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Corriverton municipality moving P11 to update by-laws Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 3049

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Jubilee Park private company registered months after project started

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$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

PNCR blames PPP/C for P7 denying Green PM’s pension

Page 3

…Rupert Roopnaraine a Director, Minister Patterson misled Parliament ‒ Edghill

Corentyne carpenter’s killing

Guyana seeking US help for mastermind – Crime Chief

P12 ECD, Georgetown, Diamond to get Govt-built condos …prices higher than turn-key homes

Pages 9,12&14

No bailout for City Hall – Bulkan P13

Green’s pension

‒ 4 men slapped with murder charge ‒ 2 women remanded for offering bribe to Police

Region 3 Deputy REO busted in US with cocaine Page 14

Multimillion-dollar package will P13 cost Granger’s presidency – fmr AFC Executive

Port Mourant Market staff P14 strike

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wednesDAY, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Govt refuses to make full disclosure on D’Urban Park financing …says private company solicited donations

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overnment on Monday for more than six hours sought to skirt a matter raised by the political Opposition regarding the financing of the D’Urban Jubilee Park, constructed for the 50th anniversary celebrations by saying it was done primarily by a private company – Homestretch Development Inc. The matter was raised in the National Assembly

by Opposition Member of Parliament, Bishop Juan Edghill, who – by way of a motion – sought to compel the Government to make full disclosure on the financing of the project in addition to the $406 million utilised from the Contingency Fund – a move that has been deemed a breach of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act by Auditor General Deodat Sharma.

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson

Administration of being less than forthcoming on the project since all of the answers that have been provided thus far have been provided under pressure from the political Opposition.

not make the disclosure.

Private company

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

was the final Government speaker on the Opposition motion and in his presentation he told the House that since the company was a private one, the details could not be had at this point in time.

He suggested that the company’s internal audited statements could possibly have the information being sought, but since it was a private company, he could

The Minister did disclose, however, that following the Public Infrastructure Ministry’s takeover of the project on April 21, he wrote to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board seeking approval for the use of restrictive/selective tendering at which point in time the Ministry approached pre-selected contractors to finish the project.

Minister Patterson told the House that Homestretch Development Inc had been responsible for the project prior to April 20 of this year and, as such, he could not provide any details on the project for that time period.

According to Patterson, none of the monies collected by Homestretch Development Inc had been turned over to the Consolidated Fund.

Patterson – who was not initially slated to speak on the motion – told the House

Scandal

An aerial view of D’Urban Park

that the Ministry did provide some details on the project when he was grilled on the matter in May. Detailing some of the Directors of the private company, Patterson named an L London as one of the principals of the company.

Pointing to the list of contractors that the Ministry had approached to complete the project, Patterson reminded that in May he had provided a list.

He recalled that among the contractors approached

were McBrands, Barns Construction, N Norton and Sons Quarry, C&N Construction, TBL, and Home Designs.

Contractors who donated materials included Toolsie, Baracara, and BK International.

The Government, Patterson said, also paid the Demerara Harbour Bridge $59 million for asphalt supplied to the project.

$16M contracts

According to Patterson, the estimated cost of each contract handed to the preselected companies was just about $16 million each.

His answers to the House, however, were not considered satisfactory, since according to the mover of the motion, after six hours of debate, the members of the House were none the wiser.

Bishop Edghill sought to remind the members of the National Assembly that the Opposition and, by extension, the members of its constituency were looking to have the details on the project for the months prior to the April takeover by

“There was no intent to provide information to the people of Guyana,” said Edghill, who repeatedly sought to query under what authority Homestretch Development Inc was allowed to collect and spend monies on behalf of the State.

He called the unfolding saga, a scandal of momentous proportion.

His colleague on the Opposition benches, former Minister Irfaan Ali went a step further and, in fact, called the entire affair criminal since it was not only in breach of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act but the Constitution of Guyana.

He spoke to the fact that the motion had nothing to do with the merits or demerits of the D’Urban Park Jubilee Project as was being espoused by several Government speakers, but rather the Opposition was looking to find out just how much was spent on the proj-

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson

PPP/C MP Juan Edghill

the Public Infrastructure Ministry.

He accused the Government of seeking to hide behind Homestretch Development Inc by saying it was a private company, “so we don’t know what they collected or what they spent”.

The former Minister within the Finance Ministry in his rebuttal castigated the responses of the Public Infrastructure Minister, saying while he called out a list of contractors that had been engaged in the project, these were all after April and the motion was specifically looking to find out who and what sums were involved in the project prior to the Ministry’s takeover.

Edghill accused the

ect, where the monies came from and on what authority was the private company allowed to undertake the task it did.

He was adamant that despite the fact that a private company was involved in the process, the monies by definition were in fact public monies and should have been accounted for as provided for under the laws of Guyana.

“What we are asking for in this motion is what is required in the law…if the information is not delivered, the Government is in breach and it is criminal,” Ali contended.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo at this point quipped that the matter was about the theft of public funds.

By the end of the debate, it was clear that the House was divided on its support for the motion, leading for a call for a division of the votes to be recorded.

Government’s majority prevailed and the motion was subsequently defeated, leaving the PPP/C members to explore further options in their quest for the information on the project.

news

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wednesDAY, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, November 23 – 13:30h-15:00h, Thursday, November 24 – 14:00h-15:30h and a night retraction at 01:30h (Friday morning) The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, November 23 – 12:45h-14:15h and Thursday, November 24 – 13:25h-14:55h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY Light rain showers in the early morning will be interrupted by sunny weather, while heavy to light rain showers will return during the rest of the day. Sunny weather is expected in the later afternoon with clear skies in the evening. Temperatures are expected to range between 25 degrees and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly to East North-easterly between 2.68 metres and 4.47 metres.

Jubilee Park private company registered months after project started …Rupert Roopnaraine a Director, Minister Patterson misled Parliament − Edghill

P

ublic Infrastructure Minister David Patterson on Monday disclosed to the National Assembly that a private company – Homestretch Development Inc – was initially responsible for works on the D’Urban Park Jubilee Project, but failed to announce that a Government Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine was a director of the company.

He failed to disclose too that the private company was in fact only registered on January 22, 2016 with its office listed as Lot 18 Lamaha Street, Georgetown.

These revelations were made on Tuesday, a day after Government defeated a motion in the National Assembly which had sought answers about the financing of the project.

Opposition Members of

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Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson

Farmer director

Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine

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Parliament, Gail Teixeira, Irfaan Ali and Bishop Juan Edghill met with members of the media at the People’s Progressive Party’s Freedom House headquarters, where they lamented the ongoing saga involving the multimillion-dollar project that was completed for Guyana’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

According to Edghill, Minister Patterson in fact lied to the National Assembly when he provided the names of the directors of the company.

Patterson, during his presentation to the House on Monday, had listed an L London, B Ram, V Wilson and G Miller as the directors.

Patterson in his presentation failed to disclose too that his colleague, Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine was in fact a director on the company – a director that could have provided the intimate details sought but opted not to speak during the debate, instead ceding to the Public Infrastructure Minister.

The other directors are Bobita Ram, a management executive; Victor Wilson, a farmer, and Gentian Miller, a teacher, while London is also listed as the company’s secretary. TURN TO PAGE 11

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Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707

Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, sales@guyanatimesgy.com

Editorial

Youths and AIDS

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IDS is the leading cause of death among adolescents (10-19) in Africa and the second leading cause of death among adolescents globally. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), AIDS-related deaths among adolescents have tripled since 2000 while decreasing among all other age groups, which can be largely attributed to a generation of children infected with HIV perinatally who are growing into adolescence without access to life-saving interventions.

In a recently released report by UNAIDS, experts have warned that ages 15-24 years is a highly dangerous time for women.

The report contains detailed data on the complexities of HIV and reveals that girls’ transition to womanhood is a very dangerous time, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. “Young women are facing a triple threat. They are at high risk of HIV infection, have low rates of HIV testing, and have poor adherence to treatment. The world is failing young women and we urgently need to do more.”

One of the main points emphasised is that HIV prevention is key to ending the AIDS epidemic among young women and the cycle of HIV infection needs to be broken. Recent data from South-Africa shows that young women are acquiring HIV from adult men, while men acquire HIV much later in life after they transition into adulthood and continue the cycle of new infections. On the positive end, the report also shows that the life-extending impact of treatment is working.

While grand global initiatives are needed to raise funds and to develop new drugs, it is the local people in the field who will defeat the epidemic. As the world’s HIV community focuses its attention and enthusiasm on World AIDS Day, which is held on December 1 each year, this lesson must not be forgotten.

Locally, the National Aids Programme Secretariat in its re-launching of its national days of testing for HIV/AIDS, announced that particular focus will be placed on youths and young adults.

A representative from the National Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) centre announced that the Secretariat’s programmatic data has revealed that persons between the ages of 15 to 19 and 20 to 25 in Guyana are infected and being diagnosed on a daily basis with HIV. This, she noted, calls for urgent actions to be taken.

Amidst the call for urgent action, the VCT representative also called attention to the large number of school children who are infected with the disease and outlined the urgency of developing a new strategy to target young people in Guyana.

According to UNAIDS estimates, HIV incidence has fallen in many of the most severely affected countries because adolescents and young people are adopting safer sexual practices. In several countries, risk behaviour is on the decline, including the initiation of sex before age 15, sex with multiple partners and sex without condoms.

In countries with generalised epidemics, schools can be a critical venue for reaching adolescents with the information and skills they need to avoid infection. In fact, evidence shows that school-based sex education can be effective in changing the knowledge, attitudes and practices that lead to risk behaviour.

Preventing HIV in countries with low prevalence or where the epidemic is concentrated in specific populations is especially challenging since the spread of the virus is fuelled by high-risk, often stigmatised behaviour.

UNICEF, in a report outlined that turning the tide against AIDS will require more concentrated focus on adolescents and young people. This will involve strengthening partnerships across sectors and fostering meaningful involvement of adolescents in all aspects of programming and advocacy.

HIV remains a global issue when it comes to prevention among adolescents. As of two years ago, almost 40 per cent of new HIV infections among adolescents (15-19) occurred outside sub-Saharan Africa. If current trends continue, hundreds of thousands more will become HIV-positive in the coming years.

Since 2000, thirty million new infections were prevented, nearly eight million deaths averted, and 15 million people living with HIV are now receiving treatment. There is still hope, but with the implementation of stronger prevention programmes many young people will be spared the effects of this disease.

A student from "the cliff village" in Atule'er climbs newly-constructed steel ladders after school to go home for holidays, in Liangshan Sichuan province, China. The steel ladders which replaced the unsafe vine ladders shortened the time taken for the children to go home, from three hours to two (Reuters)

The Constitution is our supreme law Dear Editor, This letter is intended to augment and not to be considered in contradiction of, or confrontation with the views expressed by learned Senior Counsel and former Speaker, Ralph Ramkarran, with respect to the current snafu in the appointment of Judges. In the same manner that a President is declared to be the supreme Executive Authority upon his election to that Office, the Constitution also declares itself as our supreme law. In this respect, any act or conduct inconsistent with it is unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void.

Speaking for myself, I was invited to join the Bench of the Court of

Appeal and received a notice to attend the Office of the President to subscribe to the oath of office. No application was made by me. I am advised by Justice Ian Neville Chang, SC CCH, who demitted office upon retirement while performing the functions of Chief Justice, all in accordance with the Constitution that he never applied to join the Bench of the Court of Appeal. My recollection is that both JOF Haynes QC and RH Luckhoo SC, upon the latter’s preferment to the Inner Bar, were so invited by the Honourable Chancellor. Some of us find it demeaning and lacking in decorum to make applications for certain Offices.

Equally, to some of us, con-

ventions peculiar to our hitherto acknowledged noble profession, must be honoured barring unforeseen exceptions.

Perhaps, those in charge and in control of the established process should take the bull by the horn and lead by way of advice, those unfamiliar with the system. I am a great believer in the adage that there are those among us who know and those who think they know!

Therein lies the problem and it is evident from the reports in the media that a major portion of the appointees to the Magisterial Bench come ill-equipped to dispense justice in the conventional and authorised manner. One of my fel-

low retirees has reminded me, “Lil boy ah wan do big man wuk”. Under the Interpretation and General Clauses Act, the masculine includes the feminine and the singular includes the plural.

Before subscribing to the oath of my current office, unsolicited once again, I declined the position of Ombudsman owing to its limited oversight jurisdiction compared with the former.

Sincerely, Justice Charles R Ramson, SCOR Commissioner of Information

What are the grounds for the attack?

Dear Editor, I refer to the editorial “Fuzhou in Georgetown” in the Stabroek News November 20, 2016 edition. Apparently the editorial targets Georgetown City Government’s decision-making, yet the reputation of Chinese Embassy is collaterally damaged by the comments, which compels me to respond with the following points.

Firstly, any person with a little knowledge about the history of Guyana understands that as early as 1853, the Chinese immigrants were admitted on the land of Guyana. Since then Chinese have become one of the six ethnicities of Guyanese. Although the Chinese population in Guyana has dwindled

over the years, Chinese are not strangers on this land. Many of those early Chinese immigrants called “Fuzhou” their home, a “foreign name” to the editor. Dear editor, if you don’t have a problem with many place names in Georgetown, such as “Delhi Street” or “Mandela Avenue”, why you are so bothered by “Fuzhou Street”? Are you in ignorance of your country’s history, or in discrimination against one of your ethnics?

Secondly, one of Chinese Embassy’s policies is to encourage and support the friendly exchanges between China and Guyana, at national, as well as local and grassroots levels. The sister city relationship between Georgetown and Fuzhou, now a capital city of Fujian

Province in south-east China, forged years ago, is such an example. Through this relationship the two sides have had the opportunities to enhance mutual understanding, share their development experiences, and provide assistance to each other within its capacity when necessary. This kind of south-south cooperation relationship model benefits both parties. So what are your grounds for the attack?

Third, dear editor, when you judge the building of the Chinese Embassy as “supremely ugly”, you know nothing about what ugly means and are barking up the wrong tree. The ugly thing is not the building. It is the small, unnamed street full of stinky mud, rampant

mosquitoes and the thick bushes on the one side of Embassy compound before it was adopted as Fuzhou Street. Now part of it has been cleaned and beautified under the funding from the Embassy. For we believe this is good for the environment of our residency, as well as for the whole neighbourhood and community.

In consultation with the city Government and along with other stakeholders, we will continue our efforts to help complete the beautification work of the remaining part of this street.

Sincerely, Yang Chenqi Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission, Chinese Embassy

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You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate, Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

The US Embassy and Guyana Elections 2015 (Part 1) Dear Editor, In my most recent opinion polling in Guyana last October, almost every business person and almost every PPP supporter felt the US Embassy was primarily responsible and involved in regime change in Guyana in the May 2015 General Elections. It was generally felt that the UK and Canadian Ambassadors simply went along with the US Embassy’s position to remove the PPP from office; PPP leaders were even hostile towards the British and Canadian Ambassadors and towards the governments of those countries also. So the Canadians and British felt they had sufficient reason to adopt an anti-PPP position in the elections and to do all they could to remove the PPP from office. The PPP

looked for its problems.

Some business people and some PPP supporters felt that the US’ role in removing the PPP from office was justified because of the arrogance of the political leadership of the PPP and its anti-US stance. The leadership was even arrogant towards its own supporters. People simply could not understand why the PPP leadership took the position to personally attack the US Ambassador Brent Hardt and to adopt a generally anti-US (hostile) attitude when the country was on the eve of a general election. The leadership simply did not understand basic international politics that is learned in an introductory course in political science.

Since the PPP was perceived as anti-US, it was in-

evitable that the US would support the PNC (APNU)AFC coalition and do all it could to bring about a PPP defeat. It should be recalled that the US was also involved in the toppling of the leftist anti-American PPP (Jagan) administration in 1953 and again in December 1964; the US encouraged the formation of the African PNC and its break from the multi-racial PPP in 1955 and eventually installed the pro-imperialist PNC in Office.

The US continued to support the PNC (dictatorship) eventually forcing it (after the collapse of communism) to democratise and hold free and fair elections in October 1992 that led to its defeat.

So the PNC has been a natural ally of the US, and given that the PPP’s rule in

Guyana depended on the goodwill of the US (that “giveth and taketh” democracy), the PPP should never have adopted a hostile attitude towards the big brother from the North or take a pro-Russian stance; at any rate, PPP (Indian) supporters are not anti-American and as such the PPP should never have been anti-US. Those of us who study American Foreign Policy (in political science in graduate school) know it is elementary that you don’t provoke the US with anti-American policy statements or attack its representatives in Guyana.

That is precisely what the PPP did and paid the ultimate price of being removed from office.

Sincerely, Dr Vishnu Bisram

A government of deception

Dear Editor, The Granger Government has proven time and time again that they are a Government of deception.

They say one thing when in essence they are going to do the very opposite; no wonder the economy is on a downward spiral and going fast.

They promised to be a “lean, clean and mean” Government but when you look at the statistics there is a staggering difference between what was said then and what is ongoing.

They raised their salaries and emoluments almost immediately on accessing high office, while denying hard

working individuals their fair share of an increase. This was and still is a vulgar deception on their part.

Further to our discussion is the fact that all, I repeat all the productive sectors are closing while other businesses are folding up. Why? And the answer comes back: Government’s ineptitude in having any structured plans or policies in place.

So, while the Government do their thing of underdevelopment, the thieves are having a field day with our hard earned savings.

But wait, we are in for another deceptive and clandestine move: the Government

is giving us an early budget.

While this looks very nice on paper, the fact is an early budget in reality it is not.

Take a closer look and you will see the hidden deception: an early budget before the fiscal year is up? This does not sound right and has the trappings of a ruse in the making. The fiscal year really ends in March of the New Year, when all the audits of Government’s income and expenditure would be in - if audits mean anything to this Government.

Therefore, to give an early budget is a mockery of what can be called an “accountable and responsible” Government.

That means for those months leading up to the end of the fiscal year, where would that money come from, and how must those monies be accounted for? That is the million dollar question that I do not think this Government is prepared to answer.

A Government is answerable to the people they govern, and this must be clear, above-board governance; if this is not done the nation will suffer. What we see going on in Guyana today is pure deception and it stinks to high heavens.

Sincerely, Neil Adams

Leaders have an obligation to be an example Dear Editor, I am Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as such feel compelled to address the issue concerning the recent revelations of inappropriate sexual behaviour by a self-proclaimed leader.

These unfortunate revelations were publicised by local and social media and naturally, have sent shockwaves throughout the Christian community, nationally and further afield.

This scandal has caused the name of Christ to be spoken of in blasphemous terms, Christian Ministers to be ridiculed by outraged individuals using the vilest of terms and the Christian Church as a sacred institution to be frowned upon.

Though my confidence rests in the ability of our Lord Jesus Christ to build His Church against which the gates of hell shall not prevail against, we as Followers of Christ, especially as leaders are called to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called”, and to live exempla-

ry lives. Arguably, our exemplary lifestyle as Christian Leaders acts as a powerful witness to the world that we are indeed transformed by our Faith in Christ. Thus, it is understandable that many in our society and abroad, would express such concern about a religious minister involved in such conduct.

Those of us who promote the cause of Christ are admonished by Scripture to let our light shine in this dark world. Christ stated “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). It is true that none of us as mere men have the right to judge or condemn another for we are all vulnerable to the attacks of Satan the Adversary. However, we ought to restore, build-up and encourage each other.

Scripture further admonishes us: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). As leaders we all have an obligation to be an exam-

ple to those we lead and yes, we do so at times even while we are bleeding.

Finally, I remind that God’s grace is always available to us when we falter and fail. This divine grace, however, is not an excuse to sin, rather, it enables us to live right and provides the opportunity for us to get back up and do right by God and the people we lead. 1 John 1:9 admonishes us: “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our

sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

It is my hope and fervent prayer that people everywhere know that the Church still stands uncompromised against sin.

I remind that God is not surprised at the failings of us as men or women. God will continue to build His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!

Sincerely, Bishop Joseph Inniss

Refund for UG graduates

Dear Editor, The University of Guyana takes this opportunity to respond to Ms Cindy Martin’s letter, “Will those graduating students for whom there were no gowns get a refund?” published in another section of the media on November 14, 2016.

The University deeply regrets the unavailability of graduation gowns for 88 of the 923 bachelor degree students (less than 10 per cent of those who were eligible to wear gowns), who indicated that they would have attended the 50th Convocation of the Turkeyen Campus on Saturday, November 12, 2016. These graduates will be given a refund of $3,000 from the $10,000 graduation fee students (other than diploma, associate degrees and certificate recipients), who attended the ceremony, were required to pay. This process has commenced and a number of persons have already collected their refund.

It must be noted that the UG graduation fee of $10,000, not the economic cost; included payment for the provision of gowns for the bachelor and master degree students (UG’s graduation attire does not include a cap and diploma, associate degree and certificate recipients were not required to wear gowns); the rental of chairs and public address system for the ceremony; the Chancellor’s reception for students; and the publication of graduation programmes and convocation booklets, among other things. Additionally, for the first time, graduates will be provided with diploma covers to safely store their cer-

tificates.

For the past 49 years, UG has been financing the graduation exercises from its scarce resources. Our research has shown that graduation fees are paid at all levels in Guyana, from nursery to secondary, and they range from G$3,000 at nursery schools to G$5,000 at secondary schools. A survey of the Caribbean showed that fees range from US$55.32 for university certificates, diplomas and associate degrees to US$86.92 for a bachelor’s degree.

In a news release issued on July 13, 2016, the University announced that the Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GPC) of The University of Guyana, at its statutory meeting on Monday, July 11, 2016, took the decision to implement an annual graduation fee at the University with effect from November 2016. Present at the meeting was a representative of the Students’ Society and the University Council. All eligible graduating students who attended the ceremony were required to pay the graduating fee of G$10,000, while those students who did not attend were required to pay the fee of $7,000.

The University of Guyana takes this opportunity to again congratulate the Class of 2016 at both campuses. We are proud of your collective achievements.

Sincerely, Paulette Paul Public Relations Officer University of Guyana

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Foundation

Teens and relationship violence:

BY HUGH C MCBRIDE

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s the continued relevance of Romeo and Juliet indicates, angst-infused teen relationships are neither new nor in any danger of disappearing from the face of the Earth. But while most youth romances result in little more than wistful memories and reams of regrettable poetry, a disturbing number of young people leave their first love affairs with literal bruises and long-lasting psychological scars.

Several studies have documented the degree to which physical violence and emotional abuse have infiltrated adolescent and teen relationships. For example, the website Love is Not Abuse – which is sponsored

by Liz Claiborne Inc – features the following statistics about dating violence among young people: • Sixty-two per cent of tweens (ages 11 to 14) who have been in a relationship say they know friends who have been verbally abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend.

• One in three teenagers reports knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by their partner.

• Thirteen per cent of teenage girls who said they have been in a relationship report being physically hurt or hit.

• About 25 per cent of teen girls who have been in relationships reveal they have been pressured to perform oral sex or engage in intercourse.

• About eight of 10 girls who have been physically abused in their intimate relationships continue to date their abuser.

as are youths who date members of the opposite sex.

• Twenty-five per cent of teens in a relationship report having been called names, harassed or put down by their partner through cell phones and texting.

As with adults, many teens who are experiencing relationship violence would like to get away from their abuser, but they are precluded from doing so by confusion, fear or shame. Others, unfortunately, have been convinced that they somehow deserve the ill treatment they are receiving, and see the continued abuse as a sign that they have not yet become worthy of their partner’s love.

But among young people, a third group also exists – those who have had little or no experience with a healthy, non-abusive relationship, and who, as a result, believe that physical violence and emotional harassment are normal parts of the process.

The effects of relationship abuse

Regardless of the reasons why a teenager has become involved with an abusive partner, the effects of the experience can be pervasive and devastating. Relationship violence and dating abuse have been associated with myriad physical, social and emotional

A widespread problem

Girls and young women are at greatest risk for becoming victims of relationship violence, but as the teen advocacy organisation Do Something reports, no one who enters into a romantic relationship should consider themselves immune from the risk of physical and emotional violence.

And thanks to the wonders of modern technology, it is easier than ever before for perpetrators to abuse and harass their partners: • Twenty per cent of young men in relationships suffer from physical injuries inflicted by their partners. These injuries can range from minor cuts and scratches to bruises, lesions and broken bones.

• A study of gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents revealed that young people who are involved in same-sex dating are just as likely to experience dating violence

repercussions, including the following: • Poor self-image and lowered self-esteem • Academic problems • Anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide • Eating disorders • Cutting and other forms of self-harm • Drug and alcohol abuse • Unsafe sex (which, in turn, can lead to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases)

Recognising relationship violence

In the absence of hard evidence (such as witnessing an Instance of physical violence) it can be difficult to determine if a young person is being abused by a romantic partner.

However, almost every abusive relationship involves symptoms that can be observed by family members or friends.

According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Centre, answering “yes” to the following questions may indicate that an adolescent, tween or teen is involved in a violent or otherwise abusive relationship: 1. Does the teen often have unexplained bruises, scratches or other injuries?

2. Does the young person appear to be afraid of his or her boyfriend or girlfriend?

3. Is one of the partners constantly criticising, belittling or insulting the other one (especially in front of others)?

4. Does the tween often apologise for or attempt to “explain away” the offending partner’s temper or violent behavior?

5. Has the young person stopped spending time with friends, quit activities (such as sports teams or clubs) and withdrawn from family members?

6. Has the teen’s performance in school become dramatically and inexplicably worse?

7. Is the adolescent unwilling to make a decision without consulting with his or her partner first?

8. Has the suspected victim become more likely to become angry or despondent over seemingly insignificant events?

9. Does one of the partners constantly check up on the other one (either in person or via phone, text message, instant messaging or any other means)?

10. Has the teen become involved in uncharacteristic (and unhealthy) behaviors such as substance abuse, skipping school or other criminal behaviors?

If you suspect that your child, a friend of your child or any other young person is being abused by a romantic partner, you need to get involved. If the victim is your child, intervene immediately – if necessary, contact the school, your family physician or a local domestic violence prevention organisation. If the child in need is not a family member, express your observations and concerns with the victim’s parent or caregiver.

Left untreated or otherwise ignored, relationship violence can result in life-changing (and, in some cases, life-ending) effects. Take the steps today that are necessary to ensure that the young people in your life are able to enjoy the happiest and healthiest possible tomorrows. (aspeneducation.crchealth.com)

Protest at Queen’s College!

M

aking rounds on Facebook, and even news reports last week, Queen’s College has been thrown into the public eye for something quite uncharacteristic of the school: a protest.

Students were photographed and videoed marching and holding placards with slogans such as “Agree for Agri”, “Less land, less Ashley Anthony food, less life”, and “Agri lives matter”. This whole debacle arose due to the fact that the school’s administration announced the Ministry’s plans to build a cafeteria.

How could something so simple cause so much controversy you ask? Well, the answer lies in where the cafeteria was proposed to be built. In what appears to be an oversight, the cafeteria was slated to be constructed on a piece of land that extended about eight to 10 feet into the school’s Agricultural Science plot. This enraged the teachers of the subject, since they said they had not been given much notice of this plan, and that it would affect the students greatly.

By infringing upon the land of the Agricultural Science plot, beds, which were being prepared by students in for their CXC examinations, would be destroyed, and the main entrance to the plot for heavy materials would be blocked. The teachers bemoaned that the already tight pressed plot was losing even more space, and that this was unacceptable.

Additionally, a relatively new water trestle would be demolished.

O n Monday of this week, construction began, and so in protest, Ms Ogle, the Head of Department of Agricultural Science, sat in front of the fence so as to disrupt progress. She impressed that the destruction of the plot was unfair, and that if plans were in place for the students to be relocated, they should be enacted immediately. Not much long after, Agricultural Science students especially those from the Fifth Form, who are writing their CSEC examinations next year, came out to join their teacher.

Protests only escalated throughout the week, reaching a pinnacle when construction workers began to fill up drains. Inflamed, scores of students used their lunch period to protest the continuation of the work.

They surrounded trees that needed to be cut down, and marched in circles wielding placards. Some students even began to dig out the sand from the drains, which had been filled.

Some other issues with the cafeteria that students cited were its proximity to a chicken pen; making it was unsanitary; and that the estimated cost was far too much.

They believed that the school did not need another cafeteria and that the money could be put to better use.

The school would have indicated that the old cafeteria would be converted to a stationery store. Following the protests, the Agricultural Science plot has been taken in at the side, but expanded to the front. Hopefully this appeases everyone.

Thoughts on the protest have been mixed. Many old Queen’s College students have expressed pride in the students for standing up for their rights, while others have reservations as they found a protest to be unnecessary.

Nevertheless, to me it shows that the students will not be silent on matters that affect them. This, I believe is a good quality, and even if a protest was a little on the dramatic side, it accomplished the desired change.

news

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wednesday, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Granger disrespects PNCR blames PPP/C for denying Green PM’s pension local media corps – PPP

T

he People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) is accusing the People’s Progressive Party/Civic of failing to ensure that former Prime Minister Hamilton Green was in receipt of a pension package commensurate with the post he served from 1985 to 1992.

PNCR General Secretary Oscar Clarke made the disclosure on Tuesday when he fielded questions about the mounting public outcry over the proposed $20 million annual pension package for Green.

Clarke told media operatives the PNC had made all arrangements for Green to be given his pension.

Responding to concerns over the sudden move by Government to table the Hamilton Green Pension Bill, Clarke claimed that before leaving office in 1992, the PNC had set out measures which were not implemented by the previous Administration.

He reasoned that this was why the Bill was now being brought to the fore.

“To say that we didn’t put systems in place would not be correct…Systems were put in place, [but] the past government did not actualise those systems in relation to Prime Minister’s benefits, but systems were put in place during our time,” Clarke stressed.

Asked to provide documentation or links to where the evidence can be found to validate his claims of the supposed systems that

Former PM and Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green

were in place, the General Secretary quipped: “You didn’t check the law?”

These laws are on the books, Oscar further explained, adding that they were not passed in Green’s interest.

“There is a law in Parliament passed during our time, to give Presidents and Prime Minister benefits, but Mr Green was not given the benefits…[former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds] got his benefits as a result of the law that has been passed which they operationalised in his interest, but not in the interest

of Prime Minister Green,” Clarke vented.

The General Secretary was also asked just how deserving was former PM Green of the proposed benefits considering the challenges the country faced during his tenure.

“Mr Green was a minister of government since 1968 and served as Prime Minister from 1985 to 1992…I think [he] is more than entitled to benefits as Prime Minister,” he replied.

The PNCR General Secretary, however, noted that he agreed with current Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who has expressed that the Bill should not have included the name of the former Georgetown Mayor and PM. It was only Monday that Green took a strong stand against criticisms that he did not deserve the annual $20 million former Prime Minister’s pension that was being awarded. Green stated that in fact nothing was out of the ordinary and the benefits were enshrined in the law. However, Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) has con-

PNCR General Secretary, Oscar Clarke

tended that the Hamilton Green Pension Bill was vulgar and politically partisan, reeked of cronyism and lacked basis for justification.

According to the Bill introduced by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, the pension to be paid to Green will be tabulated based on the salary of the current Prime Minister.

The proposed legislation outlined that the Prime Minister Hamilton Green Pension Act 2016 should come into operation on December 1, 2016.

The local media corps has been disrespected for the past 18 months by none other than Head of State, President David Granger.

This is the view held by former Minister within the Finance Ministry, Juan Edghill, who was at the time seeking to point out that ever since taking office, the President has fielded no extended press engagements.

Bishop Edghill was at the time addressing members of the media corps during a press conference held at the Party’s Freedom House Headquarters.

He was speaking to the fact that the Ministry of the Presidency, each week, handpicks which journalists would meet with the President for his televised programme, ‘The Public Interest’.

Two journalists are selected each week – one from the State media and the other from identified private media houses.

On that programme, Journalists are asked to adhere to its format where the first section of the allotted half hour is relegated to discussing topics pre-determined by the President’s

President David Grange

press and publicity team.

“You, the members of the media corps, have been disrespected for 17 to 18 months,” according to Edghill.

Directing his attention to those in the media corps present at Tuesday’s press conference, Bishop Edghill questioned, “how many times have you (media corps) been afforded the opportunity as a whole media corps to sit with the President and question him on matters of the State… that is not an opportunity that you are afforded.”

TURN TO PAGE 17

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2016 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

IN THE COURTS Airy Hall accident

Teacher charged in absentia, summonsed

L

atoya Kennedy, a teacher of Charity Village on the Essequibo Coast, was on Tuesday charged for dangerous driving in absentia, after she failed to make her appearance at the Suddie Magistrate’s Court.

Magistrate Sunil Scarce also issued a summons for her to appear in court.

Kennedy was involved in an early-morning accident at Airy Hall Village last week.

While proceeding south on the eastern side of the Airy Hall Public Road, she reportedly lost control of her vehicle and slammed into a snackette belonging to Latchmi Seeram of Lot 11 Airy Hall. Seeram estimated the damage at $1 million.

Kennedy was later apprehended by Police and placed on $20,000 station bail.

The destroyed snackette after the accident

D

Essequibo man on $20,000 bail for dangerous driving

N

eeshi Biteach, of Lot 34 Devonshire Castle Village on the Essequibo Coast, was on Tuesday granted $20,000 bail after he was charged with dangerous driving.

He made his first ap-

pearance before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Suddie Magistrate’s Court.

Biteach pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on November 12, on the Suddie Public Road, he drove motor car

PPP 1440 in a dangerous manner, hitting a pedal cyclist, Phiona Harry.

The cyclist, who suffered a fractured foot, is currently a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

After pleading not guilty

The plot thickens...

to the charge, Biteach was granted bail. The defendant is expected to return to court on December 8, 2016, for the commencement of his trial. Biteach was initially placed on $50,000 station bail.

...on D'Urban Park

'Urban Park has had a chequered history. Named after the British Governor who consolidated Demerara with Berbice and Essequibo to form British Guiana, it was a horse-track for the upper crust to pretend they were at the races with the Queen at Ascot.

It also became a place for those who aspired to join that upper crust to gamble on the ponies, hope to make a killing and live the life of the rich and famous.

Well even though Burnham decided his Co-op Republic didn't need such a decadent luxury and destroyed it by bisecting it with a roadway to "South", it appears D'Urban Park was still seen up to this year as the "highway to happiness" by some fellas who desperately crave "uppercrustness". What else could explain the revelations that were grudgingly wrenched from the Government in general and Infrastructure Minister David Patterson in particular on the going on there starting from January.

Citizens woke up one morning to find bulldozers and other such heavy earth moving equipment clearing the jungle into which D'Urban Park had descended.

Eventually, we learnt that – on behalf of the Government, an overseas Guyanese – ex-GDF officer Larry London – the site was going to be transformed into "Durban Park Jubilee Stadium" – a "Tropical Wonderland" in time for Jubilee 50. A stadium to hold 30,000 spectators, all kinds of sports tracks and courts, etc...etc.

We're now told that actually, Mr London was head of a PRIVATE company – Homestretch Development Inc – that was doing the development. But the goodly Minister Patterson, who's a surveyor by profession, hadn't surveyed the operation closely enough (if at all) and doesn't know how much moneys Mr London had collected and spent (if at all) on the project. The said Mr Patterson had to step into the yawning abyss Mr London had created for the project to be completed by May 26.

Now, is this any way to run a surveying firm, much less Public Infrastructure. We do know over $450 million was spent from the public Treasury to fix the collapsing rawhardwood stands of the "Stadium". The Auditor General had to point out that even the raiding of the public Treasury was done illegally. But apart from the bitter taste of residents of Georgetown who'd been salivating at the promised "significantly transformed city in general with incalculable economic, social and health benefits,” there remains the cavalier manner in which this Government treats the public purse.

Since London used a "private company" for donations, can Patterson say how citizens will ever know who coughed up how much dough?

And how much ended up in private pockets?

...on the case of Green's pension

We're told hope beats eternal in the breasts of man.

And maybe this explains why some folks hoped the Administration would withdraw the "Hamilton Green Pension Bill 2016" from the National Assembly. No such luck. Your Eyewitness won't revisit all the reasons why Hamilton Green doesn't deserve the proposed humongous pension: if you rejected the comments of the Opposition Leader as "biased", the GHRA's and TIGI's should suffice.

What your Eyewitness wants to talk about is this Administration's position on decision-making: no second guessing tolerated. And that's what's so scary. The essence of democracy and democratic governance is "the other side must be heard". Those who hold different opinions on issues must be given more than a pro-forma hearing.

But this is what happened with the Durban Park motion that was passed without any substantive explanation to the Opposition.

And this will happen to the Hamilton Green Pension.

The party of Generals knows best!

...on "beautification"

Have you noticed we're in the throes of another "beautification" drive. First there were the Palm Trees on the road along the Anna Regina Market road in Region Two. Now Palm Trees on the East Bank Highway.

It's coincidental the Palm Tree is the symbol of the PNC? Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

news

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wednesday, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Corentyne carpenter’s murder

4 men slapped with murder charge − women remanded for offering bribe to Police

F

our men were on Tuesday slapped with a murder charge for allegedly beating a Berbice carpenter to death. They all appeared before the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

In a packed court room, excavator operator Radesh Motie, 39; Harripaul Parsram, a labourer, 49; hire car driver Nirone Yacoob, 37; and Diodat Datt, 18, were all not allowed to enter a plea for the murder of 27-year-old Faiyaz Narinedatt since the matter is deemed indictable.

The charge stated that the murder occurred between October 31 and November 1, 2016, at Number 70 Village, Corentyne. The men were represented by Attorney Mark Conway.

Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers stated that his file is still incomplete, and as such, he requested two weeks to have it completed. He noted that the investigation is still ongoing.

The matter was transferred to the Springlands Magistrate’s Court where the defendants are scheduled to make their next court appearance on December 8.

Meanwhile, the two wom-

Marriam Lionel

Shermella Indarally

Faiyaz Narinedatt

en, who allegedly attempted to pervert the course of justice by way of bribing a Police Officer at the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) with $4 million to free the four defendants, were remanded as well.

Shermella Indarally, 45, of Lot 121 Section A, Number 71 Village, Corentyne Coast, Berbice; and Marriam Lionel, 25, of Corentyne Coast, Berbice, a bank teller, were refused bail after Police Prosecutor Jeffers objected, stating that they could tamper with witnesses should they be granted their

pre-trial liberty. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stated that on November 19, 2016, at Eve Leary Headquarters, Georgetown, they offered a criminal investigative rank $4 million cash to forgo charges against the four murder accused who were at the time in custody pending investigations into the murder of Narinedatt, as well as Marc Bisram who is still on the run.

Jeffers stated that his file is complete in the women’s matter and the prosecution has been successful in

securing six witnesses.

The women were represented by Attorney Stanley Moore who made an application for bail on behalf of his clients, stating that they both have a fixed place of residence.

His applications were denied and the women were

ordered to return to court on September 28.

According to reports, another man on Monday was taken into Police custody in connection with the murder.

The man detained, called “Rasta Man”, is said to be a bodyguard of the alleged mastermind behind the murder.

The body of Narinedatt was discovered at about 03:45h on November 1, along the Corentyne Highway at Number 70 Village at a scene which appeared to be that of a hit-and-run accident. Police had initially treated the incident as a hitand-run but reopened the investigations after relatives of the dead man kept calling for the Police to further investigate circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

Relatives in a bid to get the Police’s attention produced and distributed flyers which detailed the events leading up to Narinedatt’s death, and the subsequent staging

North Ruimveldt woman remanded

A

North Ruimveldt businesswoman was on Tuesday remanded to prison after denying she trafficked a 15-year-oldgirl before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Patricia Williams was represented by Attorney Sonia Parag.

It was alleged that the 50-year-old woman between June 1 and July 30, last at Omai, engaged in Trafficking In Persons; that is to say she recruited, transferred, transported and harboured a 15-year-old girl for sexual exploitation.

The matter was in held, incamera, as it involved a juvenile. The public was asked to exit the court room to facilitate the matter.

The matter was transferred to the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court where the defendant is scheduled to make her next court appearance on December 17.

10

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, november 23, 2016

News

Rose Hall Factory closure

Govt blatant in ending sugar in Guyana – Ramsammy

F

ormer Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy has stated that the impending closure of the Rose Hall Sugar Factory will not only affect the country’s economy, but will cause many persons and small businesses to suffer immensely.

He noted that having already initiated the closure of the Wales and La Bonne Intention (LBI) Estates, the A Partnership of National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government is on a firm path to contraction and closure of the sugar industry in Guyana.

“APNU/AFC is not disguising their evil plan to end sugar in Guyana anymore. In their rotten, unconscionable scheme, Rose Hall Sugar Factory in Canje appears to be on the chopping block for 2017,” he said, pointing to the fact that more than 2300 sugar workers and their

Former Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

families will be affected, which amounts to 10,000 Guyanese who will be directly affected.

This, he said, is consistent with a proposal the Government made in 2014 while in Opposition.

Ramsammy explained, “It is not idle rumour. They have already initiated discussions to sell-off Skeldon factory in a sweetheart

deal, similar to the public health warehouse fiasco, as part of the process of contraction and closure.”

“I warned last year of APNU/AFC's intention to close Rose Hall Sugar Factory. Now clearly, the [Guyana Sugar Corporation] GuySuCo is carrying out instructions to close Rose Hall. Cane cultivation at Providence, [East Bank Demerara] an important source of cane for Rose Hall has been abandoned, ending Providence's centuries-old link to sugar,” he said, adding that an important source of employment for people in West Canje and East Bank Berbice is

Guyana. The fact is just like they have now done at Providence, they will do at Wales, claiming that cane transportation to Uitvlugt is too expensive. They have already concluded transportation of cane from LBI to Enmore is too costly as a reason to completely close LBI,” he noted.

He stated that Members of Parliament, including Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses Nagamootoo, who before the May 2015 elections committed to sugar and rice, are suddenly silent today.

“But their betrayal of sugar workers thunderously speaks. They whimper

being eliminated, without plans to introduce any alternative economic activity for this area.

He contended that the Government and GuySuCo are claiming that transportation of cane from Providence is too expensive, but it is evident that transportation of cane from Wales to Uitvlugt is even more expensive.

“This kind of voodoo economics is ruining

in a corner like a poodle as their fearsome masters in APNU implement a rotten, pre-determined scheme of contraction and closure of sugar. These charlatans failed Wales, now they need to show up in Canje and explain their silence on the proposed closure of Rose Hall Sugar Factory. Anything less is compounding the betrayal,” the former Agriculture Minister stated.

Deserving pensioners S

atiricus was very upset. And when he was upset, he was mumbling something fierce under his breath.

His buddies at the Back Street Bar were used to his idiosyncrasies. As he polished off his second beer, Hari looked over to him and asked, " What's bugging you this time, Sato?"

"I'm really teed off, Hari," Satiricus burst out with a grimace. "I've always believed a country should be judged by how well they treat old people."

"An' which old people a get bad treatment now?" asked Bungi, in puzzlement. "De ole beggar man, Joey?

Da man gat mo' money dan Gaad! Na worry wha' 'e a tell people."

"I'm not talking about Joey," said Satiricus in an annoyed tone. "Didn't you fellas read about how everybody and their uncle are dumping on old Green Ham just because the Government want to give him a pension?"

"You're worried about Green Ham?!" Hari was almost apoplectic. "You forget that was the man who beat your father to a pulp when he was striking in front of Guyana Stores?"

"An' 'e mek Rad Knee na get wuk a' UG?!" demanded Bungi. "If da na bin happen, de man neva woulda get murdah!"

"My friends," quoted Satiricus sententiously, "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."

"So tell abee wha' good Green Ham do," challenged Bungi. Hari was still struggling to find his voice.

"The man was a very religious person," said Satiricus.

"Didn't you hear him preaching that we needed a moral revival in Guyana?"

"Yeah, I heard his preaching that, all right," Hari finally blurted out. "But I always felt he was just an old hypocrite."

"Me still rememba how me Daady use to fri'ken abee w'en abee lil," said Bungi. "Green guh get yuh, if yuh na do yuh wuk!"

"But that's the problem with you fellas," said Satiricus.

"You don't realise a man who's done the most horrible things, is the most qualified to tell you what's bad for you."

"Well then, Green Ham is VERY qualified," said Hari. "I wonder what pension Hitler would get if he came back."

"Na mo' dan Green Ham," concluded Bungi.

news

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wednesday, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Corriverton municipality moving to update by-laws

T

he Mayor and Town Council of Corriverton, Berbice wants to update the laws governing the municipality, and is, therefore, seeking Central Government’s support.

“We inherited a set of problems that only legislative reform can fix” were the sentiments expressed

by Corriverton’s Mayor, Ganesh Gangadin, according to a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA).

The Mayor is of the view that tackling the town’s outdated laws and the im-

plementation of new ones are essential for the modernisation of the municipality.

Under the law, municipalities’ councils must have their own building by-laws, which would provide residents with a guide on how they should build.

Gangadin said that such a by-law was never completed in New Amsterdam, and the municipality has been heavily reliant on the building guidelines set out in the Health Ordinance Act. He explained that in trying to prosecute some offenders in the past,

Mayor of Corriverton, Ganesh Gangadin

the

Magistrate’s

Court

threw out some good cases brought by the Council because of the fact that the municipality did not have its own building by-laws.

He said too that Corriverton was seeking to address this, but “at present we are a bit short; we do not have the technical capacity to handle it”.

In this regard, the town is seeking help from Central Government. He explained that it was requested that legal support be provided to the municipality through the Communities Ministry for the crafting of the town’s

building by-laws.

Also on the municipality’s legislative agenda is the crafting of other new pieces of laws, including one on solid waste.

Gangadin said: “We don’t want to take away anything from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but if we have our own Act, we can prosecute and the fines remain in our council.”

The Mayor further noted that through such an Act, the municipality would be able to address implementation of more modern practices in the town’s

garbage collection and disposal system. The municipality is also seeking support on the Scavenger Act. Gangadin explained that under the Scavenger Act, if a person is found guilty of a particular offence, he or she would be fined a meagre $80. He said that owing to this paltry fine, importance was not placed on pursuing cases in court, so it needed to be changed immediately. The Corriverton Mayor also said that in order for the municipality to move forward, “violators would have to be sent a serious message”.

Jubilee Park private company registered...

FROM PAGE 3

Edghill is adamant that had Government been interested in supplying the nation with information Minister Roopnaraine would have made a presentation during the debate, instead of allowing Minister Patterson to make the revelations—revelations that Edghill has since challenged Patterson to rebut as not being lies to the National Assembly.

Edghill used the occasion to repeat his assertion that even members of the Government did not know what was going on with the D’Urban Park Project and that the names of the Directors had only moments before been slipped to Minister Patterson – a list that failed to take into account the Education Minister.

Independence Arch

The Opposition Member of Parliament is adamant that the names were only slipped to Patterson, and what transpired in the House was a charade, asking why it was not revealed that Dr Roopnaraine was in fact a director of the company.

According to Edghill, “Here it is, we have a company registered in January of this year, but all of us are aware that since September last year works were ongoing on D’Urban Park.”

These works, he observed, were being undertaken by the same group of persons that had been involved in the rehabilitation of the Independence Arch and the swearing-in ceremony of the President.

The questions which now beg to be asked, according to

Edghill, is who was collecting money on behalf of the project before it was incorporated in January this year and under what authority.

He was adamant that monies had to have been collected prior to the incorporation of Homestretch Development Inc since there was construction work done on the site prior to January.

He recalled too that the site was in fact used as part of the nation’s Republic celebrations in February of this year.

Edghill has since also sought to query what falling out, if any, caused President David Granger to take the project from under the purview of Homestretch Development Inc since it must have been Government that instigated the setting up of the private company for the project He questioned whether the monies solicited by Homestretch Development Inc had ran out, whether there had been a misappropriation of the funds

or whether there was some breach of the agreement between the private company and Government.

Penalties

Edghill also questioned whether at the time of the takeover by the Public Infrastructure Ministry whether the private company had any monies in any bank accounts and what obtained with this money.

Edghill has since argued that Government and the donors need to come clean on the funding for the project since the donations were not to a political party but to the State.

Describing the entire sordid affair as a scandal of monumental proportions, the former Minister said the donors must come clean on how the donations were solicited and by whom in Government.

Former Government Minister Irfaan Ali also used the occasion to point out that the PPP/C was exploring its

options on the way forward since the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act did provide penalties.

Ali maintains that according to the laws of Guyana, all of the money collected for the project is by definition public money and should be treated as such, inclusive of its accounting, deposits and expenditure. He queried whether there was an account for the donations, who were the signatories and which bank was used?

According to Ali, Homestretch Development Inc had to have been giv-

en the authority by way of a Government instrument in order to collect monies on behalf of the State.

The parliamentary debate, he said, has led to many more questions and has opened up many new interesting dynamics. Responding to assertions by Public Infrastructure Minister Patterson that the Finance Minister did not breach the laws that provide for accessing State funds as was adumbrated by the Auditor General, the PPP representatives were adamant that Minister Jordan was no demi-

god that can determine when and how he spend taxpayers money since this was dictated by law. The PPP representatives pointed out that Homestretch Development Inc has not accounted for a dime it collected and this was compounded by a raid on the treasury in order to complete the project. The D’Urban Park project, according to the PPP representatives, has clearly displayed to the people of Guyana the A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance For Change Government “is practising corruption in some of its highest form.”

12 news

wednesDay, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

West Ruimveldt execution

Police hunting 2 suspects A

s investigations continue into the gunning down of 29-year-old Paul Rodney, who was killed in the wee hours of Monday, Police have identified two prime suspects, based on information gathered.

A Division Commander Clifton Hicken on Tuesday confirmed that since Monday night, about five homes in the capital city, Georgetown, were searched by law enforcement ranks as they pursued the main perpetrators of the brutal killing. Hicken also revealed that CCTV footage that

was gathered was being used to assist the investigations.

The lifeless body of Rodney, also called “Shirts”, of Lot 530 West Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was discovered at Avocado Square, East Ruimveldt, Georgetown about 02:45h Monday following an altercation with a group of men at a function in the area.

Reports indicated that the man’s body was ridden with bullets by two men on a motorcycle. Rodney was discovered by Police who were on a mobile patrol in the area.

Upon their arrival, a group of

Gunned down: Paul “Shirts” Rodney

men was observed running as they discharged several rounds into the air. Rodney was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

While relatives of the dead man indicated that they had no knowledge of Rodney being involved in criminal activities, the Police have claimed that Rodney was a known character to them and had several brushes with the law.

Meanwhile, detectives have recovered several spent shells at the scene that belonged to a small-calibre weapon.

Corentyne carpenter’s murder

CPG member allegedly threatens to kill family

A

s Police continue their investigations into the death of 24-year-old Faiyaz Narinedatt, his family has been receiving death threats from a senior member of the Community Policing Group (CPG).

Guyana Times was told that Pooja Devi Pitam, the dead man’s wife, received several calls from a Community Policing Liaison Officer (name given).

Speaking with this newspaper, Pitam said that she, along with a cousin, has been receiving the calls from the Liaison Officer, who is threatening that if they continue to pursue the matter, a very affluent overseas-based Guyanese (name given) will arrange for their deaths.

“The day when I came in the country I collected a phone call from (name given), and she say if I further the story about

my husband, then (name given) gon send he men fuh kill me jus like how they kill me husband.”

Meanwhile, the dead man’s cousin, Amerdin Dindyal, related that she received a telephone call from the same liaison officer, who threatened her.

The woman related that she was also told that arrangements were being made for the Police to arrest her if she did

The deceased, 24-year-old Faiyaz Narinedatt

not remove the posts on her Facebook page in relation to Narinedatt’s death.

A 17-year-old family member also related that she too has been contacted and threats issued. “She say that me gon see she gone come pick me up and lock me up and if I continue putting up things. That (name given) will send people to kill all of us.”

Meanwhile, when Guyana Times contacted the Community Policing Liaison Officer (name given), she denied speaking with the dead man’s family. She also denied issuing death threats to the family.

Meanwhile, villagers and relatives of the dead carpenter are calling for the Police to probe the Community Policing Liaison Officer. Hours before the carpenter’s death, the media was invited to a presentation ceremony where the members of the CPG, in the middle of the controversy, received a cheque for $2.5 million from an overseas-based Guyanese, who is said to be the mastermind of the murder.

The body of Narinedatt was discovered about 03:45h on November 1, along the Corentyne Highway at Number 70 Village after what appeared to be a hit-and-run accident.

Police reopened the investigations after relatives of the dead man kept calling for the Police to further investigate the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, four men were charged for Narinedatt’s murder while two women were charged for perverting the course of justice, ie attempting to bribe the Police into dropping the charges against the men.

ECD, Georgetown, Diamond to get Govt-built condos

…prices higher than turn-key homes

Minister within the Communities Ministry, Valerie Sharpe-Patterson

M

inister within the Communities M i n i s t r y , Valerie Sharpe-Patterson on Tuesday disclosed that the Government was planning to build condos and duplexes in Georgetown, along the East Coast of Demerara and in Diamond, East Bank Demerara to accommodate the large population that had applied for house lots in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica).

Sharpe-Patterson was at the time speaking at a People’s National Congress (PNC) press conference on Tuesday at Congress Place, Sophia.

According to the Minister, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s housing policy was inadequate, so the current Government has decided to build condos and duplexes for the people.

She stated that instead of house lots, apartments could be built for persons who could not afford to buy their own homes. She stated that the Government has already secured 1.3 acres of land in East La Penitence on which it planned to build four condominium buildings.

The apartment buildings, she added, will be three or four stories high and will have eight apartments on each flat.

She stated that the development of the duplexes, which would be incorporated into the first phase of the project, would commence in the first quarter of 2017.

The Ministry had stated that its medium-term objective was to deliver approximately 10,000 housing units in the next five years to eligible Guyanese, particularly State employees, lowincome households and the youth population.

The housing programme being pursued by the Administration comprises four components: squatter resettlement, urban regeneration, urban rehabilitation and the provision of housing needs in hinterland communities, and will allow for the construction of approximately 3300 apartment units in three locations, as well as 1000 duplexes in 12 areas spread across five coastal regions.

Sharpe-Patterson stated that the apartments would have two and three bedrooms and would be priced “somewhere around that of the turnkey homes”. She assured that when the people

see the design, they would want to pay the price the Government would set.

According to the Housing Minister, the price for the apartments and duplexes might fluctuate if the winning contractor decides to modify the plan.

Thus far, she noted that the Ministry has placed an advertisement for expressions of interest in the newspapers for contractors to bid for the project.

“Building viable communities have always been the thrust of the PNC’s housing policy in and out of office. In our Party’s first 10 years in office, we developed a housing programme that provided housing of satisfactory standards and sizes for low and middle-income families.

We stimulated cooperatives, self-help and other forms of non-profit-making means of building communities. We changed the landscape of housing and homeownership in Guyana,” she said.

“The 1000 homes project, also known as the Turnkey Project, was officially launched at Providence in 2014 by the PPP Government. However, despite being allocated, several of the almost 50 completed houses remain unoccupied because of poor construction and finishing, coupled with structural faults,” she said, adding that the programme was marred by poor management.

She added that the coalition Government was committed to ensuring that suitable and developed land was made available for private house building for those persons who could afford to build their own homes.

The Minister promised the development of a “prosperous and efficient” construction industry as an essential component of economic growth and prosperity.

Even as the plans are being finalised, SharpePatterson is hoping that lending institutions would provide incentives to the industry through mortgage financing and short-term loans for repairs, extensions of homes and home improvement and long-term loans for new construction and the rebuilding of condemned houses.

“Guyana’s housing problem cannot be considered in isolation from the economy as a whole. It must, inevitably, be related to the whole process of social and economic development of our country,” she noted.

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2016 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Green’s pension

Multimillion-dollar package will cost Granger’s presidency – fmr AFC Executive

P

ublic outrage over the pension package to be statutised for former Prime Minister Hamilton Green continues to grow, with former Alliance For Change (AFC) Economist and Executive Member Sasenarine Singh openly questioning whether his former colleagues, now coalition partners, will be voting in support of it.

“Will Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan, and Charandass Persaud be voting for this open act of plunder of the Treasury,” is the query of Singh in a recent public statement.

Singh has since adumbrated the belief that Green should not be afforded the multimillion-dollar package since Green was one of the principal architects of the stagnation of Guyana for most of its independent years, in addition to his role as a member of a Government which produced electoral results which clearly did not represent the will of the people.

“So why are we going to pay millions of dollars to people who contributed to the retardation of Guyana and who are clearly undeserving of all these millions,” questioned Singh.

He has since condemned the package prepared for Green, as “one of the most reprehensible and disrespectful acts of abuse of the Treasury by the Granger Administration, especially given the fact that the young people are still waiting for those jobs that were promised in 2015.”

According to Singh, “I once heard a comment in high political circles in 2011: It is the pensions that will cost you the elections… I have seen that these same kinds of pension

Former AFC Executive Member Sasenarine Singh

contributed to a former government losing the elections.”

He has since surmised that “I have watched Guyana’s political development since 1992 and I can safely say that all the conditions are in place to support the prognosis that it is this same pension issue, like the Hamilton Green pension, that will cost the Granger Administration the 2020 elections.”

Singh has since suggested that it is time for the more rational minds in the AFC such as Raphael Trotman “to step up and talk some sense into the political deadwood in the Granger Administration which is hell bent on destroying what is left of that Administration.”

According to Singh, Green at 82 years of age has already earned millions of dollars of pay, pension and perks from the taxpayers for most of our independent years as a nation.

“He lives in one of the best compounds in South Georgetown that does not flood thanks to the steel revetment that surrounds his yard… If one is to reflect on the history of Guyana, one would rec-

ognise Mr Green as one of the principal architects of the stagnation of Guyana for most of its independent years.”

As such, the former AFC Executive Members is openly questioning, “why are we going to pay millions of dollars to people who contributed to the retardation of Guyana and who are clearly undeserving of all these millions?”

Speaking directly to his former colleagues in the AFC’s hierarchy, Singh recalled that in October 1992, Moses Nagamootoo, now Prime Minister was quoted as saying that bands “have Freedom House under siege” and the attacks were “planned, orchestrated and directed”.

Singh said in those days, the reporter who was reporting on some of this news was none other than the daughter of the sitting President, David Granger, “so we cannot pretend to not know the facts unless we are playing the fool… We all saw the human firestorm, first hand, which included mass looting that targeted the business district including business houses like that of AH&L Kissoon (who supported and financed the PNC).” He has since posited “what is most disgraceful is that today the Granger Administration, which includes Moses Nagamootoo has the audacity to want to foist upon the Guyanese taxpayer another geriatric payout of $16 million a year when we have not even created one tangible new investment or any mass waves of new jobs for the youths of Guyana… Will Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan, and Charandass Persaud be voting for this open act of plunder of the Treasury?”

No bailout for City Hall – Bulkan

G

overnment has nixed the idea of providing a $600 million bailout as requested by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.

This was disclosed by Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan in Berbice on Friday during a meeting that he held with Mayors and Councillors of the three municipalities – Rose Hall, Corriverton and New Amsterdam.

Bulkan is quoted by the Government Information Agency (GINA) as saying that the Government was not in favour of the bailout.

“This $600 million bailout that we all have read about in the newspapers, where that particular council is looking for that support, what I can say…and from my own understanding and the limited current engagement that I have had with colleagues in the Administration, is that, I do not think that there is any appetite on the part of the Central Government to be favourably disposed towards that request,” Bulkan asserted.

He, however, opined that the alternative of seeking commercial sources of financing would be suggested to the municipality.

“The response of Central Government may very well be along the lines of telling the Municipality to think like a corporation, so I believe the Georgetown Council would be encouraged that there are commercial sources that they can approach,” Bulkan pointed out.

It was during a statutory meeting held on

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan

November 14, 2016, at City Hall, that the Mayor and City Council indicated that the Council would have approached Central Government through the Communities Minister for a $600 million “bailout” to assist in the payment of outstanding debt and salaries.

However, during the meeting in Berbice on Friday, the Councillors voiced concerns, emphasising that Georgetown seemed to be the only Council that enjoyed the support of Central Government.

New Amsterdam Mayor Kurt Wynter was quoted as saying that City Hall would have received from Central Government $300 million, just after the General and Regional Election of May 2015, and would soon be asking for $600 million more. Wynter noted that his municipality has not heard word from Government on a $137 million proposal it had submitted to assist in the restoration and drain-

age infrastructure of New Amsterdam.

Bulkan told the Region Six Councillors that the municipalities were now being advised to start functioning like corporations that generate the wealth needed to meet their operational cost.

“I think that business consideration that our councils are being urged to bring, that business mindset, beginning in Georgetown would do a lot to drive efficiency and improvement within the management of councils,” Bulkan opined.

“I do not want you to feel that Central Government is just going to push their hands in the kitty and keep bailing out Georgetown, and you are going to be left on your own, we are going to try to be consistent with the message and not discriminate,” he stressed.

The disapproval of the $600 million proposed bailout comes nearly one month after reports surfaced that Bulkan’s Ministry was conducting an audit into spending operations at City Hall. In late October, however, the Ministry had insisted that it was only conducting the audit into City Hall’s spending of two subventions it received from Government. It was after discrepancies were highlighted in the Auditor General’s 2015 Report, that the Ministry had launched a review of the M&CC’s spending of its $300 million Government subvention and reports surfaced that City Mayor Patricia Chase Green was upset by the review.

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guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, NOVEMber 23, 2016

News

Corentyne carpenter’s murder

Guyana seeking US help for mastermind – Crime Chief

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he Guyana Police Force (GPF) is now seeking the help of US law enforcement in its bid to question the alleged mastermind in the killing of Corentyne carpenter Fayez Narinedatt.

According to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, the Police Force has already made contact with their overseas counterparts to have Marcus Bisram extradited to Guyana.

The US-based Guyanese has been implicated in the murder of Narinedatt, by the four suspects who were all charged on Tuesday when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

Two women who allegedly offered $4 million to the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) for the four perpetrators to be released were also charged.

Bisram is said to have migrated to the US as a child; however, he has never failed to give his support to Berbice.

He has donated $200 million to the needy in Berbice and also gave $672,000 to five students in Guyana to assist them in furthering their education.

Bisram was also honoured by the borough of Queens, New York and was described as “an exceptional human being and community leader”.

He reportedly also pledged his support in building a shelter for battered

Alleged mastermind: Marcus Bisram

women and children in Berbice.

On the day Narinedatt died, his family members received the horrific news of his demise, in what at the time was suspected to be a hit-and-run.

However, as an investigation into the man’s death was being carried out, it was discovered that he was murdered.

Claims are Bisram made sexual advances towards Narinedatt, who rejected him.

As such, he ordered that the man be killed. The MCU, after intense investigations, unearthed the details behind the man’s unfortunate demise.

It was revealed that the overseas-based Guyanese, the founder of the Marcus Brian Bisram Foundation, had a party at his home where the victim and several others were present.

According to reports, the

now deceased man went to the back of the man’s home to urinate and Bisram followed and attempted to fondle him.

Narinedatt responded by slapping and choking Bisram, who allegedly ordered that he be killed by others who were present at the party. It is also alleged that he assured the men that they would not be caught.

Narinedatt, a father of two, was then severely beaten after which he was taken to Number 70 Village, Corentyne in an unconscious state, thrown on the roadway and ran over by a vehicle in an attempt to make his killing seem like an accident.

His lifeless body was found the following day and family members immediately cried foul.

However, villagers were tight-lipped and it was only until the MCU was called in did the truth of the matter come out.

The four suspects, excavator operator Radesh Motie, 39; Harripaul Parsram, a labourer, 49; hire car driver Nirone Yacoob, 37; and Diodat Datt, 18, all confessed to the killing and told Police what had occurred.

One of the women charged with attempting to bribe the MCU is Bisram’s mother, Shermella Indarally, 45, of Lot 121 Section A, No 71 Village, Corentyne Coast, Berbice.

Region 3 Deputy REO busted in US with cocaine

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he Deputy Regional Executive Officer of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) is now in the custody of the Houston, Texas, USA authorities after she was found with three pounds of cocaine in her possession.

Thirty-six-year-old Ameena Marlyne Hinds was found with the cocaine lined in her suitcase.

According to reports, Hinds was a passenger on United Airlines flight 1250 which was headed from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago for the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston.

Houston Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPO) reportedly discovered

Region Three Deputy REO Ameena Marlyne Hinds

the substance after inspecting Hinds upon her arrival at the airport.

Hinds reportedly told officials there that she is current-

ly in debt and saw her action as the only way out, as she is having difficulty meeting her financial obligations.

She also reported that she was approached by an unknown individual who gave her the drugs and offered her US$2500 if the job was completed.

She also told officers that she was instructed by the mystery man to travel to a hotel in New York and make contact with him when she arrived. Arrangements would be made for someone to retrieve the suitcase containing the drugs and payment would be made.

However, this did not occur and she was caught in the act.

Couple charged for cultivating cannabis

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couple from the North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini) made an appearance before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to a charge of cultivating an illegal plant.

John Antonio and Diane Daniel both pleaded guilty with explanation to the charge which stated that on November 19, at North West District, they cultivated a prohibited plant, that is to say cannabis.

However Daniels’ plea was changed to not guilty by the Chief Magistrate, after she offered her explanation of what transpired on the day in question. Her husband’s plea was maintained after explaining.

Daniel’s, who was unrepresented, was refused bail after the prosecution noted the

John Antonio

Diane Daniel

she did not supply the court with any special reason for such. She will make her next court appearance on February 20, 2017, at the Mabaruma Magistrate’s Court.

In mitigation, Antonio told the court that he lost his three

sons sometime ago and that his house was destroyed by fire, not long ago. As such, he said he cultivated the plant to secure a better home.

He was sentenced to three years imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of $15,000.

4th South Rupununi Safari launched Port Mourant Market − organisers call for more sponsorship

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he stage is set for another successful South Rupununi Safari, which will further enhance Guyana’s drive to promote ecotourism.

Participants can expect to experience the destination’s beauty as they travel through several of the country’s most picturesque regions.

According to the organisers, this year’s event will see the participation of about 50 persons who will set out on the six-day trip, moving through various communities in Regions Four (DemeraraMahaica), Eight (PotaroSiparuni), Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

The event takes place from November 24 to 29. The convoy leaves Georgetown and the trip will end at Achiwuib in Region Nine.

During the launch of the event on Tuesday, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Indranauth Haralsingh, said more sponsorship is needed to help make the event successful. Haralsingh noted that it costs a family of four over $200,000 for the six days. This cost, he assured, will be reduced immensely

Coordinator of the South Rupununi Safari, Frank Singh

once the event attracts strong sponsorship. This will in turn attract more participation, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

The convoy will also be donating food items among other things to the various communities along the way.

Haralsingh said too that increased sponsorship will also go a long way towards assisting the residents of the various Amerindian communities.

Mekdeci Mining Company (MCC) usually sponsors the river crossing for all participants.

The safari is organised by the Public Telecommunications

Ministry and the GTA, in collaboration with Rainforest Tours, Regions Eight and Nine administrations, and the Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministries.

Coordinator of the safari, Frank Singh, said this fourth edition is a good opportunity for families to bond and make new friends.

Singh explained that, “This one here is to give drivers the know how to activate a 4×4 vehicle, due to the fact that when we visited the North Pakaraima (safari) before, a lot of persons didn’t know how to engage the vehicles and this is an opportunity for them to learn how to operate their vehicles.”

Singh explained that on the convoy there are usually business persons who would buy the villagers’ products and see how best their products can be marketed. The coordinator said it is compulsory for safari members to donate something to each village that they pass through.

He pointed to the magnificent scenery and the potential for new experiences; “One of the things that they will be doing this time around is trying

to drive up the Shea Rock. We have tried before, but it did not happen, so we are going to do it this time,” he said.

One dedicated participant, Edward Luke King, who has been a part of all four Safaris thus far, encouraged families to come onboard. “We have had persons on the trip who met and got married, new friendships are formed and more persons get to see this beautiful country, Guyana.”

The South Rupununi Safari offers an ideal opportunity for persons to experience the outdoors, have fun and adventure, discover the picturesque beauty of miles of savannahs and explore little known places South of Guyana’s interior. The South Rupununi Region has some of the most beautiful sceneries that travellers will come across; it takes the adventurous through many indigenous villages, including the Wapishana village of Shea where travellers will get a glimpse of the Shea Rock which towers over the flat savannahs. From Shea, the sightseers will get a stunning view of the famed Bottle Mountain, the Shiriri Mountain and the Kanuku Mountain range.

staff on strike

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abourers working at the Port Mourant Market have taken industrial action over the non-payment of wages and salaries for several months.

On Tuesday, workers attached to the Port Mourant Market, with responsibility for cleaning, downed tools in protest for non-receipt of wages.

On Monday the high piles of garbage and stench forced workers at the National Insurance Scheme at Port Mourant to take to the streets expressing their disgust over a situation which has now become a regular occurrence.

The workers told the Guyana Times that enough is enough.

Karran Kalassar, who works as both a labourer and a watchman, says he has not been paid for the past three months. According to him, the Neighbourhood Democratic Council owes him in excess of $200,000 in wages.

The devoted employee, who works in the day on one job and then returns in the evening to take on another, says every week he is promised what is owed to him.

“They owe me for three months and now it going on an-

other three months,” he said.

Another security employee, Omar Ally, was employed two months ago and to date, is still to receive his first wage.

He said, “It ain’t make sense you working and you children hungrying.”

Chetram Narine, who is also a security employee, has not been paid since his employment two months ago. He says he was told that the Regional Executive Officer (REO) has not signed the documents which will allow for them to be paid.

The workers say the conditions under which they have to work are poor. Many times the cleaners have to spend their personal money to purchase cleaning agents and equipment, which includes brooms and rakes to clean the market.

According to Ally, the workers find it very difficult to communicate with the NDC Overseer.

Two months ago, the workers took strike action over the lack of wages and salaries. As a result, the pile up of garbage in and around the market caused the market to be ordered closed.

wednesday, November 23, 2016

guyanatimesgy.com

15

Around the world

Malawi "hyena man" Eric Aniva Indian music legend M sentenced to 2 years hard labour Balamurali Krishna dies aged 86

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n HIV-positive Malawian man has been sentenced to 24 months in jail with hard labour for having unprotected sex with newly bereaved widows.

The practice of “widow cleansing”, when a widow must have sex after her husband dies, was outlawed a few years ago.

Eric Aniva, known in Malawi as a “hyena”, admitted to the BBC to having sex with more than 100 women and girls and not disclosing his HIV status.

This led to President Peter Mutharika ordering his arrest in July.

Mutharika had wanted Aniva tried for defiling young girls, but none came forward to testify against him. Instead, he was tried for “harmful cultural practice” under section five of Malawi’s Gender Equality

L

Eric Aniva was the subject of a BBC feature into sexual “cleansing” practices in Malawi in July

Act, for having sex with new widows.

Two women testified against him. Aniva’s lawyer, Michael Goba Chipeta, said he would appeal against the conviction and the sentence.

The case has attracted international media attention and sharply divided opinion as to how widespread the

practice remains.

Aniva was the subject of a BBC feature into various sexual cleansing practices in Malawi. Last year, Malawi banned child marriage, raising the legal age of marriage from 15 to 18 – something activists hoped would put an end to early sexual initiations. (Excerpt from BBC News)

egendary Indian musician M Balamurali Krishna, who delighted millions of fans for more than four decades, has died aged 86. Balamurali, as he was affectionately known, passed away in the south Indian city of Chennai after a long illness.

He was a renowned singer and composer of Carnatic music, a classical style from India’s southern states. He also dabbled in acting and produced several songs for south Indian films – many of them runaway hits.

Balamurali was known for his melodious voice and played numerous instruments, including the Indian violin and the mridangam drum.

He is said to have performed in over 18,000 concerts across the world.

His output includ-

Dr M Balamurali Krishna was a legendary singer and composer of South India’s Carnatic music

ed songs in his native tongue, Telugu, and other Indian languages including Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi.

Balamurali Krishna was born in Andhra Pradesh, a coastal state in south-eastern India, and was considered a child prodigy. He performed his first public concert at the age of six.

The singer won several accolades over his lifetime in the spotlight, including India’s second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan. He was made a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres

by France in 2005 for his contribution to music.

Fans, politicians and musicians all shared their grief at the loss of the star.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Ukraine teacher "tried to sell Turkey withdraws bill after protests girl aged 13 for US$10,000" over child-sexual assault clause

P

olice in eastern Ukraine have arrested a teacher accused of trying to sell a 13-year-old girl for US$10,000 (£8,035).

The girl was living at a boarding school in the Kharkiv region for orphans and children from broken homes. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov reported the case on Facebook, with photos of the 52-yearold teacher and girl. He said Police had been monitoring them for four months.

Avakov said the buyer

hinted that the girl’s organs would be removed.

The buyer inquired about the girl’s health and paid the teacher 1000 hryvnia (£31; US$39) for photos of the girl and her medical records, Avakov said.

Ukrainian media have named the suspect as Galina Kovalenko. She teaches the Ukrainian and Russian languages, and literature, and has more than 20 years’ teaching experience, they report.

There has been no state-

ment yet from the teacher.

“They got this seller ‘redhanded’ - when she took the girl out of the boarding school, brought her to the buyers and received money,” Avakov said.

If found guilty, the teacher could be jailed for up to 12 years. Avakov is personally handling the case. There have been previous reports of criminal gangs preying on destitute people in eastern Europe to harvest their organs. The trade in organs can be highly lucrative. (Excerpt from BBC News)

56-car China motorway pile-up kills 17 as dozens of vehicles crash

Women protesting in Ankara last weekend. One placard reads: ‘Rape cannot be pardoned.’ Adem Altan/

T AFP/Getty

urkey’s Government has withdrawn a controversial bill that would have granted amnesty to some men convicted of child sex assault if they married their victims.

The announcement on the bill, a rare concession to popular opposition in the country, came after street protests at the weekend and criticism from civil society groups, including a women’s rights organisation whose deputy chief is President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s

daughter, Sümeyye Erdo?an Bayraktar.

The proposed amnesty for some child sex offenders was part of a larger bill approved by lawmakers in a hearing to reform the criminal code. It would have suspended the sentences of men convicted of sexual assault of a minor if they married their victims and could prove the act was carried out without force or “restriction on consent”.

The Turkish Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m,

had said the bill would be withdrawn in its current form and revised, but the Justice Minister, Bekir Bozda?, later said the Government would not seek to table a new proposal on the matter.

Rights groups had condemned the bill, and weekend protests drew thousands of people. The UN had also criticised it, saying it would would weaken Turkey’s ability to combat sexual abuse and child marriage.

(Excerpt from The Guardian)

2 Qatari women robbed on Paris motorway in 5M Euro heist Trucks and cars squashed together after a deadly pile-up involving 56 vehicles on the Kunming expressway in Shanxi province, China

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huge pile-up on a Chinese motorway killed at least 17 people when a total of 56 vehicles crashed into each other in winter weather, state media said.

The accident happened in snow and rainy weather in the northern province of Shanxi, on an expressway linking Beijing with Kunming, Xinhua reported.

Pictures of the scene showed lorries scattered haphazardly across the road, some of them overturned, and burnt-out wrecks of cars after the crash on Monday.

Another 37 injured people were stable after treatment, Xinhua said.

Traffic accidents are common in China, with the World Health Organisation estimating that more than

260,000 people were killed on the country’s roads in 2013.

The WHO figures are strikingly higher than official pronouncements, in a country where government data are often questioned.

The National Bureau of Statistics reporting 58,539 traffic fatalities that year – less than a quarter of the WHO’s approximation. (The Guardian)

T

wo Qatari women were held up with their driver on a Paris motorway and robbed of valuables worth “at least five million euros (US$5.3 million)”, Police sources said on Tuesday.

The women, who are in their sixties, had just left Le Bourget airport North-east of the capital on Monday when their Bentley was held up by two masked men, who sprayed them with tear gas and stole “everything in the vehicle: jewels, clothes, luggage”, one source said.

The portion of motorway leading North from Paris to the Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget airports is often the scene of hold-ups targeting wealthy foreigners in luxury cars, some of whom carry large amounts of cash.

The robbers often take advantage of traffic jams to pounce.

Last month, a taxi transporting the CEO of a French furniture chain among other passengers was held up after leaving Le Bourget.

The three robbers made off with an estimated

100,000 euros in valuables.

A Korean art collector was the target of a similar heist last year, with three attackers snatching four million euros in jewels from her car.

Within Paris itself a number of high-profile robberies have led the Government to step up security around tourist spots.

In October, American reality TV star Kim Kardashian was tied up and robbed at gunpoint of $10 million in jewels in a luxury apartment in the heart of the city.

(Excerpt from MSN)

16 news

wednesDay, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Drug shortages

Essequibo residents decry healthcare delivery

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hile a huge sum of the country’s budget is being spent to improve healthcare delivery throughout Guyana, citizens living in the far-flung areas such as the Essequibo Coast, are yet to benefit

from essential public healthcare services provided by the Public Health Ministry.

Residents living in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) are bemoaning the fact that they have to incur additional expenses to purchase over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical

drugs, as once again the Suddie Public Hospital is experiencing a shortage of basic medication.

Many persons are now questioning the status of healthcare delivery within the Region, since almost all prescribed medications are in short supply.

At the most recent Regional Democratic Council (RDC) statutory meeting, Chairman of the Regional Health and Sanitation Committee and

People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Councillor, Arnold Adams reported on the continuous shortage of medical supplies at the hospital. During his address, he disclosed that the hospital last received medical supplies on October 28.

He explained that the drug shortage at the Hospital is causing great inconvenience to residents, as basic Intensive Care Unit (ICU) medications, vitamins and Gravol are currently un-

available at the Hospital’s pharmacy.

Alluding to the implications of this, Adams explained that the lack of access to basic medication was mainly affecting poor residents who have to utilise the services at the Hospital.

The Chairman of the Regional Health and Sanitation Committee is calling on Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton to intervene.

Emphasis needed on health in Berbice River areas – Councillors

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ouncillors of the Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) Democratic Council (RDC) are of the opinion that more emphasis is needed as it relates to effective healthcare delivery in areas along the Berbice River.

Following a recent visit to these areas, referred to as Sub Region 2 of Region 10, a number of Councillors voiced their concerns over numerous issues which they observed. At the hosting of the statutory meeting of the Council recently, Councillor Antonio Hackett outlined that health centres in areas such as Ebini and Kalcuni were still not receiving potable water, among other issues.

“Every time I go in the Berbice River I get several reports...At Ebini, we have security guards working at the health centres without huts...Where would that person shelter or go, let’s say, when there is a downpour?” he asked.

Regional Chairman Renis Morian, however, assured that all the health centres in the Berbice River would have huts since this was outlined in the Region’s 2017 budget.

Hackett also pointed out several other issues involving vessels utilising the

The Hamilton Green unprecedented pension it is more than obscene

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The Suddie Public Hospital in Region Two

Health Committee Chairman, PPP/C Councillor Arnold Adams

Ramsammy’s Ruminations

Regional Chairman Renis Morian

Berbice River.

“We have international vessels using the Berbice River and to my knowledge … these vessels should have a system to discharge from that vessel, all waste. In my knowledge also, when those oceangoing vessels leave the port, they have to be many miles out – deep sea, before it can do a discharge.

These vessels don’t leave the Berbice River, so I’m beginning to wonder, where is the discharge going?”

According to Hackett, there is a serious threat to the health of the people in the Berbice River as he outlined that he planned to engage the relevant authorities on the issue.

Councillor Sandra

Adams, who was also part of the team which visited areas along the Berbice River, noted that there were numerous concerns.

She said the community health worker at Ebini has requested that a Medex be added to the health centre staff, since critical patients have to be stabilised and referred to another facility.

“It means that a boat got to get involved to take them to some place, and the cost is enormous. When there is an emergency they have to pay $30,000 one way to get to New Amsterdam Hospital and another $30,000 – that’s $60,000,” she said.

Adams, therefore, asked for the provision of necessary staff to perform relevant functions in cases of emergency. She also referred to deplorable working conditions at health centres, while asking the Council to be considerate in the delivery of health care.

“The health worker at Ebini said she almost end up getting sued because of a delivery on her clinic floor, because the tiles shift and a pregnant mother skate – it’s a good thing she had something to brace to...so let’s try to improve where we give delivery,”

Councillor Antonio Hackett

Adams said.

Meanwhile, Councillor Charles Sampson lamented that indigenous communities along the Berbice River have been taken for granted for years, while he urged the Council to “tighten up” administratively. He said the regional administrative arm for those areas was not functioning effectively.

“We spend a lot of money on health, and what I saw in the river is sad. Medex come out for a meeting, they shut down the health centre. What are we doing?

Those people need more attention,” Sampson stressed.

Sampson also lashed out at health officials for not visiting riverine areas regularly. (Utamu Belle)

he Hamilton Green pension worth about $25 million annually is unprecedented and obscene. Why pussyfoot around it – it is scandalous, corrupt, cronyism at its worst. Green is disdainfully laughing at us, while Granger, Nagamootoo, Williams, Greenidge, Ramjattan and their A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) colleagues mock us with Dr Leslie Ramsammy their limitless arrogance. For the umpteenth time in less than two years, they have betrayed Guyana and made us again the laughing stock among the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

Not just their arrogance, they are supercilious, carrying on as if they are superior to the citizens of Guyana. In every way, each passing day, they bow down in homage to the George Orwell’s Animal Farm notion of equality: we are all equal, just that some of us are more equal than others.

Indeed, APNU/AFC has made this Orwellian principle the cornerstone of their rule, in everything they do, it must be about them. What is it that Sting sings – every move we make, every step we take? For sure, every move and every step, every breath they take is to rape Guyana’s Treasury.

Green rightfully receives a pension as a former Prime Minister and MP. He also receives a pension as the former Mayor and City Councillor of the municipality of Georgetown.

Green, now at 81, serves as the Chairman of the Central Planning and Housing Authority and receives benefits associated with this position. But APNU/AFC decides that like their Cabinet members, Green needs to live as a king, “Cadillac lifestyle in a fiefdom of peasants and a donkey cart economy.”

In Jagdeo’s time, Granger, Nagamootoo and APNU/AFC had insisted Guyana could not afford to pay Jagdeo to live a “Cadillac lifestyle in a donkey cart economy.” They lied that Jagdeo’s salary, benefits and pension were the biggest in the world and unfair to the Guyanese taxpayers. They claimed that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Ministers were paid too much. Yet, as soon as they got control of the Government, they claimed that those same so-called high salaries and benefits were chicken feed. Hence the APNU/AFC Cabinet’s salary and benefits are almost double what PPP Cabinet members were paid. Granger’s and Nagamootoo’s salaries, pension and other benefits far exceed what Jagdeo and Ramotar are entitled to. They give sweetheart deals to their friends and donors. They raid the Treasury with impunity, as if it is robbing the bank in broad daylight.

Guyana is presently worse off than when Jagdeo was President. In less than two years, Guyana’s economy has plunged downwards, crime is spiralling, the health sector is in crisis, sugar and rice find itself in desperate situations, mining is suffering from APNU/AFC highhandedness, but every day another raid is carried out on the Treasury. The raid on taxpayers’ money to sweeten Green’s greedy pockets is highway theft.

Green is being decorated with taxpayers’ money for his role in the imposition of dictatorship, party paramountcy and thuggery between 1964 and 1992. As Health Minister (1985-1992), he led the collapse of the health sector and as Mayor of Georgetown, he spent more than 20 years travelling the world for free while his city became a haven for rats and pests. APNU/AFC rewards him for these “sterling” performances as if he was the sitting Prime Minister, with additional perks as if he was the immediate past President. His healthcare cost, electricity, telephone, Internet, maid, gardener and guard services are to be as if he was the former President. He is entitled to a fleet and driver staff. He is entitled to travel with his partner free on first class tickets. Should every past public servant, therefore, expect the pension of present occupants of similar position? Should all former Ministers be treated as if they are present Ministers?

According to APNU/AFC, Green deserves this treatment as a king, because he is a patriot. Did I hear someone say “patriotism is the refuge of scoundrels?” I will just plagiarise the American author, Jarod Kintz: “Sure politicians rob us, the people – but only because it’s in our best interest. If they did not rob us, somebody else would, and this other scoundrel would not even bother to wrap the theft in the Golden Arrowhead. So really, we should rejoice in being swindled, and group together as patriots, singing national anthems, because we are being looted by men and women who believe they are the best thing for us – and they are the best among us. As such, they deserve special privileges that we, the huddling masses, have no right to question.” (Send comments to doc_ram@hotmail.com)

news

50% new HIV+ children infected through breastfeeding – UNAIDS

A

lthough new HIV infections among children have declined by 51 per cent since 2010, half of the children newly infected with the virus in 2015 were infected through breastfeeding, a UNAIDS report said.

The report, ‘Get on the Fast-track: the life-cycle approach to HIV”, which was launched on Monday in Windhoek, Namibia, by Namibian President Hage Geingob and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, stated that 150,000 children were newly infected in 2015 and half were infected through breastfeeding.

It noted that globally, access to HIV medicines to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV has increased to 77 per cent in 2015 (up from 50 per cent in 2010).

Nonetheless, it stated that infection through breastfeeding can be avoided if mothers living with HIV are supported to continue taking antiretroviral medicines, allowing them to breastfeed safely and ensure that their children receive the important protective benefits of breast milk.

‘Get on the Fast-track: the life-cycle approach to HIV’ stressed that more efforts are needed to expand HIV testing for pregnant women, expand treatment for children and improve and expand early infant diagnosis by using new diagnostic tools and innovative methods, such as SMS reminders, to retain mothers

living with HIV and their babies in care.

The report also encouraged countries to adopt the targets of the Start Free, Stay Free,

AIDS Free framework led by UNAIDS and t h e United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to reduce the number of new HIV infections among children, adolescents and young women, and ensure lifelong access to antiretroviral therapy if they are living with HIV.

Transition stage

The report stated that many children who were born with HIV and survived are now entering adulthood.

Studies from 25 countries in 2015 show that 40 per cent of young people aged between 15 and 19 years became infected through mother-tochild transmission of HIV. This transition, the report said, is also magnifying another major challenge – high numbers of AIDSrelated deaths among adolescents. Adolescents living with HIV have the highest rates of poor medication adherence and treatment failure, it said. It also noted that the ages between 15 and 24 years are an incredibly dangerous time for young women, reporting that in 2015,

around 7500 young women became newly infected with HIV every week. It stated that data from studies in six locations within eastern and southern Africa reveal that in three southern Africa girls aged between 15 and 19 years accounted for 90 per cent of all new HIV infections among 10 to 19-year-olds, and more than 74 per cent in eastern Africa.

Globally, it said between 2010 and 2015, the number of new HIV infections among young women aged between 15 and 24 years was reduced by just six per cent from 420 000 to 390,000 and therefore to reach the target of less than 100,000 new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women by 2020 will require a 74 per cent reduction in the four years between 2016 and 2020. It stated that globally, there are 1.8 million children living with HIV in 2015-2016 while 110,000 died from AIDS. The report outline by June 2016, around 18.2 million people had access to the life-saving medicines, including 910,000 children, double the number five years earlier.

“If these efforts are sustained and increased, the world will be on track to achieve the target of 30 million people on treatment by 2020,” it said.

Tropical Rhythm launches New Year’s wishes promotion

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NSA McAL Trading, through one of its brands Tropical Rhythm, is providing Christmas cheer this season by giving back in a special way. The beverage giant on Tuesday launched its Tropical Rhythm “Christmas Dreams New Year’s Wishes Promotion”, at the company’s head office at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The company is therefore urging consumers to purchase Tropical Rhythm for a chance to win a grand prize of a Toyota Allion, as well as other prizes which include, cash, Apple iPads and Samsung Galaxy S7 mobile devices.

Tropical Rhythm’s Brand Manager, Sean Abel, announced that there is no better time to give back than during the Christmas season. He therefore urged Guyanese to join in the promotion by using Tropical Rhythm beverages.

Abel said the promotion promises to be an exciting one which will afford all Guyanese the opportunity of winning various prizes.

The company also plans to add to its stock of flavours

by Christmas. By that time,

Tropical Rhythm Brand Coordinator Sean Abel stands next to the grand prize in the “Christmas Dreams New Year’s Wishes Promotion”

the flavours will include Lychee Paradise, Sorrell, Sorrell-Ginger, GuavaCarrot, Mango-Carrot, Reggae Medley and Fruit Punch.

How to enter

To participate, consumers must collect and enter two Tropical Rhythm bottle caps. Place the caps in an envelope with your name, address and phone number, and then place it into entry boxes at any of the 71 locations nationwide.

The promotion started on Tuesday and will run until January 20, 2017. There will be drawings on December 16 and 30, and January 20,

2017. During the first two drawings, persons will win Samsung Galaxy S7s, Apple iPads and $50,000 cash; one for every drawing, while the final drawing will include Samsung Galaxy S7s, Apple iPads, $50,000 cash and a Toyota Allion.

Some of the popular locations for the promotion are all Bounty Supermarkets in Georgetown; Sweet Point; Rabbies’ Snackette; K and K Gas Station, ECD; S&S Super Market, Lusignan, ECD; ANSA McAL Head Office, Beterverwagting, ECD; DSL; Massy Super Market; and Komal Bar and Patsy Bar, East Bank Demerara.

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wednesday, november 23, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Govt breaks silence about attack on Cuba-trained doctors

A

fter mounting criticisms on Government’s silence about columnist Freddie Kissoon’s attack on Cuban-trained doctors, the Public Health Ministry has finally condemned Kissoon’s outburst on the reputation of these individuals.

The Ministry in a statement on Tuesday stated that Kissoon recklessly and baselessly branded the doctors as being “hopelessly incompetent”.

Kissoon has been whipped from all ends for his seemingly wild statement. Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo denounced Kissoon’s attacks and called on him to issue an immediate apology.

Dr Allan Outridge of the People’s Republic of China in a letter stated that “Mr Kissoon: I do not know you, I have never met you, and I certainly have no intentions of meeting you either; but your article is provocatively scandalous, vindictive, infantile, vulgar, middling, and laced with grammatically incorrect paragraphs of untruth,” adding that Cuba’s health

and education systems are the island’s most prized assets and are often used as models for other countries around the world, including Guyana.

He added that to the Cuban Government, on behalf of China, and “in part from the Guyana Government (they, too, should be offering an apology), please do not hold us responsible for such a blasphemous review of your programme, as it was simply conscripted by an attention-seeking man.”

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, had expressed concerns that the medical sector is being neglected by the current Administration in the wake of its silence against the attack and the delay in the placement of 92 trained Guyanese doctors who have been waiting since last year for their post to the public service.

Rohee said the situation is unpleasant and reflects the incompetence of the coalition Administration in the management of the country.

After numerous criticisms on Government’s apparent silence, the Health Ministry’s statement on Tuesday said that the Government stands by “our local and foreign trained doctors whose dedication and commitment have become the backbone of our health system over the past 40 years. Cuba has been Guyana's longest and strongest ally in our effort to train doctors, particularly during the period when other countries had ostracised us due to ideological differences.”

It stated that the doctors work tirelessly to save lives, treat the sick and counsel patients. “This is often done under less than ideal conditions. Some put their own life at risk and have even broken limbs in their efforts to take health services over the most challenging terrains to some of the remotest villages in Guyana. For this, they should be commended and not condemned,” it added.

The statement stressed that the Ministry looks forward to the continued collaboration with Cuba to train scholars.

Granger disrespects local media...

FROM PAGE 7

He said the entire press corps is not afforded that opportunity and “if from the highest level the President chooses who he wants to sit down with on a weekly basis and perhaps the questions that you can ask and for how long you can have deliberations for half an hour, is that accountability and that must change.”

Head of State, President David Granger in September last had promised to engage more with the local media corps through press conferences but this is yet to obtain.

At the time Granger had blamed the deficit on his packed agenda and scheduling conflicts and did commit to press conferences to engage members of the media, from time to time, on major national issues, following major international engagements and as the need arises.

Members of the media have since been forced to contend with confronting the President at public forums to pose questions of topical interest and importance, but he is often scuttled away by his press and publicity team after a few questions.

Prior to becoming

President, Granger hosted weekly press confer-

ences as Leader of the Opposition.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, november 23, 2016

ARCHIE

Check your financial status before you make a pur(March 21- chase or donation. You are April 19) best off putting money in a safe place and locking up your credit cards to avert temptation.

ARIES

Change may be upsetting, TAURUS but if you find a way to go with (April 20- the current, you will stay in May 20) the mainstream, where you can be most effective.

dilbert

Do your own thing. You’ll GEMINI be in the spotlight if you are (May 21June 20) assertive and make things happen. Talk is cheap if you don’t follow through. Don’t make idle promises when you can take action.

Don’t make abrupt changes based on an emotional flare(June 21- up. It’s best to back away from July 22) turmoil and focus on something you enjoy doing. Offer love and affection instead of fault-finding.

CANCER

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

You’ll gain support if you share your plans with someone you respect and trust.

A new beginning is within reach. Pick up the pace and head for the finish line.

Embrace life.

Domestic changes will turn VIRGO out well, even if they disrupt (Aug. 23Sept. 22) your emotional life. Get involved in pastimes or networking functions that will be beneficial and encourage you to advance.

Calvin and Hobbes

An emotional matter will LIBRA deter you from getting ahead.

(Sept. 23Don’t divulge what you are goOct. 23) ing through to anyone you are connected to professionally.

WORD GAME

SUDOKU

Don’t leave anything to SCORPIO chance. Stay on top of what (Oct. 24everyone is doing and cover Nov. 22) any shortcoming you see with added detail and physical input. Romance will brighten your day.

A challenge will inspire SAGITTARIUS you to take on greater goals.

(Nov. 23- Establish your position and Dec. 21) where you see yourself heading. The sky is the limit if you believe in yourself.

YESTERDAY'S

solution for Last Published Puzzle

Keep a steady pace. Work CAPRICORN with what you have already (Dec. 22established instead of incorJan. 19) porating something new into the mix. Too much of anything will lead to setbacks.

Convey your message AQUARIUS to anyone who will listen.

(Jan. 20Display your talents and ofFeb. 19) fer alternative suggestions. If you take command, you will get positive results. Trust your judgment instead of re-

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” is not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. To contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe, write to Word Game, Kathleen Saxe, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

PISCES What you do for others (Feb. 20- should be your focus. Avoid March 20) lengthy discussions or giving in to demands made by people who don’t need help. Focus on the underdog.

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2016

19

Leicester move into Champions League round of 16 L

eicester City’s remarkable debut Champions League campaign continued as they reached the knockout stages with one game to spare by beating Club Brugge.

The Foxes needed a point to make the last 16, yet secured three to ensure they will finish top of Group G. A smart finish into the top corner by Shinji Okazaki, after a fine cross by Christian Fuchs, set Claudio Ranieri’s side on their way.

Riyad Mahrez doubled the lead from the penalty spot - for his fourth goal in five Champions League games - after Marc Albrighton was fouled by Dion Cools before Jose Izquierdo hit a wonderful consolation after a 40-yard run.

Leicester were unrecognisable from the side who have struggled in the Premier League this season.

They are the second

Shinji Okazaki is the sixth Japanese player to score a Champions League goal and the first since Keisuke Honda in November 2013

English team, after Arsenal, to secure a place in the draw for the knockout stages on 12 December.

Spurs sent packing

by Monaco

The Foxes sit just two points above the Premier League’s relegation zone after back-to-back defeats. Yet

Claudio Ranieri’s team cannot stop winning in Europe.

While they have lost to, among others, Hull City,

West Bromwich Albion and Watford in the league, Leicester have beaten Brugge twice - as well as

Porto and FC Copenhagen on the continental stage.

There will be disappointment that their run of four successive Champions League clean sheets is over.

Izquierdo’s thumping finish, following a terrific solo run, sparked a late Brugge surge and ensured a nervous finish, yet the Belgians could not force an equalizer.

With their place in the Champions League knockout stages sealed, Leicester will attempt to improve their Premier League form.

They have three top-flight games before the draw for the last 16 - starting at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday.

GHB/ Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival…

Goalkeepers on the ball, Festival opens today!

By Romario Samaroo

A

Djibril Sidibe and Radamel Falcao celebrate Monaco’s opening goal

T

ottenham were knocked out of the Champions League as they were comprehensively outclassed by Monaco at Stade Louis II. Djibril Sidibe’s header early in the second half sparked a stunning sequence of three goals in just five minutes that saw Spurs’ Champions League hopes swiftly fade, grow and fade again.

Harry Kane’s penalty, awarded when Dele Alli was pulled back, put Spurs on level terms but, just 39 seconds later, Monaco had the ball in the net again through Thomas Lemar.

Victory takes Monaco through to the last 16 as deserved winners of Group E ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who earlier drew 1-1 at CSKA Moscow.

Tottenham, who have won just one of their five group matches, are three points behind Leverkusen with one game to play, against CSKA on 7 December, but cannot overhaul the German side because of an inferior head-to-head record.

Spurs knew a draw would be enough to keep their hopes alive, but Monaco were by far the better side and only a superb performance by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris - who saved a penalty from Radamel Falcao - spared the Premier League side further punishment.

(BBC Sport)

s the 12th edition of the Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey begins today, the local goalkeepers benefited from some rigorous training

by Canadian Goalkeeper, Shankar Premakanthan over the past two days.

With over 20 years in the game and a stunning four Indoor World Cups, four Pan American games and many tournaments worldwide under his belt, Premakanthan highlighted that the Guyanese style of hockey is very fast when compared to Canada but nevertheless; the role of the Goalkeepers is integral to the game as such he ventured here to hold the seminar. Premakanthan who will be turning out for the Toronto Lions added that he is “hoping that there can be a way to set up a kind of structure so that the local coaches can continue the training and develop them.”

“The first night was some basic drills and the following night we corrected and modified some of what was not going technically right whether its saves or on field decisions but the main aim was to benefit the goalkeepers and give them something positive to take with them,” the Toronto Lions player said.

Based on what he would

Canadian Goalkeeper Shankar Premakanthan (red shirt) going through the paces with young goalkeeper Oliver Rahim (green) while other goalkeepers look on

have seen the host of the seminar was very impressed by some of the local keepers especially in their athleticism and are watchful of them when they head into the Diamond Mineral Water Festival. As the Toronto Lions aim to snare the title and the attractive prize money but will keep an eye on some of the local teams as well as the Trinidadian side, Queen’s Park HC. Premakanthan, who has played in the Festival back in the inaugural season and in 2006 wished to see the same energy and support the crowds have shown over the years be elevated and create an enticing atmosphere, conducive for the sport.

With three divisions in

the festival, male, female and veterans, a total of 17 teams, including both local and international, have been confirmed to participate.

The Canada’s Toronto Lions who will be spare headed by past Most Valuable Player (MVP) on multiple occasions, Jonathan Roberts which includes gold medal winners from the Canadian team who participated in the last Pan American Cup in Uruguay. We must look out for last year’s runnersup, Trinidad and Tobago’s Queens Park Hockey Club (H.C.) and debutants, Ball Washers out of Washington, USA will both be looking for success. Also in the mix are, 2012 winners Toronto Academy, Carib H.C.,

Malvern H.C. and the top local sides, Pepsi Hikers, Old Fort, Bounty GCC, Pizza Hut GCC and others.

In action will be some of the big names on the local arena including, rising stars Aroydy Branford, Aliyah Gordon, Michael Hing, Rebecca Xavier, Gabriella Xavier, Vanessa Peres, Robert France, Robert Fernandes, Philip Fernandes, Devin Munroe, Kevin Spencer, Eric Hing, Kerensa Fernandes, Jamarj Assanah, Randy Hope among others. The Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey League will run at the home of Indoor Hockey, the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue from today until November 27.

20

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2016

South Africa Captain fined for ball-tampering S

outh Africa captain Faf du Plessis has been fined but will not be banned for balltampering during the second Test victory over Australia in Hobart.

Television footage appeared to show the 32-year-old licking his finger and shining the ball while eating a sweet.

Du Plessis was charged with breaching level two of the International Cricket Council code of conduct relating to "changing the condition of the ball" using an artificial substance.

He was fined 100% of his match fee.

Three penalty points have also been added to Du Plessis' disciplinary record, but he will be available to play in the third Test in Adelaide on Thursday.

Du Plessis, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, has been deputising as skipper for the injured AB de Villiers and led South Africa to the series win with one match to spare.

Speaking before the

Faf du Plesis

hearing, head coach Russell Domingo said: "It's been an interesting few days.

"We have had a wonderful tour here and we have played great cricket.

We have had long discussions and our focus now is purely on cricket."

In 2013, Du Plessis was fined 50% of his match fee for ball tampering in

the second Test against Pakistan.

He was caught on camera rubbing the ball against a zip on his pocket on the third day of the match in Dubai, leading umpires to penalise South Africa five runs and change the ball.

On that occasion, he did not contest the charge.

Malaysia to quit F1 after 17 years

West Indies Women take sweet revenge with whitewash ― India stumble in pursuit of 139

W

est Indies Women completed a 3-0 sweep of the T20I series against India by comfortably defending 139 in Vijayawada.

The hosts, chasing 140, lost opener VR Vanitha for 0 to a run-out by Stafanie Taylor. Smriti Mandhana and opener Meghna Singh were also dismissed in the Powerplay, reducing India to 32 for 3 at one stage.

Veda Krishnamurthy and Harmanpreet Kaur then batted together till the end of the match, adding 92 runs for the fourth wicket.

Krishnamurthy struggled to keep the asking rate even as Kaur managed a 100-plus strike rate, the only batsman to do so in the innings.

Krishnamurthy failed to hit a boundary in her 40-ball 31, while Kaur struck three fours and three sixes in her 51-ball 60. India ended on 124/3 to fell 15 runs short with seven wickets still in hand.

After West Indies opted to bat first, they were given a strong start with openers Hayley Matthews and Taylor adding 61 for the first wicket in 6.4 overs. Matthews did the bulk of the scoring her 22-ball 47 included seven fours and one six - before Poonam Yadav had her caught behind. Taylor anchored the rest of the innings and finished not out on 44. She added useful partnerships with Kycia Knight (16) and Britney Cooper (11).

Stafanie Taylor (right) shared a 61-run opening partnership with Hayley Matthews, who scored a 22-ball 47

SCOREBOARD West Indies Women innings (20 overs maximum) HK Matthews c †Parween b Poonam Yadav 47 SR Taylor* not out 44 B Cooper lbw b Bisht 11 Kycia A Knight† c Meghna Singh b Poonam Yadav 16 DJS Dottin c Kaur b Goswami 6 9 SL Quintyne not out Extras (b-1, w-4, nb-1) 6 Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 139 Did not bat: SS Connell, SA Campbelle, SC Selman, CN Nation, A Mohammed Fall of wickets 1-61 (Matthews, 6.4 ov), 2-87 (Cooper, 12.1 ov), 3-108 (Kycia A Knight, 15.2 ov), 4-123 (Dottin, 17.4 ov) Bowling: J Goswami 4-0-21-1, AA Patil 2-0-27-0, E Bisht 3-021-1 (w-1), S Pandey 4-0-33-0 (nb-1, w-1), Poonam Yadav 4-0-25-2 (w-2), H

Kaur 3-0-11-0 India Women innings (target: 140 runs from 20 overs) VR Vanitha run out (Taylor) 0 Meghna Singh c Selman b Matthews 19 S Mandhana c Quintyne b Dottin 6 V Krishnamurthy not out 31 H Kaur* not out 60 8 Extras (b-2, lb-1, w-5) Total (3 wickets; 20 overs) 124 Did not bat: J Goswami, S Pandey, E Bisht, AA Patil, Poonam Yadav, NM Parween† Fall of wickets 1-0 (Vanitha, 0.1 ov), 2-21 (Mandhana, 3.5 ov), 3-32 (Meghna Singh, 5.5 ov) Bowling: SC Selman 4-0-16-0 (w-2), DJS Dottin 4-0-29-1 (w1), HK Matthews 4-0-28-1, A Mohammed 4-0-21-0 (w-2), SL Quintyne 4-0-27-0

(ESPNcricinfo)

Alzarri is CASJA Junior Sportsman of the Year Daniel Ricciardo won the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix with Max Verstappen (L) in second and Nico Rosberg (R) in third

M

alaysia will stop hosting a Formula 1 grand prix after their current agreement expires in 2018.

The race at the Sepang International Circuit has been an annual fixture on the F1 calendar since 1999.

However, ticket sales and TV viewing figures have been in decline and Razlan Razali, chief executive of the circuit, questioned the race’s “economic value”.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo won at Sepang in October but only 45,000 fans attended the 120,000-capacity circuit.

“From the longer term perspective, it’s probably the correct decision because it’s more expensive and no longer that attractive,” said Nazri Abdul Aziz, the country’s culture and tourism minister. (BBC Sport)

A

lzarri Joseph, the promising young faster bowler from Antigua and Barbuda, was on Friday named Junior Sportsman of the Year by the Caribbean Sports Journalist Association (CASJA).

The Antiguan, who made his Test debut against India in August, won the award ahead of a quality field that included West Indies Under-19 teammate, Shimron Hetmyer of Guyana, Bahamas’ basketball player Buddy Hield, as well as Jamaicans Akeem Bloomfield and Jaheel Hyde, Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez and Luis Enrique Zayas and T&T’s Akani Hislop.

The award that was announced on Friday was a fitting birthday present for the player who celebrated his 20th on Sunday.

He was also congratulated by the Leeward Islands Cricket Association.

Barbados’ Hayley Matthews was named the Junior Sportswoman of the Year.

Meanwhile Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde copped the Rising Star award while his compatriot Shericka Jackson was the female Rising Star of the year.

Alzarri Joseph made his Test debut against India in August this year

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21

SPORTS

Carib Beer T20 is back O

ne of the most anticipated cricket tournament, the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/ Carib Beer T20 tournament, is set to enter its third edition soon, as was disclosed at the launch of the event at the ANSA McAL Trading head office at Beterverwagting yesterday.

The event is expected to get underway subsequent to the rainy season to provide full entertainment to the delight of the spectators.

It is usually one of the most exciting and competitive event on the GCA’s calendar where new talent emerge and traditional players are challenge above their norms.

To date Police Sports Club and Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) in that order are the two winners of the event while Georgetown Cricket Club finished as runners up on both occasion.

Every season the event seems to get bigger and this season is expected to be the same as all the first division teams under the GCA’s umbrella are expected to have preparation in place.

President of the GCA,

GCA/Carib Beer T20 launched! GCA President Roger Harper receives the sponsorship cheque from ANSA McAL Trading Ltd Human Resources Manager Sheldon Hazelwood in the presence of Marketing Manager of the company, Robert Hiscock

Roger Harper said he is once again delighted to partner with the beverage giants to provide a tournament where the clubs and players affiliated with the association will be given the opportunity to showcase their talent.

ANSA McAL Trading LTD, Human Resource manager, Sheldon Hazelwood, noted that his entity is very pleased and happy to be associated with yet another phase.

While Marketing Manager of the company, Robert Hiscock, stated that

ANSA McAL and Carib sees sport as an integral part of development, particularly for young people and since it is also an important part of Guyanese culture there is no other way for the company to show its support.

The tournament usually draws top cricketers from all part of the country, who find themselves as temporary players in the Georgetown units. Admission to all matches will be free so patrons are encouraged to come out and support cricket in the city.

RHTY&SC to name Play Park in honour of late Executive President Desmond Hoyte

S

aturday November 26, 2016 will be a historic day for the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC).

On this day one of the most cherished dreams of the leading youth and sports organisation would be fulfilled when a family recreational park will be open to the general public. The Gizmos and Gadgets First Division and Pepsi Under-19 teams of the RHTY&SC, MS would officially open the Hugh Desmond Hoyte Memorial Recreational Family Park.

The opening of the Park would be the 400th project/ activities for the Club for 2016 and would bear the name of the Club’s first official Patron who served from 1990 until his death in 2002 and was the second Executive President of the Republic of Guyana.

Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that the Family Recreational Park was a special gift to the township of Rose Hall as part of the 46th anniversary celebration of Guyana’s smallest town.

The RHTY&SC in September 2016 organised a series of activities to mark the anniversary and these include an opening ceremony/parade, youth career fair, medical outreach, day of sports, Rose Hall cuisine festival, educational competitions, public concert, pub-

Former President of Guyana, the late Hugh Desmond Hoyte

lication of a booklet on the history of Rose Hall, tourist poster, public exhibition, dancing competition and steel-band concert, among others.

The Family Recreation Park was scheduled to be opened in September but was delayed due to reasons beyond the control of the club and the cricket teams.

The Recreational Park consists of a large benab, flower garden, slides, swings, seesaws, seating accommodations and billboards with social messages, among others. The long serving Secretary/CEO stated that the main objectives of the Park are to provide clean entertainment for families, to promote social cohesion among residents, to allow families to bond together, to pro-

mote the Say NO to Drugs, Suicide, Crime and Say Yes to Life, Education and Sports Messages and also to attract visitors to the township. The two Cricket Teams under the supervision of the Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster spearheaded the project. The management of the RHTY&SC, MS would like to express gratitude to the Region 6 RDC, Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Social Protection, Amerally Sawmills, Associated Construction Services, Nand Persaud Co Ltd, Kris Jagdeo Construction, JR Engineering, Micheal Rengasami, R Nauth and Family, Food for the Poor (Guy) Ltd and Asst Commissioner of Police David Ramnarine for the role they played in making the playfield a reality.

Former Executive President Hugh Desmond Hoyte is widely regarded as the person who inspired the RHTY&SC, MS to expand its activities to include charity, youth development, community development, educational, social and religious, among others, with the main aim of making a positive difference in the lives of youths, the elderly and less fortunate.

Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawerence would officially open the playfield on the 26th of November at 3PM.

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

wednesday, november 23, 2016

Achilleion Tri Nation, Zimbabwe

― Bishoo likely to replace Benn

W

hen West Indies started their tri-nation campaign against Sri Lanka at Harare, the latter was the favourite but the Caribbean side won that clash to go atop the points table. The lads in the maroon then went on to tie against the host Zimbabwe and maintained the lead on the standings.

In today’s clash there will be no favourites but balanced sides vying for a final’s berth on the back of a triumph.

The West Indies fast bowlers have so far done an outstanding job at the top and depth of the innings.

Shannon Gabriel continues

TEAM

Mat

West Indies

3

Sri Lanka Zimbabwe

to bowl fast and has been accurate in most of his spell while Jason Holder, the best of the pacers in the two matches and Carlos Braithwaite have been on par to contain the batsmen and pick up wickets at regular intervals.

The spinners are yet to adapt to the conditions and though they had a satisfactory performance in the first game there have been too many loose deliveries for this level. Sulieman Benn is seemingly losing form as games go by and his average per wicket continues to climb. A change for in-form leg spinner Devendra Bishoo over the left arm spinner Benn

would not be a bad option if there is any change to the team.

Shai Hope is leading the batting department, he has the only century in the tournament so far and will be looking to maintain consistency as he try to make an input on the international arena as he has done at the first class level.

West Indies batsmen has generally applied the basics, they are batting in partnerships and utilizing the overs. However, they are lacking in three areas. They are not rotating the strike as often as they should, the opening stand is yet to give them a good start and the fire power at

the depth overs is absent. If the West Indies improve on these areas then they will comfortably achieve what they set out too.

In recent matches prior to this series Sri Lanka’s top and lower order batsmen, to some extent has been intact but the middle order is yet to prove its solidity. Nevertheless, today’s game is the ideal opportunity for such, once given the opportunity.

Meanwhile the pace bowling trio of Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal have bowled in the right areas with the support of new comer Asela Gunaratne, however, there

Won

N/R

Pts

Net RR

For

Lost

Tied

Against

1

0

1

0

7

+0.620

484/100.0 422/100.0

3

1

1

0

1

7

+0.485

320/74.3

3

0

1

1

1

4

-1.420

411/100.0 412/4.3

381/100.0

Devendra Bishoo (in blue) is likely to get a nod ahead of Sulieman Benn in today’s decider while Jason Mohammed will have to await his opportunity a little longer

has not been enough support from the spinners neither the batsmen to give them what they are looking for. A win.

West Indies; Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shane Dowrich, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder (capt), Shai Hope, Miguel Cummins, Evin Lewis, Devendra Bishoo, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Jason Mohammed Sri Lanka; Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga (capt), Kusal Mendis, Shehan Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dasun Shanaka, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffery Vandersay

Excitement mounts as ultimate showdown approaches

GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power National U-17 League

Grove stun Jaguars ― Rd 1 concludes Saturday

― Stag neck and neck in last lap

Grove Hi Tech and Circuit Ville Jaguars battle for possession

T

he final two matches of the first round of the East Bank Football Association (EBFA) of the inaugural GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power National Intra Association Under-17 League is set to conclude on Saturday at the Grove Playfield.

Kuru Kururu Warriors will lock horns with Agricola Red Triangle from 15:00h with the penultimate match of this round set to bring together Diamond United and CV Jaguars from 13:00hrs.

The Warriors and the Jaguars are in with a chance of ending this round in second place behind leaders Grove if they can take full points from their opponents while Agricola and Diamond can also do their morale loads of good if they can close out with a win as well.

Two potentially exciting matches are on the tables. The second round which will start in January would be played minus two teams, Mocha Champs and

Friendship. Mocha only showed up for one match whilst Friendship which had initially signaled their intention to participate, never showed up.

The EBFA executive has since taken a decision to drop both teams and will seek to work with them to ensure that they are able to straighten out their challenges so that the youths in the respective areas can be able to play in subsequent

TEAM

P

age group competitions.

Meanwhile, Grove Hi Tech closed out this round as they started, with a win that also saw them maintaining their unbeaten record and the only team to hold a flawless record. Second half goals from Jacob Garnett and Rasheed Evans carried Grove to victory against a tough and ever improving Jaguars side.

The Yarrowkabra based, Linden Soesdyke Highway

W

L

D

GF

Jaguars were all over the Grove side which started the game with just 8-players. While they looked vulnerable in the opening half, Grove, which eventually played at full strength, weathered the early raids from the Jaguars to come out victors.

The second half was all Grove as they controlled play even while the Jaguars let in two easy goals as a result of lapses in defence.

(EBDFA)

GA

GD

POINTS

Grove Hi Tech

8

8

0

0

22

2

20

24

Soesdyke Falcons

8

5

3

0

21

8

13

15

GK.K Warriors

7

4

2

1

23

10

13

13

C.V Jaguars

7

4

2

1

13

9

4

13

Agricola Red triangle

7

4

3

0

15

13

-2

12

Diamond United

7

3

3

1

8

14

-6

10

Herstelling Raiders

8

3

4

1

11

29

-13

10

Mocha Champs

8

1

1

0

2

14

-12

3

Friendship

8

0

0

0

0

16

-16

0

Left to right: Stag Beer Brand Coordinator Lindon Henry, Grasstrack championship 2016 organiser Sheik Yaseen, and racers Steven Nobrega, Jerry DeSilva and Ravin Rajkumar

R

avin Rajkumar will lead a group of racers heading into the final segment of the 2016 Grass track Championship at Ogle on Sunday.

Standing strong on 65 points after the first leg, Rajkumar, will have to endure some perfect if not close perfect endings in his races if he is to triumph overall. He is closely followed

by Andrew Wong (60pts) in second while tied on 30 points in a distant third are Ray Rajkarin and Steven Nobrega.

The latter definitely is not a contender who should be written off because on a good day he could be more than spectacular as he was when he dominated Aruwai dirt track to win all seven races several months ago.

The event is expected to provide lots of thrills and exhilaration and was yesterday given boost by ANSA McAL through its Stag Beer brand. Due to the beverage company support a raise is now expected in the prize money for each race.

According to event organizer, Shiek Yaseen, prior to Stag’s support cash prices were ranged between $20,000 to $5,000 for the first through to fourth place finishers, however, that will be updated soon since Stag is onboard.

Stag Beer Brand Coordinator Lindon Henry said it is a proud moment for his entity to fund yet another sport event. Races are scheduled to start at 11:00h on Sunday and there will be a total of 11 events.

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, november 23, 2016

23

Development of sport a major priority – Minister Henry ... GTU President urges athletes to aim for Olympics

T

he 56th Ministry of Education, Guyana Teachers’ Union National Schools Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships was officially declared open at the National Stadium Providence on Tuesday morning by Minister within the Ministry of Education, with responsibility for sport who enlightened the gigantic crowd that sport a is major part priority for her administration.

Minister with responsibility for sport, Nicolette Henry has demanded that sports be intertwined in the education system

By Romario Samaroo and Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) President, Mark Lyte.

During her speech, Minister Henry said that “the development of sport is a major priority” for her administration adding that she believes “Sport is an important tool for human development and that is why in May 2015 after coming into office the decision was made by the administration [A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change

The Under-12 girls taking on each other in the 400m heats

The spirit of the game! The female cyclists share a light moment after some gruelling competition

In excess of 1500 participants from across the 15 districts of this great nation flocked to the National Stadium where the highly anticipated Track and Field aspect would commence after the conclusion of the March Past and presentations from Minister Henry

Coalition] to merge sports with education.”

While addressing the athletes, Minister Henry continued to expound on the ideology of sports being integral to the education system defining sport as “a universal language and powerful medium for social and eco-

nomic change.” Saying that sport “can be used to educate others in ways nothing else can do,” and it is no surprise that “Sports is arguably the only forum that can bring people together for a common goal” as she gave the example of an international cricket match bringing together people from all

walks of life, religion and race.

Similarly, Lyte highlighted the fact that we all need to work hard to achieve a common goal, in the same breath thanking the organizers, parents, teachers and sponsors for their commitment which has helped to produce stalwarts who represented us up to the Olympic level.

The GTU President acknowledged the position that we have not achieved much success at the highest level, nor have we produced Track Athletes to actually win at these contests but never the less, these possibilities are birthed right at events like this and it may very well be soon enough that we have an Olympic gold medalist emerging from the country.

Judging on the developments made, Lyte said that “it is important to embrace the changes that happened over the years,” noting the Olympic swimmers who benefitted from the move to the National Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal, and the change for the first time for cycling to the inner circuit of the national park from the grass in previous years.

Based on the move to the National Park, Lyte pointed out that it was not only unfair for the cyclists to com-

pete on grass locally and then compete internationally on tracks but it was cruel.

Lyte then further predicted that it is his vision to one day see a championship where “teachers will have their own as well as junior and senior athletes,” recognizing that “It is time we remember that our young athletes are important to us.”

Meanwhile, Minister Henry indicated that the current administration has pumped funding into sports, highlighting a number of developments.

“We must not forget the important role sports play not only for social cohesion and national development but in education as well as a result allot of attention and finances has been put towards the enhancement of our sporting facilities, provision of sporting gears and equipment, training of athletes and inclusion of sports in schools curriculum.”

The Minister also made the comparison of sports and education by saying that it is a “Well known fact that there is a correlation between sound mind and healthy body and if we are to produce mentally alert, energetic children they must be involved in sports.”

Similarly the GTU President pressed this administration to place more

emphasis to sports in schools urging that “it is time for it to be included in the school curriculum.”

Lyte, said to much applause of the audience, asked that we all work together for a common goal and remove these instances where we have athletes not getting to enhance their talents as we “have too many talented to allow to fall to waste side.”

Immediately following the speeches where Minister Henry declared the Championships open, it was District 10 (Upper Demerara/ Kwakwani), who are the defending champions, symbolically lit the Championship torch which is a long standing tradition of nationals.

With Swimming done and dusted, cycling awaiting a 40KM boys and 25KM girls road race to be completed, all attention is on Track and Field with the first day (Tuesday) having in excess of 70 event heats going off including Javelin, Discuss, Shot Put and 400m races across the various age ranges.

The medal ceremony from events on Monday were also done at Providence.

The gates open from 09:00h daily and admission is free.

Wednesday, november 23, 2016

Sports is no longer our game, it’s our business

guyanatimesgy.com

MoE/GTU 56th National Schools Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships…

Defending champions District 10 symbolically lit the torch that will remain blazing throughout the championships

Development of sport a major priority – Minister Henry P23

― GTU President urges athletes to aim for Olympics The 15 districts participating lined up after the traditional march past

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