programme… Illegal firearms to be turned in at Police stations Indigenous Village ready for Heritage Month celebrations Andrew Arts owner passes on Curtains come down on Carifesta XII Education Month begins Tuesday
The cast of the evergreen, spectacular Naya Zaman, now in its 20th year, at the end of a memorable collision of the fates pose with Tourism Minister Cathy Hughes, Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha President, Dr Vindhya Persaud and other officials at the National Cultural Centre on Saturday
monday, august 31, 2015 | guyanatimesgy.com
Startling revelations on Bridge toll Pension funds; entire Guyanese financial community threatened – shareholders never received dividends
In responding to the Government’s accusation of deploying “delaying manoeuvres” on its Berbice toll reduction campaign promise, the Directors of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) made some startling revelations on the ramifications of a possible bankruptcy of the company on the entire Guyanese financial community in general and on pension funds in particular.
In a press release, also printed as a full-page ad in the four major newspapers, the BBCI revealed that the common share-
holders of the Berbice Bridge, which was built in 2007 and opened at the end of the following year, have never received a single dollar in dividends on their $400 million investment over the past eight years.
Even if these funds had been left in bank accounts, the investors would have earned millions in compounded interest. More pertinently, if they had been otherwise invested, the returns would have been commensurately larger.
The Berbice Bridge is Guyana’s first public-pri-
vate partnership (PPP) with a broad cross-section of the financial sector investing. In 2006, over G$8 billion was invested in various financing instruments, such as bonds, subordinated debt, preference shares, and common shares.
The shareholders, who are said to have “equity” in the company, are of two types: Ordinary Shareholders and Preferred Shareholders. The Ordinary Shareholders are: Secure International Limited; the National Insurance Scheme (NIS); NEW GPC INC; Queens
Atlantic Investment Inc; Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire and Demerara Contractors Limited (owned by the Demerara Distillers Limited – DDL). These are the ones who have not received any dividends.
Asked as to why they made this investment in 2006-2007, when even the model generated at the time showed that they would not be receiving any return on their investment for several years, a representative of one of the Common Shareholders replied, “At the time we were simply making a patriotic decision rather than just a business one.
We felt that the Berbice Bridge was important not only to connect the people of Berbice to the rest of the country but to also launch what we thought was an exciting new approach to building infrastructure: the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP). Unfortunately, we have since been castigated as the “bad guys” even though we have received no returns on our investment.”
The Preferred Shares are all owned by NIS and it has received dividends excepting in 2014, when the cash flow proved problematical and the requested toll increase as specified by the “Concession Agreement” was overtaken by political events culminating in the then Opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) passing a motion to slash the Berbice Bridge tolls by half. In that year, first-time payments on the principal to bond holders demanded out an additional $500 million.
Debt and debt instruments investors include a veritable “who’s who” of the Guyanese financial world. The New Building Society (NBS); NIS; all the major banks, insurance
companies, pension funds, and some of the large corporate Guyanese entities are included.
The complete list was stated in the ad as follows: NIS; Demerara Bank; NBS; Scotiabank; Citizens Bank; Republic Bank; Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI); Hand-in-Hand Trust Corporation Inc, Trust Co Guyana Ltd, Hand-in-Hand Mutual Life Insurance Co; North American Life Insurance Company Limited (Nalico) and North American Fire and General Insurance Company Limited (Nafico).
The other surprise was the number of pension funds that also held debt instruments: those of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC); Guyana Power and Light (GPL); Guyana Sugar and Trade Enterprise; Hand in Hand Trust; Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU); DDL; T Geddes Grant Guyana Ltd and Neal and Massey.
Like the NIS, pension funds represent a repository of monies that are supposed to take care of individuals after they retire, who have worked for many years, often decades, to “qualify” for their pensions. If these pensions are forced to absorb a catastrophic loss as a result of the BBCI being declared bankrupt, the consequences will not only be financially devastating but more damaging from a human standpoint.
One DDL pensioner, when contacted, said plaintively, “Son, wha me gon do, if me na get me pension. Me used to wuk fuh DDL at Leonora in the old days, and is me money. Me hope the guvment na guh tek way me money like de has tek way me light bill payment.”
Berbice Bridge toll station
BRIDGE OPENINGS
The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:
Monday, August 31 – 05:00h-06:30h and Tuesday, September 1 – 05:00h-06:30h
The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:
Monday, August 31 – 05:10h-06:40h and Tuesday, September 1 – 17:00h-18:30h
FERRY SCHEDULE
Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily.
WEATHER TODAY
High Tide: 05:28h and 17:48h reaching maximum heights of 2.94 metres and 2.91 metres respectively.
Low Tide: 11:22h and 23:44h reaching minimum heights of 0.31 metre and 0.29 metre respectively.
PPP/C presses Govt on inauguration spending
– submits questions to be answered after parliamentary recess
Since the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) feels it was prohibited from asking further questions on the monies spent for President David Granger’s inauguration ceremony, the Party has decided to submit a series of questions to the Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, which will come up for answer by Finance Minister Winston Jordan on his return from the parliamentary recess on October 10.
Citing a need for transparency and accountability, the PPP/C is asking that the Government provide a detailed list of all costs incurred and donations received in relation to, and in preparation for, all of the presidential inauguration events: the ceremonies at the Providence National Stadium and the Independence Arch and the cocktail reception at the Pegasus Hotel. The PPP/C is also asking for the cost for the clean-up campaigns that preceded those events.
The Opposition is requesting that the Government indicate the source of funding for these activities as well as provide a detailed list of all contributors and donors to these events and the nature and value of the contribution made (contributions received in kind and work done without charge).
Also, in relation to the donations, the Opposition is demanding that the Government submit reports detailing the process undertaken to ensure accountability for all donations, including a list of persons authorised to receive the donations and their designation in Government. In addition, the Party is ask-
ing that the Government provide copies of all official Government receipts issued for the said donations.
Furthermore, this Guyana Times understands that the PPP/C wants the Government to indicate when an audited statement of the expenditure incurred and donations received will be available and tabled in the National Assembly.
Stonewalled on the cost
Since the extravagant event which saw the National Stadium filled with exuberant partisan triumphant party supporters, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government has stonewalled on the cost encountered, dismissing reporters whenever they made any inquiries into the matter.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon had told media operatives that most of the expenses were covered by “donations” and that the State made little contributions.
However, during the final day of the consideration of the Budget Estimates
late Wednesday evening, Junior Education Minister Nicolette Henry, disclosed that some $72 million was spent on the President’s inauguration and “T-20 cricket games” (which is assumed to be the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) games).
PPP/C Member of Parliament Charles Ramson Jr, asked the Minister about a particular allocation under “subsidies and contributions to local organisations” under “Cultural Preservation and Conservation” within the Education Ministry and she disclosed that the $72.2 million was spent on the inauguration and the T20.
But, after a media report surfaced detailing that the Minister just admitted that Government spent millions of dollars for the inauguration, she then denied ever making the disclosure.
“This is inaccurate. I never said that… I would like for the purpose of the record to state very clearly that under national events, one million Guyana dollars was used for the purpose of maintenance at the Stadium, which coincided with the time we had
the inauguration,” she said in an attempt to cover up her initial statements.
Preference
Meanwhile, the PPP/C, in its list of questions to the Finance Minister, is asking that a detailed explanation be provided regarding measures/arrangements to ensure that the contributors to the inauguration events do not receive any preference or advantage in future interactions with the Government and all Public Sector agencies, including procurement opportunities, business opportunities, among others.
During the campaign trail, the APNU+AFC coalition persuaded persons to vote for them by claiming that it would ensure accountability, transparency and good governance prevailed.
In another newspaper on March 26, the APNU/AFC declared that, “The coalition is committed to responsive and accountable governance. The partnership will not only respond with speeches, empty promises and meaningless rhetoric.”
The United Nation (UN) Mission dispatched by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to Guyana, to hold discussions on matters surrounding the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, on Sunday visited the Essequibo Coast and River, as part of its preparations for consultations today.
Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge in an invited comment told Guyana Times on Sunday that the team, headed by the Chief of the Americas Division – Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations, Martha Doggett, visited the locations on Sunday, along with the Maburama and Waini regions. According to
the Minister, the officials saw that the area was not an “empty expanse of river and land”, but that they have been occupied and utilised since the 19th century.
According to Greenidge, while Guyana’s job is not to argue with the team about what really belongs to Guyana, Government has facilitated the officials and will be cooperating in every possible way. It is their job; he said, to deal with the issue.
The team has also indicated that it will be visiting the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as part of the consultative process.
Venezuela recently began moving throughout the Caribbean seeking out soli-
darity from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) member States on its claims over the Essequibo. This has not gone down quite too well, as every member country, including its Chair Freundel Stuart of Barbados reiterated Caricom’s deepening and unwavering support to Guyana and the position it holds.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree ratifying maritime sovereignty over waters within a 200-mile range, including the entire Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo Coast, as well as part of Suriname’s maritime territory.
This decree sparked a nationwide debate regarding the matter, with various
regional bodies and nations calling for the peaceful resolution of the conflict. The UN team will meet today with former Government officials and current Government Ministers including Minister Carl Greenidge; former Foreign Affairs Ministers, Sir Shridath Ramphal; Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; and Rashleigh Jackson; former Guyana Facilitator in the Good Offices Process Ralph Ramkarran; Ambassadors Rudolph Collins, Elisabeth Harper, and Major General Retired Joseph Singh. The UN Mission, will be departing Guyana on September 2.
Editor(ag): Michael Younge
Tel: 225-5128, 231-0397, 226-9921, 226-2102, 223-7230 or 223-7231. Fax: 225-5134
When John Locke laid down the foundations of what is now the “liberal state”, he proposed that the right to “life, liberty and property” are sacrosanct against the depredations of the Leviathan when in control of men of narrow vision. Thomas Jefferson substituted “the pursuit of happiness” for “property” in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, not because he disagreed with Locke, but because he considered the two terms coterminous. How could one “pursue happiness” when mired in poverty?
From the 18th century to the present, if there has been one constant in the evolution of governance, it is this: when a government refuses to recognise the “right to property” as sacrosanct, that country will remain in the Hobbesian “state of nature where life is nasty, brutish and short”. The USSR and China both defined their governance structure as “communist” inspired, but the former is now a distant memory and the latter will become the largest economy on earth, because the latter gave due importance to the right to property.
The right to property is protected in the law of contracts - and for this reason, contracts have also become sacrosanct. One cannot breach the terms of a contract, without due process being applied in the courts that are mandated to be protect the rights of citizens and legal entities. In modern societies, the latter is epitomised by the “corporation” which is considered literally as a legal “body” with its own right and remedies. Because, usually there are a host of individuals and other entities that have interests in a particular corporation, a “Board of Directors” is constituted for every corporation to protect the former’s interest.
Boards are said to have “fiduciary responsibilities” to the shareholders and trustees of their corporations and failure to protect the latter’s interests can result in Directors being sued in their private capacities. The foregoing becomes relevant in light of the exchanges between the Directors of the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated (BBCI) and the Government of Guyana (GoG) after the latter unilaterally announced a reduction of the tolls (property) of the Bridge the former entity operates.
Over a year ago, when the GoG was in Opposition but in control of the Assembly, they had passed a motion for such a reduction. But it appeared that good sense prevailed after they became the government when they quantified their reduction of tolls, announced it in their Budget, and engaged the Directors of the BBCI in negotiations. They then announced that they would subsidise the reduction of commuters’ lowered payments which would kick in as of tomorrow, Sept 1st. After extensive deliberations, the BBCI Board was forced to point out that they had never formally agreed to the government’s proposals which had repercussions of the stakeholders’ right to property that only they could approve.
And it is these repercussions that hark back to the sanctity of contracts and of property. The Berbice Bridge was built under the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement in Guyana. The Government of Guyana (“Public”) entered into a contract with equity and debt investors (“Private”) that promised a cash flow from tolls to cover operational costs and debt servicing. It is to be noted that shareholders only receive dividends when there are profits generated and in the case of the Berbice Bridge these were never paid.
As pointed out by the BBCI Directors, the cash flow from tolls at the present level would plunge the Bridge into bankruptcy unless they were raised to the levels requested since 2014 but not approved because of the intervening general elections exigencies. The government has unfortunately ignored the BBCI Directors duty to consult with their principals before their property (payments of debt) is destroyed (bankruptcy) and labelled it “delaying manoeuvres”.
The government would do well to accept the fundamental values of “life, liberty and property” and accept that a campaign promise does not constitute “force majeure” that allows them to unilaterally breach the terms of a contract.
For Ethnic Impact Statements
Dear Editor,
I found it very positive that in its manifesto, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change coalition in its “Foundations for Development” asserted that there will be “Ethnic Impact Statements of Cabinet Decisions and Government Departments.” The following, first written in 2003, offers one perspective on this subject.
“In all societies, not unreasonably, the policies and subsequent activities of any incumbent Government will be evaluated critically: Governments, after all, are elected to run the State to secure the goals of that society. This scrutiny would be even more vigilant, especially in poor countries, by those who may have voted against the Government, to discern whether the Government was unduly favouring its supporters.
It has become common, therefore, for Governments in democratic countries –where public opinion matters – even rich ones, to announce ahead of time what impact their policies will have on specific constituencies – be they, as in the US, labour, business, AfricanAmericans, HispanicAmericans, and so on. The more divided and polarised the society is, the more critical will be the evaluation of the Government’s
policies, since the premise of the Government being the hand-maiden of “one side” is even more credible.
One of the major bones of contention in ethnically polarised societies is the use of the State to favour the ethnic group that has put the Government into office: the perceived or real discrimination becomes the occasion, if not the cause, of many a battle.
The People’s National Congress since 1992 consistently accused the People’s Progressive Party of practicing racial/ethnic discrimination against primarily its African supporters. The charges of “marginalisation” from the African community have been the primary fuel in the ethnic conflagrations since 1998.
The agreement signed by then President Bharrat Jagdeo and then Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte in 2001 and the Communiqué of 2003 between the President Jagdeo and Robert Corbin, were attempts to answer such charges. But we have seen that they simply lead to additional charges and counter-charges over implementation.
For over a decade, we have been arguing for the introduction of an “Ethnic Impact Statement” by the Government before it implements any of its policies and programmes.
We have all accepted (hopefully) the need for
“Environmental Impact Statements” before we embark on programmes that will affect the physical environment. The policy is an acknowledgement of the fragility of our environment and the importance we place on its health and survival, for our own health and survival. I would hope that we would acknowledge that our social environment is as important (and as fragile) as our physical environment.
After all, it has been vividly demonstrated over the past five years that the destruction of our social environment is the direct destruction of “us”. One cannot get closer to home than that: with the environment at least the effect is a bit indirect and delayed.
While we know that the ethnic problem goes beyond governmental actions, the fact of the matter is that we have to begin there. It is a question of justice. No matter which party forms the Government, all accept that Governmental actions have to be conducted on behalf of all the people. Since, based on our history, we know that governmental actions will be scrutinised by the populace for its ethnic impact (recently, scholarships to Cuba and contracts on the Skeldon Factory’s foundation) what is the harm of scrutinising the possibilities ahead of the implementation?
The activities of the
Government are part and parcel of our “national patrimony”. In fact, in Guyana – as in most of the third world – Governmental activities unfortunately comprise most of the national patrimony – and this is part of the reason why it is scrutinised so closely and emotionally.
Who would deny that the national patrimony must be distributed equally to all citizens?
(Excepting, as Rawls proposed, when an unequal distribution would benefit our most disadvantaged –but it remains a question of justice.)
If such “Ethnic Impact Statements” could be crafted and issued before the announcement and implementation of policies and programmes, they would precipitate discussion and debate, which could be utilised to modify the policies or programmes before they become political mobilisational tools. To wait for the inevitable ethnic post-mortem is to ensure there will be trouble. Big trouble. The old cliché still holds: justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.
An “Ethnic Impact Statement” on Governmental activities would go a long way to ensuring the latter happy condition.
Sincerely, Ravi Dev
Dancers perform a Naya Zamana piece (Carl Croker photo)
NACTA Poll: Kamla leads for PM in Trinidad
Dear Editor,
The findings of an ongoing opinion tracking poll being conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) have found that incumbent Kamla PersadBissessar has been consistently leading her main challenger, Dr Keith Rowley in voters’ choice for Prime Minister as well as in approval and favourability ratings. But the election remains very close and seems to be going down to the wire with the outcome in a few marginal seats determining who will be the Prime Minister (PM).
The United National Congress (UNC) leads 2120 but several of these seats are within the margin of error in terms of how voters say they plan to vote. Thus, the projected outcome could vary. However, in certain marginal seats like PointeA-Pierre, Mayaro, St
Joseph, Barataria and Moruga/Tableland, the UNC has a comfortable lead, while the People’s National Movement (PNM) has a comfortable lead in San Fernando West and Tunapuna. In terms of national support, the People’s Partnership (PP) leads PNM 45 per cent to 40 per cent, with the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) four per cent.
The tracking poll began in early June interviewing likely voters to reflect the demographics of the population. The poll has a margin of error of four per cent; meaning support for either Kamla or Rowley could vary by four per cent in either direction.
Voters were asked who they feel is better qualified for the post of PM, the job performance Kamla as PM and Dr Rowley as Opposition Leader, and the likeability of both as individuals.
The likeability rating
(positive or negative view) is not the same as an evaluation of the performance of the individual at the job. Rather, it is an expression of how well a person is liked or disliked by voters. The likeability rating gives an indication whether the population has confidence in an individual to carry out a job.
Asked who they preferred for Prime Minister, Kamla leads Rowley 46 per cent to 41 per cent in the latest (through August 27) tracking poll slightly down from mid-June (49 per cent to 39 per cent) and mid-July (47 per cent to 40 per cent).
Asked whether they approve or disapprove of Kamla’s performance as PM, 54 per cent say they approve as compared with 37 per cent who disapproved.
Dr Rowley’s job approval rating currently stands at 49 per cent with a disapproval rating of 40 per cent.
Asked whether they have a positive or negative view of Kamla, 57 per cent said they have a positive view with 37 per cent holding a negative view giving her a net likeability rating of 20 per cent.
Rowley’s positive (likeability) rating stands at 52 per cent with a negative of 39 per cent giving him a net likeability rating of 13 per cent.
A NACTA poll conducted thru Thursday found no significant loss or gain for either PNM or UNC from Gypsy’s resignation from the UNC. Two thirds of the constituents of Mayaro are pleased that he has been replaced by Rushton Paray as UNC candidate describing him as a non-performer.
The findings of popular support in the various constituencies will be released in a subsequent report.
Sincerely, Vishnu
Bisram
For an assertive feminism
Dear Editor,
Those of the Opposition have pointed out, rightfully so, the severe underrepresentation of women in the Government ranks, as well as on State Boards and in the 2015 National Budget. It is truly sad to note the deafening silence of civil society actors in this regard, considering the consciously underestimated place that women are attributed in our society, and the consequences which they have to suffer as a result.
There is indeed need for a more assertive form of feminism in Guyanese society; a feminism which is bold and audacious enough to stand up to proclaim that the struggles faced by women in particular, must stop and that the Government must be a vector for empowering women.
If the Granger-led administration could only afford to delegate three senior ministerial positions to women, then it reflects a certain form of misogyny or perhaps an insufficiency in competent APNU/AFC female leaders. Regardless of the reasons however, the choice of the Government in the composition of State institutions is highly reflective of their stance on the matter and Guyanese women note this with somber interest.
Guyanese women do not need vague reforms which only touch the surface of the problems they face, but instead, need to be part of that
movement which would contribute to a positive mentality shift nation-wide. They do not need a feminism that fights to distinguish them as women, already corollary to their biological attributes. Instead, policies should accord women the same rights, treatment and benefits as men, to reflect Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which posits that: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. Subsequently, before attempting to justify that women deserve rights because of their sex, society must ensure that women have access to the same rights as men. Rights should not be perceived as a variation based on gender, but rather should equally be dispensable to all without distinction whatsoever.
The problem lies in the perception of women as often lesser beings to men
on all fronts, relegated and confined to the strenuous task of reproduction with or without consent. Although the principal underlying factor remains one of cultural perception, if the world saw women for what they are, human beings no different than any other gender, then access to equal rights would not have to be a modern day battle. Any Guyanese woman should be able to stand before society and the law to assume her civil and human rights in an equitable manner, without being discriminated against for the clothes she wears, the places she frequents, the professional choices she makes or the morals she adheres to.
It is in this sense that feminism should firmly assert itself in Guyana. However, if Government cannot promote a culture of equal rights among its own ranks, how can it presume
What we can learn from the Jamaican athletes
Dear Editor, How does a little dot on the globe dominate such a great space on the world stage? I have always been fascinated by the individual and collective drive that our Caribbean neighbour to the North possesses. Why is it that other countries are unable to cultivate this kind of excellence that seems to emanate so effortlessly from a country that isn’t developed and where the people do not havethe luxury and convenience to achieve great things? Yet, persons from humble beginnings are able to.
to be credible in the eyes of the common Guyanese woman?
Sincerely, Stacy Cheong
Having had the opportunity to observe the Jamaican society from within, I noticed that even the poorest had a positive outlook on life, aspiring to do great things, if not for themselves for their children. They take great pride in their country and identity and embrace their national heroes with passion and admiration. Most importantly, Jamaicans never stoop to the feet of others, regardless of how much they may have or what position they may hold.
They’re committed to whatever they do, striving to be the best in the world. Usain Bolt is a perfect example of this, as he walks onto
the field with confidence that seems to intimidate his competitors and push them into their shells. What does all this means for a country like Guyana? It means that we are sleeping on our individual talent and allowing others to dictate our potential and what we should and should not do. As Guyanese we have to become more free spirited and independently driven with our goals and ambition. We have to create an independent force that is free of political and racial influences. This is an approach that Walter Rodney wanted to create in Guyana before his untimely death. We are trapped in a politically charged culture fuelled by weak politicians peddling the race card. And in turn, we are misguided on our mission for prosperity and progress.
Let Guyana shine naturally and let our youths be free from negative influences. Let politics become a platform for great minds regardless of race or background. And let every individual achieve their dreams and be free from profiling or oppression.
Malcolm Watkins
Page Foundation
Anxious feelings are normal and expected during times of transition or change. This is especially true for children and teens going back to school, or for first-timers starting kindergarten. This transition can be stressful and disruptive for the entire family! Prior to the first day of school, your anxious child may cling, cry, have temper tantrums, complain of headaches or stomach pains, withdraw, and become sullen or irritable.
Worries are Common.
Anxious children and teens worry about many different school-related issues, such as teachers, friends, fitting in, and/or being away from their parents. Some common worries include:
* Who will be my new teacher?
* What if my new teacher is mean?
* Will any of my friends be in my class?
* Will I fit in?
* Are my clothes okay?
* Will I look stupid?
* Who will I sit with at lunch?
* What if I miss the bus?
* What if I can’t understand the new schoolwork?
* What if something bad happens to mom or dad while I am at school?
Although it is normal for your child to have worries, it is crucial to make your child attend school. Avoidance of school will only increase and reinforce your child’s fears over the long-term, and make it increasingly more difficult to attend. Besides missing school work, children and teens who stay home because of anxiety
miss:
* valuable opportunities to develop and practice social skills
* important chances for success and mastery
* being acknowledged and praised for talents
* fostering close friendships with classmates
Most importantly, anxious children and teens who miss school cannot gather evidence that challenges their unrealistic and catastrophic fears!
How to deal with backto-school worries!
Below are some general strategies parents can use to deal with back-toschool worries, followed by a schedule leading up to the first day of school.
Look after the basics
Nobody copes well when they are tired or hungry. Anxious children often forget to eat, don’t feel hungry, and don’t get enough sleep. Provide frequent and nutritious snacks for your child. During this time, you also need to build in regular routines, so that life is more predictable for your child. These routines can involve the morning and bedtime habits, as well as eating schedules.
Before and during the first few weeks of school, set up a regular time and place to talk. Some children feel most comfortable in a private space with your undivided attention (such as right before bed, or during mealtime). Teens often welcome some sort of distraction to cut the intensity of their worries and feelings (such as driving in the car,
tion.” This gives you the opportunity to coach your child on how to cope with (and interpret) both real and imagined scary situations. You will also be giving your child the tools he or she needs to cope with an unexpected situation that might arise.
Here’s a sample script for engaging your child in problem-solving and plan-
Focus on the positive aspects! Encourage your child to re-direct attention away from the worries, and towards the positives. Ask your child, “What are three things that you are most excited about on your first day of school?” Most kids can think of something good, even if it’s just eating a special snack or going home
Encourage your child to share his or her fears.
Ask your child what is making him or her worried. Tell your child that it is normal to have concerns.
or taking a walk). Avoid giving reassurance... instead, problemsolve and plan! Children often seek reassurance that bad things won’t happen in order to reduce their worry. Do not assure them with “Don’t worry!” or “Everything will be fine!” Instead, encourage your child to think of ways to solve his or her problem. For example, “If (the worst) happens, what could you do?” or “Let’s think of some ways you could handle that situa-
ning (instead of giving reassurance):
Role-play with your child. Sometimes role-playing a certain situation with your child can help him or her make a plan, and feel more confident that he or she will be able to handle the situation. For example, let your child play the part of the demanding teacher or bullying classmate. Then, model appropriate responses and coping techniques for your child, to help them calm down.
at the end of the day. Chances are that the fun aspects are simply getting overlooked by repetitive worries. Pay attention to your own behaviour. It can be anxiety-provoking for parents to hand over care and responsibility of their child to teachers. Children take cues from their parents, so the more confidence and comfort you can model, the more your child will understand there is no reason to be afraid. Be supportive yet firm. When saying goodbye in the morning, say it cheerfully – once! Ensure you don’t reward your child’s
protests, crying, or tantrums by allow him or her to avoid going to school. Instead, in a calm tone, say: “I can see that going to school is making you scared, but you still have to go. Tell me what you are worried about, so we can talk about it.” Chances are, your child is anxious about something that requires a little problem-solving, roleplaying, planning, and/or involvement from the teacher.
Timeline leading up to the first day of school
At least one week before:
* Start your child on a school-day routine – waking up, eating, and going to bed at regular times. Explain that everyone in the family needs to adjust to the new schedule, so he or she doesn’t feel alone with these changes.
* For older children who having troubles getting up and out of bed, give them a “big person” alarm clock, and let them practice using it.
* Ask your child to help plan school lunches for the first week.
* Create a list of school supplies together and plan a fun shopping trip.
* Teach and practice coping skills to use when feeling nervous A couple days before school:
* Go to school several times – walking, driving, or taking the bus. For young children taking the school bus, describe and draw out the bus route, including where the bus goes and how long it takes to get to school. Talk about bus safety.
* For new students, take a tour of the school. Show your child the classrooms, the cafeteria, and the bathrooms. If possible, meet your child’s teacher with your child present.
* Ask your child to help choose the outfits for the first week of school. Let your child wear his or her favourite outfit on the first day.
* Together with your child, pack up the schoolbag the night before, including treats.
* For younger children who are nervous about separating, suggest taking a special object to school that reminds him of home. A reassuring note in a child’s lunch can also help ease separation anxiety.
The first day of school:
* Have your child go to school with a friend for the first couple of days.
* Tell the teacher that your child is having some separation anxiety – most teachers are experts in this area, and have years of experience!
* Most importantly, praise and reward your child for brave behaviour! (www.anxietybc.com)
President as PM in National Assembly
...“constitutional amphibian committing constitutional incest” – fmr AG
Former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall and former Speaker of the National Assembly,
Ralph Ramkarran are at odds over the legitimacy of the Prime Minister sitting in Parliament while performing the functions of the President.
Last week, concerns were raised and controversy loomed over Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s presence in Parliament, given that he was sworn in to act in the capacity of President, as President David Granger was out of the country at the time.
Nagamootoo had eventually left the compound and only returned when President Granger returned to Guyana.
But Ramkarran contends that the Prime Minister is entitled to sit in Parliament while performing the func-
93 graduate
tions of the President, citing that there is “nothing in the Constitution to suggest that a Prime Minister loses his/her position as
from Guyana-Cuba medical
scholarship programme ...had been initiated by fmr President Jagdeo
After completing their time in the GuyanaCuba Medical Scholarship Programme, which had been initiated by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, 93 students graduated on Saturday at a ceremony held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
The graduates took the Hippocratic Oath, which was administered by Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr Karen Cummings.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, delivering his address at the ceremony, said he looked forward to the continuation of the programme.
“We are proud to inherit this programme and in …many years to come, it will be stronger,” Minister Harmon said.
He praised the graduates and mentioned that the local health care sector has been given a further boost with the addition of the newly trained doctors.
The Minister told the graduates that they have completed their studies at a very important juncture in Guyana’s history. He further stated that a key element of this commitment was the delivery of healthcare services, as it was the Administration’s belief that citizens in the hinterland and in the rural coastal communities are entitled to the same quality of services and facilities that are available in the urban centres.
This graduation, Minister Harmon said, reflects the good friendship and cordial relations which exist between Cuba and Guyana. He pointed out that from the time Guyana and other Caribbean countries established diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1972, Guyana and Cuba have remained firm friends and have shared cooperation in many areas.
Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton, who himself had benefited from this training pro-
gramme, in his charge to the graduates, urged the new batch of doctors not to see their graduation as the end, but the beginning of much more to come as he noted that it was his belief that service delivery required continued training.
Also present at the prestigious occasion was Cuba’s Ambassador, Julio Cesar Gonsalez Marchante, who offered his congratulations to the new doctors. He said it was the conviction of both Governments that resulted in their success.
“All of you had the opportunity to study and now you have the opportunity to save human beings and raise the quality of life for your people,” he told the new batch of doctors.
The Ambassador also thanked the various entities who played a role in making training of the doctors successful as he pledged Cuba’s continued support to improving Guyana’s health care system.
Prime Minister or Member of Parliament while performing the functions of President”.
Ramkarran, in his weekly blog “Conversation Tree”, argued that the President, though he may be incapable of discharging the functions of his office, does not lose his position as President, not even temporarily.
“The President may not always be in a position to perform his or her functions such as when he or she is absent from Guyana. In such a case, Article 96 (1) gives the President the power to authorise any elected member of the Cabinet to perform such functions of the Office of President as he or she may specify. The person who is usually appointed is the Prime Minister unless he or she is not available in which case another Cabinet member is appointed. The President may be incapable of discharging the functions of his or her office and may be unable to authorise another person by reason of physical or mental infirmity. Even in such a case the President does not lose his or her office, even temporarily,” Ramkarran wrote.
He maintained that the Constitution did not say,
imply, nor can it be construed as suggesting that the President would temporarily lose or be temporarily deprived of his or her post for any reason; therefore, making it legitimate for the Prime Minister to participate in Parliament even though he is performing the functions of the President.
However, Nandlall argued that it was absurd to think that the person who stands in the shoes of the President and is empowered to assent to bills passed by the National Assembly can also sit in the National Assembly, participate in the legislative exercise of speaking and voting on a bill and then perform the presidential function of assenting to it.
“I respectfully submit that such a conversion of the Prime Minister into a constitutional amphibian committing constitutional incest can never meet the litmus test of constitutionality,” Nandlall asserted, maintaining that the Prime Minister cannot function as an elected member of the National Assembly while he is performing the functions of President.
He highlighted that the Prime Minister or any-
one else in performing the functions of President was clothed with all the powers, privileges, and immunities of the President and was obliged to discharge all the functional responsibilities which devolve upon the office of President and during this period, that person becomes the constituent other half of Parliament; the National Assembly being the other part thereof, as per Article 51 of the Constitution.
“Therefore the framers of the Constitution could not and could never have contemplated a person standing in the shoes and performing the functions of President ever being part of the National Assembly,” Nandlall explained.
He reminded that a few years ago, a similar situation arose in the Judiciary where the Chief Justice was appointed to perform the functions of the Chancellor.
“The holder of the office proceeded to simultaneously perform both functions. There was a constitutional challenge to it. The High Court ruled that the office holder cannot function in both offices,” Nandlall stated.
Former Attorney General and Legal Affairs
Minister Anil Nandlall
Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran
The graduates took the Hippocratic Oath, which was administered by Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings
monday, august 31, 2015 | guyanatimesgy.com
State forensic audits… PPP/C calls on Govt to disclose payments for auditors
Following the revelation that more than $50 million will go towards payment of auditors contracted to conduct the State forensic audits, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has requested that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government disclose how much each auditor is being paid and state whether any steps were taken to ensure that the prices paid for each audit is competitive.
Among the list of questions submitted to the Clerk of the National Assembly to be answered by Government upon return to Parliament on October 10, the PPP/C wants Finance Minister Winston Jordan to provide clarity on the many issues surrounding these investigations into the various State agencies in the country.
It is already established that the auditors were not contracted via a public procurement process, as is required by law. As such, the Opposition has asked that Government provide documentary evidence of the procurement procedures followed by the awarding the contract to perform the audits.
Also, the PPP/C is asking that the Government provide a list of every entity at which a forensic audit is being conducted, or has been conducted; identify the auditor contracted to conduct each of the audits; and indicate how much each auditor is being paid for his services.
The PPP/C is maintaining
93
that the entire undertaking of the forensic audits is illegal and by all means, lacks any form of accountability and transparency, especially with regards to the contracting of Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram and former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran to conduct the audits, given that they both are open critics of the former PPP/C Administration.
Subsequently, the Party communicated that this is valid ground for seeking all information possible that could provide clarity on the matter.
For clarification purposes, the Opposition Party has demanded that the Government inform the public on the academic, professional and experiential qualifications of each auditor contracted, specifying whether the auditor has a practice certificate issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana and what steps were taken to establish the capability and suitability of each auditor for each assignment.
To also shed more light into these individuals’ qualifi-
cations, the PPP/C wants the Minister to provide a list of forensic audits known to have been previously performed by each of the auditors contracted, including the entity audited and the nature of the assignment, prior to being awarded the current contracts.
Moreover, the PPP/C is asking that the identity of the person supervising and instructing reviewing the work of the auditors to ascertain that it is satisfactorily completed before any payment, be disclosed to the general public.
Additionally, the Party is seeking information pertaining to the contracts and Terms of Reference of the audits, including the identity of those who prepared the terms of reference of each audit.
Legal authority
The legal authority under which these audits are being performed is also being questioned. Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had already revealed that the haphazard manner in which the
Government decided to embark upon these audits was in complete violation of the law, but noted that the only reason the PPP/C did not take the matter to the courts was because the Party did not want to give the impression that it was scared of being scrutinised.
“We don’t want people to think we have something to hide and that we are afraid of these audits and that is one of the reasons why we haven’t moved to the courts to stop this audit, because we don’t want people to think we are opposed to the audit,” he stated.
Former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall had also previously noted that the entire undertaking of the forensic audits was completely unconstitutional. He too noted that the recruitment process of the auditors was an infringement of the Public Procurement Act.
“It is beyond dispute that those auditors were handpicked by the Minister of Finance without any public procurement process embarked upon…This mandatory statutory process was wholly ignored by the Minister of Finance and millions of dollars of services have been contracted to audit, ultra vires and in breach of the laws of Guyana and persons were simply handpicked by the Minister of Finance and given jobs. There was absolutely no public tendering. This is what is called “sole sourcing”, a concept that was vehemently criticised by the very persons who now practise it,” Nandlall said.
graduate from Guyana-Cuba...
This latest batch of doctors began their training in 2008, spending six years in Cuba. They returned last year after a one-year training at medical institutions around the country. To date, Guyana and Cuba have facilitated training for 2600 medical doctors, most of whom were trained under the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Administration.
The Governments of Guyana/Cuba Specialist
Awards Scholarship Programme was established following a visit to the sister Caribbean State by former President Bharrat Jagdeo in 2001. President Jagdeo secured the scholarships in various disciplines, after meeting with the then President Fidel Castro. The scholarships are offered in Medicine, Engineering, Technology, Telecommunications, Agriculture, Sport and
Culture.
The then President had specified that every batch of students must include Amerindians, since the scholarships are for all Guyanese students who qualify. Under the scholarship programme, the students sent by the Government of Guyana are given a stipend of Cdn$50 per month. They also have the guidance of a Students Affairs Officer in Cuba appointed by
From page 7
the Government. The students are expected to serve the Government for five years on their return.
Many young people have become qualified for scholarships given improved performances at both the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) level.
Eyew tness Politics...
...vs. business
One of the features of Guyanese politics is the disjunction between the business community and the politicians. Maybe one can blame it on the Communist/Socialist orientation of the early politicians and even before then, on their origin out of the womb of trade unions. Relations between those groups and businesses weren't exactly sanguine. But you'd think that with the about-turn introduced when Desmond Hoyte brought in the IMF and their "Washington Consensus" and drove the stake into the heart of socialism - since 1989, mid you! - would've bridged the divide, no?
No! Look at how the PPP has been derided by the Opposition and their handmaidens in the media for creating an "oligarchy" and how "bourgeois values" now predominate. Now this Eyewitness would like to know how you can create an economy with "private enterprise" as the "engine of growth" and not have some folks becoming richer than others? The whole point about "private enterprise" is that businesses are owned by PRIVATE persons/corporations - not the state - and so the owners will collect the profits of those businesses.
The problem with the politicians in the Opposition is they don't seem to have come to grips with the fact that "capitalists" - as they call business owners - don't just have profits dropping into their laps like manna from heaven. They take risks, they have to be innovative, they have to manage, they have to secure capital and jump through a heck of a lot of other hoops if profits are to be generated. And for that they collect profits if they can be generated.
It ain't easy...or else everyone would be jumping in with their own businesses, no? But that's not what this administration's signaling. Ever since they slid into office, they've been focusing on two things - witch hunting for PPPites in public office and going after businesses, ostensibly on behalf of the "worker". Both come out of the antagonistic relationship that the old guard cultivated back in the (heady?) day of the co-op Republic and were analogous to the fox hunting of the British ruling class. Blood Sport.
When Hoyte tried to jettison the socialist experiment of the Founder Leader, not surprisingly, he got rid of his socialists acolytes. But it's now clear that some went underground and now that the coast is clear they're being reassembled. Can you imagine the "dependista" Clive Thomas - the fella who preached cutting off ALL relations with the "capitalist world" - now in charge of sugar?
Or Maurice Odle, cut of the same cloth, in charge of NICIL?? But then Granger was in charge of inculcating the Founder Leader's ideology to the troops, wasn't he?
O tempora! o mores!....
...vs. baby sitting
Moses Nagamootoo boasts about being "50 years in politics", so why does he need a baby sitter? But then, they say, "once a man, twice a child" and could be, Nagamootoo's in his second childhood. Or why else would he have an ex-WICB water-boy try to save his blushes from his post Cummingsburg humiliations?
What happened to all Nagamootoo's training under Janet Jagan? He didn't just carry around her purse, did he? The WICB flak insisted Nagamootoo pushed the APNU/AFC coalition over the line in May. So why should kids, still wet behind their ears, not mock him since he's accepted his subsequent emasculation like a born eunuch?
In politics it's all about power - so what's this "secondin-command" spiel the WICB shill spun that Jagdeo should be envious of? The bottom line is that Nagamootoo was screwed out of chairing cabinet meetings, the governance portfolio, and suggesting Cabinet portfolios.
All he got was Larwah! And water-boy knows about that, right?
...and the Bridge
On the Berbice Bridge tolls, why doesn't the government just buy out the shareholders and reduce tolls to the nominal level of the Demerara River Bridge?
But then they won't have those fellas who still haven't gotten a penny for their investment in dividends to kick around, would they?
Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com
Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram
Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran
Man stabbed 40 times in Tiger Bay
– murder accused lived an abusive life
As the sun set on Saturday, pandemonium broke out in Rosemary Lane, Tiger Bay, Georgetown after a 19-year-old went berserk and hacked a father of three to death. The dead man has only been identified as 49-yearold “Red Cap” or “Rasta Man”, formerly of Bartica, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni).
The now dead man was reportedly stabbed at least 40 times to his body including to his head, abdomen, hands, feet, face and back while he was asleep in his makeshift house aback Rosemary Lane. After committing
the act, the suspect reportedly went home, took a shower and sat in the house with the knife in his hands.
After realising what he had done, he reportedly hid the knife under a bed and attempted to escape, but was cornered by a group of men and given a sound thrashing. By this time, Police had arrived on the scene and arrested him. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he is under guard.
From reports received, Christopher Stanley, the suspect, who lives a short distance away, had earlier killed a kitten on top of his mother’s roof by stamping it to death.
After some time, he came off the roof and went towards the victim’s home. He then reportedly attacked Wayne Rogers, also called “Not Nice”, dealing him one blow to the head. He then kicked open the door to the victim’s home and stabbed him.
During a visit to the area on Sunday, Guyana Times was told by Rogers that he was standing near the victim’s house when he saw the teenager walk-
ing towards him. “When I see he, he look high and he nah look like he self… so I walk up to he and ask he what happen, but he pulled out the knife and give me one cut to meh head,” Rogers stated. After delivering that blow, the teenager kicked open the door of “Red Cap”’s house and immediately started to stab him.
“Red Cap couldn’t run… de man went over he with the knife and keep stabbing away,” the eyewitness stated.
Earlier in the day, the youngster was seen sharpening a knife, but no one knew his intentions, Rogers stated.
Another resident told the Guyana Times that the teenager was a “mental case”. She witnessed him killing the kitten and knew that he had ‘gone a far way’.
“On Friday, he went to he mother and ask for a cup of water, but he mother start cuss he and tell he that he should dead… tell he that the Police should lock he up for smoking… and all sort of things... but he end up leaving the house and went into the
nasty gutter and drink some water,” the young lady stated.
Upon seeing his condition, she noted that residents advised his mother to take him to the hospital, but she paid them no heed. “She is the reason for Christopher condition… she does always cuss he and tell he all sort of foolishness… she does cuss he about he father who left she… and telling that he go turn just like he father…If she de only carry the young man to the hospital, this woulda never happen,” she added.
Several other residents in the area explained that the dead man moved into the area about a year ago and never troubled anyone or got in their way. He reportedly left Bartica and moved to Georgetown to seek employment.
Police confirmed that they have retrieved the murder weapon, a knife which was hidden under a bed in the suspect’s home.
The Police also found blood stains in the bathroom. The suspect will be taken for a psychiatric evaluation as Police continue their investigations.
Crime Chief urges businesses to secure property
– as Police intensify investigative skills
With the country’s crime situation on the rise, Head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Wendell Blanhum is urging businesses to take the necessary precautions to ensure that their premises are secured.
At the time, Blanhum was speaking about the recent spate of robberies at the Popeye’s Restaurant on Vlissengen Road, which was the target again last Wednesday. The Crime Chief has expressed his disgust with businesses that are not cognisant of the safety of not only their employees but their customers as well. He is therefore calling on businesses to put appropriate security measures in place.
“It’s not only about having CCTV (Close Circuit Television) cameras. You cannot be a victim of robbery over and over, and nothing is being done about it. You have to ensure that you put certain mechanisms in place and you need to ensure that you employees and mostly customers are protected,” he stated.
According to the Crime Chief, the Police have recently arrested and charged several persons for a previous robbery at the same fast food outlet, adding that these persons are still in prison. He stated that the fast food outlet has been a frequent target for robberies and it’s frustrating for Police to see that no steps are being taken to protect the premises.
Blanhum declared “At times it can be very frustrating to the Police, in that we have to expend our resources to deal with something that has been ongoing and no sort of consciousness as it relates security on behalf of the businesses is displayed. They are not looking into their interests. They need to ensure that they implement certain security mechanisms... to prevent such incidents from occurring.”
On the other hand, the Crime Chief recognised that
the Guyana Police Force has been doing better in its investigations department, which is resulting in more perpetrators being brought to justice. He noted that many factors have attributed to this success.
Blanhum specifically mentioned that the Force has intensified its intelligence capability and is working with members of the public who are assisting with providing information investigators. Also, he posited that investigating ranks are participating in overseas training programmes and would implement the knowledge they would have gained in the investigations. He added too, that investigators are consistently being trained locally, which contributes to the successes in the high profile cases.
Public trust
Moreover, the Head of the CID underscored that public trust played an integral part in this search, noting that the Police depend on information from the public during their investigations and this has been forthcoming. This, he said, is reflective of all the social work the Force has embarked on to regain the public’s confidence.
“We will continue to work with members of the public and that is why we have so much of the social crime prevention programmes, we have community outreaches involving the Police and
Education Month begins
September 1 marks the beginning of Education Month in Guyana and as such, a number of activities have been slated to commemorate this year’s monthlong agenda in promoting education throughout the country.
Under the theme “Quality Education Leadership: Improving Schools from Within”, the Education Ministry will host the official launching of Education Month
2015 at the Theatre Guild, Georgetown, tomorrow. During this event there will be the presentation of the Sagicor Visionaries Awards for the year 2014 and simultaneously the launch of Sagicor Visionaries 2015.
On September 8, there will be the “Give a Book Today” throughout the 10 administrative regions where persons would be expected to devote some time towards reading at 11:00h. There will also
be a reading fair held on Main Street, Georgetown on the same date.
At the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) in Kingston, Georgetown, there will be the launching of the Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development on September 10.
During the month-long celebrations, there will be a seminar for headteachers and principals of Education Districts
members of the public, and the whole objective is to build trust, so as long as the public has some amount of trust in the Police, they will come forward with the information that is needed,” he posited.
Furthermore, speaking about the public’s distrust of the Police Force as it relates to the timeliness and closure of investigations, the Crime Chief pointed out that all murder investigations are treated with strict priority. He explained that the Force is actively dealing with pending investigations which include reviewing statements, seeking legal advice and engaging persons of interests.
“We are doing the work, but not everything we put in the public domain. We might have a suspect and if we put that information out in the public domain and that suspect is alerted, it can jeopardise our investigations,” he outlined.
The Crime Chief also indicated that he has noticed much mention of “cold cases” in the Force. He noted that there are ongoing investigations where the Police would have been provided with the names of persons of interest and would have since issued wanted bulletins for them.
Blanhum further explained that he has instructed that copies of those bulletins be placed at strategic locations across the country, with emphasis on interior locations. Additionally, he stated that these bulletins are forwarded to regional law enforcement bodies.
The growing skepticism of the citizenry for the Police Force stems from the recent increase in crime and the Force’s inaptitude to contain and respond to criminal offences in a timely and professional manner. One such case that remains is the murder of businessman Ganesh Ramlall who was murdered at his West Coast Demerara home in July. According to the family of the victim, the Police took over three hours to arrive at the crime scene.
Tuesday
Three, Four, Five, Six, 10 and Georgetown under the theme “Educational Leaders as Agents of Change”. This seminar will be held on September 15 at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. Other activities for the rest of the month include the launch of the Guyana Early Childhood Education Project in Region Seven, rally for education, school steel bands
presentation, a technological fair, award ceremony for attendance and punctuality of learners, and an Open Day at the Cyril Potter College of Education. There will also be a National Award Ceremony for Outstanding Performance of schools and learners which will be the last event for Education Month and will be held at the National Cultural Centre.
Injured, Wayne Rogers
The house in which “Red Cap” was stabbed to death
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum
Indigenous village ready for Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations
he 2015 Amerindian
THeritage Month celebrations were given a boost on Saturday afternoon when the new indigenous village was handed over to Minister within the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry, Valerie GarridoLowe.
The village, located at the Sophia Exhibition Complex, Greater Georgetwon, will house most of the activities of this year’s celebration.
Contractor Colin Andrews delivered on his 21-day promise which he made prior to the start of construction.
He told the gathering that with his staff of 21, they were able to refurbish sev-
eral benabs, while building three new ones. The workers, who travelled from Moraikobai, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), also constructed a benab where persons can sit and eat comfortably and an indigenous bar, at the northern side of the village.
Minister Garrido-Lowe was ecstatic with the completion of village and promised to maximise its use way beyond the Heritage Month celebration.
She said she was extremely impressed with the level of craftsmanship that has gone into the buildings, especially since it continues to represent all the indige-
nous peoples of the country.
“This is truly a remarkable village; I have never seen the indigenous village look so good. All credit must go to Andrews and his team who worked tirelessly over the last three weeks.”
All-year venue
Minister Garrido-Lowe said her Ministry aims to make the indigenous village an all-year venue. She pointed to it becoming a weekend getaway for people in the city who want to experience Indigenous life.
“We will have indigenous experiences every weekend. Sometimes it might be making cassava bread, making of
hammocks, indigenous crafts or the cooking of delectable indigenous meals.”
She pointed out that in the near future, the aim is to dig out the canal that runs through the village, so that persons can experience canoeing in the city.
“The Indigenous culture should be experienced by all Guyana, it is not just meant for the Indigenous population. Having this Heritage Village in the capital promotes the indigenous way of life; the tranquility that resonates in indigenous communities can now be experienced in Georgetown. This village will promote nature and the environment in a very sustainably way,” Minister Garrido-Lowe said.
There was also a prayer ceremony by Catholic Priest Father Jerry Dias, who blessed the entire village.
Heritage Month activities commenced on Sunday with an Inter-Faith Service and will be followed by the official launch on Tuesday, which begins a six-day cultural extravaganza with performances from notable in-
digenous groups. There will also be an art exhibition at Castellani House from September
7; a Stephen Campbell Symposium on September 10, a fashion show and beauty pageant slated for the National Cultural Centre, a charity dinner at the village and weekend of sports.
Amerindian Heritage Month was traditionally launched at the Umana Yana benab, built in 1972 by the Wai Wai people of Konashen (Gunns) in Region
2014, forcing the launching ceremony to be held at an alternative venue; the Sophia Exhibition Site. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic Administration had stated its interest in contracting the Wai Wais known for their skilled craftsmanship, to rebuild the Umana Yana, as it remained a national monument for decades after it was built.
DDL Group’s midyear profit dips
Citing challenges in both the local and international markets, the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Group of Companies has recorded a decline in the overall profits before tax in its midyear report.
According to Chairman of the company, Komal Samaroo, in the company’s 2015 Interim Report for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2015, the Group’s profit before taxation was $1,083,987,000 compared to $1,166,161,000 recorded in 2014. This represents a decline of 7.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the profit after tax recorded for the first half of this year was $717,442,000 compared to $804,651,000 last year, the Chairman further disclosed. Samaroo explained that the first six months of 2015 was “particularly” challenging in the domestic as well as international markets.
He pointed out that locally, the pre-election and immediate post-election uncertainties had adversely affected trading activities in the country. “Indeed, during this entire period, the wholesale and retail trade reduced inventory holdings and this had a direct negative impact on our local sales,” the Chairman stated.
On the international scene, Samaroo outlined that on the European market, uncertainty continued to loom over the situation in Greece, which he said
contributed in no small way to the 18 per cent decline in Euros against United States (US) dollars.
In addition, due to the dramatic decline in oil prices in Canada, the country’s currency was severely impacted, resulting in a 15 per cent decline when compared to that of US dollars.
“The currency decline in these two important export markets in fact eroded our earnings in Guyana dollars,” the Group’s Chairman posited. He further stated that the overall effect of the challenges faced by the Group locally and overseas was a marginal decline in turnover by 2.1 per cent from $8,347,393,000 in 2014 to $8,171,223,000 this year after the first six months.
Going forward, the Chairman of the DDL Group is confident that business will pick up for the remainder of the year.
“We look forward to improvement in the business environment in the second half of the year. With the General Elections behind us, we hope that the second half of the year would bring greater consumer spending, not that the first National Budget for the year has been introduced into Parliament. Also, with an agreement on the way forward for Greece, we expect less uncertainty in Europe and improvement in the value of the Euro,” Samaroo affirmed.
The midyear interim report included financial statements from the Groups’ subsidiaries which includes: Demerara Contractors and Engineers Limited; Demerara Distributions Services Limited; Demerara Shipping Company Limited; Tropical Orchard Products Company Limited; Demerara Distillers (TT) Limited; Demerara Distillers (St Kitts) Limited; Demerara Distillers (US) Inc; Demerara Rum Company Inc and Breitenstein Holdings BV, all of which are wholly owned subsidiaries. Also consolidated, in accordance with IAS 28-Investment in Associates, were the accounts of National Rum of Jamaica Limited, Diamond Fire and General Insurance Inc and Demerara Distillers Limited Hyderabad.
Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo). However, the building was completely destroyed by fire September
Chairman of DDL Group of Companies Komal Samaroo
Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe gives contractor Colin Andrews a ceremonious handshake for delivering the spanking new village
One of the refurbished benabs at the indigenous village
Is the Government serious about women equality in Guyana?
One of the clear trends emanating out of the first 100 days of the APNU+AFC Government is hypocrisy in governance, particularly with regards to women. This past week, David Granger announced that the Government is committed to gender equality and is now developing a gender policy and a program to ensure women equality in our country. How serious they are about this we are yet to find out.
Guyana now has the largest Cabinet in CARICOM. Yet, it isn’t representative of young people nor women who are relegated to occupying small ministries and junior positions. Only three female Ministers are at the head of a Ministry.
Four Vice Presidents
were appointed and none are women. The Government also has the largest group of advisors in Guyana’s history and among CARICOM countries. Yet, there are no women among the advisors, but instead, there is a significant number of men with a military background.
Within weeks of assuming office, the government announced radically different compositions of State boards. Like the Cabinet, these predominantly male appointees had a past which is linked to the People’s National Congress. A strict minority accounting for less than 10 were women.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that the APNU/AFC failed to include enough women on its electoral list for the 2015
election and was forced to include a few additional women on the party’s electoral list for Parliament. Had GECOM not accorded additional time to correct the list, the APNU/AFC would have failed to meet the constitutional requirement to include at least 33% of women on their list for the National Elections on May 11, 2015.
We need to see real interest in the work of the Women and Gender Equality Commission. Yet an examination of the 2015 budget reveals that little attention is given to the Women and Gender Equality Commission. It is unclear from the Budget Debate if the Social Services Ministry, headed by Minister Volda Lawrence,
Andrew Arts owner passes on
Guyana has lost yet another artistic soul with the passing of Andrew Juman, better known as Andrew Arts, the name of his popular graphic design and creative arts company. The designer passed away on Friday after suffering cardiac arrest at the Dr Balwant Singh Hospital.
Juman had checked himself into the hospital for a check-up after feeling unwell. At the Hospital, doctors realised he was having a heart attack and began to address the situation. Unfortunately, Juman died as the doctors were trying to save his life.
Juman leaves to mourn his wife, 12-year-old daughter, friends and other rela-
tives.
Juman will be dearly missed by all those whose lives he touched through his designs and creative work. Andrew Arts is known for its outstanding work in the creative arts industry. Juman’s artistic quality and creativeness were often on display at various events, including GuyExpo and the Diwali Motorcade. Andrew Arts’ participation in the Diwali Motorcade celebrations was greatly significant. The Indian Action Committee (IAC) expressed its sadness over the passing of the Guyanese icon.
“The late Mr Juman and the IAC have, in the past, had meaningful collaborations in the quest to preserve and foster the rich Indian
cultural traditions and to heighten related awareness. His passion was ingrained and his commitment unquestionable in this regard and similarly for the development of aspects of the visual arts.
“He was an extremely creative person who engineered fresh ideas into the art form of signage and branding which he mastered and, in many ways, contributed to its positive transformation. Over the years, the knowledge of his work created much anticipation among Guyanese who flocked vantage points to view his creativity in the annual Deepavali Motorcade,” the IAC said in a release.
Juman is expected to be buried today.
made any provisions to empower the Women’s Bureau and to continue the work of the Women’s Leadership Institute at Cove and John.
We cannot really talk of women equality in Guyana and not address the worrying problem of domestic violence. This is not a political matter, but requires political action. Thus far in the life of the APNU+AFC administration domestic violence has taken a seat at the back of the room. There is little attention to this continuing plague on our society and development. Domestic violence is not a problem that started with this administration and it would be evil to charge this administration as the cause of domestic violence.
The problem continues to grow in Guyana and around the world. Despite much focus and efforts by the previous PPP/C Government from former Minister such
as Priya Manickchand, domestic violence continues to grow. We need concerted action and we need national unity on this issue. The new administration has so far shown little propensity to embrace a united action against domestic violence.
Not only is domestic violence a big plague in our country, sexual violence against girls and women continue unabated. If we were to judge from the Government’s first 100 days, we would think that both of these issues are minor challenges facing Guyana.
None of the sixty pardoned prisoners are females, yet, there are many young women in prison under terrible conditions, jailed for minor offences. This is the hypocrisy that serves as a background for the announcement that the Government wants to promote women and gender equality.
Now that the Government has announced the development of a national policy to ensure women equality, we hold our breath and keep our fingers crossed. We are hopeful that in the weeks to come we will see genuine evidence of the Government’s sincerity in promoting the welfare and equality of women in Guyana.
In these times when Commissions of Inquiry seem to be in style, it would perhaps be appropriate to have a non-partisan parliamentary committee made up of equal members from the Government and Opposition, chaired by the Opposition and including civil society members to make recommendations for Guyana to address domestic and sexual violence in our country. Readers are invited to send their comments by email or Facebook to times. notebook@gmail.com.
Some of the work of the late Andrew Juman
monday, august 31, 2015 | guyanatimesgy.com
CoI’s marching on ... was the APNU/AFC
Professor Lutchman to lead inquiry into Public Service
Representative of List of Candidates
While a date is yet to be set for the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the public service, the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition Government has announced that Professor Harold Lutchman has been appointed to lead the probe on the salaries, conditions of service, training and other matters related to public servants.
According to a notice published in a local newspaper on Sunday by Secretary of the Commission, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, joining Professor Lutchman on the panel are Human Resources Management and Organisational Development specialist Sandra Jones and Samuel Goolsarran. Lutchman was more recently the representative of the APNU/AFC elections list and was supposed to referee the Cummingsburg Accord between the two par-
ties. However, he was replaced by a committee that has not published any findings to date on the stripping of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo of the duties outlined in the Accord.
Public hearings will be conducted at the Secretariat Building of the Public Service Ministry, Waterloo Street, Georgetown. However, the public will be notified when the hearing will commence at a later date.
President David Granger in an address to mark the 92nd anniversary of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), announced his intentions to establish an inquiry into the conditions of service, wages, training, salaries and other issues of public servants.
NGO awards children of La Retraite Primary for their performance
Anon-profit organisation, the GreenLight Guyana Educational Project Inc based in New York, recently held its eighth annual awards ceremony, which saw presentations and awards being granted to 19 graduates of the La Retraite Primary School in Guyana.
These young students were successful this year at the sitting of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).
Founder of the organisation, Salome Osborne, in her charge to the students emphasised the importance of education in the life of every individual, especially at early ages which are seen as the critical moulding stages.
She told the gathering which consisted of students, teachers, members of the
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and the wider community that “education takes you places” as she encouraged the young minds to be persistent in their reading and commitment to studies.
Osborne implored the parents and guardians present to work diligently with their children to give them the best advantage in their academic lives.
Awards were presented to the children under the categories of outstanding academic history, most improved student,’ and the most academically achieved.
Guyana Times understands that special recognition was conferred on the two top students of the batch, Kaydonna Scotland and Bibi Hamid for their individual successes.
Allan Robertson, who is
“Arts’ role in society should not be underestimated” – First Lady Sandra Granger
First Lady Sandra Granger emphasised the significance of the arts and theatre in Guyana, stating that its role in building confidence and providing a space for children should never be underestimated.
The First Lady was at the time addressing the audience on Saturday evening at the Theatre Guild of Guyana, where Purple Heart Productions held its graduation exercise and “Emerged” performance for over 40 children, ages six to 16, who took part in a twomonth drama workshop.
“I am very happy to be here, to witness first hand, a demonstration of skits, performed by young people who were a part of this workshop. I am happy to be here because the value and importance of expanding the creativity of our young children and exposing them to the Arts should not be underestimated,” the First Lady told the gathering.
She noted that having been a student of the Arts herself, many years ago, she understands that it was a
forum, which helps to build and develop self-confidence and consequently, the selfesteem of many so that they can grow.
On this note, the First Lady congratulated the Chief Executive Officer of Purple Hearts Productions, Simone Dowding, for the initiative as it gave the children the chance to not only be gainfully occupied but to also unleash their creative skills.
The production had as its theme “Keeping our Youths Gainfully Occupied Is Everybody’s Business”. This is the fourth Children’s Drama Workshop, which commenced on July 4, and continued every Saturday from 10:00h-12:00h at the Theatre Guild.
The participants were taught the basics in five different disciplines: drama, acting, directing, play writing, stage and costume management. There were also sessions on how to master the art of listening, stage breathing, stage geography, poetry and spoken word.
The graduates presented four short skits and performed two dances, which were enthusiastically received by the audience.
Gun amnesty programme… Illegal firearms to be turned in at Police stations
In an effort to reduce the number of illegal firearms on the streets, the Public Security Ministry is ready to roll out its gun amnesty programme on Tuesday and is informing the public that all illegal weapons can be handed over at selected Police stations across the country.
Police Stations were air marked in B Division (Berbice).
a past student of the school and now a teacher, offered words of encouragement to the young children, along with retired teacher Grace Syfox, community activist Bridget George and several other teachers, including Headmistress Roseanne Alleyne.
The new high school students were also urged to remain focused and positive in their approach to their new adventures.
Additionally, as part of its humanitarian mission, GreenLight Guyana, also distributed clothing and footwear to residents of the community where the school was located.
Gratitude was expressed by the PTA of the La Retraite Primary School for the organisation’s generosity over the past years.
The programme provides for persons in possession of illegal firearms, ammunition or explosives to hand them over to the authorities without facing prosecution. In an advisory published in a local newspaper, the Ministry stated that one of its strategies to curb the number of illegal firearms circulating in the country is to grant amnesty to such persons, assuring that “all transactions conducted in relation to this specific amnesty period will be treated with strict confidentiality”.
The programme will commence from September 1 and continue until September 30. The period of acceptance is between 09:00h and 16:00 daily. Specific Police stations in the various Police divisions have been identified as the locations for the handover to be done.
In A Division (Georgetown, East Bank Demerara) the Timehri, Ruimveldt, Providence, East La Penitence, Brickdam and Albertown Police Stations were selected.
The Fort Wellington, Blairmont, Central, Albion, Whim, Number 51, Springlands and Mibicuri
Meanwhile, six Police stations were identified in C Division (East Coast Demerara) namely: Sparendaam, Beterverwagting, Vigilance, Cove and John, Mahaica and Mahaicony. Over at the D Division (West Demerara), the La Grange, Vreed-en-Hoop, Leonora and Parika Police Stations were selected.
The Kwakwani, Mabaruma, Wismar and Mackenzie Police Stations were air marked in the E Division (Linden, Kwakwani). However, in F Division (Interior) a total of 25 stations were indentified: Bartica, Kurupung, Aranka, Enachu, Issano, Lethem, Annai, Aishalton, Karasabai, Monkey Mountain, Kato, Mabaruma, Moruka, Yarrikita, Port Kaituma, Matthews Ridge, Baramita, Kamarang, Eteringbang, Imbaimadai, Kaikan, Mahdia, Paruima, Kurupukari and Itabali Police Stations.
Then in the G Division (Essequibo Coast and Islands) the Suddie, Anna Regina, Charity, Wakenaam, Leguan and Aurora Police Stations were also listed as locations for handing over the illegal items.
The Ministry of Public Security has also warned that those persons who are found to be in possession of any illegal weapon, ammunition or explosive after the amnesty period will be prosecuted in accordance
with the laws of Guyana. “The Ministry urges everyone who may be in the possession of illegal firearms, ammunition or explosives to make good use of this opportunity that is being provided to them to relieve themselves of these illegal items,” the advisory stated.
In its 2015 elections manifesto, the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change coalition outlined that it will be implementing an amnesty programme for the surrender of illegal weapons, which will be backed by a “Voluntary weapons Collection” programme.
“The Amnesty programme will be accompanied by a special fund to provide alternative opportunities for training, development of generating projects, credit, etc, for youth at risk, and sports, scouting and other cadet like schemes for youth in schools and religious organisations,” the manifesto detailed.
However, the likelihood of individuals surrendering their illegal weapons is yet to be determined. Persons have expressed fear that they would be stigmatised by the Police Force for being in possession of illegal weapons. Also, Guyana Times understands that the difficulty in obtaining firearm licenses in a society where crime is on the steady increase, has reinforced skepticism of illegal firearm holders, regarding the gun amnesty programme.
First Lady Sandra Granger addressing the audience at the Theatre Guild on Saturday evening
The GreenLight Guyana organisation distributing clothing and footwear to residents living near the La Retraite Primary School
Professor Harold Lutchman
Fallout from Nagamootoo's "blunder"
– Govt now pushes for "media regulation"
Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Friday sought to defend the apparent U-turn of the Government’s in its stance on the operations of the State Media, telling Journalists that the Administration is seeking to ensure "journalistic accountability", particularly as it relates to matters involving Government.
Given the recent alleged spat between Prime Minster Moses Nagamootoo and a freelance Journalist attached to the State owned Guyana Chronicle, local Journalists and the Opposition alike, have taken the current Administration to task, citing what they be-
lieve is apparent hypocrisy regarding the operation of the State media.
The then A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) Opposition had objected to the alleged People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) interference and control over the State media in the Tenth Parliament, using its one seat majority to slash millions from the annual budget allocated to the Government Information Agency and the National Communications Network in particular.
While in the Tenth Parliament, Moses Nagamottoo, then Vice Chairman of the AFC had
expressed concerns that politicians were regulating or controlling the press.
Nagamootoo, who is himself a Journalist, had said that his party had no issues with the independent monitoring of the press, blasting Government and accusing the PPP/C Administration of double-standards by pushing for media regulation and abusing the State-owned media to its advantage.
“Whilst the State is terrified of the few non-Government media, it encourages the vulgarity of its own media for being wholly partisan, propagandistic and pathetic, and for disregarding wholly standards of objectivity, balance and fairness,”
he had said.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon, pressed by Journalists on Friday on this issue, said these are still the early days of the Administration and noted that a policy is still under consideration.
“It is not a fully complete and in the interim, there are a number of things that still need to be done that will guarantee that there is responsible reporting of the news in the media and that it is important that we establish some level of responsibility of what you put out there”, Harmon explained.
He reminded that the media remain the fourth estate and is an important el-
ement in any democratic society. It is not something “for you to do as you want”.
“It is the early days yet and I am sure some policy will emerge. However, the media must act responsible and if one is reporting on Government business, that report must be balanced and objective”, Harmon said.
Questioned too about the non advertisement of offices of Public Relations Officers (PRO) for several Ministries, Harmon explained that there are some steps that need to be taken immediately, and that is what Government is doing at the moment.
Curtains come down on Carifesta XII
… baton handed over to Barbados
As Carifesta XII came to an end on Sunday, Guyana’s contingent shared that they enjoyed meeting with their brothers and sisters from fellow Caribbean countries, and shared that the best moments were when they were all given the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Dancer and choreographer Roshini Boodhoo told Guyana Times that her best moments were onstage as she was proud to represent her country.
“I never left the Best Western hotel without my Guyana Flag sash. It’s my identity and it’s important to me that I let people know that from a dis-
Enterprise Youth Development Group donates school supplies to parents
The Enterprise Youth Development Group (EYDG), a Non Governmental Organisation from the East Coast Demerara (ECD), in collaboration with the Guyana Medical Relief (GMR) on Friday distributed over 350 pairs of footwear and other school items as part of its ‘Back to School’ project at the Enterprise Primary School, on the ECD.
Children from communities on the ECD –Enterprise, Non Pariel, Enterprise Gardens, Bare Root, Bachelors Adventure, Coldigen and Block XX –were thrilled to receive the items which included exercise books, pencils, erasers, sharpeners among others.
“I must also say that the parents are so glad about this because it takes a lot from them to buy these school supplies, and now this will ease some of that. This school year, some
parents even kept their children at home because they just couldn’t afford the stationery”, President of the EYDG, Samantha Sheoprashad said.
“We didn’t get to say thank you enough but we would like to say a public thank you to Samantha, Saskia, Priya, Cynthia, and all the people behind the Enterprise Group for what they have done, a mother of three who benefited said.
Sheoprashad said the back to school project has created a tremendous “momentum in the life of this group where the number of membership and persons becoming more aware of the group is hiking”.
“We at EYDG, are happy to serve in the development of youths within our community and neighbouring villages. EYDG is pleased to be a part of the development of many children and have signalled that no will-
ing child will be left behind,” the President said
Thanking the volunteers of the project, Sheoprasad related that, “it’s only with committed volunteers like you that we can organise and run fun events such as these. Our students and families greatly benefit from these types of large-scale activities, as they serve to bring people together, allowing us to provide an atmosphere for creating a strong sense of school community, spirit and pride.
You’ve become an inspiration to many of our newer parents/member who we hope will one day be willing to take the torch of volunteerism and continue our efforts in the years to come.
Special thanks to Narendra Mangru who donated a projector and stationary and Mr Chan who donated the Shoe. Eydg is looking forward for continued support in the Future”, Sheoprasad said.
tance I’m a Guyanese.
Ever so often the Haitians would ask if I’m from India. I would then get into a quick chat on Guyana and its six races and its many cultures.”
She added that many were fascinated by such a diverse country, and mentioned that Guyana had without a doubt left its mark on the hearts of everyone at Carifesta.
“In the opening ceremony, the Haitian President, His Excellency, Michel Martelly said, “It’s not Haiti’s show ; it’s our ( Caribbean ) show.” His words touched me and I was more motivated to represent and showcase my Guyana,” the dancer added.
Guyana Times was told that most was fascinated by the Indian dancing as Guyana was the only country that presented that style.
Reports are that Guyana’s entire delegation had done exceptionally well at representing the nation in the various
categories.
The delegation participated in workshops with representatives from Barbados, Belize, Jamaica and Haiti where they learned from and taught their Caribbean brothers and sisters.
In terms of challenges, the participants shared
Erika. But being Guyanese, everyone grouped up and laughed and chatted and before we knew it was morning,” a participant stated.
“They loved our foods, craft, fashion and something which fancied their eyes was the body artwork by Bravo Arts. He
that they had none of any great significance to be mentioned. They added that the only thing that caused a few to worry was the evening of August 28 when Haiti was given a Tropical Storm Warning as Hurricane Erika was said to be making her way to the island.
“Some of us were a bit apprehensive at the thought of Hurricane
used Haitian models and they appreciated his work and having gotten the opportunity to work with him.”
During the closing ceremony on Sunday, as all the countries banded together for a final goodbye, the excitement did not fully end as the crowd bellowed when the baton was handed over from Haiti to Barbados.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo
The Guyanese contingent to Carifesta XII during a parade
Guyanese designer Andrea Braithwaite during the opening ceremony of Carifesta XII
China funding $500M US-dollar university hospital project in Jamaica
The University of the West Indies (UWI) and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for a J$60 billion (US$511 million) development programme that will include the expansion of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) from a 500bed to a 1000-bed facility.
As part of the expansion project, College Commons, which houses staff of the institution, will be upgraded, and a 100-room hotel will be built to replace the Mona Visitors’ Lodge. A centre for sporting activities, which will comprise a large auditorium to be used for graduation and other events, will also be constructed. It will accommodate between 800 and 1000 persons.
The expansion will also include the completion of a co-generation plant to supply electricity and to feed the cooling system for the campus.
Principal of the UWI Mona Campus Professor Archibald McDonald said the institution needs now to be in a position to serve the wider region, which is part of its original mandate.
“We have now arrived at a formula whereby the University Hospital can be restructured,” he said, while outlining that other government-run hospitals will benefit from improved offerings at the UHWI.
“This will have all the modern facilities. The government of Jamaica invests a large portion of its budget to the (UHWI); therefore, the University Hospital has to give back to the people of Jamaica. It has to supplement the government’s hospitals, and provide a higher level of care.”
Tropical Storm Fred forms in Atlantic with strengthening expected
Tropical Storm Fred formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean on Sunday and is expected to strengthen the next few days, nearing hurricane status before it moves through the Cape Verde Islands early this week.
It’s too early to say if Fred will affect the Caribbean, but most forecast models at this time keep the system well north of the Lesser Antilles.
At 11:00h, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said that Fred was located about 260 miles East Southeast of Praia in the Cape Verde Islands and was carrying maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour. It is forecast to move West North-west on a path that
will take it through the Cape Verde Islands tomorrow into Tuesday.
A hurricane warning has therefore been issued for those islands. After passing through the Cape Verde Islands, Fred will turn westward over the open Atlantic Ocean. It could weaken late in the week.
Tropical Storm Fred is the sixth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season which runs from June 1 to November 30. Meantime, the remnants of Erika brought squally weather to some locations in South Florida last night with torrential downpours and gusty winds, and along with an upper-level trough will continue to affect the state with locally heavy rain. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)
Prime Minister Kamla
Persad-Bissessar is urging undecided voters to stick with her experienced slate of candidates since they have the capacity to weather the tough economic times T&T currently faces.
While she welcomed the new and fresh faces on the People’s National Movement’s (PNM) slate to the campaign trail, PersadBissessar said now was not the time to “take a chance” on someone new.
“Given the troubled waters with falling oil prices, now is not the time to give a chance to somebody
Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson said the arrangement between the UWI and CHEC should lead to the hospital being on par with the most equipped across the globe.
He said he was satisfied that “the direction (in which) they are going will preserve and protect the most vulnerable within our society, and ensure that health care is not out of the reach of ordinary citizens”. (Caribbean360)
PM to undecided voters: T&T needs people with experience
to try something,” PersadBissessar declared as she addressed supporters on Friday night at Cumuto Recreation Ground, Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore.
Eager supporters waved flags and cheered loudly.
The PNM, she said, threw out its candidates who have “the experience to run a government” and opted for fresh faces. She said what the country needs at this time was people who can steer the economy through the economic challenges of falling oil prices.
“We cannot make that mistake to give them a
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Tropical Storm Erika kills at least 20 in Dominica
Atropical storm heading across the Caribbean has killed at least 20 people on the island of Dominica, with dozens more missing. Tropical Storm Erika caused floods and mudslides that have set the country back 20 years, its prime minister said.
Erika later hit The Dominican Republic and Haiti with high winds and heavy rain but experts said it was weakening. A state of emergency has been declared in the US state of Florida, where the storm is expected on Sunday.
Dominica’s Prime
Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a televised address late on Friday that hundreds of homes, bridges and roads had been destroyed. He said: “It is with heavy heart that I address you, you can well imagine the hell that it has been for me since I heard of the passing of Tropical Storm Erika and the damage it has done to our dear people and beloved country. But we all have to pull ourselves together.
“The extent of the devastation is monumental. We have, in essence, to rebuild Dominica.” Erika dumped 38cm (15in) of rain on the
mountainous island.
Skerrit asked residents to share their resources as foreign aid trickled in.
“This is a period of national tragedy,’’ he said. “Floods swamped villages, destroyed homes and wiped out roads. Some communities are no longer recognisable.”
At least 31 people on the island of 72,000 people have been reported missing, according to officials with the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency. (Excerpt from BBC News)
chance to try a thing, not in these times. You have to ask the big question: Will they have the experience and the capacity to steer the ship in these economic times?” Persad-Bissessar also announced that she will turn the sod next week for construction of the TT$6 billion Mitsubishi dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol project in La Brea.
She urged voters, who are yet to make up their mind, to think hard about the choice they have to make because it is not only their future, but the future of TT that depends on them. (Trinidad Guardian)
Brazil’s crafty Senate boss helps keep Rousseff afloat
Renan Calheiros took an Air Force jet to get hair implants and was accused of letting a lobbyist pay child support to a journalist he had an affair and a child with.
Either episode would have derailed many politicians but corruption allegations have not kept Calheiros, the 59-year-old president of Brazil’s Senate,
Cuba to introduce cloud seeding programme to tackle drought
The Water Resources institute says a cloud seeding programme will be implemented on September 15 in an effort to relieve areas hard hit by the prolonged drought.
The effectiveness of the two month programme, aimed at increasing rainfall in the eastern end of the island will depend on the conditions in the clouds that will be targets of silver iodide that is used to facilitate
the process.
Cuba previously used the cloud seeding technique to increase precipitation.
A Russian Yak-40 aircraft will be used to carry out the procedure.
According to Yosmany Gilll, an Engineer at the Institute, the period between January to August has been the driest since 1901. The current drought is expected to continue to April next year. (Jamaica
from making himself a go-to partner in the chaotic dance of Brazilian politics. President Dilma Rousseff, her government beset by economic and corruption crises that some believe could cost her the presidency, is the latest to take his hand.
With the power to stall legislation and conduct an impeachment of Rousseff that some opponents seek, Calheiros instead has dropped his former obstruction to Rousseff’s initiatives and proposed a series of business-friendly measures designed to give her hamstrung government a little traction. The turnaround provides much needed relief for Rousseff at a time when Brazil’s economy is mired in recession, her governing coalition is in tatters and many political and business leaders are behind bars because of a massive corruption scandal around Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras.
“She was drowning in a whirlpool and he threw her a lifeline,” said David Fleischer, politics professor emeritus at the University of Brasilia. But the pairing, fellow politicians warn, is very much one of convenience. (Excerpt from Reuters)
Minister of Health, Dr Fenton Ferguson (centre, standing), observes while Principal of the University of the West Indies, Professor Archibald McDonald (right), and Deputy General Manager at China Engineering Company (CHEC), Qiwu Yang (left), sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the expansion programme at the institution
Observer)
President of Brazilian Senate Renan Calheiros arrives at the Federal Senate in Brasilia, Brazil, August 27
Malaysian PM says protest organisers are “haram”
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has condemned the organisers of demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur calling for his resignation as “haram”, during his annual address on the eve of Independence Day.
Tens of thousands of protesters have called for Najib to stand down, after leaked documents in July showed he received about US$700 million in his private accounts from entities linked to an indebted state fund.
Najib said the protests mirrored “the shallowness of patriotism” and reminded protesters that the mufti of the state of Kelantan had
called the protest organisers – the electoral reform pressure group Bersih – “haram”.
“Before I make a further statement, I appeal to all, especially those here, either sitting here or standing, that without wasting time, let’s focus our attention to silence and ponder and close our eyes,” Najib said.
“The fact that we are gathered here peacefully is a testament to the leadership of the country as well as those defending the safety of the country. That is why we are against any demonstrations.”
The thousands of yellowclad protesters, who slept on
the streets near the city’s Independence Square, had woken on Sunday to mass exercises and a resumption of the previous day’s peaceful demonstration.
They still wore yellow, despite Bersih’s official tshirts and logo being banned by police.
Initial crowds appeared smaller than Saturday, when Police said 29,000 had gathered, while Bersih said 200,000 had turned out.
Authorities have blocked the organiser’s website and banned yellow attire and the group’s logo in a bid to deter the rallies, which were also held in other Malaysian cities. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)
Egypt summons UK envoy over Al Jazeera verdict remarks
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the British Ambassador over comments he made on a court’s decision to hand down prison sentences for three Al Jazeera journalists, state television has reported.
The Cairo court sentenced Egyptian Baher Mohamed and Canadian Mohamed Fahmy to three years in prison while Australian Peter Greste was sentenced in absentia.
Speaking in Arabic after the verdict, John Casson said he was concerned the sentencing could “undermine confidence in the basis
of Egypt’s stability, both in Egypt and abroad”.
The comments were posted on the British Embassy’s Facebook page.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, a spokesperson for the Ministry, tweeted on Sunday that the Ministry rejected any foreign criticism of the legal system, calling them an “unacceptable intrusion” in the country’s judiciary.
He also said the latest verdicts were “unrelated to freedom of the press but rather to specific, documented legal violations”.
Several other foreign diplomats at the trial also condemned the verdict, but
Casson may have been the only one to speak in Arabic to domestic television stations, the AP news agency reported.
Casson’s comments appeared on Twitter as well.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Britain’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Tobias Ellwood, said he was “deeply concerned by the sentences”.
Ellwood said that the “sentences will undermine confidence in Egypt’s progress towards strong longterm stability based on implementing the rights granted by the Egyptian Constitution”. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)
Saudi women candidates register for historic elections
Women in Saudi Arabia have for the first time been able to register as candidates for the country’s municipal elections in December.
In 2011, the same year as the most recent polls, the late King Abdullah granted women in the kingdom the right to vote and run as candidates, saying: “We refuse to marginalise women’s role in Saudi society.”
According to local media, about 200 women have so far
expressed an interest in running for office.
Sofana Dahlan, a social entrepreneur from Jeddah, told Al Jazeera that she agreed that the change was a “paradigm shift”, despite criticism locally by conservatives, who are against the move, and internationally by the media, who do not think the change is significant enough.
“I think it’s very significant, but this will take time,” Dahlan said.
Around the World
Nigeria’s security agency says arrested 20 suspected Boko Haram chiefs
Nigeria’s security agency said on Sunday it had made significant breakthroughs in the fight against Boko Haram and arrested 20 prominent members of the militant Islamist group accused of orchestrating deadly attacks.
President Muhammadu Buhari has made halting Boko Haram’s six-year-old insurgency a priority, but a Reuters tally shows the militants have killed more than 700 people in Nigeria in bomb attacks and shootings since he came to office on May 29.
In the latest violence,
around 56 people were killed by suspected Boko Haram gunmen at a village in north-eastern Borno state on Friday night, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima said late on Saturday.
The Department of State Services (DSS) said on Sunday that 20 “notable commanders and frontline members” of the jihadist group had been arrested in Lagos, Kano, Plateau, Enugu and Gombe states between July 8 and August 25 this year.
The DSS said it had arrested those suspected of coordinating attacks ear-
China punishes
lier this year in the northern cities of Potiskum, Kano and Zaria, as well as the central city of Jos, adding that a number of them had made confessions.
“This followed the rounding up of notable commanders and frontline members of the notorious group from different parts of the country,” DSS spokesman Tony Opuiyo said in a statement. Providing an unusual level of detail, the DSS said one of those arrested, Usman Shuaibu, had confessed to leading a team of nine militants which planned several attacks. (Excerpt from Reuters)
197 over stock market and Tianjin rumours
A journalist and stock market officials are among those arrested,
Chinese authorities have punished 197 people for spreading rumours online about the recent stock market crash and fatal explosions in Tianjin, according to state news agency Xinhua.
A journalist and stock market officials are among those arrested, Xinhua said. It gave no other details.
Chinese shares fell by nearly eight per cent after a week of volatile trading that
spread fear to global markets.
The Tianjin explosions killed 150 people – with 23 still missing.
A total of 367 people remain in hospital after the August 12 blast at a warehouse where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored. Twenty are in critical condition, according to Xinhua.
Separately, the UK’s Financial Times says
Chinese leaders feel they mishandled their stock market rescue efforts.
The paper, quoting an account of a meeting of senior regulatory officials on Thursday, said the Government had decided to abandon attempts to boost the stock market and instead step up efforts to punish people suspected of “destabilising the market”.
Chinese authorities tightly control information online and have previously prosecuted internet users for spreading rumours.
The rumours described by the latest statement include reports that a man had jumped to his death in Beijing due to the stock market slump and that as many as 1300 people were killed in Tianjin blasts, Xinhua said.
The news agency said “seditious rumours about China’s upcoming commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II” were also among the offences. (Excerpt from BBC News)
Outspoken Indian scholar killed
R“People usually reject change in the beginning, but once it is embraced, and once it takes place and people start seeing the fruits of this, people will start to converting into accepting the idea.”
Earlier this month, in another first, Saudi women began registering to vote in the elections. According to the Saudi Gazette, a third of the 1263 voting centres are being set aside for female voters.
(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)
by gunmen
enowned Indian scholar and rationalist, M M Kalburgi, has been killed after being shot by unidentified men in the southern state of Karnataka, Police have said.
Police said on Sunday that two men came to Kalburgi’s residence in the town of Dharwad, nearly 400 kilometres from Information Technology (IT) hub of Bangalore, and shot him after he opened the door.
Kalburgi, a recipient of several literary awards,
including the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award, was rushed to the district hospital by his family members but died on the way.
Dharwad City Police Commissioner Ravindra Prasad told Al Jazeera that Police was considering it as a case of murder and a “special squad” has been formed to work on the case.
He said the Police did not suspect any particular group and that the investigation was under way with a “clean mind”.
Kalburgi, who was former Vice Chancellor of Kannada University in the southern town of Hampi, was mired in a controversy in June 2014 for his remarks against “idol worship”. Kalburgi had recently asked the Police to withdraw armed guards, who were deployed at his house after he received a number of threats over his remarks on idol worship, the International Business Times India reported. (Excerpt from Reuters)
Prime Minister Najib Razak criticises second day of demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur demanding his resignation over fraud allegations
Xinhua said
monday, august 31, 2015|
Scenes from Carifesta XII
Donald Trump looms large over New Hampshire, leads in polls
“You only live once, and this is a oncein-a-lifetime candidate,’ one voter said. She then added: ‘I hope.’
The Summer of Trump is on the cusp of becoming The Autumn of The Donald. Just don’t expect everyone in the party to like it.
Talk to New Hampshire Republicans and the conversations eventually turn to Trump, the billionaire braggart who is atop national and local polls. This public fascination with Trump, GOP voters say with a mix of disbelief and disgust, was not supposed to have lasted this long. But as summer comes to a close, they cannot avoid it. Candidates now are adjusting their plans for a fall campaign, trying to keep their heads down and avoiding Trump’s signature barbs.
“Don’t get me started,” Manchester resident Vasoulla Demos said as she waited to meet New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at a weekend Greek festival. “I cannot even talk about it. Here’s Chris Christie, talking with voters. And Donald Trump,” she trails off, shaking her head. “Don’t we have enough troubles in this country already?”
As Demos chatted with TIME, Christie was making his way through a church parking lot, hugging some admirers and kissing others at the end of a long day of campaigning. He had conducted two marathon Q&A sessions where he answered questions about anything voters brought up: gun rights, veterans’ benefits, drug abuse and addiction, foreign aid, even his kids’ summer jobs. Now, he was talking about loukoumades and gyros at that Greek festival. To an aide, he kept passing a seemingly endless supply of sweets.
“You just run your race. Because as it stands, right now, nothing and no one is having an influence on Donald anyway. Right? So why try to? It doesn’t make any sense,” Christie tells TIME in an interview. “I can’t worry about anyone else. I have enough to do on my own.”
His keep-your-head down approach is one shared by his rivals. A day earlier, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina met with small-business owners to talk about his White House hopes. And a day later, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas visited a bee farm, a church and a roadside lobster stand.
Despite embracing the traditional New Hampshire way of campaigning – person-toperson pitches, organising grassroots leaders and recruiting volunteers – each of these
candidates is badly trailing Trump. Christie, a one-time establishment favourite, has not yet caught fire but is quietly building a list of potential supporters. Graham is tailormade for conservatives who place national security atop their list but isn’t connecting with voters. (Graham is at risk of being excluded from an
upcoming CNN debate.)
And Cruz, a Tea Party firebrand, is counting on Trump’s support to flame out and his backers to turn to him. “We’re running a grassroots campaign, one that goes person to person, one house at a time.
That’s the New Hampshire way,” Cruz said.
This trio, which spent the weekend in New Hampshire, embodies the constituencies that form the modern GOP. But they have been sidelined. The campaign’s traditions and rules have been upended by celebrity and bombast.
Take Trump’s trip to New England this weekend. He skipped New Hampshire and opted for a 2000-person confab behind high fences and velvet ropes on Friday evening near Boston. Three helicopters circled overhead as though they were covering the Super Bowl and not a showy annual event organised by a car dealer.
Again, he promised to build a massive wall along the US-Mexican border. It won him cheers. “The Great Wall of China is 13,000 miles. This wall is 2000,” he said. “Give me a break. It’s so easy, it will be great.” He then pivoted to an unfounded attack
on a long-time senior adviser to Clinton, Huma Abedin, Trump suggested without any evidence, was passing classified information to her husband.
There is no predicting what is to come next from Trump. The never-beforeelected candidate is tapping into voters’ frustrations with Washington and career politicians. His take-no-prisoners approach is attracting the attention of previously uninvolved potential voters; that is a potential boon for the GOP that has struggled to attract newcomers. One senior adviser to a rival candidate acknowledged that the 24 million viewers who tuned in to the campaign’s first debate was a win not just for Fox and Trump, but also for others candidates, whom most Americans had never met.
Trump’s never-ending criticism of the nation’s immigration system—and at times incendiary language about immigrants themselves—also complicates the Republican Party’s efforts to win over Hispanics, a voting bloc that is crucial in picking the President. Trump’s criticism of women, too, is turning off female voters who are un-
accustomed to White House hopefuls being so personally disparaging to a gender.
“He’s a builder. He’s building a wall –between us and Hispanics. The wall is not the Trump Wall with the border. It’s a political wall,” Graham tells TIME. “He’s driving a wedge between us and women, calling young women ‘bimbos’ and calling immigrants ‘rapists‘ and ‘drug dealers.’ That’s the last thing we should be doing.”
Yet Graham and the others are being challenged by the same voters Trump is energising. During one event this weekend, Graham told voter Euclid Dupuis that he understood his frustration. “No, not frustration,” the 76-year-old former CPA interrupted. “Disgust. Disgust.”
“We’re disgusted with politicians telling us they’re going to do one thing and then we never see it happen,” the Bedford resident said after the event, pointing to Republican promises to defund Democrats’ health care law and to block Obama’s executive actions that spared some immigrants deportation. “Don’t tell us you’re going to do something if you’re never going to do it.” (Excerpt from Time)
Performing members of Guyana’s contingent
The National Steel Orchestra of Guyana during an electrifying performance
The official contingents from all of the Caricom member states at the opening concert
Donald Trump speaks during a TV interview at the Trump Bar inside the Trump Tower in New York City, on August 26, 2015
Journalists/ reporters are victims of enforced disappearances worldwide
The use of enforced disappearance by Governments to silence critics and instil fear into targeted groups continues unabated in every region of the world.
This is according to Amnesty International as it joined other organisations throughout the world to mark International Day of the Disappeared on Sunday.
This publication understands that the organisation is currently actively campaigning on the cases of more than 500 individuals who have been subjected to enforced disappearance, and is continuing to pressure Governments to determine the fate and whereabouts of all those who have been disappeared.
According to Amnesty International, Governments in every region of the world ‘may’ be holding hundreds or even thousands in secret detention and in many countries the authorities continue harassing and intimidating those who are looking for their relatives.
General Secretary of the organisation, Salil Shetty, in his message for Sunday’s commemoration, stated that the struggle for justice must not cease, while he offered Amnesty International’s support to all victims and families of those forcibly disappeared and illegally detained by State authorities across the world.
He maintained that Governments in countries where enforced disappearances were occurring must come under greater pressure to stamp out such an abhorrent practice.
It must be noted that there are many journalists/ reporters who have become victims of this and more often than not, families and friends are not aware of, especially where media corps are stationed internationally providing coverage for wars and areas being attacked by terrorists.
Sometimes persons who wish to stifle the truth from coming out or certain cases or situations being publicised would target media groups or journalists, some of whom end up as victims of enforced disappearances.
According to Amnesty International, journalists in many African states face Government intimidation and prosecution. One of the most restrictive regimes is Gambia. In April 2004, President Yahya Jammeh called on journalists to obey his Government “or go to hell”.
In July 2006, journalist Ebrima Manneh of The Daily Observer was reportedly arrested by State se-
Global community commemorates “International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances” 2015
ADisappeared: Journalist Ebrima Manneh
curity after attempting to republish a BBC report criticising President Jammeh shortly before an African Union meeting in Banjul. His arrest was witnessed by co-workers.
After repeated attempts by his father and fellow journalists to find him, the Government issued an official statement in February 2007 denying his arrest or any knowledge of his whereabouts.
In 2008, the community court of justice of the Economic Community of West African States ruled that his arrest and detention was illegal and ordered the Gambian authorities to immediately release him. It also ordered that US$100,000 in damages be paid to him. To date, the judgement has not been enforced.
According to claims by the Gambian Government, it has searched all prisons and can find no trace of the journalist. However, recent reports suggest that he is being held without charge at Fatoto Police Station in Eastern Gambia. Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release. Presently, his whereabouts remain unknown.
These disappearances usually follow a pattern where the victim, once arrested, almost never appears before a Court and there is almost never a record of his/ her “crime” or detention. Sadly, once out of the public eye these individuals are at great risk of torture, ill treatment and death.
More often than not enforced disappearances are executed by State agents or persons acting on their behalf with a refusal to acknowledge this, or to conceal the person’s fate or whereabouts, placing them outside of the protection of the law.
This year, dozens of Governments who employ enforced disappearances against their opponents are being urged by Amnesty International to desist from using this tactic “once and for all”.
s political unrest, religious and racial wars continue within and between many nations, scores of countries across the globe on Sunday commemorated International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances which is celebrated annually on August 30.
It is common knowledge that the ‘enforced disappearance’ of people is a cruel form of state despotism where governmental or quasi-governmental groups ‘seize’ people. Such actions are more often than not denied before the public, and the loved ones, family and friends of those who disappeared are left to wonder whether or not the abducted/ kidnapped are still alive.
This is a day which reminds international bodies and Governments of the fate of these unfortunate victims as well as the grievances suffered by their loved ones and those concerned about their well-being. Enforced disappearances have constantly been used as a method to ensure that terror and fear are spread within societies and communities. This problem has become an issue that affects persons worldwide. It was once a strategy used and linked to military dictatorships, but lately perpetrated in complex and compounding situations of internal conflict especially as means of political repression of opponents.
According to the United Nations convention – the International Convention
for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, not only is the disappeared person recognised as a victim of enforced disappearance, but also every person who has been harmed by the crime.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement to mark International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2015, explained that victims of enforced disappearances are deprived of their liberty, kept in secret detention and are seldom released.
“Often their fate remains unknown; they are frequently tortured and in constant fear of being killed. Even if they are eventually set free, the physical and psychological scars stay with them for the rest of their lives. The victims’ families and loved ones also suffer immense anguish,” Ban Ki-moon posited.
According to the UN Secretary General, enforced disappearances continue to
be used by some States and are far from being a practice employed only in the past by military dictatorships.
He stated that in the past year alone, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance – the two UN mechanisms on enforced disappearance composed of independent experts received 246 requests by family members across the world to take urgent action.
“This figure is just a fraction of the thousands of cases that are never reported either because of security conditions or because of a lack of knowledge of the existence of international mechanisms that can help. In recent years, there have also been an alarming number of acts by non-state actors, including armed extremist and terrorist groups, that are tantamount to enforced disappearances and that are also gross abuses of human rights. The prohibi-
tion of enforced disappearance is absolute.”
Guyana Times understands that the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance affirms unequivocally that the use of enforced disappearance is illegal under any circumstances, including war, internal political instability or any other public emergency. This Convention, entered into force in 2010, has been signed by 93 States and ratified by 50. It provides a sound foundation for fighting impunity, protecting disappeared persons and their families and strengthening the guarantees provided by the rule of law including investigation, prosecution, justice and reparation.
“On this International Day, I urge all Member States to ratify or accede to the Convention without delay, and I call on the State parties to the Convention to implement it. It is time for an end to all enforced disappearances,” Ban Ki-moon added.
Presently, some major concerns of the UN are the ongoing harassment of human rights defenders, relatives of victims, witnesses and legal counsel dealing with cases of enforced disappearances.
Meanwhile, the use by States of counter-terrorist activities as an excuse for breaching their obligations and the still widespread impunity for enforced disappearance is still a grave concern for the UN.
Mr Caribbean postponed in wake of Tropical Storm Erika
The Mr Caribbean contest which was slated for Dominica over the weekend was postponed after the deadly passage of Tropical Storm Erika across the island, which left behind devastating damage and at least 20 dead.
The Mr Caribbean competition, which was scheduled for Saturday, August 29, 2015 at the Arawak House of Culture, would have seen delegates from around the Caribbean. Several contestants could not have travelled to the island as the airport was among the hard-hit infrastructure and those who actually made it would be safely transported to their home countries.
Guyana’s representative to the contest, Paul Charles, who was ready to bring home the title, was stuck at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport since there was no possible connecting flight from Barbados to Dominica given to the devastating storm that has
wreaked havoc across the Caribbean.
Nevertheless, he fully understands the situation and was not at all upset about the postponement despite the fact he has been in training for the competition for the past six months. He sent his prayers to the people of Dominica urging them to be strong and put every-
thing in prayer.
Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Erika has set the nation’s developmental progress back 20 years, as hundreds of homes and other structures were destroyed in addition to the lives lost and affected.
“I give you my pledge that we shall not cease until contact is made with every community and a full account is given of every single missing person. I take this opportunity on behalf of my dear wife, Melissa, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Government of Dominica and the Dominica Labour Party to extend to the bereaved, our deepest and most sincere condolences,” Skerrit was quoted as saying in media reports.
The Mr Caribbean Committee joined with the families and friends of those who died as they grieved for their loved ones.
The Committee, in a release, stated, “We ask the Almighty to shower bless-
ings upon them at this time and to lay His healing hands upon them. As a country and as a people, we will come through this with the strength and resolve that is within us, with the support of our Caricom brothers and sisters who are already on the ground to help in any way that they can and with assistance from the international community.”
The new date for the contest will be announced in due course, once the logistics of getting everyone there are worked out, but, moreover, when the country rebounds.
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission has worked with multiple national and international agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme and the United States Agency for International Development, to ensure the best possible response to the dire situation in Dominica, Dominica News Online reported.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Mr Guyana International, Paul Charles
SUDOKU
ARIES (March 21April 19)
TAURUS (April 20May 20)
GEMINI (May 21June 20)
CANCER
Don’t get frustrated about transportation, communication or environmental issues that you cannot control. Relaxing activities such as listening to music or reading a good book will assuage your stress.
You need to change your situation at home. Strive for a comfortable and efficient setting. Host an event or invite a special someone over to enjoy the improvements you have made.
Strive to be more accepting and amiable. If you overreact, or get rattled or uptight about inconsequential matters, you are not likely to receive a much-desired invitation.
LEO (July 23Aug. 22)
VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)
LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)
SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)
CAPRICORN (June 21July 22)
AQUARIUS
(Jan. 20Feb. 19) (Dec. 22Jan. 19)
PISCES
(Feb. 20March 20)
A holiday or excursion will introduce you to innovative, influential people. Be wary of anyone who pressures you to invest in a business, campaign or product. Offer suggestions, not cash.
Uncertainty will be a factor today. Deal with what’s important to you early on and get responsibilities out of the way. Only then will you find the satisfaction you are searching for.
Refuse to let others take advantage of you or boss you around. Pointless arguments concerning differences of opinion should be avoided. Do what’s right for you, even if others disagree.
Invest in your abilities and talents before anything or anyone else. Time spent traveling, learning or teaching will pay off. Don’t be tempted by untried, risky, or unrealistic ventures that will separate you from your cash.
Try to look for the positive in every situation. Suspicion, jealousy or a stubborn grudge will give you a sour outlook, unnecessary stress and unpleasant companions.
If your routine has become stale or unfulfilling, shake things up. Get out with friends, try a new experience or walk to an unfamiliar place. Catch up with people you haven’t heard from in a while. Don’t be nervous regarding the changes heading your way. In the end, you will receive unexpected rewards.
Get off the couch and enjoy motivational outdoor activities or challenges. The fresh air will invigorate you and the good times will lift your spirits and brighten your day.
It’s never too late to make a change. Don’t be afraid to explore new career or lifestyle options. Consider making improvements that you can incorporate into your everyday routine.
Peanuts
Calvin and hobbes
dilbert arChie
Farah burns up Bird's Nest for golden triple double
Britain's Mo Farah kicked on the final corner and stormed down the home straight to retain his 5,000 meters world title on Saturday, securing an unprecedented third successive distance double at major global championships.
The 32-year-old Olympic champion, who won the 10,000m in Beijing last weekend, clocked 13 minutes 50.38 seconds to win a record third straight 5,000 meters world title.
It was Farah's seventh successive major distance crown after he won the 5,000m at the 2011 world championships and the double at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2013 world championships in Moscow.
"It is great to make history," Farah told the BBC. "I didn't feel great, my hammy was playing up a bit but the medical team helped me through it and tonight come out here and make a double
means so much to me.
"I was kinda getting nervous for the first time in a little while but thanks to all the medical team. It was amazing to do it.
"Hopefully, the younger kids watching me will be encouraged. I want to be able to do something for them."
Caleb Ndiku, who kicked with two laps to go to try to mitigate the impact of Farah's strong finish, won silver for Kenya in 13.51.75 with Hagos Gebrhiwet, second behind Farah in Moscow two years ago, taking bronze for Ethiopia in 13.51.86.
Gebrhiwet's team mate Yomif Kejelcha finished fourth and Farah's training partner Galen Rupp was a distant fifth.
Farah's achievement was all the more impressive because his preparations for Beijing were disrupted by allegations of doping leveled at he and Rupp's coach Alberto Salazar.
There has been no sug-
gestion that Farah has done anything wrong while Salazar has vehemently denied the allegations.
A further deviation Farah's usual championship experience was that his wife, who is expecting their fourth child, and family did not travel to Beijing.
"It would have been nice to see my wife and my kids here tonight but unfortunately they weren’t here, but watching at home," Farah added.
"Sometimes, as a parent, you don’t want to be away so much. It hurts sometimes. I am so looking forward to spending time with my family. I just want to go home and celebrate with them."
On another muggy night at the Bird's Nest Stadium, the early pace was slow with Farah at the back and his compatriot Tom Farrell taking the lead.
With six laps to go, Farah eased up to the front and again took a few bumps in the leading pack as he had in the 10,000 meters final and 5,000 meters heats.
Ndiku sped off at the start of the penultimate lap and led for the next 700 meters but Farah stayed with him, closing the gap on the Kenyan before hitting the front after the final bend and crossing the line, arms raised, 10 meters clear.
"I’m very, very happy tonight," said 22-year-old former world junior champion Ndiku.
"This is my first world championships for senior category." (Reuters)
Kiprop hat-trick puts Kenya on top in Beijing
Asbel Kiprop produced a trademark sprint finish to win a third straight 1,500 metres gold and ensure Kenya topped the medals table at successive world championships after the final night of action on Sunday.
The United States men won a sixth straight gold in 4x400m relay but Jamaica's Novlene Williams-Mills ran down tiring American Francena McCorory in the women's event to claim a sixth gold in Beijing for the Caribbean powerhouse.
That was enough for second place on the medals table ahead of a U.S. team who won only five golds, their worst tally in the 15 world championships.
Kiprop, Usain Bolt and his fellow Jamaican sprinter Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce were the only individual title winners from the Beijing Olympics to return to the Bird's
Nest and win gold again seven years later.
"I am so proud of myself to become part of this exclusive club of three-times world champions," Kiprop told reporters after clocking three minutes 34.40 seconds to win.
"But I would dearly love to defend the title a fourth time in London in 2017. This allows me to join Algeria's Noureddine Morceli but Hicham El Guerrouj still has one gold more and that is what I am aiming at." (Reuters)
Arsenal scrape past Newcastle
An own goal from defender Fabricio Coloccini gave Arsenal an unconvincing victory over 10-man Newcastle.
Arsenal scored early in the second half when winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's angled shot on the rebound clipped Coloccini's heel and went into the net.
The hosts had earlier seen striker Aleksandar Mitrovic sent off in the 16th minute for a rash challenge on Gunners midfielder Francis Coquelin.
Newcastle failed to register a single shot on target in the entire contest.
Arsenal have not lost at St James' Park in the league since December 2005 and have won their last eight games against Newcastle, scoring 21 goals and conceding just six.
Newcastle boss Steve
McClaren has still to to taste victory in the Premier League after four matches at his new club.
Arsenal's lack of goals still a concern
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described his side's start to the season as "very average" before this game and although the Gunners secured three points at St James' Park their strikers continue to misfire.
After Mitrovic's 16thminute dismissal, Arsenal dominated possession in the final third of the pitch but were unable to turn that superiority into goals.
Theo Walcott's best effort was to lift a chance he should have scored over the crossbar while substitute Olivier Giroud made little impact when he came on.
With the transfer window set to close on Tuesday,
Arsenal's supporters will be hoping Wenger has a goalscorer lined up from somewhere.
Are the Gunners title challengers?
This is supposed to be the season that Arsenal graduate from top-four regulars to title contenders. At the moment it's hard to build a compelling case that they will rival teams like Manchester City, although it is still very early days.
Wenger was pleased with the way in which his side "kept our nerve" and described their display as "mature and intelligent".
It's an old cliche that champions have to win ugly but if Arsenal have serious ambitions on the top prize they should be breezing past a 10-man Newcastle side.
Pole Malachowski takes long-awaited discus gold
Piotr Malachowski of Poland claimed the discus gold medal at the world championships on Saturday with a throw of 67.40 meters.
The 32-year-old Pole dominated the event to finally win the world title after landing silver medals in 2009 and 2013 and being Olympic runner-up in the same Bird's Nest Stadium seven years ago.
Malachowski thanked his compatriot and women's hammer world champion Anita Wlodarczyk for her contribution to his victory.
"Anita came to my home and told me just one piece of advice," Malachowski told reporters. "She said: 'Throw far'."
The silver went to Philip Milanov, who broke the Belgian national record with 66.90 meters, and Malachowski's Polish team mate Robert Urbanek took bronze with 65.18.
Malachowski said he had felt nervous in Friday's qualifying competition, but not in the final.
"I did not feel the pressure at all and the nervousness was gone," he said.
"All the guys were very strong and any-
body could surprise by getting the longer throw. In fact, my technique was not that good today but I was maybe lucky and it flew far enough.
Milanov, at 24, was the surprise package in the final.
"This silver medal tastes good for the beginning of my career," he said. "I didn't expect a national record and this result."
Milanov is coached by his father.
"It was a special moment here in this stadium when I saw my dad. He is extremely happy and I gave him a big hug." (Reuters)
Caption: Mo Farah celebrates his 5000m win at the Bird’s Nest. (Getty Images photo)
Asbel Kiprop
The winner went down as an own goal but Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (left) still provided the majority of threat posed by the visiting side at St James' Park.
Piotr Malachowski
Test in balance after 15-wicket day
India made up for all the time lost to rain on the first two days by reducing Sri Lanka to 47 for 6 and injuring Dhammika Prasad, Sri Lanka's strike bowler on this pitch, but the hosts negated India's advantage by adding 154 with their last four wickets and taking India's first three wickets for seven runs. With India effectively 132 for 3 and the last pair of specialist batsmen already at the wicket, this was anybody's game now.
Fifteen wickets fell for 242 runs in 65.1 overs on a frenetic day where fortunes swung wildly. Yet again Prasad produced a wicket in the first over of the innings, and Cheteshwar Pujara, who carried his bat through in the first dig, became the only
man to follow such a feat with a duck in the same Test. At lunch Sri Lanka would have drawn heart from the drizzle that didn't cost the Test any time, but the heavy downpour at 4.40pm would have brought India relief, who yet again ran the risk of collapsing meekly after having watched runs from the Sri Lankan lower order.
It might not result in a win, but if anything, this turnaround from Sri Lanka was even more remarkable than in Galle. Back then they had umpiring decisions and all the luck going their way; here they copped three rough decisions when batting. Upul Tharanga was given out off a no-ball even though the TV umpire had a look at the replays, Dinesh Chandimal -
SCOREBOARD
To
NV Ojha†, STR Binny, R Ashwin, A Mishra, I Sharma, UT Yadav
counterattacking his way to 23 off 27 - was given out lbw to a ball that hit him bail high and was on its way up, and Tharindu Kaushal was given out lbw off an inside edge.
Debutant Kusal Perera, who ironically benefited from sloppy slip fielding from India, and Rangana Herath batted smartly in adding 79, the third-highest seventh-wicket partnership in Tests from under a score of 50. Against calculated risks from the lower order, tiring bowlers missed their rhythm. Coming back to bat with an injured hand, Prasad played around with the mind of Ishant Sharma, who had earlier starred with a rare five-for, and scored 27 off 23 to take Sri Lanka past 200.
Not being able to bowl tails out and slips catching have been India's twin tormentors in Test cricket of late, and they could do worse than to look at how they bowled in the first session of the day. The pitch didn't allow crazy seam movement or variable bounce. India just put the ball in areas when uncertain batsmen edge it. Sri Lanka's top order was uncertain.
A certain degree of uncertainty could be expected
Gatlin releases doping apology letters
Justin Gatlin has moved to quell accusations that he is an unrepentant doper by releasing letters detailing apologies to athletics bodies.
Controversial American sprinter Justin Gatlin has released letters detailing the extent of his co-operation with US anti-doping investigators and apologies made for his own offences.
Gatlin has served two doping bans during his career and endured persistently negative coverage during the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, where he claimed silver medals in the 100 and 200 metres behind Usain Bolt.
The 33-year-old entered the championships as the fastest man of 2015 and many pundits had admitted fears that athletics' reputation could be damaged by a Gatlin victory in the blue riband events - a prospect incoming IAAF president Sebastian Coe described as making him feel "queasy".
A perceived lack of con-
trition from Gatlin over his doping offences has contributed to his low public stock and he boycotted interviews with the BBC in Beijing, taking exception to the UK broadcaster's coverage of his battle with Bolt which he believed had been unhelpfully framed as one of "good versus evil".
But in letters seen by the Guardian newspaper, Gatlin outlines how he felt "sincerely remorseful" over his doping past and the steps taken by the sprinter to help ensure a clean sport are explained.
In one letter addressed to outgoing IAAF president Lamine Diack and his then senior vice-president Sergey Bubka, Gatlin wrote: "I am sincerely remorseful and it continues to be my mission to be a positive role model mentoring to athletes to avoid the dangers and public and personal humiliation of doping. And the harm it brings to the sport of athletics.
"I have co-operated fully
of a rejigged batting order in the first Test since Kumar Sangakkara's retirement. Tharanga came out to open on his comeback, Dimuth Karunaratane moved down, Chandimal moved up, and Perera batted at No. 7. This raw batting line-up could have done with some luck, which it turned out they didn't have, but it didn't seem like that in
the first over after they had taken India's last two wickets for an addition of 20 to their overnight total.
Ishant Sharma, who had played dangerously with the crease when he batted for three balls in the morning, continued to do so. He might have been hitting out under team instructions, but more importantly, Ishant failed to
stay in the crease with the first two balls he bowled. It looked like one of those bad days when everything goes against you when he produced Tharanga's edge in the first over, but saw KL Rahul drop it diving in front of first slip. Rahul and slips would go on to gain more and telling mentions. (Cricinfo)
Ayana denies Dibaba with stunning 5,000m gold
with the United States federal investigation to clean up our sport of track and field working toward it becoming drug free." Gatlin added that he wanted to "rid our sport of drugs and all those who help supply them".
In a letter written to support Gatlin's bid to return to track and field following his four-year suspension spanning 2006 to 2010, the United States Track and Field Federation told the IAAF that he had gone into colleges to give talks on personal responsibility to students and warn them of the consequences of anti-doping rules.
USATF added that Gatlin maintained a regular dialogue with them throughout his suspension in order to stay informed on when his next opportunity to speak to young athletes at such events would come around.
Gatlin's agent Renaldo Nehemiah told the Guardian of his frustration that the IAAF has not taken a public stance to temper the current ill-feeling towards his client.
Nehemiah said: "When people say he never apologised, I say: 'You haven't done your homework.' And the IAAF, who know this, have never come out and said anything, which I am very sad about.
"Justin has apologised. What is he supposed to do, go to every country and say sorry?" (Digicel Sportsmax)
Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana put on a stunning display of frontrunning to win the women's 5,000 metres by more than 17 seconds at the world championships on Sunday and deprive compatriot Genzebe Dibaba of an unprecedented double gold.
The 23-year-old powered away from Dibaba with four laps to go and led home an Ethiopian podium sweep in a championship record time of 14 minutes 26.83 seconds.
Dibaba, who was hoping to become the first woman to win both the 1,500m and 5,000m at the same world championships or Olympics, was pipped at the line by compatriot Senbere Teferi, who took silver in 14.44.07.
"I had to win the gold medal," Ayana told reporters. "It was a hard race, a hard competition in general.
It was great for our country that we won gold, silver and bronze."
The 24-year-old Dibaba, who was almost as dominant in the 1,500m on Tuesday as Ayana was in the 5,000m, went with her compatriot when she initially broke to the front of the field with seven laps to go.
After aggravating an injury during her 1,500m triumph, however, she was unable to stand the pace when Ayana moved up another gear. To add insult to injury, the championship record Ayana bettered was set by bronze medallist Dibaba's sister Tirunesh at the 2005 world championships.
"My country won three medals, I can only be pleased about this," she said.
"It was a really hard race. I had so many races
recently and after the 1,500 metres final my injury on the left foot started. I have a heel spur which hurts a lot. The race was hard because of this injury."
Dibaba is the cousin of twice Olympic champion Derartu Tulu, while triple Olympic champion Tirunesh won the 5,000-10,000 double at the Bird's Nest Stadium at the 2008 Olympics.
The defeat will not do much to tarnish her breakthrough season, during which she shattered the long-standing 1,500m record, and offers the prospect of an intriguing family clash at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Tirunesh, who took this season off to have a baby, won the 5,000m at the 2003 and 2005 world championships. (Reuters)
Virat Kohli celebrates after taking a catch to dismiss Kusal Perera
Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia (left) and her compatriot Genzebe Dibaba run ahead of Mercy Cherono of Kenya during the women's 5000 metres final. (Reuters photo)
Justin Gatlin
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Usain Bolt '50-50' for London 2017
Jamaica's Usain Bolt says he is "50-50" to compete at the 2017 World Championships in London because athletics is less enjoyable for him.
Bolt, who completed a sprint double in Beijing with Thursday's 200m win, added he would run at the 2016 Olympics.
"I want to run but I think the sport is not as fun as it used to be - it's more taxing," the 29-year-old, who has won 10 world titles, told the BBC.
"I can't enjoy it as much as I want to because I have to sacrifice more."
He added: "It is 50-50."
Bolt could make his goldmedal tally to 11 this weekend when he competes for Jamaica in the 4x100m relay.
Once again he is likely to face Justin Gatlin in the final, with the United States one of the favourites for gold. The Jamaicans were beaten by an American quartet at the IAAF World Relays in
May.
"In the World Relays, Justin Gatlin had a big game in their victory," added Bolt. "I guess he will be tired now. There will be no reason why we should not win the relay."
Some media outlets have been accused of portraying Gatlin as the "villain" to Bolt's "hero" following two career doping bans. He came into the World
Championships having set the best times over 100m and 200m this season.
Bolt pipped Gatlin to the 100m title, before the American fell to a more emphatic defeat in the longer sprint on Thursday.
Asked by BBC Radio 5 live if a double silver was a disappointment, Gatlin said: "Not at all. I'm out here competing. I'm aged 33.
"I think a lot of people now see the hard work and effort I put into it. It's not a personal race, it's also for my country.
"In the 100m, I beat myself. In the 200m, technically I ran to the best of my ability."
When asked about the media's portrayal of him in the lead up to Beijing 2015, Gatlin said: "I go into shutdown mode. I don't worry about what the media has to say.
"You guys do your job, sensationalise stories sometimes. My job is to compete and get to the line." (BBC Sport)
Our sport is more than 'test tubes, blood and urine' – Coe
Part of Sebastian Coe's new job as head of world athletics will be to shift the conversation about his "ostensibly clean" sport from doping to spectacular performances, he said on Sunday.
The Briton will become president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at the conclusion of the 15th world championships on Sunday.
The former Olympic champion takes over a sport that has endured a month of allegations that it is soft on doping after the leak of thousands of blood tests to media organisations.
Coe was asked whether he had sympathy for athletes like his compatriot Mo Farah, who won a second successive world distance double on Saturday, when people questioned how they were able to perform such gruelling feats.
"We have to be very careful here about making assumptions about quality and unpredictable performances which for the largest part are down to innate ability and hard work," the former middle-distance world record holder told reporters.
"About 10 years of road mileage, thousands tonnes of steel energy and people who have given up large parts of their lives to help out," he added.
"It is slightly the territory we have inherited and one of my responsibilities is to move us off that territory, we are more than just a discussion about test tubes, blood and urine."
Coe again launched a defence of the
IAAF, saying there was no doubt it had done everything in its power to root out drug cheats.
"It is ostensibly a clean sport and nobody would deny that, and it is a global challenge that every sport faces," he said.
"Can it be cleaner? I hope so. Are there things that we can do differently in the future, I dare say so.
"Can we do more? Most certainly but that's the human condition."
NO REFLECTION
Moreover, Coe said, his plans to move towards an independent anti-doping agency for athletics were no reflection on the work currently being done.
"It is a recognition that reality and perception sometimes get confused and we need to make sure we do everything both in the integrity of our sport and with our processes and procedures to give maximum confidence," he added.
"The clean athletes have to know that we are in their corner and words are simply not enough."
Coe said another job for the IAAF was to bring more profile to other athletes in addition to superstar sprint champion Usain Bolt, who said this week that he might retire after next year's Olympics in Brazil.
"We shouldn't be concerned because we have a sport that is adorned by some of the most outrageously superhuman, talented individuals in any sport," Coe said.
"Our challenge is to make sure the public know that there are other athletes in our sport."
One of those might be American Allyson Felix, who won the 400 metres title in Beijing but was unable to run in the 200 metres, an event in which she is the Olympic champion, because of a scheduling conflict. Under current plans, that issue will also exist at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year.
Coe said he would always want top athletes to be able to showcase their talents as well as possible at major championships.
"That is ideal but I am also aware that there are some technical issues which sometimes mean it is not possible," he said.
"Where it is possible, we should always look to try and help them." (Reuters)
Usain Bolt
Sebastian Coe
Director of Sport seeking lights for sports grounds in Berbice
By Andrew CArmiChAel
Director of Sport, Christopher Jones is asking the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) to submit proposals for funding to enhance parks, grounds and playfields which fall under the individual NDCs.
Jones recently met with NDC officials in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) to look at ways in which the Department of Sport can contribute towards improving outdoor sporting facilities in Berbice.
Director Jones also met with the three Municipalities in Region Six to get an update on the outdoor sporting facilities which fall under each Municipality.
According to Jones, meetings were held with the Town Clerk of Corriverton, the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of Rose Hall Town and the Parks and Playfield Committee of New Amsterdam.
Funds to enhance outdoor sporting facilities are available under the Community Ground Enhancement Fund (CGEF). The CGEF caters for up to $4 million per proj-
ect. Jones says groups will have to submit a proposal for approval before funds can become available to them.
“I want to move away from the community ground as just being a fence around it; I want to turn these spaces into multipurpose centres catering for the various disciplines all in one space and of course taking into account most persons who actually use these facilities will do so from about three in the afternoon to way in the evening. So unless those facilities have lights they are
practically useless,” Jones told the Guyana Times Sport in an exclusive interview.
He says communities, villages, NDCs and Municipalities are being encouraged to focus on multipurpose centres when submitting proposals for funding through the CGEF.
“They should seek to have lighting erected as well as catering for the various disciplines to use the same facility with special emphases on women and the differently able accessing these facilities.”
The first meeting was held with the management committee of the Kildonan Community Centre. Jones says the idea is to have a collaborative approach towards ground enhancement.
“It must be done with the NDCs, the villagers and the sportsmen and women who are actually involved in the various disciplines. You don’t want a situation in which the NDC makes a decision in terms of how to enhance the ground and the disciplines don’t agree with it because that is not a priority, they would have seen at that time. That is why it has to be a collaborative effort.”
Bel Air Rubis U-13s beat DCC
In their first-ever day/ night encounter last Friday, Bel Air Rubis defeated Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) Under-13s in a feature T20 cricket match in their own backyard, the DCC Ground in Lance Gibbs Street, Queenstown.
DCC, under the guidance of national youth coach Garvin Nedd, has reigned supreme in most categories of cricket in recent years.
And Bel Air Rubis Under13s have been around for two years under Coach Ashmol Ali. They started as the whipping boys of every team.
Recently, however, they have made very good strides by defeating some of the city's top teams.
Last Tuesday, Bel Air Rubis Under-13 defeated Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO), and on Wednesday, they defeated Georgetown Cricket Club.
On Friday, the match started at 17:30h with DCC winning the toss and electing to bat. They made 73 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs, with Daniel Mootoo making 18 and Kareem Whitney 15 not out. They were the only two batsmen to reach double figure as extras were a healthy 21.
Bowling for Bel Air Rubis, Shankar Sahadeo took 1-10 and Rudranauth Kisoon 1-17
Swansea top Man Utd 2-1
Swansea City staged a stirring comeback to inflict a first defeat of the season on Manchester United.
After the Swans had edged a goalless first half, United took the lead early in the second as Luke Shaw's marauding run and cross set up Juan Mata to blast in from close range.
Andre Ayew headed the hosts level after a swift counter-attack as United conceded their first league goal of the season.
Ayew then provided a marvellous pass for Bafetimbi Gomis, whose shot squirmed under Sergio Romero to give Swansea a third straight win against United.
Daley Blind, a midfielder currently playing at centre-back, offered little resistance as Gomis skipped past him and his central defensive colleague Chris Smalling before clipping the post with a delicate low shot.
Those fragilities were
four minutes later, as Ayew's artful through-ball with the outside of his foot found Gomis, whose low finish beyond Romero sent the Liberty Stadium crowd wild and gave Monk the satisfaction of a tactical alteration paying off in style.
Having done the double against United for the first time last season, Garry Monk's side became only the sixth team to claim three successive league victories against the Red Devils.
For visiting manager Louis van Gaal, a first loss of the campaign was a miserable way to mark his 50th game in charge. United's defensive fragility
With both teams protecting unbeaten starts to the season, there was a bristling intensity to the early exchanges.
United had not conceded in their opening three matches, but that record was under threat as Swansea pressed with chances for Gomis and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
eventually exposed when Ayew and Gomis took advantage of slack marking and dubious goalkeeping to put Swansea ahead.
Monk's masterstroke
There may have been a few eyebrows raised when, with his team trailing after 57 minutes, Monk replaced winger Wayne Routledge with midfielder Ki Sungyueng.
But the switch to a midfield diamond was vindicated after just four minutes as Ashley Williams strode out of defence and freed Sigurdsson, whose precise cross found Ayew for Swansea's equaliser.
The hosts were ahead
Van Gaal's
United's two changes from the midweek Champions League win at Club Brugge saw Van Gaal recall two of his highestprofile summer signings, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin.
That pushed fellow central midfielder Ander Herrera into a more advanced role behind striker Wayne Rooney, but United struggled for fluency. The one positive was another bright display from Mata but, playing in his unfavoured position wide on the right, he was substituted after 70 minutes. (BBC Sport)
Drouin takes gold in thrilling jumpoff at the World Championships
Canada's Derek Drouin won the men's high jump gold with a 2.34-metre clearance in a sudden-death jump-off with defending champion Bogdan Bondarenko of Ukraine and China's Zhang Guowei at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.
After the trio had all failed at 2.36 for a fourth time, the bar was lowered to 2.34 and Drouin cleared it while his rivals failed and shared the silver.
Bel Air Rubis then easily knocked off the target, reaching 74-4 in a17.4 overs.
Omari Lallbachan made 19 and Andrew Samaroo 20 not out. Extras were 23.
Bowling for DCC, Inderjeet Nanan took 1-9, Elijah Bobb 2-8 and Daniel Mootoo 1-18.
Romeo Deonarain was the most impressive however, conceding just six runs off his three overs. He was unlucky to have two crucial catches dropped off his bowling.
A surprised Nedd will have his desire for a return bout fulfilled, as the two teams are set to clash again under lights on September 19, starting 19:00h.
"I was first in the list and I felt a big pressure," Drouin said of his winning jump.
"I knew I couldn't make even one mistake as my rivals were very strong and they could use it to get the victory."
Lashawn Merritt anchored the U.S. team to their victory in the final event of the championships, seeing off an explosive start to the final lap from young Jamaican Javon Francis and crossing the line in two minutes 57.82 seconds.
"I wanted to control the race," said the 29-year-old Merritt, who won his 11th world championship medal.
"But I didn’t even know the guy from Jamaica who was on the anchor leg. I was in such a zone and focused
on my people.
But that’s the way he runs his race.
"I wasn’t really fazed. I picked it up a little bit because he was running hard. Then he was still running hard, I just shifted a gear."
A fifth straight title defence was an appropriate end to a world championships that altered very little in the landscape of the sport, despite nine days of sometimes spectacular performances.
Despite an injury-ravaged season and the form of Justin Gatlin, Usain Bolt finished as he started as the dominant athlete of his age with a fifth sprint sweep at a major global champion-
ships. The sport's embattled leaders, meanwhile, faced as many questions about doping in their final news conference as they did on the eve of competition.
Sebastian Coe, who took over as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at the conclusion of the championships, knows he has a big job ahead of him.
"It is slightly the territory we have inherited and one of my responsibilities is to move us off that territory," he said.
"We are more than just a discussion about test tubes, blood and urine."
Derek Drouin
midfield headache
Andre Ayew celebrates after his header struck the back of the net.
The two teams will clash again on September 19
Christopher Jones
Burnham Memorial Basketball Tournament
Bulls to face Colts in final after semifinal win
The Half Mile Bulls of Linden topped the Trinity Grid Holding Pacesetters 91-85 on Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall to advance to the final of the Burnham Memorial Basketball Championship final.
The Bulls were led by a brilliant Terron Welch who displayed his offensive skill set yet again with an impressive 35-point showing to lead the Linden-based side to victory.
The opening quarter saw the Bulls taking the early lead as they found their way to the paint time and time again to finish the quarter ahead, 21-19.
Bulls continued their inside-out style of play to score 27 points in the second period, while holding Pacesetters to 23 to maintain their lead heading into the halftime break in the highly competitive game.
Pacesetters, in the third quarter, showed some fortitude and outplayed the Bulls with their fast-paced offence to take a two-point, 66-64, lead heading into the final period.
Welch would show his toughness in this period converting some tough shots as the Bulls ramped their way to victory.
Michael Turner assisted with 13 points in the win for the Bulls, while Travis Burnett and Randy Richardson netted 14 points apiece in the loss for the Pacesetters.
The winner of the tournament will walk away with $100,000 as well as medals and a trophy, while the second-place side will pocket $60,000 along with medals as well.
The third-place finisher will also receive
$40,000 and a trophy. Awards will also be distributed for the Most Valuable Player, Best Uniformed Team and Most Disciplined Team.
Burnham Memorial Basketball final shifted to September 5 –
Linden to host final
The final of the Burnham Memorial Basketball Championship, which was slated for Sunday, August 31, had to be shifted to its new date of September 5.
According to Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation President Nigel Hinds, via email, there was a miscommunication involving the use of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) which is currently hosting the GT Beer Futsal Tournament, hence the shift in dates.
In addition, Hinds revealed the venue will also change from the CASH to
the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court in Linden.
The Colts from Georgetown will take on the Half Mile Bulls of Linden in the final, while the Trinity Grid Holding Pacesetters of Georgetown will face the Victory Valley Royals (VVR) of Linden in the third-place playoff.
The winner of the tournament will walk away with $100,000 as well as medals and a trophy, while the second-place side will pocket $60,000 along with medals as well.
The third-place finisher will also receive $40,000 and a trophy. Awards will
also be distributed for the Most Valuable Player, Best Uniformed Team and Most Disciplined Team.
Easy to get Bolt into championship mode - Mills
Usain Bolt has no bigger fan than his coach, Glen Mills, and his 100-metre World Championships victory two days ago is the perfect example of just why that is so.
Mills admitted Bolt was not at his best for a monster clash with the United States' Justin Gatlin, who had a two-year reign at the top of the sprinting world.
While Gatlin burned up the track, Bolt suffered, negotiating a series of injuries that kept him off the track for the most part.
When Bolt did take to the track, he was understandably unconvincing.
According to an interview Mills said all of that made the victory even more satisfying.
According to Mills, getting Bolt into a state where he was ready to compete with Gatlin did not take much, even if the circum-
Will Guyana ever medal at another global championship?
Asks TreisTon Joseph
Another global meet has come and ended and Guyana continues to go medal-less.
The situation at the 2015 World Championships has become a norm with the Land of Many Waters walking away without any hardware.
Guyana fielded a twomember squad to the championships in Olympian Winston George and Carifta bronze medallist Andrea Foster, who both gave of their best.
George clocked a new national record of 45.24s in the men’s 400m opening round, while Foster, who was not in her best form, clocked 2:17.39s in her opening heat; both failed to advance – a fault that cannot solely be attributed to the two talented athletes.
So the questions that need to be asked are: what now? And where do we go from here?
It is quite obvious that whatever systems the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and the Government of Guyana are employing are simply not working.
While there is a new Government in place, the burden of Guyana’s medalless runs now fall squarely on its shoulders and it must address the issue sooner rather than later.
The previous Government, while contributing to infrastructural development which must be
lauded, was still a bit misguided, since it failed miserably in helping to improve the development of athletes, whether it be boxers, swimmers, runners, etc.
It has been 35 years since Michael Parris medalled (bronze) at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and one has to wonder when will the medal-less panoplies end.
It is time to get away from the norm of the day, hoping that a few more competitions and training abroad will help these athletes improve, that maybe is just part of the equation.
Guyana is filled with talent and the overall development of the athletes, coaches,
infrastructure, educational systems and even the associations need to take place in order to produce more polished and world ready talent.
Usain Bolt has never step foot a day in another country to train unless he is heading there to run at a meet and he is the best athlete in the world from the small island of Jamaica.
The situation is almost as glum as hoping for the West Indies to win another World Cup title since 1975.
It is time to take sport off the back burners and treat it into the global industry it has become, it is time for change.
However, the question that really bothers is when?
stances were the most trying of his career.
“Usain is a competitor and a champion, so getting him to be in the frame of mind wasn't difficult. This is the most difficult one, so we are happy that we were able to overcome,” Mills said.
Mills' comments come ahead of tomorrow's part two between the sprinting giants, as Bolt, with 19.96 and Gatlin with 19.87, are the two fastest qualifiers and are expected to give fans another clash of epic proportions.
Both athletes are better at the longer distance and Gatlin's best this season (19.58), hangs like the proverbial elephant in the room.
Bolt, however, says those things never bother him.
"I don't worry about times," said Bolt.
Terron Welch
Nigel Hinds
Winston George during his 400 metres run at the World Championships in Beijing
President’s Cup Horse Race Meet
Just Call Me Bass crowned champion
– Government pledges to develop horse racing
By Rajiv Bisnauth
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon pledged the Government of Guyana’s full support to horse racing, adding that the Government stands firm in making horse racing a premier sport locally. Harmon’s comments came on Sunday during his brief remarks at the President’s Cup horse-racing event held at the Club’s track, Arima Park on the West Coast Berbice.
Also present at the event was Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson.
Upset
Just Call Me Bass of the Kris Jagdeo Racing Stable was in a category all by itself when it whipped a top class field, including two-time Guyana Cup winner CP Got Even to score a big win and take top honours in the feature C and Lower class event.
The feature event saw 10 animals contesting, but a blistering run down the homestretch was all that it took for Just Call Me Bass to create an upset victory.
It was a stunning performance by the animal, which was a rank outsider in the event. The horses were out of the box with a level break as they jostled for
position and into the back stretch, the race was still open. However, Trinidadian Jockey
The winning Jamaica women’s team. Saved as Jamaica
Jamaica picked up a third relay gold in world-leading time as the Caribbean finished among the medals on the final day of competition to conclude a successful IAAF World Championships here Sunday. The 4x100 metres quartet of Christine
Day, Shericka Jackson, Stephenie Ann McPherson and Novlene Williams-Mills ran a world leading time of three minutes, 19.13 seconds to add a third relay gold medal following victories in the sprint relays on Saturday. Running the anchor leg, Novlene
Nela Mohamed decided to let Just Call Me Bass go, giving it full rein as it set a searing pace coming into the homestretch.
CP Got Even was threatening, but Just Call Me Bass dominated from the start, winning the race gate to pole. With Mohamed showing his brilliance in the stirrups, the animal was able to romp home by about one length.
The win was worth $1.2 million and the President’s Trophy for the 1600-metre race.
CP Got Even of the RN Poonai Racing Stable held off the field for a well-deserved second, with Three D and Spit Fire finished in that order. Colin Ross was adjudged Champion Jockey, while Shariff Racing Stable won the best stable award.
A fair-sized crowd attended the day’s event. The day’s proceedings saw close to 100 horses taking part and over $7.5 million being up for
grabs. Meanwhile, eight other races were held. The results are as follow:
1. K and Lower – Regina, Plane Land, Red Region and De Gump.
2. Four-year-old West Indies bred – Plum Plum, Rosetta, Captain Crook and Goodwill Boy.
3. G3 and Lower – Goldikova, Caisse, Sweet Return and She’s So Special.
4. Two-year-old Guyana and West Indies bred – Witchipoo, The Girl is Mine and Maid of the Act.
5. J and lower – Red Jet, Party Time, Liquid Lion and Famous Pride.
6. Three-year-old Guyana and West Indies bred – Keep on Swinging, Settling Star and Its My Choice.
7. F and Lower – Appealing Harvest, Campadoor, Release the Beast and Caisse.
8. I1 and Lower – Cat Messiah, Marry Ann, The Girl is Mine and Slim Shady.
Jamaica upset USA to win women’s 4x400m at World Championships
Williams-Mills saved the best for last and cruised past American Francena McCorory in the last 20 metres to give Jamaica gold.
The United States finished second in a time of 3:19.44 and Great Britain took home the bronze in 3:23.62.
“These girls, they did it all the way. That is when you have the heart of a champion, that is what you do,” Williams-Mills said on passing McCorory near the finish line.
And it was all about Trinidad and Tobago and the United States in the men’s version with the experienced American LaShawn Merritt holding off a challenge from Machel Cedenio to deny the Caribbean nation victory.
Renny Quow ran an opening split time of 43.23 seconds which set the scene for Trinidad and Tobago with Lalonde Gordon clocking 45.68 on the second leg and Deon Lendore, 44.75 on the third.
Cedenio then challenged Merritt to the end in timing 44.16.
The Americans completed the 400m relay in a world leading time of 2:57.82 with T&T finishing in a new national record time of 2:38.20 and Great Britain clocking a season best of 2:58.51.
In the only other event with Caribbean participation, Donald Thomas cleared 2.29 metres for sixth in the men’s high jump. His compatriot Trevor Barry was 10th with 2.25m.
Canada’s Derek Drouin (2.34m) won a jump-off with Bohdan Bondarenko of Ukraine and Guowei Zhang of China (2.33m) for the gold medal.
Kenya topped the medal table with seven gold for a total of 16 medals with Jamaica also finishing on seven gold but 12 medals. United States finished with 18 medals but only six gold.
The next IAAF World Championships will be held in London in 2017. (CMC)
Jockey Nela Mohamed guided Just Call Me Bass (outside) to a close win in the feature C and Lower race (Photos: Rajiv Bisnauth)
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon hands over the winning trophy to representatives of Kris Jagdeo Racing Stable
