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Guyana gets new Chinese P2 Ambassador

– country hailed as “reliable partner” to Guyana’s development

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Issue No. 3085

Thursday, January 5, 2017

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Magistrate P10 recuses self from Carvil Duncan’s case

Page 17

GPL worker falls off rotten pole, dies Heavy rainfall batters rice crop in Region 2

Antigua-bound Guyanese busted with cocaine at Ogle

Page 17

Page 7

See stories on pages 2&13

Friendship “cockfight double murder”

2 remain P9 in custody, Police hunt 1 other $146.3M for feasibility P9 study on new Harbour Bridge

WCD villages under water P14

...as Region remains under water

DPP orders inquest P11 into former cop’s death Bartica Massacre trial

Red House fiasco

Joey Jagan wants Govt excluded from managing CJRC Page 3

…says matter should have been handled differently

Amaila Falls Project

Govt wants a green energy fund for US$80M from Norway Page 7

…no definitive position on hydropower site

“Hit the floor, take cover!” – Police witness P8 recalls …hid under bed as gunmen executed attack

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana gets new Chinese Ambassador – country hailed as “reliable partner” to Guyana’s development your tenure as Ambassador,” President Granger said.

In addition to a ‘green’ growth development focus, the President noted that the two countries share common values, such as mutual respect for each other’s territo-

rial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, cooperation for mutual benefit, respect for treaties and international law and the maintenance of peace and security. As such, Guyana and

China have enjoyed fruitful and cordial relations over the past 45 years.

Meanwhile, newly accredited Ambassador Jianchun, who replaces Ambassador Zhang Limin, said Guyana is a blessed and beautiful coun-

try with great potential for development. He noted that as the countries prepare to celebrate 45 years of diplomatic ties this year, opportunity must be used to forge new bonds and deepen ties between the two nations.

Heavy rainfall batters rice crop in Region 2 – fields under water President David Granger greets new Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Cui Jianchun at State House on Wednesday

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resident David Granger on Wednesday accredited the newest member of the diplomatic corps; Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Cui Jianchun, noting that the country, which has had some 44 years of diplomatic ties with Guyana, has been a “reliable partner to Guyana’s development”.

In the presence of Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, the new Ambassador read his letter of credence, stating that Guyana continues to play a significant role in regional integration and upholding sovereignty.

“Guyana is an important country in the Caribbean region. Since independence, Guyanese have made relentless efforts to uphold sovereignty, develop the economy and improve people’s livelihood and made remarkable achievements. Guyana has been actively engaged in the process of regional integration and played a unique role in international and regional affairs.”

Meanwhile, President Granger said Guyana continues to look to the People’s Republic of China for cooperation and assistance since that country shares similar sustainable development goals.

China is currently pursuing its 13th Five-year Plan (2016-2020), which is aimed at the development of a ‘green’ economy by introducing ‘green’ low-carbon series of industries; expanding sustainable energy sources; extending forest protection and establishing a ‘green’ development fund. President Granger said the two countries are embarking on a common path and as such, they can look to each other for cooperation and support.

“China has been a reliable partner to Guyana in development…Guyana’s own ‘green’ agenda is consistent with China’s objectives. Guyana is establishing a ‘green’ state with emphasis on the protection of our environment, the preservation of our biodiversity, the provision of eco-tourism and ecoeducational services and the promotion of practical measures to ensure climate adaptation. Guyana, this year, will place an additional two million hectares of its territory under conservation. We are committed to a low carbon, low emission trajectory of development. Guyana looks forward to intensifying cooperation in the adoption of clean, green and low-carbon technologies and renewable sources of energy during

C

onsistent heavy rainfall in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) has left several rice fields along the Essequibo Coast overflowing with water and currently rice farmers have to incur additional expenses to pump the excess water from their fields.

Rice farmers are however hoping that Government, as well as regional officials are paying keen attention to and examining the struggles they are faced within the industry.

Farmers, particularly from Hampton Court, Golden Fleece, Perseverance, Good Hope, Suddie, Johanna Celia, Windsor Castle, Devonshire Castle, Lima, Coffee Grove and Riverstown, are affected by the high accumulation of water. Currently, rice farmers from these communities have been forced to pump water at the cost of $5000 per hour and this has been going on for close to one week.

"This is our livelihood we have to continue to fight for it, we have to survive, we fear we lose our crop so we have to do all we can to ensure we save our crop so we can sustain our families," one rice farmer from Hampton Court related.

Assistance

In light of the farmers spending additional money on their rice crop, many of them are calling on Central Government to intervene and assist them with fertiliser or

Fallen rice plants due to heavy rainfall

even fuel to save the industry. Rice farmers are therefore calling on the major rice stakeholders – the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA) – to represent their interest and lobby with Central Government for necessary assistance. When asked if they are receiving field visits from any of these stakeholders, many farmers said not on a regular basis.

"How long we don't call them they don't show up, rice farmers are struggling in this country alone and we feed the world," a farmer related.

Farmers at Golden Fleece are calling on the Region Two Administration to send an excavator to assist in the cleaning of the canal. According to them, an excavator is already in the area but needs an operator. Currently over 3000 acres of young rice plants are under water.

Water being pumped out of rice lands

Most of the rice plants were battered by heavy rainfall, resulting in fields being flooded, compounded with overflowing canals and trenches. Rice farmers are questioning what the regional officials were doing dur-

ing the dry season and what preparations were made to accommodate the rainy season.

Many of the access dams leading to rice cultivated areas are reportedly in deplorable conditions.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, January 5 – 10:00h-11:30h and Friday, January 6 – 11:00h-12:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, January 5 – 08:55h-10:25h and Friday, January 6 – 10:05h-11:35h.

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

Red House fiasco

Joey Jagan wants Govt excluded from managing CJRC … says matter should have been handled differently

WEATHER TODAY Weather: Thunderstorms with light rain showers can be expected in the morning, while heavy showers can be expected in the afternoon.

Partly cloudy skies can be expected in the evening with temperatures ranging between 24 degrees Celsius and 27 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly to Easterly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 09:40h and 22:10h reaching a maximum height of 2.41 metres and 2.38 metres respectively.

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Dr Cheddi Jagan

Low Tide: 03:07h and 15:39h reaching minimum heights of 0.77 metre and 0.83 metre respectively.

r Joey Jagan, the son of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan who had endorsed the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, wants Government excluded from the management of any research centre in honour of his father.

Jagan Jr shared his opinion on the controversy during an exclusive telephone interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday, even as both

ing overall that “it is just a strange situation.”

However, he expressed dissatisfaction with the approach of the Government in the matter, particularly with representatives invading the property and hauling down the sign bearing the name “Cheddi Jagan Research Centre” despite the court order preventing them from taking such actions.

“The Government going and ripping down my father’s name and throwing it to the ground, I disagree with that. Things should be handled a different way,” Dr Jagan stated.

Moreover, he believes any research institute estab-

“The Government going and ripping down my father’s name and throwing it to the ground, I disagree with that. Things should be handled a different way,” – Joey Jagan

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sides of the political divide continue to be at loggerheads regarding the best outcome for Red House – a national monument which is now symbolic of a man who is widely regarded in Guyana as the “Father of the Nation”.

Joey Jagan described the entire development as “cloudy” and “hazy”, not-

involved in things like that.

That should be done by people who love Cheddi Jagan and who want to give to his name,” he said.

Red House, which is currently occupied by the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC), sits on Government land and the building itself belongs under the remit of the National Trust of Guyana.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government had leased the property to the CJRC for $1000 per month for 99 years to be used to promote research into, and publish materials on the life, work and ideas of Dr Jagan.

lished in honour of his father should not have the involvement of the Government of the day.

“It should be a privately operated, something in the name of Cheddi Jagan to do research. That shouldn’t be with the Government.

Why should the Government be part of everything? I don’t understand that.

Government shouldn’t be

But the APNU/AFC Government is seeking to reclaim ownership of Red House and President David Granger has issued an order for the lease to be revoked based on advice from Attorney General Basil Williams that the lease is invalid on the grounds that it was not sanctioned by the President of the day.

However, this order was blocked by the High Court after former Attorney General Anil Nandlall and former Education Minister and

Dr Joey Jagan

Attorney Priya Manickchand filed legal proceedings on behalf of the stewards of Red House.

But Government is maintaining that the order was not granted because the lease has already been revoked.

The matter will be called up again on February 20.

Nonetheless, as a result of the High Court’s intervention, Red House is still being occupied by the CJRC until an order is given to do otherwise.

The actions taken by the Government have since been described as “executive lawlessness” and of being reminiscent of the emblematic “hooliganism and bullyism” of the People’s National Congress (PNC).

Meanwhile, Dr Jagan Jr told this newspaper that it is disheartening that in all the years the CJRC has been functioning, he was never once invited to participate in the management or any event in memory of his father. (Devina Samaroo)

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thursDAY, january 5, 2017

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

For more apprentices

T

he ongoing travails at the University of Guyana have only been exacerbated with the hiring of the new Vice Chancellor, who evidently is determined to impose an administrative structure that will straddle the institution like a Colossus, but like the original, would be little more than for “show”. However, we should not only raise the issue of the governance and administrative structures at the institution; instead it is more than high time we interrogate the very purpose of a university for our country. This is not to say that we do not need a university – but the question that must be asked is, “What exactly is the University supposed to produce for our country?”

We would then be joining a larger debate and discourse that is ongoing in the developed world. They have been forced into this introspection by their economic collapse and with no light evident at the end of their tunnel, they realise that much deadwood will have to be jettisoned.

They have discovered that there is quite a lot of deadwood in the halls of academia. And they are not only questioning just the number of PhDs that are being churned out in obscure fields and even more obscure topics. A hard look is being cast at the relevance of the undergraduate programmes.

The bottom line, the powers that be are asserting is whether the degree awarded is worth the investment. On their own, since the 2008 crash in the US, students have been asking this question. One of their responses has been to desert programmes in ‘humanities and ‘language’ in droves and head into fields that are directly connected to available jobs such as in the health field. Suddenly, nursing schools are “in”.

In Guyana, the need for this sort of introspection seems to have escaped both students and administrators. Do we actually need all those graduates in Sociology or International Relations? Are we not just creating trouble for ourselves when the young (and not so young) graduates in these fields cannot find employment? Are we not embarrassed we waited until we struck oil to talk about programmes and qualified individuals in that field? How are we going to make our Technical Institutes more than just dumping grounds for the less academically inclined?

But one development in the US that addresses the need to provide academic knowledge and industry-specific training points in a direction in which we have some experience and which we hopefully can introduce quite quickly: apprenticeships. And since we tend to only copy what is common ‘overseas’, maybe our educators may take notice.

In recent decades, we seem to have bypassed the apprenticeship system, introduced in the sugar industry since the fifties. We’ve opted for some nebulous “internship” system that really does not provide the background and training for its graduates to step into any available jobs.

They still need further academic “university” teaching.

Apprenticeships, of course, combine paid on-the-job training with college-level or trade-school classes. The Booker’s Apprenticeship Training Programme (now GuySuCo’s) was immensely successful for decades and can become the nucleus for expanding our apprenticeship schemes.

Graduates from this institution from the seventies and eighties can be found in USA and Canada occupying very senior technical positions with distinction.

Apprenticeship programmes make economic sense because specific companies – such as the ones in the budding information and communication technology sector, for instance – do not have to look outside the country or towards retraining to fill their personnel needs. In the US, the Department of Labour is trying to expand apprenticeship models in high-demand fields like health care, green jobs, transportation, and information technology.

Another problem with the Technical Institute model that we are expanding at present is that it does not offer the graduates the assurance of specific skills that employers need. The apprenticeship scheme, by combining the employers with the institutions and the specific training, removes that doubt. It also allows corporations to more directly absorb the costs of training their employees.

Swathed in fog, the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Umbria, Italy, looks beautiful as the setting sun bathes its towers in light (BBC News)

Preserving legacies of national figures Dear Editor, On February 1, 2014, Mr Eusi Kwayana wrote in a letter titled, “It is now open for us to conclude that the Committee of Supply process is high farce”: “In the Guyana Constitution as in most constitutions, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, the three ‘powers’ of government, overlap. It is the work of the political culture to keep them from intruding unlawfully on one another’s jurisdictions.”

Perhaps for this reason alone – or to avoid being accused of overreaching, the Government should have tak-

en the Red House matter to the court. The court, rightfully, now gets to decide on the matter.

Institutions created to preserve the legacies of national figures, including Dr Cheddi Jagan, ought to be handled with a regard for their rich historical value. In this case, the Government has blundered in a manner that is best symbolised by the Centre’s sign that has been wrecked. It is a powerful symbol.

Insensitivity regarding artefacts associated with Dr Jagan is further displayed when the President issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the

centre to relocate, that very week in which he said in a Christmas message to “Work towards creating a culture of peace and goodwill – the values of Christmas.”

Peace by eviction and goodwill by revocation. Maybe the Government has no one to advise it on cultural or historical issues. Or such a person was ignored. Money for nothing. The initial release on the issue from the Ministry of the Presidency said the President considered the advice of the Attorney General.

No one else is mentioned.

Forty-eight hours to remove materials associated with

Dr Jagan are likely to invite the destruction of historical artefacts, resulting in an irreplaceable loss for all Guyanese.

The Government, under pressure, will claim it was concerned about the safety of such materials. It may even argue that the President is a historian and values historical documents. In this case, however, the weight of the evidence (ie, 48-hour ultimatum to relocate) which itself is now historical, says otherwise.

Sincerely, Rakesh Rampertab

Rice is an orphan child to APNU Dear Editor, Rice production fell by more than 13 per cent for 2016, the first negative growth since 2005 when the La Niña big flood impacted on rice. The Minister of Agriculture stated that rice production was about 600,000 tonnes; in fact, it fell below 600,000, interrupting the annual record-breaking performance which started in 2008. Beginning in 2011, the rice industry recorded a new single crop record every crop for nine straight crops, in spite of some serious inclement weather. The first crop of 2015 was the largest single crop production in our history, at about 375,000 tonnes. The successive new records for a single crop for rice production were interrupted in the second rice crop for 2015, with production falling to below 300,000 tonnes.

There was also a 20 per cent reduction in acreage under cultivation from about 93,000 tonnes to less than 71,000 hectares. Both 2016

crops have failed to reach 300,000 tonnes. The downward trajectory in rice production has forced APNU/ AFC into silence. Unlike the end of 2015 when they boasted about rice production, their 2016 rice posture is a virtual silence.

In 2012, rice production topped 400,000 tonnes for the first time. In 2013, rice production exceeded 500,000 tonnes. In 2014, production reached 635,000 tonnes.

After the first crop in 2015, production exceeded 375,000 and Guyana was above pace to attain the targeted 700,000 tonnes. The actual 675,000 tonnes in 2015 was another record, continuing the work of the PPP Government. But, the second crop of 2015 was the smallest since 2011.

The Minister of Agriculture boasted that they secured 35 destinations as markets for Guyana’s rice. Let him inform the nation which one of these is entirely new and which one the Government secured in 2016.

All of the 35 destinations for

Guyana’s rice in 2016 existed in 2014. It is true we sold more rice to Europe in 2016, but that market was there and we voluntarily reduced our export to Europe between 2009 and 2015 because we chose Venezuela as a more profitable export destination.

We lost Venezuela by the end of 2015 and so we were forced in 2016 to send more rice to Europe, a lowerpriced market. The Mexico market which we always supplied with a very small amount was claimed by PM Nagamootoo to be a new large market towards the end of 2015. He took personal responsibility and credit, but it never materialised in 2016.

In 2016, farmers had minimal to no support for drainage and irrigation. The MMA was less responsive and the pumps that operated in several regions functioned below optimal capacity. Often, there was not enough fuel and just as often, the pumps were down, in need of main-

tenance and repairs. Nonsupport to cope with drainage and irrigation problems, low paddy prices, late payments, high fertiliser prices and paddy bug infestations have combined to cause reduced acreage under cultivation and lower production.

In short, we ended 2016 with rice farmers under assault, not just ignored, but penalised in 2016. APNU/ AFC is clueless when it comes to rice and have foolishly removed all measures farmers benefited from. With no support for early payment, low paddy prices, nonsupport for affordable fertilisers, no support for drainage and irrigation, and removal of taxes on machinery and fuel and increased VAT on electricity and water, rice farmers confront a bleak and dreary 2017. I expect further reduction in rice production in 2017.

Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy Former Agriculture Minister

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Tit for tat

Dear Editor, I recall very recently an insurgence of anger when His Excellency, President David A Granger went to Parliament to give a speech and the Opposition was a no show at the sitting. From this incident, there erupted a strong debate on the respectability of the Opposition holders of office and their alleged disregard for political cohesion. One Government Minister on his Facebook page had posted on the need for respect and courtesy, especially to the President. The official then went on to say that “kid gloves will be taken off since an unwritten line will be crossed - the actions which the general public has been demanding (punishment for crimes of corruption) will go into a higher gear, building cases against alleged corrupt officials will now be at the forefront.”

I am personally terrified about such statements since they do not speak on peace and justice, but auras vengeance. It is known that through the Court and law system, any Government can always find incriminating information using their resources, whether locally or foreign, and this can be seen in countries like Brazil and Colombia. Today, most governments last for about two terms and if one goes after the other, such actions are almost always reciprocated when political power is reversed. To my memory, the previous Government in 1992 did not have a campaign on charging and imprisoning the officials of the

former Government even for the period of the 70’s and 80’s.

As the National Chairman of the Universal Peace Federation Guyana Chapter, a concerned citizen, a trained Police technologist, a social person who loves and respects everyone, it worries me that our agenda for national cohesion and the dream of our ancestors for political unity is quickly fading. No government stays in power forever. His Excellency President Granger in my opinion is a man of peace. I believe that he should ignore the political commentators who wish for him to destroy his legacy of care for posterity. President Granger has been repeatedly calling for peace through social cohesion, by most admirably reaching out to the Opposition for talks on national issues. I am terrified that this neatly written agenda is being erased by certain factions.

The undersigned is qualified in conflict resolution, a trained court mediator along with my colleague, General Secretary of the Universal Peace Federation and Chairman of the InterReligious Organisation (IRO), Reverend Ronald Mc Garrell.

We are both most willing to broker a communication channel between this country’s two political entities.

Guyana can only benefit.

Attempts are already being made to charge and prosecute officials of the previous Government. While the executive arm can find information very easily, the law

is supreme, and the judicial system should be allowed to freely do its job. If the now Opposition returns to power, I fear a tit-for-tat through social and political avenues.

A new Government if previously threatened will likely resort to an aggressive route and this will cause a catastrophe for Guyana. We must identify the individuals or groups who do not have the interest of Guyana at heart, the ones with ulterior motives and the political saboteurs. We must never destroy the contributions of the ones that came before us.

So charging the leader of an entity or putting such a person into trouble with the law will only cause the non-right thinking supporters of that party to sabotage the country and people. As Former President, Mr Hugh Desmond Hoyte (my hero) famously said, “slow fire, mo fire”, after which we saw buildings go up in flames causing the tax payers of this country millions upon millions of dollars.

I believe this kind of revenge politics will have disastrous consequences for Guyana, and on the psyche of our people. This Government is still fresh and I believe that the direction of ‘going after’ should not be taken against another. Instead, ‘going together’ should be pursued to inscribe it into the minds of the Guyanese people. Let us make amends with each other. If one regime tits, the other should not tat.

Yours sincerely, Hajji Roshan Khan

Poor performance of IMC Dear Editor, I must remind my fellow citizens that GuySuCo produced 231,145 tonnes of sugar at the end of 2015.

In commenting on performance, GuySuCo’s CEO in his year-end media engagements concluded that the 2015 performance was due to “lack of political interference” stating that “we have been allowed to manage”.

He further posited that “My mind is now on 2016. We will be working to achieve 240,000 tonnes so we have to start refining our strategies to be able to be on top of our game.”- Guyana Chronicle, December 26, 2015.

As a result of the 2015 performance, Government renewed a contract for the Interim Management Committee (IMC). In this renewal process, in January 2016, the IMC (CEO and Finance Director) approved an adjustment to their own benefits package to obtain a higher net income as compared to when they assumed office in June 2015. Today, they receive G$5.2 million and G$2.5 million per month respectively apart from other perks. The IMC

may refute this and should provide evidence to justify their claims.

After telling this nation in December 2015 that no political interference contributed to increase in sugar production, engineering a bigger net income for himself and sidekick and reassuring everyone that they will be “on top” of their game to achieve 240,000 tonnes sugar in 2016, the IMC delivers a production of 183,652 tonnes. A whopping 24 per cent drop from target of 240,000 tonnes and a 25-year low for this Government. Incidentally, it is also this Government’s second lowest production record while managing the country in different eras. This performance bears every characteristic of gross incompetence of the IMC and misguidance to Government. The IMC is a well-paid, incompetent, clueless and visionless twoman team.

Fellow citizens, if Government is unwilling to ask, it is time that we ask ourselves some questions: 1. How long will this administration continue to pay

an IMC G$7.7 million per month for this level of incompetence?

2. Did GuySuCo’s CEO deliberately mislead this Government and nation on its 2016 estimate of 240,000 tonnes?

3. What caused a drop of 24 per cent from target? ElNino and Strikes are worn out excuses of the past.

4. Did heavy political interference in management cause this 24 per cent drop in production (using the CEO’s reasoning)?

5. Is this CEO working towards closing the industry without providing alternative employment to poor workers? Is this his vision?

6. What is the projected sugar production for 2017?

Will this CEO mislead Government and mismanage again?

Editor, I ask our Government and specifically our Honourable Prime Minister and Public Security Minister who were very vociferous on sugar prior to assuming office to answer these questions.

Sincerely, Sookram Persaud

PPP supporters do not want legacy of Dr Jagan tarnished Dear Editor, Reference Roshan Khan’s letter on January 4, 2017, headlined “Red House should be for all presidents”, I wish to advise Mr Khan that, while PNC Presidents have a multitude of places named after and monuments dedicated to them.

The latest being a museum dedicated to former President Hoyte, while many valuable pieces of large tracts of real estate were given to PNC affiliates and party at its Congress Place and other locations, its leaders and supporters, as well as five acres of prime freehold property to the Burnham family by then President Bharrat Jagdeo, which they sold for in excess of $200 million – the only landmarks honouring Dr Cheddi Jagan is the national airport (the naming of which received much cen-

sure from PNC supporters, regardless of the fact that, along with Burnham’s various names, his children and wife had entire communities named after them, and the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC).

Mr Khan knows full well the histories and realities of all the Presidents and why Dr Cheddi Jagan’s supporters would never countenance, much less accept their revered Dr Jagan’s memoirs to be housed in the same building as those of the other presidents. It is their emotional, psychological and spiritual connection to a man they revere second to God: So Mr Khan is being disingenuous in his call for the PPP to give in to the coalition’s demands on this matter.

Red House and, by extension, the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC) is

the one place where PPP supporters can connect with the memories and be strengthened by their supreme leader.

Housing the other presidents, whom they see as opposite in everything that Dr Cheddi was and stood for would be sacrilege in their eyes.

If PPP leaders had accepted these conditions of the Granger-led Administration they would have immediately courted the anger and condemnation of their supporters worldwide, which would have had dire consequences for the unity of the Party.

The Jagan memories, legacy and spirit are the bonding factor of the PPP as a political party.

Sincerely, Parvati PersaudEdwards

Sasenarine Singh needs to state his position on domestic violence

Dear Editor, This is my final response to Mr Sasenarine Singh in our polemics, which began after his dishonest commentary on the 2017 National Budget.

In his letter that was published on Thursday, December 29, 2016 under the caption: “The role of Ogunseye in Walter Rodney’s death,” he again demonstrated the shallowness of his arguments and his desperation to get himself accepted as a person of worth. More so in his recent letter on Sunday, January 1, 2017 captioned ”APNU+AFC should not trust Tacuma Ogunseye”, Singh has sank more deeply into his cesspit of lies and deception.

It is clear that on each occasion he has written in response to me, all Singh has done is to confirm that he is without integrity. It has become very clear that this man lacks self-respect.

In his attempt to prove his obsession with his “gold

coins” arguments directed at me, he has erroneously credited me with an annual income at SARU of G$8 million. What a thing. If this income is at all true, it would place me on a level that is nearly equal to that of a junior minister in the coalition Government and higher than many of the specialist advisers to the Government. Sase Singh has demonstrated that he is such an idiot, he does not even know how to lie convincingly. It is clear that he has no respect for truth.

As I said at the commencement of my letter,

this is my final response to Singh. I am, therefore, taking this opportunity to offer Mr Singh a last chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the public. Since he did not object to my reference to him as an anti- corruption advocate, I now ask him if his sense of corruption extends beyond economics and into the social domain? If his answer is yes, I call on him to tell the nation what is his position on domestic violence?

Sincerely, Tacuma Ogunseye

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Foundation

Is guilt affecting how Science says you manage your parents of child’s screen time? successful children – guilt plays a powerful role in how well parents manage children’s electronics use have these things in common

By Victoria L Dunckley, MD

O

ften when I work with families, I begin by discussing the physiological impacts of screen time, how those impacts translate into particular symptoms, and how implementing an extended electronic fast (or screen fast) can help reset the brain and clarify what’s going on.

But let’s face it. Hearing that video games, texting, and the iPad might need to be banned from a child’s life does not fill one with glorious joy. Rather, for many parents, it creates an immediate urge to either to discredit the information or to work around it. Sometimes when I tell parents what they need to do in order to turn things around, I sense that I am losing them . . . their eyes shift away, they squirm, and they look like they’re in the hot seat. This is not what they want to hear. It’s as though I’m telling them they need to live without electricity — that is how ingrained screens are in our lives. The inconvenience of what I’m proposing can seem overwhelming.

Aside from dreading the inconvenience, though, discussing screen-time often produces other uncomfortable feelings that create resistance in moving treatment forward. For example, some folks feel as though their parenting skills are being judged, or that their efforts or level of exhaustion are under- appreciated.

But by far and away the biggest driver of parental

resistance when it comes to addressing screen-time is guilt. This guilt can arise from a variety of sources, which can be loosely divided into two categories: guilt over anticipating causing the child pain, and guilt over what the parents themselves have or haven’t done.

Notably, the mere antici-

Guilt over taking away something the child uses to cope, escape, or soothe themselves – especially if the child is lacking in friends, hobbies, imaginary play, or screen-free interests Guilt over becoming overly dependent on using screens as an “electronic babysitter” to get things

escape Guilt over not wanting to spend time playing/interacting with the child, not wanting them to be in the same room, or for having negative feelings toward the child or the child’s behaviour (anger, resentment, annoyance, dislike, etc); these are feelings that parents— particularly mothers—tend to perceive as socially unacceptable

The nature of guilt

pation of feeling guilty is enough to create resistance.

Sources of parental guilt that can interfere with healthy screen-time management: Guilt over taking away a pleasurable activity and anticipating the immediate despair/anxiety/distress/anger that removing devices will trigger Guilt over seeing or imagining the child being “left out” socially or not being “in the loop” (whether this actually happens or not)

done or have some quiet time Guilt over the realisation that parents themselves may have contributed to their child’s difficulties – knowingly or unknowingly – by introducing devices in the home or not setting limits, for example (“what have we done?”)

Guilt over realisation that adults model screen time habits for children, and that the parent’s own screen time is out of balance or being used to avoid issues or

Guilt is an exquisitely uncomfortable emotion, and, as such, it is human nature to avoid feeling it. To further complicate things, guilt can be conscious (person is aware of guilty feelings) unconscious (person is unaware and uses defence mechanisms to make the feelings more palatable) or somewhere in between.

For example, with the first three guilt sources mentioned above, parents are usually able to readily identify these feelings without much difficulty. However, for a parent going through a divorce, there might be an additional layer of unconscious guilt about the child being abandoned (emotionally or literally) or about the extra burden of living in two homes. This guilt may be compounded by the parents’ own early traumas or abandonments, and be out of proportion to the actual circumstances. This can lead to overindulgence which then turns the power dynamic in the home upside down. (Excerpt from psychologytoday.com)

(Continued from Wednesday)

By Drake Baer and Rachel Gillett

They’ve attained higher educational levels A 2014 study lead by University of Michigan Psychologist Sandra Tang found that mothers who finished high school or college were more likely to raise children that did the same.

Pulling from a group of over 14,000 children who entered kindergarten in 1998 to 2007, the study found that children born to teen moms (18 years old or younger) were less likely to finish high school or go to college than their counterparts.

Aspiration is at least partially responsible. In a 2009 longitudinal study of 856 people in semirural New York, Bowling Green State University Psychologist Eric Dubow found that “parents’ educational level when the child was eight years old significantly predicted educational and occupational success for the child 40 years later.”

They teach their children Maths early on A 2007 meta-analysis of 35,000 preschoolers across the US, Canada, and England found that developing Maths skills early can turn into a huge advantage.

“The paramount importance of early maths skills — of beginning school with a knowledge of numbers, number order, and other rudimentary math concepts — is one of the puzzles coming out of the study,” coauthor and Northwestern University researcher Greg Duncan said in a press release. “Mastery of early Maths skills predicts not only future Maths achievement, it also predicts future reading achievement.”

They develop a relationship with their children A 2014 study of 243 people born into poverty found that children who received “sensitive caregiving” in their first three years not only did better in academic tests in childhood, but had healthier relationships and greater academic attainment in their 30s.

As reported on PsyBlog, parents who are sensitive caregivers “respond to their child’s signals promptly and appropriately” and “provide a secure base” for children to explore the world.

“This suggests that investments in early parentchild relationships may result in long-term returns that accumulate across individuals’ lives,” coauthor and University of Minnesota psychologist Lee Raby said in an interview.

They’re less stressed According to new research cited by Brigid Schulte at The Washington Post, the number of hours that moms spend with children between ages three and 11 does little to predict the child’s behaviour, well-being, or achievement.

What’s more, the “intensive mothering” or “helicopter parenting” approach can backfire.

“Mothers’ stress, especially when mothers are stressed because of the juggling with work and trying to find time with children, that may actually be affecting their children poorly,” study coauthor and Bowling Green State University sociologist Kei Nomaguchi told The Post.

Emotional contagion — or the psychological phenomenon where people “catch” feelings from one another like they would a cold — helps explain why.

Research shows that if your friend is happy, that brightness will infect you; if she’s sad, that gloominess will transfer as well. So if a parent is exhausted or frustrated, that emotional state could transfer to the children.

They value effort over avoiding failure Where children think success comes from also predicts their attainment.

Over decades, Stanford University Psychologist Carol Dweck has discovered that children (and adults) think about success in one of two ways. Over at the alwaysfantastic Brain Pickings, Maria Popova says they go a little something like this: A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens that we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled.

A “growth mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of un-intelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities.

At the core is a distinction in the way you assume your will affects your ability, and it has a powerful effect on children. If children are told that they aced a test because of their innate intelligence, that creates a “fixed” mindset.

If they succeeded because of effort, that teaches a “growth” mindset. (Businessinsider.com)

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thurSDAY, january 5, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Amaila Falls Project

Govt wants a green energy fund for US$80M from Norway … no definitive position on hydropower site

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overnment wants to establish a green energy fund for the $80 million, which was earmarked for the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) in order to finance other renewable energy initiatives as it continues to deliberate on the best course of action for Guyana regarding hydropower.

This is according to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, who during a press conference on Wednesday said that Government has not taken any definitive position on the AFHP, simply because there are countless other sites available for the establishment of hydropower.

Patterson explained that the green energy fund, which will be managed independently, could disburse the US$80 million as grants to Government agencies and private individuals that apply to conduct green initiatives.

He said this setup would be ideal while Government works on a pathway for its renewable energy agenda instead of having the funds sitting with the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB).

Norway since 2009 had supported the Amaila Falls Project, depositing US$80 million in the IDB, earmarked for Guyana’s equity share in Amaila Falls Hydropower Inc, a Special Purpose Company for realising the project.

But in December 2015, Government announced that the US$80 million which had been earmarked for the Amaila Hydropower Project could go to other energy initiatives in the event that the project does not go ahead.

Meanwhile, Minister Patterson said that the independent fact-based assessment conducted by Norconsult does not define Amaila as the best option for renewable energy in Guyana but rather the “most advanced”.

He explained that there are 67 other sites in Guyana that have potential to generate hydropower, but because Amaila is the only site with the most dated feasibility report, it makes it the most advanced.

Patterson noted too, that if Government were to pursue Amaila, it would mean other renewable energy plants would need to be established to compliment the

An artist's impression of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project

power provided by Amaila.

On these grounds, he explained, Government is still deciding on the best way forward.

The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration, since its days in the Opposition, has been strongly against the Project – which could have been providing clean, reliable and affordable energy in the next few months had it been given the green light from the inception.

N o n e t h e l e s s , Government had announced that the report by Norconsult will determine whether the project will move forward.

The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, which

started under the previous Administration, was the flagship project of the fiveyear forest protection partnership.

Guyana was expected to earn up to US$250 million in performance-based payments based on an independent verification of deforestation and forest degradation rates and progress on REDD+ enabling activities. REDD+ is a global initiative that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Norway had transferred US$80 million to the IDB for the project, but when the APNU/AFC Government took office, it said that proceeding with the project would be irresponsi-

Antigua-bound Guyanese busted with cocaine at Ogle

A

Guyanese woman who was destined for Antigua, was on Wednesday morning nabbed at the Eugene F Correia International Airport, Ogle, East Coast Demerara, with close to 10 pounds of cocaine in her suitcase.

The 24-year-old woman from Georgetown was about to board a Liat flight early Wednesday morning when members of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) detected the anomalies while her suitcase was in the scanner.

A search was subsequently conducted during which several packets of the

illegal substance were unearthed in the sides of her suitcase. She was immediately arrested and is assisting ranks with their investigations.

The illegal substance was taken to CANU’s headquarters where it was weighed and amounted to 4.2 kilograms. Charges are expected to be laid shortly.

Over the years, the drug enforcement units have been making strides in curtailing the amount of illicit drugs passing through Guyana’s main ports of entry.

Only recently, the Guyana Police Force burnt $196 million in illicit drugs

– $147 million in marijuana and another $47 million in cocaine. The 294.2kgs of marijuana were netted over a two-year period between 2015 and 2016, following a number of busts.

On the other hand, 55.3kgs of cocaine was dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. Of the amount, 40 kilos were discovered in false bucket bottoms at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on March 19, 2015. Another six kilograms was liquefied and placed in El Dorado five-year-old bottles to be exported to the United States.

ble. Norway had urged the Government to consider the merits of the project, as Guyana stood to lose the US$80 million earmarked if it failed to come up with a plan for transformational renewable energy sources that can be realised in the next few years, hence a review of the project was conducted.

Government contends that the report validated their stance that Amaila is not the best option but upon reading the report, it can be easily concluded that Norconsult favours the immediate execution of the project.

According to the report, the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project is

the only realistic path for Guyana moving towards an emission-free electricity sector, by developing its hydropower potential and the fastest way forward is to maintain AFHP. The report outlined that the first needed step for revitalising the project is a decision by the Government to maintain AFHP as the priority project in the transition to a green generation regime, as recommended in the "Initial Study on System Expansion of the Generation & Transmission System" of 2014, and reiterated and embraced by Government in "Guyana's Power Generation System Study" of June 2016.

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thurSDAY, january 5, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

IN THE COURTS Bartica Massacre trial

“Hit the floor, take cover!” ― Police witness recalls … hid under bed while gunmen executed attack

A

t Wednesday’s hearing of the Bartica massacre trial at the Demerara High Court, Police Corporal Osborne Paul, currently stationed at the Port Kaituma Police Station, Region One (Barima-Waini) recalled the harrowing account detailing how he hid under a bed in the barrack room as the terror gang executed the heinous February 17, 2008 attack at Bartica.

Corporal Paul, then a Constable at Bartica, testified that on that fateful night, he was watching a game of 20/20 cricket in the barrack room along with Lance Corporal Kush, Constables Fredericks, Benjamin and others, when around 21:40h he heard loud explosions, presumably gunshots that lasted for roughly a minute. Thereafter, the witness heard someone say: “Hit the floor, take cover!”

Paul told the 12-member jury that after he heard the order, he laid flat on his stomach and crawled over to the kitchen and hid under a bed that was in the dining area. While being under the bed, the Police witness recalled that two persons dressed in military attire were standing in front of the kitchen door. Paul told the court that the attackers were holding long guns that extended below their waists.

He later explained that he was about 20 feet away from

The Bartica Massacre accused

the men who carried the guns.

“I could not recognise their faces. I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the same long guns; it lasted for about one minute,” Corporal Paul testified to the court.

He also told the court that sometime afterwards; he got up and ran over to the Inspector’s quarters on the second floor of the building. Paul explained that at this point, he met Inspector Sutton and the two went to Sutton’s room where he heard a Police Land Rover vehicle, the only one in Bartica at the time, drive off. Some 10 minutes later, the said vehicle returned and proceeded in the direction towards the stelling.

The Police witness pointed out that at this time, he

was hiding under the bed with Inspector Sutton when he heard “another set of explosions”. This time the shooting spree lasted for approximately three minutes.

“I then got up and ran out of the building using the back stairway and headed to the back gate,” Paul testified.

He also told the court that at the back gate, he saw the motionless body of Lance Corporal Zakir with what appeared to be blood and in the kitchen area he saw Constable Fredericks lying face down with what appeared to be blood oozing from his body.

“I then saw Lance Corporal Zakir in a seated position behind a cupboard with what appeared to be blood oozing from the left side of his head,” Corporal

Paul told the court.

The Police witness further testified that he ran out of the building, accompanied by other ranks attached to the Bartica Police Station. Under cross-examination by Defence Counsel Roger Yearwood, the Police Corporal testified that there were no lights in the kitchen area but that light shone from the barrack room.

Under cross-examination by attorney Sahphier Hussain, Paul testified that he was looking at cricket for 20 minutes before he had heard the explosions. The 12-member jury also heard that the Police witness was not carrying a firearm at time of the attack on the Police Station.

The witness was also cross-examined by Defence Counsel Peter Hugh. State Prosecutors for the case are Diana Kaulesar and Stacey Goodings, and the matter continues before Justice Roxanne George, SC this morning.

Mark Williams, Dennis “Anaconda” Williams and Roger Simon are the three accused standing trial for the February 17, 2008 attack where 12 persons lost their lives. Two others, Celbert Reece and Michael Caesar both pled guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 420 and 1080 years imprisonment respectively.

Linden fatal stabbing

2 more witnesses testify

T

he Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the death of Leolyn Sullivan,

a resident of Phase 1B Wisroc, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Beribce),

Dead: Leolyn Sullivan

on January 18, 2016, continued before Magistrate Clive Nurse at the Linden Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. Sullivan was allegedly stabbed to death by her reputed husband Clarence Carter.

The defendant is representing himself in the case.

Two witnesses, who were also the couple's neighbours, were called by the prosecution and the first witness, Melinda Isaacs Moore, testified that on the day in question, she was awakened by the sounds of crying and loud banging on

her door and upon checking, she realised it was the daughter of the deceased who began to relate what was happening with her parents.

After venturing outside, Moore said she observed the deceased lying at the back of her yard covered in blood and she tried to keep her awake by calling out her name. She was subsequently rushed to hospital. The witness was crossed-examined by the accused.

The second witness who was called on Wednesday, another neighbour of the deceased, Husbert Johnson, testified that on the day in question he was awoken by his wife and as he got out of bed and onto his front patio, he heard someone screaming for help.

He said he then observed the deceased’s daughter, Saskia Lewis, in his neighbour’s yard. Johnson told the court that he jumped off his patio and rushed to the child’s aid. He related to the court his role in assisting the now dead woman to hospital.

The case will continue on January 11.

The colour of politics…

E

…and Government of the people

veryone knows that “politics is dirty”. But “dirty” comes in all colours and it’s particularly irking when the colour green gets dragged in the dirt as it is being done by the Ministry of the Presidency right now. Green is, after all, the colour that’s now associated with a clean environment and all that it takes to make that real. So how could Prezzie drag the colour into Guyana’s gutter politics? A clue is the shade of green the Government chose – that of the slush found in the gutters.

Your Eyewitness, of course, is referring to Prezzie painting the Office of President – THE ENTIRE BUILDING!! Green!! Obviously, it has nothing to do with the environment and being clean, but everything to do with green being the colour of the PNC from its inception. Ever since this PNC-led Government squeezed into office, it has gone on a painting binge. During the Inauguration and the Independence celebrations, citizens were shocked to witness the extent to which green and yellow became the leitmotif of every event.

Even the bouquets laid at the Independence Arch were green and yellow!

Since then, the “PNCing of Guyana” took on a whole new meaning as the yellow was dropped like a hot, ripe plantain from the programme! But to make the point even stronger where they were coming from with the PNC’s green, the Government started planting green palm trees in a “beautification” programme across the country. The message that Guyana was “PNC territory” was moved from the subliminal to the symbolic – while some might’ve missed that green was the PNC’s colour – everyone knows the palm tree is the PNC’s symbol. And the palm tree is planted in the ground!

But painting the Ministry of the Presidency Building green takes this PNCing to a whole new level – the very lowest possible level. Even though the President is elected by one section of the society, he’s supposed to be President of ALL Guyana. To now paint the building in which he is housed with the green of the PNC is to now signal that this President is now President of only that section that placed their Xs for him. This is a sad day for Guyana.

While Burnham had signalled his desire to co-opt the judiciary back in the day when he flew the PNC’s flag over the Court of Appeal, and rigged the elections to remain in office, he was never this blatant about his partisanship.

What the cloaking of the presidential building with the PNC’s green has done is to tell all those who don’t vote for the PNC – “Go to hell! – we don’t care!!!”

…and respect for the Opposition

When the PPP won the elections of 1992, their supporters called for justice to be done after the humiliations, expropriations and appropriations they and the country had suffered for 28 years. But Cheddi Jagan insisted there’d be “no recriminations; no revenge” against the PNC. So folks like Robert Corbin were never prosecuted and sent to jail over the “electricity barge” scandal.

And we come to this PNC-led Government that from the word go launched “forensic audits” threatening to prosecute and jail PPP figures if they found the slightest infraction. Up to now, they haven’t been able to find a single instance. So still seeing red, what do they do?

On a wing and a prayer when it comes to the legalities, give 48-hour notice to evict the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre from Red House! Then send goons from the Ministry of the Presidency to physically throw them out!

And who says politics can’t get lower than a snake’s belly? Not when the PNC sees red!

…and cowardice

Cowards such as Ruel Johnson have a “yellow streak” on their backs. Rather than protest he wasn’t asked for his advice as “Cultural Advisor” by the PNC-led Government on the lease to Red House – he takes pot shots at the PPP! Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

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thurSDAY, january 5, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Friendship “cockfight double murder” $146.3M for 2 remain in custody, Police hunt 1 other feasibility study on new A harbour bridge

The feasibility study for the new Demerara River crossing will commence soon

T

he feasibility study for the new Demerara River crossing will be done at the cost of $146.3 million (US$706,091), according to Head of the Works Services Group (WSG) under the Public Infrastructure Ministry, Geoffrey Vaughn.

At the Ministry’s end of year press conference on Wednesday, Vaughn explained that following a proposal submitted from Dutch company, LievenseCSO, Cabinet granted its approval for the company to conduct the feasibility study and design of a new bridge across the Demerara River, linking Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Four (DemeraraMahaica).

The WSG Head noted that the study is scheduled to commence on January 15 and will last for a duration of six months.

The contract between the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) and the Dutch company was signed on December 9, 2016, during which Arie Mol, Advisor to the CEO of LievenseCSO, committed to ensuring that all schedules are met and completed on time.

Floating at 1.25 miles, the Demerara Harbour Bridge is a strategic link between the eastern and western banks of the Demerara River. It facilitates the daily movement of a large numbers of vehicles, people and cargo.

The structure was built in the 1970s, but was opened in July 1978 with the expectation of lasting only 10 years. However, some 37 years later, it is still floating.

In 2013, the Bridge Corporation, in collaboration with the then Public Works Ministry, had carried out a pre-feasibility study. That study concluded that a ‘fixed high level’ bridge was the best option to pursue.

The study will consid-

er the model, the tender documents and the sites proposed, and it will also make the final pronouncement on whether or not the construction is something that the country can go forward with. (Vanhu Manikchand)

s Police continue their investigations into the shooting to death of Desmond David Singh and Azrudeen Hussain at Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on New Year’s Eve, two men remain in custody and investigators are hunting one other suspect.

This is according to a senior Police rank, who explained that the two men who were arrested in North Ruimveldt, Georgetown are assisting in the investigation. He added that detectives are working with several leads and are using every bit of information provided to them to crack the case.

The post-mortem examinations performed on the two men proved that 24-year-old Singh of Lot A 1 Orange Walk, Bourda, Georgetown dies as a result of multiple gunshot injuries.

He was allegedly shot 15 times by the two men, who emerged from between several vendors’ stands in the area.

On the other hand, Hussain, 24, of Little Biabu Mahaica Creek, East Coast

Dead: Azrudeen Hussain

Demerara (ECD) died from a single gunshot injury.

He was reportedly shot by a stray bullet. The two men had just left a “cockfight” at Humphrey Street, Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on New Year’s night when they were killed.

It was reported that after the “game cock fight” ended in a draw, Singh left and was reportedly walking towards the public road as Hussain drove out of the street.

With less than two meters to reach the public road, Singh stopped Hussain to

chat and it was during this time, two armed and masked men emerged and opened fire in Singh’s direction.

After being hit by the first four bullets, Singh reportedly dropped to the ground where the men allegedly stood over him and riddled his body with more bullets. The gunmen then escaped in a waiting motorcar.

At the time of the shooting, Hussain’s brother, nephew and two friends were in the car. After they realised the final-year pharmacy student at the University of Guyana was shot to the neck, his brother took control of the car and drove to the Georgetown Public Hospital where Hussain was pronounced dead on arrival.

After the shooting inci-

Dead: Desmond David Singh, also called “Fix Up”

dent, Police acted on information received and went to a house at North Ruimveldt where they arrested two men. Police are continuing their investigations.

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guyanatimesgy.com

thurSDAY, january 5, 2017

News

Dynamic cancellations

Refunds available, once official complaints are made – PS gine shell. The “backup” airplane, he continued, was activated for travel but after three flights to Guyana, it developed mechanical problems with the flaps and had to be taken in for maintenance.

Gouveia said it was believed that the secondary plane’s mechanical problem would have been shortterm, but upon further technical checks, they discovered that would not be the case. As a result, the

D

Stranded passengers of Dynamic Airways December last

espite the widespread outrage over the recent cancellations of Dynamic Airways flights during the Christmas holidays, no complaints have been officially lodged with the local authorities by the affected passengers.

During the Public Infrastructure Ministry’s yearend press conference on Wednesday, Permanent Secretary Balraj Balram disclosed that the Ministry currently holds a $40 million bond from the chartered carrier that can be claimed by disgruntled passengers seeking refunds.

However, he noted that in order to benefit from the bond, the passengers have to first file complaints with the relevant authorities, such as the Consumers’ Protection Agency.

“The bond is a case where passengers claim a refund, the Ministry examines those claims and then effect that claim against the bond. In this case, this did not happen… As far as we know, no person has filed a claim or any refund or anything,” Balram noted.

Holiday travel plans for hundreds of passengers in Guyana and New York were

disrupted as the air carrier was forced to cancel at least two flights the weekend before Christmas after two of its aircraft developed problems.

Some 600 travellers were stranded from Saturday to Monday at the John F Kennedy (JFK) Airport and at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

The airline’s local representative, Captain Gerry Gouveia had explained that on December 17, a ground handling truck at the JFK Airport crashed into the airplane and damaged its en-

company had to pull an aircraft from its Ecuador route to shuttle the stranded passengers.

In light of the delays which saw persons spending as much as three days at the airports waiting for flights, a report of the situation was submitted to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) by Roraima Airways on behalf of Dynamic Airlines.

“We are now reviewing that particular report to

see: one, if its factual and two, we’re looking at some strategies that we may have to implement in order not to have such a disruption of this magnitude again.

But those are under review at the moment,” GCAA Director, Egbert Fields pointed out.

According to Fields, after the review of the report is completed, a determination will then be made on steps to be taken going forward.

Magistrate recuses self from Carvil Duncan case

T

he City Magistrate presiding over the former Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Board Director Carvil Duncan’s $27 million fraud case on Wednesday recused herself.

Magistrate Leron Daly recused herself with the aim of not seeming biased on the matter.

Duncan’s case first appeared before Magistrate Daly in August 2016 and in November 2016, Daly ruled that he was found innocent of another charge of theft of $900,000 from GPL. However, the first charge against him, which

GPL Board Director Carvil Duncan

is still before the court, is yet to be determined, and

as such, Daly recused herself indicating that she does not want her judgment on the matter to be biased.

In that charge, Duncan, along with the former Deputy CEO of GPL Aeshwar Deonarine, are jointly charged for conspiring to steal $27.7 million in January of 2016, money belonging to GPL. Deonarine, however, fled the country and an arrest warrant was issued.

The matter is set to return to court today before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan who will reassign the case to another Magistrate.

thursDAY, january 5, 2017

guyanatimesgy.com

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News

DPP orders inquest into former cop’s death

The pressures A from peers

B

e honest, how susceptible are you to the pressure of your peers? I’m confident most of us would like to believe that we make our decisions independently and that we would not choose to behave in a way based predominantly on others’ opinion or influence, but the reality is that at any or all stages of our lives, most of us will, at some point, succumb to Lorraine Ince-Carvalhal peer pressure.

Peer pressure is the direct influence on people by their peers: when individuals allow themselves to be encouraged to follow their peers by changing their attitude, values or behaviours to conform to the influencing group or individuals. It is perhaps during our teenage years that we are especially predisposed to peer pressure.

As young children, we are more self-absorbed and less likely to be acutely aware of our peers. Our worlds are more introverted and family tends to be the influencing factor in our lives. As we grow, the esteem of our peers becomes much more sought-after owing to it being a time when our identities are forming and there is often uncertainty and vulnerability attached to that development.

Later in life, we are more likely to feel more secure in ourselves and values and better equipped to stand against alternate views. Of course, human nature leans towards seeking favour or fitting in with our peers at any age and getting older does not always equate with being confident enough to make autonomous decisions independent of our peers. It takes a strong will and constitution to be secure enough to go against the majority of a group when opinions or values are contrary.

Deviant behaviour at school, socially and personally, is heavily influenced by our peers in many cases. Who we choose to associate with and the environment we grow up in are not always of our choice, and in circumstances that are beyond our control, we can often find ourselves among peers that do not have the same morals and values we may aspire to. The pressure to fit in can set us on paths we may have otherwise avoided.

The extent that some people will go to in an effort to keep in with their peers can be dangerous. In fact, so many criminal activities are born out of peer pressure, from petty crimes to the more serious offences. Juvenile detention centres and prisons are full of people who were following their peers and felt unable to follow their own beliefs due to pressure, either intentional or otherwise.

It stands to reason that personality will play a factor in a child’s ability to deal with, manage and overcome the difficulties associated with peer pressure, but regardless of the inherent traits, a child can be given the tools and attributes that allow them to weather the stresses of peer influences.

The importance of equipping your child to deal effectively with negative peer pressure is invaluable to their successful development. It all comes back to instilling and encouraging a confidence and emotional intelligence that will allow them to be assertive in the face of detrimental opposition while maintaining productive friendships and peer relationships. It is all very well to tell a child to stand up for their beliefs and not to conform to values or behaviours that they themselves are uncomfortable with. However, if we fail to teach them about being able to do so in a firm but non-assuming way, a way that supports an amicable outcome where possible, we could be setting them up for a difficult transition with their peers.

There is often a misconception that peer pressure is a negative influence, but actually there is also positive peer pressure that can be extremely beneficial to young people. If they are in environments amongst peers who are continually striving to do well, display positive outlooks and principles, support group members during challenges and inspire each other within their group, positive peer pressure can encourage each member to conform.

Do not overlook the instances of peer pressure at any stage of a person’s life and accept your own part in succumbing or exerting pressure within your own associations. If you have the power to be a positive influence on your peers; use it. If you find you are having or allowing a negative impact on peers, learn to accept your reasons for the part you do play and do not be afraid to evaluate and change your standing at any time necessary.

lmost eight months after exPolice officer Ryan Vaux was shot while attempting to escape from Police custody, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advised that an inquest be held into the fatal shooting.

This was disclosed by Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Jairam Ramlakhan on Tuesday. In the release, he noted that the investigation conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) was completed and advice was sought from the DPP. On May 9, 2016, 36-year-old Vaux of Lot 80 Norton Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, attempted to escape from Police custody but was shot while driving away causing him to crash his car into a trench at Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

According to reports, sometime around 01:10h, ranks of a mobile Police patrol along Broad Street, Montrose, ECD, recognised a man running behind a motor vehicle with

Ex-cop: Ryan Vaux

registration number PSS 6835.

He was reportedly shouting that he had been robbed of a sum of money by persons in the vehicle.

The Police subsequently intercepted the motor vehicle with Vaux at the steering wheel and another male passenger in the car.

A search was conducted on the two men and $21,000 in cash was found.

The male passenger and the robbery victim, Deryck Persaud, 46, of Cummings Lodge, ECD, were placed in the Police vehicle and the motor vehicle driven by Vaux was escorted to the Sparendaam Police Station.

While on their way there, Persaud informed the Police that he had been robbed by the two men who were armed with a handgun and a knife.

Upon arrival at the Sparendaam Police Station, the ranks approached Vaux, but he brandished a firearm and drove off in the vehicle in an attempt to escape. Police discharged a round hitting him to his body.

Still bent on escaping, Vaux continued driving for a short while before crashing in the vicinity of the Vryheid’s Lust Access Road.

12

news

thurSDAY, january 5, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Senior Counsels given instruments of appointment

A

mid heavy criticisms from the political Opposition, President David Granger on Wednesday presented the instruments of appointment to nine lawyers and judges, elevating them to the status of Senior Counsels, an exercise he said he intends to carry out annually.

The post, which has not seen a selection in over 20 years, saw the appointment of Clifton Mortimer Llewellyn John, a senior lawyer with more than 60 years service in Guyana.

The others include Neil Boston, Charles Fung-fat, Justice Roxanne George, Rafiq Khan, Rosalie Robertson, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, Justice Claudette Singh and Vidyanand Persaud.

President Granger, delivering remarks told the

President David Granger poses with the newly appointed Senior Counsels at State House on Wednesday

appointees that their elevation in the legal field is a symbol of nationhood, as it celebrates the values on which the country stands.

“It is of course our integration which identifies us as a nation of ideals and ideas…. Your elevation to the status of Senior

Counsel is the manifestation of the idea of nationhood, a mark of respect of recognition and reward for the accomplishment you

have given and will continue to give selfless service to this nation,” the Head of State told the honourees.

The average individu-

According to him, he had applied for the status since under the Donald Ramotar Administration.

“Eight of us (names) were proposed and President Ramotar was contemplating appointing us but that never materialised. The President requested the judges of the Supreme Court and the judges would then nominate the names, the Chancellor then forwards the names to the President. The list may go, but that does not mean you will be selected,” he told journalists at State House.

Justice Alison Roxane McLean George-Wiltshire, admitted to the Bar in October 1990, was awarded for service as a Senior State Counsel, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and Director of Public Prosecutions. She said she had applied since 2003. She said there was

Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge sharing a light moment with Justice Roxane George moments after she received her instrument of appointment

al service of the person receiving the award is some 37 and a half years. The accumulated service of the nine persons is 338 years.

“Just imagine the amount of knowledge that is concentrated in these nine awardees today. You embody a massive amount of legal education and experience...We are proud of you,” he said.

Granger said the elevation also constitutes for him, as President of Guyana, an important personal obligation. “It is my duty to pay respect to those to whom respect is due.”

The Head of Stated said “the nation encourages you through precept and example, to serve your country and profession. The nation is proud of you all, the nation celebrates your achievements.”

Neil Aubrey Boston, who was admitted to the Bar in November 1982, served in the field for over 34 years.

He said he is very much honoured to have been selected from the pool of applicants.

a list in 2014 and was surprised that her name was still on the list. “I did not expect it because years have passed”.

Vidyanand Persaud, called to the Bar in London in July 1976 and admitted to the Bar in Guyana in October 1976, was awarded for his service as an arbitrator in disputes and in private practice for 40 years.

Rosalie Althea Robertson, admitted to the Bar in November 1983, was awarded for her service as a Legal Advisor and Corporate Secretary for 33 years and as Registrar of Lands.

Justice Claudette Margot Cecile Singh, called to the Bar in London in 1973 and admitted to the Bar in Guyana in 1976, for her service as the Deputy Solicitor General and as a Puisne Judge and a Justice of Appeal and her leadership in spearheading the Modernisation of the Justice Reform Project, and as the Guyana Police Force’s Legal Advisor.

news

13

thurSDAY, january 5, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Region 2 remains under water Currently eight pumps along the Coast are in operation, while one pump at Charity is out of order which has resulted in many houses being inundated with water.

According to Regional Vice Chairperson, Nandranie Coonjah, rangers, overseers, sluice and pump attendants are working assiduously to bring the situation under control. She reported that flood relief structures at Good Hope and Riverstown were opened to assist in the smooth flow of

water.

The Red Lock, Golden Fleece, Somerset and Berks, and Dredge Creek drainage structures were also opened to assist residents.

According to Coonjah, during her interaction with residents from various communities, they all requested assistance from Central Government since most of them had to finance emergency works. Families have lost poultry, furniture, groceries and crops due to intense flooding.

Emergency work done by a family to stop water from entering their home

An inundated yard at Windsor Castle

T

he yards and lower flats of the homes of several families living along Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) are currently under water as excessive rainfall and poor drainage has led to extensive flooding on the Essequibo

Coast.

Among the severely affected villages are Charity, Windsor Castle, Devonshire Castle, Hampton Court, Danielstown, Anna Regina, Suddie, Red Lock, Queenstown, Capoey and Taymouth Manor.

A resident at Onderneeming showing where his yard stops and the trench begins

According to a resident from Windsor Castle, Pamela Ganesh, her house has been under water for over one week. She has since placed sand bags to stop the flow of water.

Another resident, Ramnarine Jeet, from Windsor Castle said his home has been inundated

since the Christmas holidays. He was forced to purchase concrete blocks to prevent the flow of water. He lost several cassava roots, plantain suckers and pepper plants to flooding. Many lands remain under water and from all indications, the water is not receding.

(Indrawattie Natram)

14

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

News

Red House fiasco

CJRC optimistic of strong legal case against Govt

Car plunges into trench at Agricola

…to mobilise support, sensitise public

T

he Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC) believes it has a strong legal case against the Government with regards to the battle for Red House, Kingston Georgetown.

Government has terminated the controversial lease agreement with the CJRC for Red House but the organisation has successfully managed to stop the State from taking possession of the building through legal means.

The matter will be called up again on February 20 where both parties are expected to argue the law to prove why Red House belongs to either side.

Government contends that Red House belongs under the National Trust because it is a national monument and because the lease agreement is invalid, however the CJRC contends that the termination of the lease agreement was unconstitutional.

In a statement to the

media on Wednesday, the CJRC said the action taken

by President David Granger is nothing short of an assault on the legacy of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan, who had dedicated his entire life to cause for a free, independent and prosperous Guyana.

Management “The Committee of the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre strongly condemns the unleashing of known operatives from the Ministry of the Presidency who invaded the compound of the Centre and ripped off the sign from the building even though there was no legal basis upon which such action could have been taken. It is unconscionable and highly unfair that the Centre was given a mere twentyfour (24) hours to vacate the premises and removed over fifty years of accumulated materials and artefacts, some of which are highly sensitive and delicate,” the statement read.

The Centre said several initiatives are planned by its

Management Committee of the Centre mobilise support and to sensitise the public, both local and international, on the “vindictive action taken” by the Granger administration to revoke the lease and to take possession of the land and building.

“The Cheddi Jagan Research Centre will communicate with the public from time to time on developments and the course of action that will be taken to preserve the great legacy of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan,” it noted.

The CJRC also used the opportunity to express gratitude to those organisations and individuals who stood in solidarity with them in condemning the decision taken by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition administration.

“The Centre acknowledges the overwhelming support it received from several individuals and organisations…,” the CJRC expressed.

WCD villages under water

R

esidents of a number of villages on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD) are now calling for assistance after the recent heavy rainfalls have left their villages under water.

Following calls for assistance, Vice Chairman of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) Sheik Ayube visited several communities, including Zeelugt and Tuschen New Scheme on Wednesday to listen to the villagers’ concerns.

Speaking with Guyana Times, Ayube said several villages have been under water since Friday last.

According to Ayube, during his visit, it was noticed that several yards were flooded and water had gone into several flat houses and bottom flats.

As such, he is calling for an intervention on the part of the Communities Ministry to have a “complete network of drainage carried out.”

“We need to have their

A car plunged into a trench while another motor car is badly damaged following a two-vehicle collision on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) corridor in Agricola, Greater Georgetown. Up to press time, reports remained sketchy, but Guyana Times understands that one of the drivers was under the influence of alcohol.

The other driver reportedly sustained minor injuries

Jovenel Moise it is! Court confirms victory of businessman in Haiti presidential election

I

t’s official! In just over a month, businessman Jovenel Moise is set to be installed as the new President of Haiti, ending weeks of uncertainty following the November 20, 2016 election.

An election tribunal stamped its approval on Moise’s election on Tuesday, as it ruled out allegations of massive fraud at the polls.

“There was no massive fraud in the election. There were irregularities, which did not affect the electoral process,” the tribunal reported.

Spokesman for the tribunal, Nicole Simeon, declared that Moise, who campaigned on behalf of the Bald Heads Party (PHTK) led by former President Michel Martelly, won 55.6 per cent of the

Jovenel Moise, who runs a banana export company, is expected to be sworn in on February 7

votes. His closest rival Jude Celestin only mustered 19.5 per cent of the vote.

The tribunal’s declaration is being seen as vindication for Moise, 48, who had won

the first round of the election in October 2015. Those results were scrapped after authorities ruled there was widespread fraud.

Moise, who runs a banana export company, is expected to be sworn in on February 7 and will take over from interim President Jocelerme Privert, who was appointed after Martelly left office in February last year without a successor in place.

In an interview last month with the Associated Press, Moise said his first priority would be to improve the lives of Haiti’s poor, who have been struggling to rebuild their lives following the 2016 passage of Hurricane Matthew and the catastrophic January 2010 earthquake.

(Excerpt from Caribbean360)

Mexico allows baby to be registered with maternal surnames for first time

T Heavy rainfall caused major flooding in Zeelugt and Tuschen New Schemes on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD). According to the residents, floodwater has now risen so high that it is entering their homes

drains excavated and tubes opened up because the water will not run off if this is not done”.

The Vice Chairman also highlighted to this publication that these two villages were not handed over to the Neighbouring Democratic Council (NDC) and as such,

the villages are not recipients of intervention from the NDC. He is calling for this to be done urgently by the Communities Ministry as “it is predicted that these villagers will suffer greatly if something is not done here”.

he first baby in Mexico to be officially named with the maternal surnames of both parents has been registered in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

The tradition in Latin America is to give babies two last names – the father’s surname, followed by the mother’s paternal surname.

So baby Barbara born to Jose Gonzalez de Diego and Alicia Vera Zboralska would normally have been named Barbara Gonzalez Vera, losing both parents’ maternal surnames. But to honour the maternal line, the couple won a court injunction allowing them to name their child Barbara

Babies in Mexico usually do not take their parents’ maternal surnames (Photograph: April Fonti/AAP)

de Diego Zboralska.

Court records showed the couple got the injunction on December 28, 2016, and the child was registered on Monday in the city of Monterrey. Raul Guajardo, director of public

registries in Nuevo Leon, said it was a first.

“In the history of the country, no boy or girl has ever been given the maternal surnames of the father and the mother,” he said.

(The Guardian)

thursDAY, january 5, 2017

guyanatimesgy.com

15

Around the World

New York train crash: Dozens 6 arrested over New Year harassment injured in derailment

M

ore than 100 people were injured when a commuter train derailed during rush hour in New York City, officials say.

The Long Island Railroad train went off the tracks as it arrived on Wednesday at Brooklyn's busy Atlantic Terminal.

New York's Fire Department said 103 people had reportedly suffered "non-life-threatening" injuries.

Passengers on the train said there had been a loud bang followed by a jolt that made some people on the train fall down.

The New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, said the

Dozens were injured when a commuter train derailed and hit a station in Brooklyn

train was travelling at a "fairly slow speed" when it failed to stop on time and struck a buffer at the station.

The impact was hard enough, however, to smash some of the train's windows and crease its doors.

Some of the injured were

taken away on stretchers, while others were seen sitting near the train holding ice packs to their heads.

The cause of the accident, which happened at about 08:20h local time (13:20 GMT), has not been determined.

The US Federal Railroad Administration said its investigators were heading to the scene.

Last September, a woman died and more than 100 other people were injured when a train derailed during rush hour as it entered the station in Hoboken, New Jersey. An investigation into that incident is yet to be concluded. (Excerpt from

BBC News)

Thousands more Iraqis flee Mosul battles

M

ore than 13,000 civilians have fled Iraq's Mosul over the past five days since Government troops began the second phase in a battle to retake the city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) last week, the United Nations has said.

“The average daily displacement numbers have increased by nearly 50 per cent since military operations intensified, some 1600 to more than 2300 displaced per day,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric has said.

Iraqi troops, backed by US-led coalition air strikes resumed their push to retake the northern city after a two-week lull in the operation. The military says it has taken back more than 60 per cent of the city since the offensive began in October last year.

To date, nearly 130,000 out of 1.5 million Iraqis have been displaced from Mosul and its surrounding areas due to the fighting, the spokesman added at a news briefing.

Approximately 50,000 children have also been affected in the conflict.

The UN had warned up to one million Iraqis could flee following the Mosul offensive [Reuters]

The UN refugee agency described the humanitarian situation as "dire" with food stockpiles dwindling and the price of staples spiralling, boreholes drying up or turning brackish from overuse and camps and emergency sites to the south and east reaching maximum capacity.

In a report published last week, the agency said as many as one million people are estimated to be out of reach of humanitarian assistance. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

A

t least six people have been arrested over the sexual molestation of women during New Year's Eve celebrations in the Indian city of Bangalore.

Local Police Inspector Hemant Nimbalkar said the arrests were made after several video clips were shared online showing women being attacked by men.

Police initially played down reports of the attacks, saying they had received no official complaints.

But after viewing CCTV, Police officials admitted there was "credible evidence".

The attacks took place as a crowd of 10,000 gathered in the centre of the city to see in New Year on Saturday evening.

Several women described being surrounded by mobs of men before be-

ing assaulted. One video showed two men on a motorbike attack a woman as she walked down a street.

One woman, a marketing professional who asked to be identified only as Pooja, told the BBC that she was assaulted both in the bar and as she walked to meet a friend.

Even when she formed a circle with another group of girls to try and walk to safety, "there were guys who were trying to touch here and there", she said.

"There was not a single face you could make out or who was doing it," she said, pointing out how difficult it would be to file a complaint.

"I felt helpless," she said.

"Although I have hands and legs and I could abuse and slap them, I could not do anything. I didn't know who was touching me and groping me." (Excerpt from BBC News)

Israeli PM Netanyahu backs pardon for manslaughter soldier

After disparaging United Nations, Trump and new UN chief talk

N

ew United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke with US Presidentelect Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the two had "a very positive discussion on US/UN relations", said a UN spokesman, a week after Trump slammed the world body on Twitter.

Guterres, a former Portuguese Prime Minister

and UN refugee chief who began his five-year term on Sunday, spoke by phone with Trump, who will take office on January 20, said UN spokesman Farhan Haq. "This was an introductory phone call during which they had a very positive discussion on US/UN relations.

The Secretary General said that he looked forward to

engaging with the President after his inauguration," Haq told reporters.

Trump took to Twitter to disparage the 193-member world body after the United States abstained in a December 23 UN Security Council vote, allowing the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to settlement building by US ally Israel. (Excerpt from Reuters)

French cyclist Robert Marchand sets new record aged 105

H

e may not be the fastest cyclist round a velodrome, but he is easily one of the oldest.

Robert Marchand has clocked up 105 years and now a new record for the furthest distance cycled in one hour.

The French cyclist managed 22.547km (14 miles) at the national velodrome, taking the top spot in a new category – for riders over 105.

Marchand already holds the record for those aged over 100 – 26.927km –- set in 2012.

He "could have done better", he says, but missed a sign showing 10 minutes to go.

in Bangalore

Robert Marchand, 105, sets a new hour cycling record for over one hour near Paris, January 4, 2017

"My legs didn't hurt," he told BFMTV. "My arms hurt but that's because of rheumatism."

To be fair, he had admitted before the event at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

velodrome near Paris that breaking his previous hour record would be tough.

"I'm not in such good shape as I was a couple of years back," he told AFP news agency.

"I am not here to be champion. I am here to prove that at 105 years old you can still ride a bike," he said.

Born on November 26, 1911, Marchand puts his fitness down to diet – lots of fruit and vegetables, a little meat, not too much coffee – and an hour a day on the cycling home-trainer.

A prisoner of war in World War Two, he went on to work as a lorry driver and sugarcane planter in Venezuela, and a lumberjack in Canada.

No stranger to sport outside cycling, he competed in gymnastics at national level and has been a boxer. (Excerpt

from BBC News)

Elor Azaria's family said the court had ignored evidence proving he was innocent

I

srael's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a pardon for a soldier convicted of manslaughter for killing a wounded Palestinian.

Elor Azaria, 19, at the time, shot Abdul Fatah alSharif, 21, in the head while he was lying immobile on a road.

A military court convicted the soldier after dismissing his assertion that the Palestinian still posed a danger.

The case has divided Israeli opinion. Azaria, a sergeant, will be sentenced next Sunday, Israel's military says.

There have been rallies to support the soldier, but top military figures say his actions do not reflect the values of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Netanyahu issued his call on Facebook: "I support giving Elor Azaria a pardon." He also called on the public to support the IDF. Netanyahu joins some other members of the gov-

erning coalition in calling for a pardon, including rightwing Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

President Reuven Rivlin, who makes the final decision, said he would only deal with the issue once the judicial process had run its course.

The incident took place in Hebron in the occupied West Bank on March 24.

Sharif and another 21-year-old Palestinian, Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier before troops opened fire on them, wounding Sharif and killing Qasrawi.

Footage of the scene several minutes later, filmed by a Palestinian and released by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, shows Sharif alive, wounded and now unarmed.

A soldier, identified as Azaria, is then seen cocking his rifle and fatally shooting Sharif in the head from several metres away. (Excerpt from BBC News)

16

thursday, january 5, 2017

guyanatimesgy.com

Vishnu Doerga: helping to grow Guyana’s economy, one business at a time

B

usiness Owner. Business Coach. Business Activist.

Farmer. Family man.

Feminist?! Vishnu Doerga is all that and more. The ‘Action Coach’ is passionate about spreading abundance, sharing the tools he has learnt in 17 years of entrepreneurship to help others attain business success.

“Abundance is for everyone, we don’t have to kill each other to survive,” he observed pithily. Like his dream mentor Mahatma Gandhi, Doerga is bent on achieving social change and betterment for all, through business.

The happily married father of one, who advocates working hard and playing hard and is currently working on his doctorate in entrepreneurship and his basketball jump shot while helping business owners discover ways to make their enterprises better and employees ways to maximise their capacity, was born in Nickerie, Suriname to a Guyanese father and Surinamese mother.

The trilingual Doerga petitioned his parents to move to Guyana in his high school years after realising one summer vacation in the Corentyne while

sitting in on his cousin’s classes (since his started in October) that “it was easy”. In an early sign of the strategic thinking that would come to characterise him, the young Doerga also realised that he would be able to transition straight out of high school into university, without going to college as he would need to in Suriname. And easy it was, although he now admits, with no regrets, that the Dutch way is better. After graduating with good grades, including the only Grade One in English in the school, Doerga went on to the University of Guyana to complete a diploma in mechanical engineering . But business was his destiny and continuing a 100 years-plus tradition for the men and women in his family, at the age of 19, he opened Doerga Business Enterprise, which continues to thrive today. His wife, Davitri then quit her job to take over with that business and the ambitious UG grad focused on private sector development as President of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce.

Throughout his entrepreneurial and business career, the driven high achiever

Vishnu Doerga

has been involved in the processing, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, health and beauty, environmental, education, advertising and other industries. In 2011, he was awarded the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Young Business Executive Award.

After growing successful companies, Doerga retired at 27, determined to try new things (among them lawn tennis which became his favourite hobby), but he soon found himself sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience with other

Business News

Ford Motors cancels US$1.6B Mexico plant

F

ord has said it will cancel a US$1.6 billion plant it planned to build in Mexico and instead extend operations at its factory in Michigan.

The US car giant will spend US$700 million on expanding the plant at Flat Rock. Ford boss Mark Fields said the decision was partly due to falling sales of small cars and partly a “vote of confidence” in Donald Trump’s policies.

The President-elect has criticised both Ford and its ri-

val General Motors over production of models in Mexico.

Trump earlier on Tuesday tweeted criticism of GM’s production of its Chevy Cruze model in Mexico.

Ford’s chief executive, Mark Fields, told the BBC that the main decision to cancel the plant in Mexico was because of a “dramatic decline for the demand for small cars here in North America”, allowing the company to cope with its existing plant.

But he said another factor in the decision was the “more

favourable US business environment that we see under President-elect Trump and some of the pro-growth policies that he’s been talking about”.

“That did play a part and it’s a vote of confidence that he can deliver on these things,” Fields added.

Ford is not abandoning production completely in Mexico, but is switching production of its Focus model to its existing plant in Hermosillo there to improve profitability. (BBC News)

Market statistics Cambio Rates

Gold Prices – Guyana Gold Board

Bank of Guyana Cur

Buying

Calculated at 94% purity, January 4, 2017

Selling

USD

$1165.90

GBP

$252.70

$255.92

Gross

$225,305

CAN

$154.26

$156.05

$205.98

$208.44

Net

$209,533

USD

$ 214.61

$217.38

EURO

Indicators as on January 4, 2017 Indicators

US$ per barrel

Crude Oil

$55.47

Price

USD

Rough Rice

$213.40/ton

London Sugar

$542.90/ton

Live Spot Gold

Change %

-2.43 Change %

+3.69 0.00 USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1170.00

$1170.00

Low/High

$1159.10

$1172.90

Change

+6.90

+0.59%

Business Concept – Consumer Price Index (CPI) A measure of changes in the purchasing power of a currency and the rate of inflation. The consumer price index expresses the current prices of a basket of goods and services in terms of the prices during the same period in a previous year, to show the effect of inflation on purchasing power. It is one of the best known lagging indicators.(Business Dictionary)

entrepreneurs.

Recognising that he had a gift for helping others build thriving enterprises, the passionate community-minded business advocate decided to combine the entrepreneurial acumen passed down in his father’s family and the educational prowess inherent in his mother’s to open a business consultancy to formalise the help he had been offering. Later, after some five years of research, he realised that he could extend his reach faster with ActionCOACH, which he described as the “best business coaching system, offering guaranteed results”.

ActionCOACH’s main appeal, beyond the guaranteed results which Doerga stressed, was that it had proven successful in the Caribbean – growing many regional businesses, and had an Australian mentality: work hard while enjoying your life – “the business should fund your fun”.

Doerga’s stellar combination of academic qualifications, financial resources, and proven business success set him apart from his competition for the local franchise and now some two years later, his brand is growing. His clients range from agro-processors to importers, and he is trusted by the Small Business Bureau, Scotiabank and other organisations to help the entrepreneurs they finance, succeed. The process of joining ActionCOACH is a thorough one: first, prospective clients take a free assessment after which there is a free one-onone consultation with Doerga.

Based on your responses and commitment to your own success, together a decision is made on if you are ready for any of the many courses offered; if you are not, he will advise on the next step forward.

A firm believer in the transformative power of business to improve families and communities, the business coach encourages his clients to aim for the stars and build exceptional companies that can function without the owners.

Pointing out the strategic value of ActionCOACH , Doerga says he never wants clients to feel that they wasted their

monies but that they make many times the amount spent in new revenue.

ActionCOACH is incorporating new ideas to hand clients in effect a crystal ball to determine the future trajectory of their business, added Doerga, who says his brain is his most important gadget. He plans on growing his franchise into a world leader, incorporating all the tools the parent company has acquired. This means the training of more local coaches, expansion of the already highly regarded business and busier days for the acknowledged business leader.

Spinning his laptop around to reveal his Google Calendar which basically has his life planned out… every meeting, every vacation, even two hours set aside every night for studying, Doerga says his secret to juggling 29 things at once is time management.

The most important traits for entrepreneurs, he noted, are being organised and disciplined.

“Be committed to you own success...work with all your might, obey the laws, hold yourself to a standard....”

He further advised that would-be entrepreneurs try to convince strangers of the merits of their business idea, as family and friends are supposed to encourage you and are often not the best judge of what would be a viable product. “Take the time to see if your idea is viable, and adapt to the market (if necessary)... to what customers want.” Stressing the importance of innovation, high standards, marketing, business training and complying with the law, he says persons should not “try” a business, but should put all of their effort and brainpower into making the enterprise a standard bearer – and that is the edge foreign investors have over most locals. Doerga added that business owners should not complain in the face of challenges, but focus instead on innovating and improving their companies.

Highlighting another barrier to success, the serial entrepreneur, who is also the President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and

Industry and a member of several other business and social organisations, said Guyanese have a tendency to want to own all of their business.

“There is nothing wrong with using investors’ money to finance your idea and giving them a piece of the business,” he stated.

Doerga also cautioned against starting “sunset businesses” – which have a low threshold requiring little money, knowledge or skills to start, because anyone can start one and they have a tendency to quickly die. In sharing more of his wisdom, Doerga said companies should not prematurely market their products. “… companies market too soon and can’t deliver and in the Facebook age that can be a death knell for business as one bad review – "don’t buy from that business" – gets a thousand likes ...”

In revealing yet another obstacle to business growth, Doerga, who says that his grandmothers who accomplished much in their lifetimes, working harder than any man, were his biggest influence and his daughter, his biggest inspiration, stated: “Discrimination against women is rampant in the business world.”

The visibly worked up Doerga, who moved to Georgetown so that his daughter could have access to the best education in Guyana, said he wanted her to be whatever she wanted to be, and explained that for change to happen, women have to extend themselves as far as they could go and model themselves on female leaders and CEOS like Beverly Harper and Patricia Bacchus… “but more than ever, women have to do for themselves, even if I, we , did nothing to stop discrimination; like my grandmothers, women have to go out and do.”

For Doerga, success is simply “happiness”, that is his thoughts, words and deeds being in sync.

And he is dedicated to continuing to achieving happiness and showing others the way.

Contact: 122 Parade Street, Kingston, Georgetown; 592223-5583; vishnudoerga@ actioncoach.com

Investors’ Guide

Wall Street keep gains after release of Fed minutes

W

all Street held onto gains on Wednesday after minutes from the Fed’s December meeting showed policymakers were concerned that quicker economic growth under President-elect Donald Trump could require faster interest-rate increases.

US stocks have surged over the past two months on expectations that Trump will stimulate the economy with tax cuts and infrastructure spending, and eliminate regulations in the financial industry.

But investors also worry that stimulating the economy could stir inflation and push the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more aggressively than anticipated.

“Clearly, some of the members on the committee

are taking a look at proposed fiscal changes, whether that’s tax cuts or infrastructure spending,” said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Cornerstone Financial Partners. “It’s confirmation of what people were already expecting.”

Extremely low interest rates have fuelled a stock market rally since the 2008 financial crisis and investors worry that raising rates will crimp future increases.

With just over two weeks left before Trump takes office, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching the never-beforereached 20,000 mark, investors also say they need to see evidence that his campaign-trail promises will be approved by Republican lawmakers. The S&P 500 consumer discretionary sec-

tor rose 1.31 per cent and was on track for its best day in nearly a month, helped by gains in automakers.

Both General Motors and Ford rose over four per cent after posting better-than-expected US sales in December.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with just the energy and telecommunications sectors at a loss.

Gilead Sciences jumped 3.24 per cent after the biopharmaceutical company named a new oncology chief.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 5.45-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.75-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 136 new highs and 15 new lows.

(Reuters)

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NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

3 killed in Linden- GPL worker falls off rotten pole, dies Soesdyke Highway A smash-up

Dead: Dextroy Griffith

T

hree persons were late Wednesday evening killed, while three others are critical following a two-vehicle collision in the vicinity of Loo Creek, Linden/ Soesdyke Highway.

Dead are David Primus, 52, of Lot 6 Self Help, Amelia’s Ward, and Dextroy Griffith, 25, a mechanic at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, also of Amelia’s Ward, Linden. The identity of the third victim was not available up to press time.

Griffith’s wife, 23-year-old Whitney Plowell-Griffith and Leron Mendonca, 22, of St Vincent and the Grenadines,

along with Arletta Kellman, 47, of Speightland, Lower Kara Kara, were all admitted to the Linden Hospital Complex in a serious state.

They sustained trauma and broken bones, among other injuries Reports are that Primus was driving motorcar HC 5326 and was heading to Linden, while the other vehicle, PRR 7151, was travelling in the opposition direction when they collided headon. Griffith, his wife and Kellman were all occupants of the car driven by Primus.

While information remains sketchy, Guyana Times understands that the car that was heading to Georgetown might have lost control and ended up in the path of Primus. At the time of the collision, it was reportedly raining and visibility was poor.

The son-in-law of Kellman recalled driving behind the two vehicles on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, but they quickly disappeared in the darkness.

As he got closer, he realised that two vehicles had collided and as he looked, he saw his injured mother-inlaw. With only one vacant seat in his vehicle, he report-

Injured: Whitney Ann Griffith

edly collected the injured Kellman and rushed her to the hospital. The others were picked up shortly afterwards and rushed to the hospital.

However, Primus and Griffith, along with the driver of the other vehicle were pinned down and had to be pulled from the wreckage by firemen who were summoned to the scene. One eyewitness told Guyana Times that the bodies were severely damaged and it took the firemen quite some time to pull them from the wreckage.

The Police are investigating the accident. (Bhisham Mohamed and Utamu Belle)

linesman employed with the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) lost his life on Tuesday evening after a rotten utility pole he was climbing fell with him.

Dead is Brian David Clifford of Lot 414 Bushlot Village, Corentyne, Berbice.

Reports are the 47-year-old linesman was at Belvedere Squatting Area, Corentyne, working on a pole when the incident occurred. Guyana Times was told that Clifford was reconnecting a wire when the pole came crashing down with him. He was strapped to the pole and did not have enough time to release himself as the pole came crashing down.

According to reports, the linesman was in the area to reconnect the electricity after an excavator which was clearing a canal in the community, accidently hooked an electrical wire causing it to burst. GPL was called in and Clifford, who was on duty on the evening shift, mounted the pole.

According to Ulin Kempadoo, who was on her patio knitting, she was keenly observing an excavator cleaning the canal in front of her house. “I see when the thing hit the post and the wire cut, and then the emergency people come and the man go up on the post.”

Meanwhile, Tina Dihal who lives one house away from where the pole fell, said

Dead: Brian David Clifford

she saw the GPL worker climbing the utility pole. “So me turn and show me daddy how the post bend, and I telling he that they should get something and tie the post…”

The woman said she watched in horror as the post started to lean further and within a split second, it crashed to the ground; falling first, with the helpless man smashing into it. “He was trying to lose the belt but it happen so quick, he couldn’t do nothing to save he self,” she related.

Another neighbour, Chan Kempadoo in recounting the incident noted that the man was quickly rushed to the hospital after hitting the ground. However, in describing the scene, Kempadoo explained that the injured man fell with his face pointing towards the pole. Clifford had been working with the utili-

ty company for 25 years. Last month he was honoured for his long and dedicated service to the company. Some of the workers who had gone to Belvedere Squatting Area to replace the fallen pole said they were shocked to hear of their colleague’s passing, saying he will be missed.

His wife Mohinnie Clifford, also called “Sharron”, described her husband as a very hard and dedicated worker. “He was a very peaceful guy and a good husband to me, always loving.”

She said a friend was at the hospital when the injured man arrived. That friend, she added, telephoned a neighbour and told her that he was at the Anamayah Memorial Hospital. “When I go there, they had him in the theatre.

I had to wait and the doctors let me go in and see him; they were pumping his heart but like it was too late,” the bereaved mother of two said as water settled in her eyes.

One of Clifford’s children, Lisa, referred to her father as the kind of person who always wanted to spend time with his family. While noting that her father loved his job, the 19-year-old said even before the linesman left home on Tuesday, he spent a little fun time with the family.

He leaves to mourn his two children, ages 19 and 16 and his wife.

Police have since launched an investigation into the incident. (Andrew Carmichael)

Queenstown, Alberttown remain inundated …as floodwaters recede in some parts of Georgetown

heavy rains coupled with clogged drains, broken pumps and silted outfalls.

By Shemuel Fanfair

A

lthough sections of Georgetown and its environs were under water late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, much of the floodwaters have receded, but some sections of Queenstown and Alberttown remain inundated. Guyana Times was informed on Wednesday that pumps around the city were working over time to reduce the flooding.

Several wards in the capital city on Wednesday saw flooded streets and yards, but residents noted that the floodwaters receded around mid-morning. Later in the afternoon, in sections of Albouystown, Bourda, Campbellville, Newtown and Kitty, nearly all of the floodwaters receded, while several parts of Lance Gibbs Street, Queenstown and Fourth and Light Streets, Alberttown, were still flooded. One Fourth Street resident told Guyana Times that he offered to clean the drains in the entire street, but his offer was reportedly rejected by the Council.

On Tuesday, Georgetown saw several inches of floodwaters across the city, but many residents noted that the water quickly drained off the land. Meanwhile, the Hydromet office recently revealed that prolonged rainfall would continue over

Govt’s position

Meanwhile, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had said that Georgetown and other parts of the country were experiencing flooding due to excessive rainfall, coupled with the spring tide. He had noted that Government was taking the necessary

Upon the coalition’s assumption to office in May 2015, it had launched a massive clean-up campaign within the city. In March 2016, Minister Patterson expressed confidence that the then ongoing drainage works in the city and around the country would have been enough to fend off any flooding arising from the traditional rainy seasons. Patterson had even pointed to an example of the

Flooding at Lance Gibbs Street, Queenstown

the next few days. This latest spate of flooding follows a heavy downpour on December 23 that saw many locations flooded across the country.

No more flooding

The intermittent flooding that occurred over the past few weeks has continued, despite Government having earlier boasted about no flooding in the usually inundated capital city during the rainy season. However, on December 23, Central Georgetown saw business owners running to their premises to assess their losses from the floodwaters.

In its response to the brief crisis, Government had disclosed that two pumps in the Georgetown area were down, and the Public Infrastructure Ministry had

distributed sand bags to affected businesses and residents in the city.

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, during a live televised programme, had disclosed that the Lamaha Street and River View pumps were down, two of the five pumps under the control of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

At that time, excavators were deployed to the Cummings Canal, the Cowan Street Canal and the Downer Street Canal, and Minister Patterson had explained that this was done since during floods, lots of debris from the surrounding environs had entered the drainage system, restricting the flow of the water.

“The idea is to get water off as fast as possible to,

An inundated section of Fourth and Light Streets, Alberttown

if anything restricts that, it has a multiplying effect onto the areas that are further away from the outfalls,” the Minister had noted, adding that the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) was in Albouystown, East Ruimveldt, and West Ruimveldt to assist in emergency relief works.

The flooding of the city days before the Christmas weekend was as a result of

steps to ensure that there was minimum loss or damage to property.

While in Opposition, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition had strongly criticised the then People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government over the continuous flooding in the country, particularly in Georgetown.

city’s preparedness for flooding, when there was some heavy rainfall late last year but little flooding resulted.

Government officials had visited pump stations and sluices located at Kitty, Liliendaal, Montrose, Lusignan and Buxton.

During the visit, it was seen that all pumps were operable and that water was receding.

18

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thursDAY, january 5, 2017

ARCHIE

Stay active and stick with it until you finish what you (March 21- start. Leaving anything unApril 19) done will lead to complaints and criticism. Show how valuable you are and aim to please.

ARIES

Get involved in something TAURUS you find rejuvenating or help(April 20- ful. Learn as you go and build May 20) experience that will encourage you to be a better person.

Romance is highlighted.

dilbert

Set reasonable goals and GEMINI get into a routine that will (May 21June 20) help you reach them. Taking care of personal business and affairs of the heart will give you peace of mind.

Making last-minute decisions or changes based on (June 21- your emotions will backfire.

July 22) Keep your life simple and be moderate in all that you do.

Do your utmost to protect partnerships.

CANCER

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Changes at home could be VIRGO unnerving and cause friction, (Aug. 23Sept. 22) stress and overspending. Step back from whatever situation you face and consider what you want before moving forward.

Keep your life simple in orLIBRA der to avoid backlash. Refuse (Sept. 23to let anyone talk you into Oct. 23) something you don’t want to do. A change of heart will lead to a change in lifestyle.

Calvin and Hobbes

WORD GAME

Don’t hesitate. If you want something, go after it wholeheartedly. Strive for excellence and productivity in order to surprise and impress someone who can influence your future.

SUDOKU

Positive changes at home SCORPIO or to your methods will help (Oct. 24you establish what you want Nov. 22) to do next personally and professionally. A move or lifestyle change is apparent.

Make a change that will SAGITTARIUS encourage you to do what’s (Nov. 23best for you instead of actDec. 21) ing in accordance with others’ wishes. If you are true to yourself, you will excel.

solution for Last Published Puzzle

You’ll be torn between CAPRICORN what you want to do and (Dec. 22what you should do. If you deJan. 19) cide to make a move, be sure to seek any approval you may need as you go forward.

Get in touch with someone AQUARIUS from your past. It will remind (Jan. 20you of old dreams and spark Feb. 19) a renewed interest in something you used to enjoy doing.

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

Look for alternative ways PISCES (Feb. 20- to bring in more cash. You March 20) will have to make compromises in order to reach your goals. Moderation and putting a set budget in place will help you excel.

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19

Younis Khan, Azhar Ali leading Pakistan’s fightback

Peter Handscomb hits the wicket with his bat as he gets deep in his crease to steer the ball

A

zhar Ali and Younis Khan indicated they had no intention of leaving Australia quietly with a stubborn stand after Peter Handscomb maintained his Test-match honeymoon phase with a second century to lift Australia to 8 for 538 on a batsmen-friendly day two of the SCG Test.

When the visitors lost two wickets before tea, having been run ragged by David Warner, Matt Renshaw and then Handscomb, there seemed every chance of the procession continuing in the final session. Instead Azhar maintained his fine touch and found support from Younis, who was in need of a score after a barren tour.

Australia were not at their best in the field, Warner, in particular, was untidy, missing two runouts and also dropping a difficult chance at leg slip off the bowling of Nathan Lyon in the day’s penultimate over. The first run-out chance was the most egregious error, as Warner shied for a glory direct hit rather than passing the ball to the bowler Mitchell Starc with Azhar stranded halfway up the pitch.

Earlier, the hosts strode steadily towards an enormous first-innings tally

from the captain Misbah-ulHaq down.

Matt Renshaw’s 184, which seems to have set him up for a long and fruitful Test career, was the highest by an opening batsman under the age of 21, and was only ended by a fine over from Imran Khan, who

break.

When Azhar hurtled down the wicket for a single that did not interest Younis, it appeared a third wicket was about to fall, but Warner’s preference to shy at the stumps offered the reprieve the batsmen needed.

Both would play some fine strokes off pace and spin, as neither Lyon nor O’Keefe could get much turn from a drying but still decidedly flat surface. Cartwright’s bowling debut was steady at best.

This is not to say Pakistan are out of trouble; the way the Melbourne Test panned out attests to the fact they are far from it.

But the comfort with which Azhar stroked a boundary in the final over of the day suggested that plenty of runs remain in the surface, provided the tourists put their minds to it.

(ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

Australia 1st innings (Overnight 365/3) MT Renshaw b Imran Khan 184 DA Warner c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Wahab Riaz 113 UT Khawaja c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Wahab Riaz 13 SPD Smith* c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Yasir Shah 24 PSP Handscomb hit wicket b Wahab Riaz 110 HWR Cartwright b Imran Khan 37 MS Wade† c Babar Azam b Azhar Ali 29 MA Starc c sub (Mohammad 16 Rizwan) b Azhar Ali SNJ O’Keefe not out 0 Extras (b-5, lb-1, w-2, nb-4) 12 Total (8 wickets dec; 135 overs) 538 Did not bat; JR Hazlewood, NM Lyon Fall of wickets 1-151 (Warner, 32.3 ov), 2-203 (Khawaja, 48.1 ov), 3-244 (Smith, 59.5 ov), 4-386 (Renshaw, 93.6 ov), 5-477 (Cartwright, 123.5 ov), 6-516 (Handscomb, 131.5

ov), 7-532 (Wade, 134.4 ov), 8-538 (Starc, 134.6 ov) Bowling; Mohammad Amir 24-2-83-0, Imran Khan 27-4111-2 (nb-2), Wahab Riaz 284-89-3 (nb-2, w-2), Yasir Shah 40-2-167-1, Azhar Ali 14-0-70-2, Asad Shafiq 2-0-12-0

Pakistan 1st innings 58 Azhar Ali not out Sharjeel Khan c Renshaw b Hazlewood 4 Babar Azam lbw b Hazlewood 0 Younis Khan not out 64 Extras 0 Total (2 wickets; 41 overs) 126 To bat; Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Imran Khan Fall of wickets 1-6 (Sharjeel Khan, 3.1 ov), 2-6 (Babar Azam, 3.5 ov) Bowling; MA Starc 10-234-0, JR Hazlewood 11-332-2, SNJ O’Keefe 7-1-110, NM Lyon 9-1-34-0, HWR Cartwright 4-0-15-0

Sir Andy Murray extends winning streak to 26 matches

S

Younis Khan scatters the pigeons after bringing out the flick

moved the ball to the lefthander across the crease before prompting him to drag onto the stumps.

Handscomb, meanwhile, did not allow himself to be frustrated by periods of slow scoring, utilising the sweep in particular to excellent effect - a good sign ahead of the tour of India. He sur-

Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb are on the honours board at the SCG

against bowling that improved somewhat on the first day’s effort, though Pakistan were not helped by more indifferent fielding

this season to earn his Test spot.

Hilton Cartwright also showed patience, and showcased an organised technique with the exception of a couple of chances: a Yasir Shah leg break that beat him but also the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, and an edge off Azhar’s part-timers that eluded Younis at first slip.

There had been hope of Renshaw going past 200 when play began, and, in the early overs, it seemed there was little to stop him. It took Imran’s artful use of the crease and line to prompt the false stroke that brought his downfall, but he departed the ground with the applause of thousands ringing in his 20-year-old ears.

Cartwright arrived to face a first ball from Mohammad Amir, and

vived a nervous period in the 90s to pass three figures on the same ground where he made a double century in the Sheffield Shield earlier

stroked a full offering through cover with plenty of confidence. Thereafter he was somewhat becalmed and gave up the aforementioned chances, but a half-century stand in Handscomb’s capable company was a more than useful start.

After lunch, Handscomb reached the outskirts of his hundred before Cartwright was bowled by Imran; then, some quick scoring by Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc drew Steven Smith’s declaration. In the 15 minutes to the tea interval, Hazlewood had an impact, though debutant Sharjeel Khan’s technique was questionable to say the least, as he waved his bat at Hazlewood to be taken at slip.

Babar Azam, who fell in the same over, should also have been expected to keep out a ball that was full and straight but not really moving through the air or off the seam, evidence that the time in the field had left the visitors with heavy legs. There was time for one over of spin - from the recalled Steve O’Keefe - before the tea

ir Andy Murray reached the Qatar Open quarter-finals with a battling 7-6 (86) 7-5 win over Austrian Gerald Melzer.

World number 68 Melzer produced a gutsy display, saving eight firstset points before eventually succumbing to the world number one in the tiebreak.

The Austrian broke as Murray served for the match at 5-4 but the Scot won the next two games and will next play

world number 44 Nicolas Almagro of Spain.

Murray extended his career-best winning streak in competitive matches to 26.

He paid tribute to Melzer, saying: “He played great tennis and dominated large parts of the match. If he plays like this again this year he’ll move higher and higher up the rankings.

“I played pretty good.

The depth in men’s tennis is great right now.”

Sir Andy Murray will play Spain’s world number 44 Nicolas Almagro in the quarter-finals

Alli stops Chelsea’s winning streak

Dele Alli’s ninth and 10th Premier League goals of the season proved enough to end Chelsea’s winning run

T

ottenham ended Chelsea’s attempt to make Premier League history with a 14th successive victory as the title pacesetters were well beaten 2-0 at White Hart Lane. Spurs moved up to third place as headers from Dele Alli either side of half-time

made the difference to leave Chelsea five points ahead of Liverpool in second place. Alli rose to meet Christian Eriksen’s cross in first-half stoppage time and the same pair combined to put the game out of Chelsea’s reach in the 54th minute.

Eden Hazard had Chelsea’s two best chances in each half but Spurs closed out the victory in comfort to put north London rivals Arsenal out of the top four and leave themselves seven points off the top after their fifth successive league win.

20

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MS Dhoni resigns as India’s Manchester City’s Fernandinho handed 4-match ban limited overs captain

M

S Dhoni has stepped down as captain of India’s limited-overs teams ahead of the ODIs and T20Is against England in January. He will still be available for selection as a wicketkeeper-batsman for the series, though, the BCCI said on Wednesday evening.

The selectors are meeting to pick the ODI and T20I squads on January 6 in Mumbai. The BCCI did not immediately name a successor for the matches against England, though Virat Kohli, who leads India in Test cricket, is the frontrunner for the job.

It is understood Dhoni, 35, communicated his decision to chairman of selectors MSK Prasad in Nagpur, where the Jharkhand side that is being mentored by Dhoni was playing Gujarat in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. Dhoni was seen having a long conversation with Prasad during the tea break. “We all know his sense of integrity and patriotism, and he has got high clarity in thinking,” Prasad told ESPNcricinfo. “Probably he felt that is the best decision, so let us respect it.”

Dhoni had given up the Test captaincy in December 2014, when he retired from the format after the Melbourne Test. However, he stayed on as ODI and T20 international captain after having taken on those roles in 2007.

He was India’s most successful captain, leading the team to victory in the 2007 World T20 in South Africa, the 2011 World Cup in India, and the 2013 Champions

B

MS Dhoni has made the helicopter shot his own and overall has scored more than 9000 ODI runs in 283 matches

Trophy in England. Dhoni captained India in 199 ODIs, of which he won 110 and lost 74. He was captain in 72 T20Is, of which India won 41 and lost 28. He was also India’s most successful Test captain, with 27 wins, 18 defeats and 15 draws.

Dhoni is also the only captain to have led India to ODI and T20I series wins in Australia, and an ODI series win in New Zealand.

He made 6633 ODI runs as captain at an average of 54 and a strike rate of 86.

As captain in T20Is, Dhoni

South Africa 6 wickets...

It was not all delight for South Africa. Hashim Amla would have liked to have walked out to bat for his 100th Test at the Wanderers next week with his reputation reasserted. Instead he will take guard with continued chatter about his form after a duck before lunch.

Amla’s sequence without a half-century now stretches to 10 innings, his latest failure coming with a fifth-ball nought in an otherwise dreary phase of the Test of little consequence in which South Africa, resuming with a lead of 317 and all wickets remaining, engaged in some cricketing arithmetic for more than three hours as they totted enough runs for a fail-safe declaration. And then some.

Presumably Amla might now join those malcontents who thought, with good reason, that South Africa should have enforced the follow-on and sought to wrap the game up in three days. After all, only three sides have ever lost a Test after putting the opposition back in and, having dismissed Sri Lanka in 43 overs, South Africa’s bowlers were hardly in need of recuperation.

At least it would have spared Amla that sinking feeling when he pushed routinely forward to an excellent delivery, seaming away

around off stump, from Suranga Lakmal and felt the nick that was heading inexorably to the wicketkeeper As ducks go, it was a highly respectable one. But it was still a duck. It will not quieten the discussions about how Amla tends to get caught on the crease, his graceful footwork no longer quite decisive enough. Only big runs will do that, and everybody presumes they will come. The only time he has had a sequence of failures as long as this was a year ago - and then he shot back with a double hundred against England in Cape Town. Jo’burg, on a historic personal achievement, might relight his fire.

Lakmal has had a good series and he matched the admirable standards that had brought him five wickets in Port Elizabeth, finishing with 4 for 69. He brightened Sri Lanka’s morning with a double-wicket maiden. Five balls before he dismissed Amla, he accounted for Stephen Cook, a regulation slip catch for Karunaratne. JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis followed.

Nuwan Pradeep reappeared after his thigh strain but was out of luck.

Dean Elgar, in trim after his first-innings hundred, seemed suited to such a morning. A measured tread with little pressure to talk of was

scored 1112 runs at a strike rate of 122.60. In Test cricket, he made 3454 runs at an average of 40.63.

“On the behalf of every Indian cricket fan and the BCCI, I would like to thank MS Dhoni for his outstanding contribution as the captain of the Indian team across all formats,” BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri said. “Under his leadership, Indian team has touched new heights and his achievements will remain etched forever in the annals of Indian cricket.” (ESPNcricinfo)

razil international Fernandinho will be banned for four games after being sent off in Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Burnley.

Fernandinho will serve a four-match ban after the Manchester City midfielder’s red card during Monday’s 2-1 Premier League win over Burnley was upheld by the Football Association (FA).

The Brazil midfielder was dismissed by referee Lee Mason after 32 minutes at the Etihad Stadium following reckless lunge on Johann Gudmundsson.

The dismissal is Fernandinho’s second in the Premier League in as many months after he was punished for an altercation with Cesc Fabregas during a 3-1 home loss to leaders Chelsea.

The 31-year-old also collected two yellow cards in the 1-1 Champions League draw at Borussia Monchengladbach in November, meaning he has now been sent off in three of his past six appearances in all competitions.

Fernandinho will miss Friday’s FA Cup third-round tie at West Ham, along with a Premier League match at London Stadium that follows domestic encounters away to Everton and at home to Tottenham.

A statement released by the FA read: “Fernandinho will serve a four-match suspension with immediate effect after his claim of wrong-

continued from page 23

right up his alley and another half-century was bagged. But the appearance of Rangana Herath’s left-arm slows drew from Elgar an unexpected friskiness. He advanced down the pitch to a guileful third delivery which beat him in the flight. If he had not been caught at slip, he would

have been stumped. Even on the most inconsequential mornings, satisfaction can be found and Herath, who looks capable of coping contentedly with mornings when nothing much happens, had drawn as much pleasure from it as anyone. (ESPNcricinfo)

Fernandinho Fabregas

ful dismissal was rejected following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing.

“The Manchester City midfielder was sent off for serious foul play during the game against Burnley on Monday 2 January 2017.

“His suspension includes the standard sanction of an additional game as it was his second dismissal of the season.”

City scored twice despite

being a man down against Burnley, with Gael Clichy and Sergio Aguero on target after half-time before Ben Mee reduced the arrears for the visitors.

Manager Pep Guardiola must now operate with reduced central midfield options in Fernandinho’s absence, with Ilkay Gundogan (knee) a long-term absentee and Fabian Delph (groin) having been sidelined for most of the season to date.

Tendulkar hails retiring Captain Dhoni

SCOREBOARD South Africa 1st innings 392 Sri Lanka 1st innings 110 South Africa 2nd innings 2nd innings (overnight 35/0) SC Cook c Karunaratne b Lakmal 30 D Elgar c Mathews b Herath 55 HM Amla c †Chandimal b Lakmal 0 30 JP Duminy lbw b Lakmal F du Plessis* c †Chandimal b Lakmal 41 T Bavuma run out (de Silva) 0 Q de Kock† c †Chandimal b Kumara 29 KA Maharaj not out 20 VD Philander not out 15 Extras (w-1, nb-3) 4 Total (7 wickets dec; 51.5 overs) 224 Did not bat; KJ Abbott, K Rabada Fall of wickets 1-64 (Cook, 19.1 ov), 2-64 (Amla, 19.6 ov), 3-110 (Elgar, 30.3 ov), 4-136 (Duminy, 37.5 ov), 5-137 (Bavuma, 38.4 ov), 6-170 (du Plessis, 43.6 ov), 7-192 (de Kock, 46.4 ov)

Bowling; RAS Lakmal 19.52-69-4, N Pradeep 11-0-46-0 (nb-1), CBRLS Kumara 12-0-621 (w-1), DM de Silva 3-0-15-0, HMRKB Herath 6-0-32-1 Sri Lanka 2nd innings (target: 507 runs) FDM Karunaratne b Philander 6 JK Silva c Cook b Rabada 29 BKG Mendis c Elgar b Philander 4 DM de Silva lbw b Rabada 22 AD Mathews* not out 29 LD Chandimal† not out 28 Extras (b-6, lb-5, nb-1) 12 Total (4 wickets; 40 overs) 130 To bat; WU Tharanga, HMRKB Herath, RAS Lakmal, N Pradeep, CBRLS Kumara Fall of wickets 1-11 (Karunaratne, 5.6 ov), 2-25 (Mendis, 9.3 ov), 3-66 (Silva, 23.2 ov), 4-69 (de Silva, 25.3 ov) Bowling; KJ Abbott 10-323-0, VD Philander 10-1-342 (nb-1), K Rabada 10-3-222, KA Maharaj 10-2-40-0

Sachin Tendulkar (left) and MS Dhoni embrace after a victory for Team India

M

S Dhoni’s reign as India captain should be celebrated after he stepped down on Wednesday, according to legend Sachin Tendulkar. India legend Sachin Tendulkar led the tributes to MS Dhoni after the wicketkeeperbatsman stepped down as oneday international and Twenty20 captain. After relinquishing the Test captaincy in 2014, Dhoni continued to lead India in limited-overs cricket but after 199 ODIs in charge he has resigned from his role with immediate effect.

Dhoni, who led India to World Cup glory in 2011, will remain available for selection against England this month, the opening ODI taking place on

January 15 in Pune.

Since his ODI debut in 2004, Dhoni has established himself as one of the world’s best particularly in the shorter forms of the game - and Tendulkar called for celebrations of his success as skipper.

“Congratulations to MSD on a wonderful career as a captain leading India to success in both T20 and ODI World Cups,” Tendulkar posted on Twitter.

“Have seen him emerge from an aggressive player to a steady and decisive captain. It’s a day to celebrate his successful captaincy and respect his decision.

“Wish MSD the very best as he continues entertaining us on the field with his exploits.”

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Clyde Hoyte was spectacularly snapped up by Richard Latif after tearing apart the bowling at Everest

D

espite the rainy weather, two matches were played with Fisherman XI and Ariel notching up wins at the Everest Cricket Club ground, Camp road Georgetown to begin the long softball cricket season for 2017.

In the morning fixture in overcast conditions, Fisherman XI defeated Ariel by 19 runs in the morning fixture. The damp conditions suited the guys from Fisherman XI as they were led by opener Unis Yusuf with 43 in compiling a challenging 160-8 off their allotted 15 overs. The hard hitting Yusuf added 56 for the third wicket with Stanley Mohabir after they were reduced to 232.

Following the demise of Mohabir for 29, Yusuf shared in another useful stand of 45 with Robert Mohan who was dismissed for 26. Yusuf struck three fours and two sixes as Ryan Singh claimed 2-21 and Dennis Mangru 2-27. In reply, Ariel lost two early wickets, but Richard Latif kept them in the hunt with levelheaded batting. Latif added 53 for the fourth-wicket with Oslyn Batson, but after hitting four fours and five six-

es Latif went for 69. Batson made 27as Ariel were limited to 141-6. Yusuf came back with the ball and almost had a hat trick to finish with 2-12.

Ariel then turned the table on HS Masters with a 21run win in the afternoon fixture. Ariel batted first and scored 151-8 with Dennis Mangru blazing the trail with 45 while Ryan Singh made

25. The duo added 57 for the fourth-wicket to steady the innings following an early setback. Peter Persaud and Unis Yusuf chipped in with 18 and 16 respectively as Clyde Hoyte and Ramo Malone picked up two wickets each.

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Samuels, Beaton to join Hurricanes E

xperienced West Indies batsman, Marlon Samuels, will be joining the Leeward Islands Hurricanes for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Super50 competition scheduled to start later this month.

This was revealed by Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB), Vernon Springer, who also named two other regional players set to join the sub-regional franchise ahead of a preparatory camp here at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground starting January 9.

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HS Masters were bowled out for 130 in 14.2 overs in reply with Hoyte anchoring the innings with an authoritative 72 while Troy Boodhoo made 30. The pair added 66 for the sixth-wicket with Hoyte hitting five fours and four sixes while Boodhoo hit two fours.

Yusuf snared 3-7, Ryan Singh 3-18 and Mangru 2-20.

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Ronsford Beaton

and we are going to have some trial games.

We promised you we are going to have the best franchise and whatever it takes, we are going to make sure it works,” he said.

“The other big name for you is Ronsford Beaton — the Guyanese fast bowler — who is also going to be part of our 20-man squad, and from last year we would have had Daron Cruickshank who is also coming back into the One Day squad,” he added.

Antiguan all-rounder, Orlando Peters, has also been included in the training squad.

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

THURsDAY, january 5, 2017

GFF in no rush to replace Shabazz

Chanderpaul is an asset to Guyana’s cricket

Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Anand Sanasie

A

GFF President Wayne Forde

T

he Guyana Football Federation (GFF) is no haste to fill the vacant head coach position for the National senior team, the Golden Jaguars’ after parting ways with long-time serving Jamaal Shabazz, this is according to President of the GFF. Since the Trinidadian-born contract expired at the end of 2016, there have been no indications as to who will take up the mantle since Guyana have international playing dates in the month of March.

According to Forde, “We are not hastily trying to replace the National coach, it is going to take some time but it is not going to stop us from participating in international tournaments; we have an assistant coach [Wayne Dover] and Technical Director [Ian Greenwood] who can guide that process in terms of the model in which we want to see the national team organize.”

Shabazz who had close to 10 years of service to Guyana’s football, stepped down from the job in October 2016 after the Golden Jaguars were knocked out of the Caribbean Football Union Championships by the Jamaica Reggae Boyz at the Leonora Stadium, West Coast Demerara.

The locals went down 2-4 in extra time to suffer the embarrassment of defeat on home turf and it seems the country will have to wait until May to know who will serve in the role but in the interim, the federation will be seeking

Former Golden Jaguars Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz

to improve the current structure of the National team.

Forde stated, “It is likely to be filled in the beginning of the second quarter of 2017 but we want the new person to come into a structure and see what we have, bringing their own flavor but we need to improve the current structure we have.

Shabazz during the decade he has been at the helm of the Jaguars guided the team to two Caribbean Cup finals as well as the semi-final round of CONCACAF’s World Cup qualifiers for the 2014 finals, the biggest achievement for the country in World Cup history which began for Guyana in 1976. The 53 year-old was at the helm in leading Guyana to world prominence and a highest FIFA ranking of 86 in 2010. Shabazz who was recently appointed Head Coordinator of Technical Programmes for his homeland was always outspoken about the issues the country’s football fraternity endured.

Locally, former GFF Vice-President and current Chairman of the National Sports Commission Ivan Persaud has expressed interest in the position.

midst calls by some in the cricket fraternity for 42 year-old Shivnarine Chanderpaul to call it quits on a decorated First-class career, Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Anand Sanasie still believes the former Test cricketer has much to offer to the team.

In the 2016/2017 Digicel Regional 4-day competition, the dogged left-hander has batted with an aptitude of a cricketer way below his age which corresponded in him scoring 447 runs from five matches at an average of

74.50 which has placed him in third position on the leading runs tally at the half-way stage of the league.

His highest score of 143 and second century thus far, came in his last match against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at Providence and it was an innings where he batted with utmost command stoking the opposition bowlers to all parts of the ground and most importantly bailed the Guyana Jaguars out of another spot of bother.

With such success for the batsman who retired from Test cricket in 2015, is a more than a runs-maker but a player who help nurture the younger members.

“The experts, the coaches around the set up, they think that he has a lot to offer and contribute in the attitude of players, professionalism and cultivating that into the younger players especially our batters to stay long at the wicket,” the Secretary explained.

The West Indies Cricket Board Director further stated that “There were allot of talks on how much he can do and he is doing enough with the bat and we know what he is capable of doing in the

dressing room, so we will wait and see.”

The Unity born cricketer in previous interview with this publication had voiced that “I still love the game, I still do the things such as the training and preparations, the basic stuff that I have done for so many years, preparing myself and getting

I’m really focused on Guyana cricket and helping the guys out.”

The former West Indies captain who is part of the Jaguars 50-over training squad, has played 408 List A matches, scoring 12 centuries at an average of 42.03, it would seem most likely that

Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s experience at the highest level has certainly allowed him to shepherd some of the young cricketers in the Jaguars

ready for games, is something that I always enjoy doing.”

He added that “performance wise, for me this year, it has been good I don’t know what is going to happen but

the batsman will make the final squad for the tournament which will be played in Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda from January 24 to February 18.

Players need fair opportunities for Jaguars to win & feed West Indies’ teams

By Delvon mc Ewan

D

efinitely Guyana Jaguars will field its ‘best’ team on the field at the start of the regional Super 50 in Barbados.

I am not so sure about that but obviously it will be the best team to the administrators of Guyana’s cricket.

But how can it be when three weeks prior to the start of the tournament the team is yet to be named and since last year’s Regional Super 50 in January-February most of our local cricketers have not played in a 50 over match or in more than five 50 over matches?

As usual the authorities will come up with the naïve excuse- rain has affected preparations but the players have been working with the Guyana Cricket Board

Jonathan Foo (GCB) coaches. In addition they are known for making reference to the most recent cricket played by the local players.

Ricardo Adams And to everyone’s knowledge that was the first half of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Professional Cricket League Digicel Regional Four day tournament which ended one week before Christmas.

However, are the four day players ideal for fifty over cricket or will others be given a fair opportunity to represent the Jaguars Franchise. Apart from not using the right tools for the job or the horse for the course. Rain should never be an excuse because we could host tournaments earlier and keep the players intact through fitness.

Nevertheless, time is limited and with the short time afforded to the selectors, it will be no surprise that we field a similar team to the one that crashed out at the semifinal in the last tournament. At least they cannot select a new look

team and expect them to be successful with a mere 19 days to go. That definitely would lack critical thinking.

However, due to recent developments locally and regionally, nothing is surprising.

Judging from our recent selection trends, whether four day or one day, it seems as only a pool of players are conspicuous to the selectors or could win matches for Guyana. Which should not be the case. Are our selectors blind to talent? I do not think so. The chairman of selection panel here is Rayon Griffith, who played 22 first class and 22 List A games.

He should have a clear judgment when selecting these teams.

He was a player once.

A p a r t from that he is cur- rently in the mix of West Indies cricket as the Assistant Coach/ Manager of the West Indies A. I am sure he saw the composition of the West Indies A limited over team that trashed Sri Lanka A. His involvement recently should have lead us to a better pre-tournament preparation because several who have been performing locally have been constantly overlooked. Since the latter part of 2014 coming

through, Romario Shepherd, Jonathan Foo, Keon Joseph and Ricardo Adams have done exceptional for their clubs and in higher cricket in Guyana but have only achieved one game among them in List A cricket from 2014 to present.

I opined they missed out because the Jaguars have been doing well- finals in 2015 and semis in 2016. If that is the case, we will only do well if Trinidad and Tobago Red Force nor Barbados Pride are not in

Rayon Griffith our group or if we do not have to face either of them in a semifinal or final.

If we are going to settle for mediocrity then it is no surprise why we are not producing West Indies limited over players. We have the resources here we need to give these players their fair opportunities so that the Jaguars could win as well as produce players to represent the West Indies.

guyanatimesgy.com

THURsDAY, january 5, 2017

“2016 was a positive year” ― Asst Director of Sport

...urges a more “optimistic approach”

By Romario Samaroo

M

elissa DowRichardson has only taken up the role of Assistant Director of Sport in the last quarter of 2016 but has immediately thrown her hat in the ring, with expert support to Director of Sport Christopher Jones as well as being an advent stakeholder in sport. It is no surprise that Dow-Richardson has quite simply but confidently described the year 2016 for sport in general as “a positive year.” well-spoken The Assistant Director of Sport made this disclosure in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport at the National Sports Commission (NSC) headquarters, Homestretch Avenue.

When asked about the year gone, Dow-Richardson said “Well I have to say it was a very positive year for sports in Guyana and we have been able to do a lot of important things.”

Explaining some of the

Assistant Director of Sport, Melissa Dow-Richardson

highpoints and achievements the NSC is proud for, she pointed out that “a lot of our facilities have been upgraded such as the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, the National Gymnasium, both pools at the National Aquatic Center as well as the pool at Colgrain House.”

Not to mention that there are maintenance work at the National Synthetic Track located at Leonora, West

Coast Demerara, which contributes to her safely stating that “our facilitating aspect for sports is both improved and secured.”

Dow-Richardson also indicated that another moment in 2016 that the NSC was proud of was the successful hosting of the InterGuiana Games (IGG).

“The other highpoint I would like to mention is the hosting of the Inter-

Guiana Games and the fact that we successfully hosted that games, we forded seven teams, associations were involved, government fully supported, the director fully supported I think very tall for Guyana in ensuring we present a strong and solid sporting body and I certainly believe that the IGG did that to a high level,” the Assistant Director of Sport stated.

While the year may have been positive, the Assistant Director of Sport is now looking to 2017 to have “a more optimistic approach to sport, the first call will be a change in rhetoric as to how sport is deemed and even perceived in Guyana.

We must know that we have the national ability, the talent, the resources, the push, and the will, the drive to be successfully not only locally and regionally but as well as internationally. We are strong we are winning so we want people to rally around the various associations they are involved in and seek to resolve any conflicts that may be existing.”

23

Adams hurt by exclusion

By Delvon Mc Ewan

I

n 2014 if you mentioned the name Ricardo Adams at a cricket match everyone know what was about to happen. It was either some pugnacious hitting or some accurate orthodox spin bowling which often mesmerized batsmen.

Because of his ability Police Sports Club won the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) inaugural Carib Beer T20 tournament, Ricardo Adams their first GCA first division title in more than two decades.

Some say it was single handedly done while others argued it was a team effort. Nevertheless Adams shone bright like a diamond.

None brighter than his all-round effort to upset GCA powerhouse Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) in the presence of scores of spectators, who witnessed a rising star or at then he was, in action.

To take you further aback his named reign at the junior levels for Guyana while in 2012 he was selected for Guyana in the Regional 50-over tournament.

Nonetheless, today his name is slowly fading. Not because he lacks talent but more because he is not being recognized by local selectors. In fact the usually aggressive all-rounder was recently overlooked from a squad of 28 that were named for this year regional super 50 tournament, scheduled to start January 24 in Barbados and Antigua.

However, shocked by Adams’ exclusion this publication sought the 22 year old for a few comments. And to no surprise he is disappointed that he was not even considered for a 28 member training camp. According to the Essequibian he has been doing well locally and even if he was overlooked for the final squad he wonder why he was not selected for the preparatory camp.

However, Adams said he will continue to work to develop his game so that when his opportunity is granted he will make sure that he cements his position.

Guyana has been short of a pugnacious batsman of late and with Christopher Barnwell drop in form, Adams could be an ideal replacement.

However, the selectors do not share similar sentiments, probably the reason he is not there.

South Africa 6 wickets away from series victory S

outh Africa made inevitable progress towards the victory in Cape Town that would bring them a Test series win against a Sri Lanka side whose batting naivety has become more apparent as the series progresses. Four down at stumps, with their victory target merely a dot on the horizon, Sri Lanka can be expected to lose heavily on the fourth day and go to Johannesburg 2-0 down with one to play.

As Sri Lanka’s batsmen floundered for a second time, there was reason to conclude that South Africa’s first-innings lead of 282 would have been ample for an innings win. As it was, they had avoided the follow-on on the previous day and instead the declaration came at 224 for 7, 75 minutes into the afternoon session.

A lead of 506 was impregnable. Well, not quite impregnable. There was always the slight possibility that a Russian cyberattack could send cricket scoring systems across the world haywire and Sri Lanka could emerge, somewhat sheepishly, with a win with two sessions to spare. The reality was somewhat more prosaic: 130 for 4 by the close of the third day, with the captain Angelo Mathews and his deputy Dinesh Chandimal hoping to save face on the morrow.

set up by Vernon Philander before an inswinger drew an airy drive and rattled into his stumps through bat and pad.

Kusal Mendis is just as likely to end up as Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper-batsman as a Test No. 3 (although Kumar Sangakkara managed both).

He replaced Kusal Perera at first-wicket down here, but he has batted skittishly and failed twice. After a topedged sweep against the leftarm spin of Keshav Maharaj in the first innings, he succumbed to a catch at third slip as he drove on the up in Philander’s fifth over. On this pitch, so early in the in-

nings, it was a liberty.

Kaushal Silva has a stubborn streak, but the short ball looks capable of unsettling him and when Kagiso Rabada upped his pace in his second spell, a venomous rising delivery was fended to short leg. Dhananjaya de Silva is only in his seventh Test, so could be forgiven perhaps for walking off for a debatable lbw decision in Rabada’s next over, but had his captain, Mathews, at the non-striker’s end, thought to suggest a review, the ball would have been shown to be sailing past leg stump.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Suranga Lakmal continued his impressive tour with four more wickets

While South Africa’s bowlers picked off Sri Lanka a second time, Board representatives were arranging a meeting with Kyle Abbott’s agent, hoping to arrest his planned international retirement to join Hampshire, thereby making it one of the few occasions when it could be fairly observed that the administrators had a tougher job than the players. As for Abbott, the fates have playfully decreed (so far at least) that he remains wick-

etless.

There was a recognisable quality to Sri Lanka’s dismissals, their limitations skilfully exposed, which emphasised South Africa’s authority all the more. An inexperienced top order must learn the hard way while seasoned batsmen such as Chandimal and Upul Tharanga plug gaps lower down. The demands are high, perhaps unfairly so for some.

Dimuth Karunaratne had departed by tea, shrewdly

Vernon Philander removed Dimuth Karunaratne’s leg stump to get the breakthrough in the second innings

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

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

guyanatimesgy.com

Pg 22

GFF in no rush to replace Shabazz Coach Jamaal Shabazz in discussion with members of the Golden Jaguars prior to his departure

MS Dhoni resigns as India’s limited overs captain Pg 20

MS Dhoni is India’s most successful captain across all three formats

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