phone could be ringing off the hook and your email inbox overflowing. Everyone around you seems to be talking at once.
SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Some equipment that you use a lot, perhaps an appliance, computer, or TV, might go on the blink today, Sagittarius. Don't try to fix it yourself even if you think you know how. CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Some rather bizarre news could come to you today about metaphysical or paranormal matters, Capricorn.
LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) A sudden but necessary expense could make a big hole in your budget today, Leo. Perhaps some repairs need to be made around the house or to the car.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) This could be a hectic day, Aquarius. Yo u will probably try to go too many places and do too many things at once.
VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Generally you're pretty emotionally stable, Virgo. Today's events might seem to conspire to create erratic moods that you aren't used to feeling. It's the only way you will remain calm today.
PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You might hear some rather b i z a r r e r u m o r s t o d a y, Pisces. Someone has misinterpreted a piece of information and blown it into something far different from reality.
Tuesday September 19, 2017
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GTA host first back to school Taekwondo competition The Guyana Taekwondo Association (GTA) on Friday last hosted its first ‘Back to School’ Taekwondo Gyrugi (fighting) Competition’ in what it hopes to be an annual event. This competition was focused on the junior class with the aim of: marking the end of the long school holiday period and to usher in the new school term and the general promotion and development of young athletes. The event kicked off with Omario Darlington and Akeem Fowler kicking it out in Group A. While they were both shaky at first the action soon picked up with Fowler scoring the first point. He continued to get the better of Darlington thus landing him the first place position ahead of Darlington. The action in Group B continued with Anthony Court and Arshad Ali. It was Court who nonetheless clinched the first place with a two point margin difference over Ali. It was however in Group C where the action really got going in the battle of the tiny tots. Facing off were off springs of taekwondo students - Nathan
Vanderhyden and Vivek Bassoo, Emma Mandall the lone female and Shibraj Jacob. The action started with Vanderhyden against Jacob, the former displayed a great deal of superiority over the latter and clinched the fight comfortably by a nine point margin. Taking center stage next were Mandall and Bassoo where they both tried to outscore each other with their tiny legs, but it was Bassoo who prevailed in the end. Mandall shrugged off the loss to Bassoo to return and get the better of Jacob in the fight for third and fourth place. In the first place fight, Vanderhyden stole the show to defeat Bassoo by nine clear points. The champion displayed a high degree of superiority and surely impressed all the judges, coaches and spectators. Battling it out in Group D were Tejindra Ramcharran, Khadeeja Taljit (female), Rodwin Famey and Matthew Khan. The first bout saw Ramcharran and Taljit going head to head with Ramcharran winning despite a good fight from
Ms. La Toya Herbert (3rd background) along with other Coaches pose with the excited competitors/students following the presentation ceremony. Taljit. The brave Taljit traded kicks with Ramcharran but the winner was able to throw more kicks which landed him victory. Then it was over to Famey and Khan with Famey getting the better of Khan. Taljit returned to beat Khan for in the third place match while in the first place showdown kicks and punches were traded continuously between eventual winner by a slim two points, Ramcharran and Famey.
Arvinda Comacho defeated Ricardo Ramlall for the top spot in Group E. The competition was successfully coordinated by Coach – Ms. La Toya Herbert who informed that she again had fun working with all the participants, judges and coaches. Ms. Herbert is expressing gratitude to Mr. Ramesh Sunich of the Trophy Stall Bourda Market, who donated a number of trophies; Instructor Coach/Master Ramjeet Ramphal, Coach/Master Roy Bacchus, Coach Alim
Azimullah and Coach Trevor Bassoo; Students/Junior Coaches Shineque Bourne and Mohamed Ali. Recognition was also extended to all the parents who brought their children out and all those who helped to make the event a success. Meanwhile, the public is being reminded that the
G u y a n a Ta e k w o n d o Association (GTA) training facility is located in Woolford Avenue upstairs of the Guyana Teacher’s Union Hall. Classes are held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 17:00hrs to 19:00hrs. For further details contact can be made with Ms. La Toya Herbert on 6702615.
Victor Macedo Memorial Cycle Deo clinches Maersk Sealand Golf Tournament race set for Sunday
Prize winners display their accolades in the presence of officials of the sponsors. Joanne Deo took top honours in the inaugural Maersk Sealand Golf To u r n a m e n t h e l d l a s t Saturday at the Lusignan Golf Club. Playing off a 21 handicap, Deo shot a gross 86 for a net 65. Second place
went to Azrudeen Shaw (18) who also shot 86 net 68 easing out Robert Hanoman’s 96 net 68 (handicap 28). As was the case in the previous week, short rough made it another good day for the high handicappers who
were not penalised greatly for wayward shots. Best Gross went to Patrick Prashad with a 79 and nearest to the pin to Bholaram Deo. In comments at the presentation ceremony, Maersk Sealand’s Country
Manager Derek Stoby said the shipping line was happy to sponsor the tournament as part of the company’s belief that sport should be a part of a well balanced and healthy life style. As such he assured members this would be an annual event.
The 15th annual Victor Marcedo Memorial Cycle Road is scheduled to peddle off on Sunday at 07:30hrs from Homestretch Avenue after a rolling start from 224 Peter Rose Street Queenstown. Seniors and juniors will proceed to Long Creek on the Linden Highway (hill after the tall antenna), while Veterans, Pre-Juniors and Mountain Bikers would ride to the top of the hill after Splashmin’s Fun Park with all cyclists returning to finish on Homestretch Avenue. There will be prizes for first eight finishers overall, first four juniors and the first three in all remaining categories in addition to 10
sprint point prizes. The event has been organised by Flying Stars Cycling Club and sponsored by Floyd Macedo and Macedo Transportation Services. The late Victor Macedo was the father of former outstanding Cyclist Floyd and very supportive of his son and other Cyclists and his relatives are using this memorial event to help in the development of cycling nationally. Stepano Husbands won the 2016 ‘Open’ in a time of 3:11:0.70, while Raphael Leung captured the Junior title, Junior Niles took the Veterans crown, Adellia Hodge (Juvenile) and Ozea McCully (MTB).
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Tuesday September 19, 2017
Andrea ‘Padlock’ Green top honours in Rose Hall Town 47 Anniversary Cycle race Andrea ‘Padlock’ Green showed his mettle as he outsprinted rival Andrew Hicks in a ding dong battle to the finish line as they put a lock on the rest of the field in the Rose Hall Town Anniversary and D e v e l o p m e n t Organization (RHTADO) 40 miles event. The race, which was held on Sunday to celebrate the 47 Anniversary celebrations of the Town, was held in collaboration with the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC).
The event which was for Berbicians only saw Green winning in a time of 1hr: 30 minutes from 15 other cyclists. The race pedal off from the Anamayah Law Offices at Hampshire, Corentyne, around 09:00hrs with a rolling start. The flag went down at Rose Hall arch with the riders proceeding to the No51 Police Station on the Corentyne before returning to finish in front of the Shaveh Night Spot, Restaurant and Bar at Rose Hall Town.
Headmistress of the Rose hall Town Primary School Mrs. Hollis Schwiers presents the winning prize to Andrea Green as other outstanding performers and organisers share the moment. As the riders pedaled off, the lead was immediately taken by Balram Narine, however after a few miles he was roped in by a pack of riders. Green eventually opened a led, but was also
caught after about three miles by Narine, Hicks and Jason Cameron. At the turn back stage the pair of Green and Hicks began to make their move and stage a breakaway of
GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power U-17 League –West Demerara
Eagles take over lead; Den Amstel trounce Crane Rovers Uitvlugt Warriors gifted full points to Eagles FC of Stewartville via the walk over route which has propelled them to the top of the points table when play in the GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power National Under-17 Intra Association League continued on Sunday last at the Den Amstel Community Center ground, West Coast Demerara. In recording another win, Eagles kept their unbeaten record intact as one of two teams to hold such a stat, the other being Pouderoyen after six and five matches respectively, both also having a draw apiece. Home team Den Amstel made light work of Crane Rovers recording their fourth win in six outings; they won 4-1, thanks to a double from Ruben Dainty who had achieved his brace with the match barely nine minutes old. He netted in the 7th and 9th minute. Admirable support came from the other goal scorers, Keswin Fraser on 25 minutes and Jomar Adams the lone scorer in the second half, he sealed the deal in the 65th minute. As the league winds down, taking center stage on Sunday at the same venue will be bottom of the table Jetty Gunners and Wales
their own, opening up a lead. They were never caught after that. After a while it was soon a battle of who would win of the two. However, it was Green that overpowered Hick in a fierce sprint home to the finish line. Cameron rode home third with Narine forth and Odrel Ross Fifth. Green took three of the prime point prizes with Hicks the other two. The female event saw Shemika Teixeira as the lone participant. At the simple presentation ceremony promoter Andrew Griffith o f t h e R H TA D O a n d other members handed over to the winners their prizes. Griffith reiterated that the organisation is always willing to give back to the community in whatever way possible. The event is part of two weeks of activity to celebrate the Town’s 47th Anniversary
as a town. Coordinator Randolph Roberts thanked the RHTADO for sponsoring the event and expressed the club’s gratitude to the organisation. He reiterated his call for other entities to come on board and support. Among the sponsors on board were Fiesta Guinness Bar and Night Club, Prophecy Sports Bar, the Regional Democratic Council, Godfrey Persaud Button Shop, Lewison General Store, Churches Chicken, Josh Babulall aka Moneychanger, Wynette’s Beauty Salon, Anamayah Memorial H o s p i t a l , P o o n a i ’s Pharmacy and Circuit Centre General Store among others. The police led by Officer I n c h a r g e o f Tr a f f i c Superintendent Budnarine Persaud was commended once again for doing an excellent job during the event. (Samuel Whyte)
No holding back... Ruben Dainty (R), Keswin Fraser (C) and Jomar Adams - Den Amstel FC. United just two places above them in the first match at 09:00hrs. This match would be
followed by a clash between Pouderoyen who were knocked off the top of the table by Eagles.
They{Pouderoyen}wou ld be aiming to retake the lead in their quest for top honours.
(From page 31) salute after the Englishman was dismissed. And in a tense T20 World Cup final last year, Samuels and Stokes became embroiled in a war of words as t h e We s t I n d i e s batsman carried his s i d e t o a n unprecedented title with a brilliant Mano f - t h e - M a t c h performance. Earlier this month, Samuels set the stage for the upcoming series by warning Stokes to “stay on the boundary when I’m batting, as far away as possible.” Holder said hopefully the rivalry would remain in good taste and not detract from an important series. “Once it is well within
the spirit of the game and it doesn’t go too overboard, I think it is ideal for the game,” he stressed. “I think with the whole demerit points system around, you don’t really want to be getting yourself in trouble and racking up demerit points. “That’s something all players have to be mindful of so hopefully he can keep it within the spirit of the game and play a really competitive series.” England captain Eoin Morgan said he expected Stokes to be up for the fight. “”I want Ben to be himself. I want him to get into the contest of a game. It’s part and parcel of his character … and getting the best out of Ben Stokes.”
Tuesday September 19, 2017
Kaieteur News
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Police raid GFC 4-0 for Inaugural Corona Beer title and $1M cash prize Dwain Jacobs fired Police to victory with a hattrick as the lawmen ran riot on GFC 4-0 to seize success in the final of the inaugural Corona Beer Invitational Football tournament. The climax of this two-month tournament was electrifying on Sunday night, much more to the glee of Police Football Club and their fans that horded the stands and majorly the touch line of the football pitch. Many of GFC supporters were left in awe as they didn’t expect their team who had played well throughout the tournament, including a 3-0 victory against this same Police side, to lose and more so, lose in such a humbling fashion. Police’s captain, Dwain Jacobs, who had boasted largely and signalled his disgust at losing pre-match, led from the front and began the assault in the 8th minute when he exercised all his experience and expertly finished to the bottom right of goal following a one vs. one encounter with GFC’s goalkeeper. Jacobs then came dreadfully close to doubling Police’s lead in the 30th minute of the match when he hit the bar from a
25-yard free kick. Being a goal down, GFC were still in the game and they attempted to claw their way back through Benjamin Opara and the quick Nigerian striker made some dangerous runs at goal but couldn’t get through the concreted Police’s defence. In fact, GFC had a meagre one shot on goal in the entire match, which Opara sent during the second half, when the game was already done and dusted. Captain fantastic, Dwain Jacobs, completed his hattrick during the first half. His second in the 42nd minute, was a poacher’s goal which he chipped in from range following a mistimed header from his team-mate, that GFC’s keeper wasn’t quick enough to gobble up. On the stroke of half time, following a counter attack, Jacobs completed his hattrick with a perfectly placed low, right-footed shot to the bottom right of goal from about 25 yards out. It had rained earlier on Sunday and the GFC venue had dried up nicely for the final but Police’s third goal had winded both GFC and their fans and a dark cloud loomed over the men in blue as they waited for their imminent loss. On resumption of the second half, whatever plan GFC had devised to overturn their imposing 3-goal deficit didn’t work and they were
sunk deeper into the abyss of defeat when Kester Dundas headed home Police’s 4th goal in the 48th minute, following a corner set-piece. Speaking to the press following the match, skipper Dwain Jacobs who led from the front was all exclamations, “Good Job by us! Well done! I spoke about our poor conversion rate before and we came out tonight and scored four to show our superiority!” Police head coach Dwayne Babb backed up what his manager has stated during the pre-match press conference, “GFC has a good squad, they played well and showed good resilience but at the end of the day Police was the superior team and we showed that tonight.” Earlier in the night, Western Tigers enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win against Northern Rangers that saw all their luck run out. Despite goals from Darren Benjamin in the 35th minute and Jomal Pedro on the stroke of full time, Northern Rangers squandered a few clear cut chances. Rangers’ chief culprit was Sunil Logan who got one vs. one with the keeper a few times and managed tame shots, found himself wrong-footed or got dispossessed. It was quite a nauseating spectacle, almost as though Rangers didn’t fancy the $200,000 third prize which Tigers gladly pocketed in their win.
-Western Tigers settle for third place
Police’s Kester Dundas whose header put the 4th nail on GFC’s coffin on Sunday.
Skipper Dwain Jacobs led from the front with a hat-trick for Police on Sunday night.
Some of the Police Football Club fans enjoying Sunday night’s final.
Windies chase unlikely whitewash to keep alive World Cup hopes MANCHESTER, England, CMC – Unpredictable West Indies face the improbable task of whitewashing favourites England in their five-match One-Day International series starting here today, as they chase a quickly dissipating dream of direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup. The Caribbean side’s recent poor form has seen them plunge to number nine in the ICC ODI rankings, with only hosts England and the remaining top seven sides by the September 30 cut-off date later this month, gaining automatic berths at the showpiece in England.
What makes a whitewash even more difficult for the Windies is the fact they have not beaten England in a one-day series in 10 years and are without a series success over a top-six side in the ICC rankings in five years. They have won just three of their last 20 ODIs and even struggled against minnows Bangladesh in a three-match series in the Caribbean in June, managing only a 1-1 draw. While stressing that a clean sweep of the hosts was n o t a n i m p o s s i b i l i t y, however, captain Jason Holder was also under no illusions about the massive
challenge before his squad, pointing out the need to play at their best in order to get the results needed. “It’s not going to be an easy task but it’s not impossible. I think that win there in Durham from the T20 team has given the side a boost,” the all-rounder told a media conference here Monday ahead of the day/night affair at Old Trafford. “A few of the guys are overlapping into this one series so hopefully these guys can ride on the back of that game and hopefully bring it (momentum) into this series. “We’ve got to take it one
game at a time. I think we need to win 5-0 to qualify which wouldn’t be easy but as I said before wouldn’t be impossible as well. “I’ve stressed in the dressing room [the need for] consistency. I think if we are consistent with our performances and basically our processes, I think we will give ourselves a really good chance of winning the series.” West Indies have been boosted by the return of the experienced Jamaican pair of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, after Cricket West Indies freed them for selection by temporarily shelving the controversial
eligibility rule. The embattled side now have at their disposal two players with 456 ODIs between them and Holder hopes their presence can help garner the results required. “We’re just hoping that these guys can put in some really good performances,” he noted. “Chris looked really good in the T20 game and he’s been carrying some form in our T20 tournament back home so hopefully that can translate that into this one-day series and he can get us off to a really good start with his partner Evin Lewis.”
Samuels’s first appearance in an ODI in nearly a year is expected to take on special significance as he is likely to renew his heated rivalry with England all-rounder Ben Stokes. The pair clashed during a Test series in the Caribbean two years ago and then again at last year’s Twenty20 Wo r l d C u p i n I n d i a , potentially setting the stage for even more fireworks over the next two weeks. And even though Holder said Samuels was free to express himself, he said of greater worth was his contribution to team results. “Marlon is one (Continued on page 24)
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Tuesday September 19, 2017
Regal complete another double Regal Masters and All stars were crowned champions when the Regal Sports softball competition concluded at Everest Cricket Club. Regal Masters defeated Ariel Masters by 15 runs. Batting first, Regal Masters scored 124-8 off their allotted 15 overs. Eon Abel struck two fours and one six in a top score of 20 while Fazleem Mohamed and David Harper made 19 each and Mohendra Arjune 16. S. Mohabir claimed 3-25. Ariel Masters were restricted to 105-8 in reply. K. Ramoutar scored 30 with four fours and one six while Harper picked up 3-15 and Saheed Mohamed 2-16. In the Open final, Regal All stars overcame Speedboat by 65 runs. Regal All stars took first strike and posted 167-9 off their allocation of 15 overs.
Regal All stars Captain Fazal Rafiek accepts the trophy from Banks DIH representative Rawl Nedd in the presence of GSCL Inc Ian John. Sachin Singh stroked one four and four sixes in scoring a rapid 33, while Marvin Bobb and Fazal Rafiek made 30 each. Greg Singh and I. Hamid captured 2-23 apiece.
Speedboat were sent packing for 102 in 12.2 overs in reply. B. Baldwin and W. Sundal got 20 and 17 respectively; Wazir Hussain snared 4-25 and Narine
13th Laparkan Holdings NP Cycle Meet on this Saturday
Flashback! Laparkan Holding’s HR Manager Ms. Lynette Shivlochan, presenting Niles with the winning trophy last year. Following a tough 98mile ride on Sunday last, cyclists are now aligning their pedals for this S a t u r d a y ’s L a p a r k a n Holdings National Park 11Race cycle programme which is organised by Hassan Mohamed. The usual 11-races will be on the programme with the feature school boys and invitational set to attract the cream of the crop. Junior Niles, the nation’s leading Under-50 veteran will be in
his saddle to defend last year’s feature race trophy but will have to contend with the younger brigade of riders who have been consistently putting their hands up. The likes of Alanso Ambrose, Jamal John, Andrew Hicks, Paul De Nobrega, Romello Crawford, Mario King and Curtis Dey among others. A new junior/juvenile winner will be crowned as winner of last year’s 10-lap
contest; Briton John is currently in the USA training ahead of the World Championships. Lennox Jackman won the Over-50 race last year while Hosea Macullay won the mountain bike event. Laparkan Holdings Human Resource (HR) Manager, Ms. Lynette Shivlochan is expected to be on hand to assist with the presentation of trophies and other prizes on Saturday.
Regal Masters Skipper Mohendra Arjune collects the winning prize from Rawl Nedd of Banks DIH. Bailey 2-19. Regal Masters and All stars became the first team to win both Masters and Open titles when they achieved the feat in the Guyana Cup in 2015, they then went on to win both titles in the New York Softball Cricket
League and Florida Cup in 2016. Speaking after the presentation ceremony, Captain of the Regal All stars team Fazal Rafiek congratulated his players on their performance and said the win has lifted their
confidence going into the Prime Minister’s T20 Cup slated for October. Regal Masters Skipper Mohendra Arjune said his charges executed well and played as a unit. The Prime Minister’s T20 Cup, which (Continued on page 24)
Berbice Cricket Board Elections set for Oct 8 following court ruling Rabindranauth Saywack, an Ex-Executive of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control informed that the GCBC Elections is set for October 8 after a ruling by the Honorable Justice Navendra Singh who on Friday September 8, 2017 in chambers paved the road for this becoming a reality. The BCBC Elections was last held in January 2014. In a court action brought by Saywack and Albert Smith, both former members of the Executive Committee of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control in action # 9/ 17 /FDA, challenging the a c t i o n s o f M r. Dhieranidranauth Somwaroo, the purported President of the Berbice Cricket Board to dismiss members of the Board, appoint new members and to elevate himself to the Presidency amongst other things. Saywack said this action was first heard by the Honorable Madam Justice George, then by the Honorable Justice Franklin Holder who ordered the parties to engage in mediation before an approved Mediator. In this process both parties agreed to the appointment of Mr Tejram Ramroop, Attorney at
L a w. T h i s p r o c e s s subsequently failed and the matter was referred to the High Court. He explained that it was then placed before the Honorable Justice Navendra Singh who on Friday 08- 092017 in chambers ruled: -The life of the Executive Committee that was elected in 2014 expired in December, 2015. - That the election of Somwaroo as President of the Berbice Cricket Board is null and void and of no legal effect. -That elections of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control be held on the 8th of October 2017. -That the actions of Somwaroo as President of the Berbice Cricket Board is null and void and of no legal effect. - That Mr. D. Somwaroo ensure that Notices be sent to all parties in accordance with Schedule 3 of the Guyana Cricket Administration Act for the purpose of electing office bearers to the Berbice Cricket Board Of Control. This action was brought by Mr. A. Gossai- Attorney at law - on behalf of Mr. Albert Smith and Mr. Rabindranauth Saywack, while Attorney Roysdale Forde appeared for Mr. D.
Somwaroo, Godwyn Allicock, David Black, Annand, Sanasie and others. The ruling of the High Court therefore vindicates Mr Saywack and Mr Smith that the actions of Mr. Samaroo and others was tantamount to a hostile takeover of the BCB by person/persons aligned to the Guyana Cricket Board an organization with which the BCB has a long running dispute. This decision of the Honorable Justice Navendra Singh has now cleared the way for the long awaited elections of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control. It is also pertinent to note that Mr. Samaroo and others would have violated the order of March 07-2017 issued by the Honorable Justice Madam Roxanne George, restraining Mr. Somwaroo and others from conducting a planned meeting on March 19, 2017 with the express purpose of electing Mr. Somwaroo and others into executive positions of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control. Cricket pundits in Berbice are now looking with heightened interest as to how these issues would be resolved. (Sean Devers)
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Tuesday September 19, 2017
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EBFA/Ralph Green U-11 League
Agricola, Grove and Samatta Point/ Kaneville take full points in latest play
GFF President Wayne Forde and Coaches Association President Wayne Dover with the participating U-11 teams that played on Saturday.
Mocha Champs (red) and Diamond Upsetters matching skills in their drawn match.
Agricola Red Triangle FC 2017 U-11 Team
Defending champions Agricola Red Triangle was again in vintage form when they hammered Herstelling Raiders 8-0 as play in the Ralph Green sponsored East Bank Football Association Under-11 League continued at the Grove Playfield on Saturday. Other teams enjoying full points on the day were Samatta Point / Kaneville which defeated Diamond United 3-1 and Grove Hi Tech who won via the walk over route from Kuru Kururu Warriors.
The Mocha Champs versus Diamond Upsetters match ended in a 0-0 stalemate earning both teams their first points of the competition. Agricola’s win was centered around a hat-trick of goals from Seon Grant who was on target in the 7th, 10th and 23rd minute, his e ff o r t s e t t i n g a s o l i d foundation for the win. There was a double each for Jonathan Andries and Clevon Bowling. Andries netted in the 3rd and 27th minute,
while Bowling rocked the nets in the 18th and 29th minute. Jaden Paul accounted for the other goal in the 21st minute. Samatta Point/Kaneville secured their first win in the competition and their first competition as a team through goals from Devon Parris, who opened proceedings in the 3rd minute, Nickolai Francois in the 8th and Akeem Francois four minutes later effectively sealing the win.
Diamond United got their consolation goal one
minute before full time, Ronaldo Adams doing the
honours in the 29th minute.
Indian batting depth raises Ashes alarm
Steven Smith speaks to the media after Aus. 20-run defeat, Bangladesh v Australia, 1st Test, Mirpur, 4th day, ©Getty Images
ESPNcricinfo - Depth is a concept that Australia can expect to wrestle with during the Ashes, in the sense that England’s batting order has it and Steven Smith’s side, for the time being, does not. In Chennai, Smith’s ODI team got an early taste of what that can look like, albeit in circumstances that allowed some room for benefit of the doubt. With the new ball, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins started
exceptionally well, bowling fast, on the ideal length and with enough movement to prompt errors from India’s top four. Marcus Stoinis then followed up by “bashing the wicket” and coaxing out a couple victims of his own to cross-bat shots. However, those early gains gave way to more indifferent bowling through the middle of the innings, as India showcased the depth that word again - they have added to their batting order
in limited overs matches through the regeneration of MS Dhoni and the allround ability of Hardik Pandya. Dropped catches helped too, but India still had to capitalise, something Dhoni and Pandya did in grand style, the former savaging the recalled James Faulkner, after the latter had swung freely at Adam Zampa’s flat, full wrist spin. “I think we probably we went away from our plans a little bit,” Smith said. “We
were hitting such a good length and certainly persisted with that for a while with the good bouncers we were bowling. We were trying too many things, too many slower balls, just not hitting that good hard length we were hit early on. “The message to Zampa as well was to bring his length back a bit. He was bowling very full and Hardik looked like hitting everyone (Continued on page 24)
Kaieteur News
PAGE 34
Tuesday September 19, 2017
UG thump GDF by an innings and 159 runs
Rafael Singh
Omesh Danram
University of Guyana defeated Guyana Defence Force by an innings and 159 runs when the Georgetown C r i c k e t
Association/GISE/Star Party Rentals/Trophy Stall first division two-day tournament continued last weekend.
Joel Spooner UG took first strike and posted 359 all out at GDF ground. Omesh Danram struck 114, while Keron Sewnarine made 51; Damion
Kevin Ross
Charwayne McPherson
Suresh Dhanai
Waldron bagged seven wickets. GDF were sent packing for 81 in reply. Dennis Heywood grabbed 514, Danram 3-6 and Suresh
Dhanai 2-17. Batting a second time GDF were bowled out for 112 with Waldron scoring 61. Dhanai and Heywood claimed three wickets each. At Malteenoes SC, rain stopped play between GNIC SC and Transport SC. Batting first TSC rattled up 330 all out. Charwayne McPherson slammed 81; Suresh Budhoo made 67, Refael Singh 42, Stephen Alves 37, Joel Spooner 29 and Akeem Redmon 22; Dwayne Dick and Ronale Bourne snared four wickets each. In reply, GNIC SC were 183-1 at stumps on the first day. Veeland Crandon made 63 and Marc Nicholson 93 not out. Rain prevented any play on Sunday. Previously, Transport SC beat GDF by 173 runs. TSC
took first strike and scored 217. Joel Spooner made 37 not out, Devaugh Nandan got 37, Steven Alves 27 and Rafael Singh 23. Randy Lindore picked up 3-14, Damian Waldron 3-27 and J. Chisolm 3-57. GDF were bowled out for 74 in reply. Wa l d r o n a n d D a m i e n Whitney made 19 and 15 each as Spooner grabbed 58, Kevin Ross 2-17 and Franchot Duncan 2-28. TSC were sent packing for 90 in reply. Mark Ramsammy made 26 and Spooner 13 not out. Lindore captured 4-22, Andre Mc Farley 2-2 and D. Rajmangal 2-19. Set 234 to win, GDF were bowled out for 60 with Waldron scoring 33; Kevin Ross bagged 8-14 from 10.5 overs of which six were maidens.
GCF Points Race – Four
GDF/Alanis’ Ambrose pedals to victory and 2nd place overall; Coco’s John still leads
Berbice Volleyball Association Inter school competition off to enterprising start
Alanzo Ambrose – GDF and Team Alanis Another consistent and determined ride has seen the Guyana Defence Force and Team Alanis cyclist Alanso Ambrose not only winning the fourth Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) Points Race but also jumping from 8th place to second overall. Ambrose won last Sunday’s exhausting 98mile contest in 4 Hours 25 Minutes 52 Seconds to top the field of 17-starters with 11 crossing the finish line. Trailing Ambrose to the line in closing out the top six finishers were Christopher
Griffith, Junior Niles, Jamal John, Paul De Nobrega and Silvio Inniss. Rounding out the top 11finishers were Walter GrantStuart, Adealie Hodge, Marcus Keiler, Everal Mundy and Nigel Duguid, in that order. According to the GCF, these races are aimed at making the local riders more competition ready for regional and international assignments. Races held here are mostly shorter distances but when riders are selected to represent Guyana, they have
to compete over longer distances. Points are rewarded to the top ten placers; 15, 12,
10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. At the end of the year, the top six riders overall will be rewarded by the federation.
The Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA) one week Inter school Competition got off to an enterprising start with play in the Upper Corentyne Zone. Three schools namelySkeldon Line Path Secondary, Skeldon High a n d Ta g o r e M e m o r i a l Secondary participated in the male category. In the female category the participants were Skeldon Line Path Secondary and Sheldon High. In the male category, Skeldon High defeated Skeldon Line Path 30-28, while Tagore won from Skeldon Line Path 30-18. In the finale, Tagore got the better of Skeldon High 2518, 25-14. The female category saw Skeldon Line Path winning from Skeldon High 25-22,
25-11. The Schools have been divided into four zones which will see play on different days. The top two teams in each zone will advance to the quarter finals stage of the tournament. The quarter, semi and finals will be played on Friday 22nd at Port Mourant. The competition was expected to continue yesterday with play in the Central Corentyne Zone at the Bush Lot Secondary School. Today action is set for the Lower Corentyne catchment area vying for supremacy at Port Mourant. The final set of preliminary matches will be played tomorrow when the schools in the New Amsterdam/ Canje areas compete at the Berbice High (Continued on page 24)
Tuesday September 19, 2017
Kaieteur News
PAGE 35
Guyana NRA 150th/WIFBSC C/ships – Recorded Shoot
Mahendra Persaud maintains winning form; Fields one V better than Braithwaite for 2nd Captain Mahendra Persaud has continued to lead from the front with another well crafted shoot which led him to victory when the Guyana National Rifle Association Fullbore Section held another Recorded Shoot last Sunday on the newly renovated Right Shooting Bank at the Timehri Rifle Ranges. In a release from the association, it was pointed out that this was the first time in over four years that shooters were able to use the right side bank since the target mechanisms were nonfunctional. But dedicated work in the form of a partnership between the Guyana Defence Force and the association’s shooters would have seen the full refurbishment of the ranges ahead of the GuyanaNRA 150th anniversary celebratory shoot which would also be used as the We s t I n d i e s F u l l b o r e Shooting Council Championships from October 9-15 next. The likes of Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Barbados, Tr i n i d a d a n d To b a g o , Australia, Great Britain, Canada, USA, Scotland, Wales and the Falkland Islands will all be in Guyana to compete. Last Sunday’s shoot was designed to ensure the local marksmen, the Caribbean’s defending Short and Long Range champions, get a hang of
the wind conditions on the right bank. Persaud accumulated a winning score of 132.10 in the new conditions which was made up of a possible (50.5) at the challenging 900 yards. He dropped a single point at 500 yards (34.2), while losing just two at 300 yards for a score of 48.3. Vice Captain Dylan Fields, who recently lost his father, former Captain and Vice President of the association Richard ‘Dickie’ Fields, was quickly back in form and ended in second place just p i p i n g L e n n o x Braithwaite by a single V in the process. Fields shot 128.5 and in the process won the 300 yards with a score of 49.5, he achieved 32.0 at 500 yards and 47.0 at 900 yards. The Commonwealth Games bound Braithwaite won the 500 yards by shooting a possible (35.1), shot 47.2 at 300 yards and 46.1 at the 900 yards. Ve t e r a n R a n s f o r d Goodluck dropped a single point at the 900 yards with a score of 49.6. Commenting after the day’s shoot, Captain Persaud said he was quite happy with the performances, pointing out that the gap between the shooters aggregate scores is beginning to close. He noted that the form of his charges is coming on at the right time. This Saturday and Sunday practice will be
Mahendra Persaud Dylan Fields
continuing as the riflemen continues to familiarize themselves with the new batch of ammunition that has just arrived and which will be used for next m o n t h ’s a n n i v e r s a r y championships. The Guyana NRA wishes to express sincere thanks to the US Embassy Officials for their assistance in obtaining the requisite status for the approval, in order for the association to be able to import world class ammunition from the United States.
No holding back Samuels, says skipper Holder
Marlon Samuels and Ben Stokes, pictured here in a tense moment during last year’s T20 World Cup final, are expected to resume their rivalry.
MANCHESTER, England, CMC – Captain Jason Holder has no plans on keeping combative Marlon Samuels on a leash during the five-match One-Day International series starting here today, but has urged the experienced stroke-maker not to get carried away in his rivalry with all-rounder Ben Stokes. While the West Indies chase an improbable series clean sweep to achieve direct qualification for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the spotlight will likely also fall
on the long-running duel between Samuels and England’s Stokes. The pair clashed during their last meeting at the Twenty20 World Cup in India last year and many expect a continuation during the upcoming series. “We’re just looking to play the game as a normal cricket game. Hopefully those two can stay out of trouble and we can have a smooth sailing series,” Holder told reporters here yesterday. “If it helps Marlon, I do
enjoy it. If it doesn’t [help him], then I don’t. It’s a whole team we have here and we’re not focussing on those two going after one another. We’re focussing primarily on winning this series and what we need to do to win this series.” The feud between Samuels and Stokes burst to life during the third day of the second Test of England’s tour of the Caribbean two years ago, when the Jamaican sent his nemesis on his way with a sarcastic (Continued on page 26
t r o Sp
Police raid GFC 4-0 for Inaugural Corona Beer title and $1M cash prize
Inaugural Corona Beer champions! Police FC.
-Western Tigers settle for third place
Windies chase unlikely whitewash to keep alive World Cup hopes
West Indies go through their paces in final preparation yesterday for the opening ODI against England at Old Trafford. (Photo courtesy CWI Media) Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210