Guyana Times Daily

Canadian High Commissioner urges attitude change P13 toward violence

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Issue No. 3061

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

PRICE

2017 Budget unconscionable, a waste of time – Manickchand

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Guyanese corrections P10 officer gunned down in Brooklyn

…says Guyana should brace itself for what is about to come … saturated with an extensive range of new punitive taxes – Ali (See stories on pages 2,3,7)

Lethem reelects Mayor, Deputy Mayor P9 …as municipalities continue internal elections

P12 Boy dies, brother ‘brain dead’ after suspected water poisoning

2 jailed, fined $8.4M each for narco P8 trafficking

PPP supporters protest outside Parliament as debate begins

Baby milk denial claims

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo took time out to listen to the concerns of PPP grass-root supporters outside the National Assembly on Monday

ECD mother of 4 hacked to death in NY Page 7

Woman crushed to death after wall collapses Page 16

Labour Minister defends Govt’s arrest of tax evasion Page 12

...“this is truly a Christmas Budget” – Scott

Quantity raises eyebrows, can amount to tax evasion – source …as Cole dismisses allegations P12

Eccles fatal accident

Driver slapped with causing death charge P8

2 news

tuesDAY, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

2017 Budget

PPP supporters protest outside Parliament as debate begins According to the Opposition Leader when combined with what occurred earlier this year with the 2016 Budget, that financial plan had increased over 140 taxes and this new budget over 50. This one he said is a bit more profound because it has tackled core taxes in a single year. This has happened while there is nothing to stimulate the economy in a $250 billion budget. “It is unbelievable”,

sion that they have to pay VAT on their electricity and water - essential things that people use every day how can you tell the housewife who is already struggling to budget that what was once zero rated is now tax exempted and that cost from the manufacturer is now going to be passed on to her at home and that cost of living is going to rise?” the Parliamentarian asked.

She said these things are

shut down a lot of small businesses: “Even the business community is squealing. If you’re going to squeeze the business community effectively people are going to be knocked off and the cost to manufacturers is going to rack up. The reality is people are struggling to make ends meet and when this budget is going to tell you that life is going to be that much harder, then who it is going to be for?”

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo interacting with protesters outside the National Assembly on Monday

A

mixture of executives and grass-root supporters of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) protested the National

many to follow, is seemingly the only other option remaining for the PPP, as the party has very little influence in Parliament, with

One of the protesters during Monday’s protest

Assembly on Monday, hoping to soften the heart of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government to either fully withdraw, or extract the “draconian” measures in the 2017 Budget, which they say will see a doomsday for all.

The protest, one of

Government having a one seat majority.

Executive Secretary Zulficar Mustapha, who led the demonstration, said the protest will continue, with spontaneous actions across the country. He said he hopes the public demonstration will send a message to Government, for it to change

its decision.

He said the 2017 Budget has affected every Guyanese, from every race and political affiliation. According to him, the APNU/AFC in its Manifesto, had promised a reduction in VAT to 12 per cent, but has now instead reduced the tax by two per cent and added it on to the utilities. He said VAT this year will increase incredibly.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said the atmosphere at the beginning of the debates had already suggested that Government will not budge from its position and measures. He said many of these things are not yet seen until the respective utility bills with the VAT are given.

“It is bad economics, many of the measures in the Budget are not in keeping with the goals of the Government, “the good life for all, keeping cost of living down, and boosting the economy. There are more than 15 measures in the Budget that are harmful to economic growth and the country as a whole,” Jagdeo said.

A mixture of executives and grass-root supporters outside the National Assembly

Jagdeo said.

Speaking also at the protest, PPP executive Dr Vindhya Persaud said the new budget taxes will cause severe burden on especially the poor: “You think of the taxation that has been levied on the people, it is 57 new taxes and we also look on the new taxes on electricity and water.”

According to Persaud, Government’s talk about a green economy is not being realised in its proposed 2017 financial plan.

“How can you tell a pensioner at home, who has gotten just $800 on their pen-

more than hurtful since taxes will also be imposed on education and health, and they will all impact persons in every single way: “When you look at the social sector and we look at the budget, there’s nothing there for the single parent, for women just a few lines on Child Protection Agency and if you look the CPA,… there is a dearth of professionals to provide counselling services.

The measures are draconian and people should speak out against it.”

Persaud said there are a lot of measures in the budget that will also essentially

She related that the PPP at this point can do nothing since Government has the majority in Parliament.

“We can only call for it, point out the logic of the need to withdraw the budget, because I would think that they would want the same objective we want that is, a growing Guyana, a more enhancing people enjoying benefits. So we can only do that, but they have arrogantly used their oneseat majority, saying this is our time now, and it is a silly thing that they have done to pass legislations that are harmful to people.”

news

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tuesDAY, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Tuesday, December 6 – 9:30h-11:00h and Wednesday, December 7 – 10:30h-12:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Tuesday, December 6 – 8:25h-09:55h and Wednesday, December 7 – 09:30h-11:00h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Thundery to heavy rain showers can be expected throughout the day, followed by clear to partly cloudy skies in the evening. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius

Winds: North-easterly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 09:05h and 21:30h reaching maximum heights of 2.32 metres and 2.34 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 14:59h reaching a minimum height of 0.94 metre.

saturday, december 3, 2016

LOTTERY NUMBERS K

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FREE TICKET

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2016

Daily Millions

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DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

2017 Budget debate opens with mounting calls to withdraw it … saturated with an extensive range of new punitive taxes − Ali

B

udget 2017 was described as emblematic of the adage ‘the only certainty in life is death and taxes’ as was adumbrated recently during a radio interview by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Irfaan Ali, was the first to lead the charge in the debates for the 2017 Estimates, calling for Government to immediately withdraw the Budget.

He suggested that Government would do well to sit with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in order to craft a better budget.

According to the former Minister with responsibility for Tourism, Industry and Commerce, the Budget as presented is littered with inaccuracies regarding economic performance and is in fact saturated with an extensive range of new punitive taxes.

He was adamant that the Budget as presented by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, is in fact devoid of measures to rescue our ailing economy and improve the wellbeing of our people, or deliver the so called “good life for all”, and is not grounded in any policy framework that would ‘green our economy’ and diversify the economic base of Guyana.

The lead speaker from the Opposition benches was adamant that the 2017 Budget lacks practical measures to green and diversify the economy.

He in fact suggested that there are no new measures to grow new sectors and in an appeal to the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, suggested in his presentation that, coupled with

Chairman of the Parliamentary PAC, Irfaan Ali

the outcry of organisations - such as the private sector, labour and civil society - enough evidence has been presented in order to convince the Administration to withdraw the budget and to sit with the PPP/C to craft a new one — a sentiment readily received by his colleague Parliamentarians and expressed through their banging on the desks of Parliament with the accompanying chants of ‘withdraw, withdraw, withdraw.’

Government motives

Turning his attention to sections of the Budget under his remit, Ali was critical of Government’s proposed taxation measures, inclusive of the 14 per cent VAT to be charged on electricity, water and essential supplies; the extended powers of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), namely the ability to access private accounts to garnish monies it is owed, in addition to Government’s proposed intervention to compete with the private sector for capital to finance its projects.

On the matter of competing with the private sector for capital — a position already criticised by the Private Sector Commission — Ali questioned the mo-

tives of the Administration, saying the move will only seek to extract more funds by removing affordable financing and by mopping up available liquidity.

On the matter of garnishing funds by GRA through accessing private accounts of taxpayers, Ali suggested that this could in fact trigger a run on the local banking system.

Ali posited that taxpayers may very well be inclined to take their money out of the banking system altogether.

Speaking to the proposed taxation polices such as the imposition of VAT on Electricity and water, Ali told the House that this will result in Government securing a windfall to the tune of billions—a windfall that will inevitably have to be passed on by the business community to consumers

since they are the ones to be most affected.

As it relates to the application of the tax on water, Ali suggested that over 21,000 customers will be directly affected and that these fall into the residential and business categories.

He suggested that from this measure alone the administration will be raking in a whopping $1 billion a year — monies that will be taken out of the pockets of the ordinary people.

He spoke too of the imposition of VAT on electricity charges likely to adversely impact 15,300 customers, primarily residents and small business operators.

VAT on electricity, according to Ali, will take away more than $5 billion in disposable income from ordinary people.

“Who will suffer?” Ali rhetorically asked, answering that specifically it is the people of the country that will inherently have to face the brunt of the increases.

He spoke too of hardships to be faced as a result of the application of the removal of items from the zero-rated categories and instead placing it in the exempt category. (Gary Eleazar)

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tuesday, december 6, 2016

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

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

Editorial

“Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for life”

W

orld Soil Day 2016 is celebrated on December 5 at FAO headquarters in Rome, FAO regional offices and through national and local events.

The positive contributions of pulses to soil properties are many: they fix the atmosphere nitrogen and improve its biodiversity, fertility and structure.

That is why the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) dedicates this year's World Soil Day to pulses. Also, owing to their nutritional benefits, 2016 was declared the International Year of Pulses.

The campaign aims to connect people with soils and raise awareness on their critical importance in our lives. Soil is an essential resource and a vital part of the natural environment from which most of the global food is produced.

According to the United Nations, soil provides living space for humans, as well as essential ecosystem services, which are important for water regulation and supply, climate regulation, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and cultural services. But soils are under pressure from increases in population, higher demands for food and competing land uses. Approximately 33 per cent of our global soils are degraded, and policy-makers around the world are exploring opportunities to embrace sustainable development via the Sustainable Development Goals.

In his message to commemorate the global observance, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said: “On World Soil Day, I call for greater attention to the pressing issues affecting soils, including climate change, antimicrobial resistance, soil-borne diseases, contamination, nutrition and human health."

The UN Secretary-General pointed out that, in a modern world where the population is growing, cities are expanding, the climate is changing and more food is needed, there is an urgent need for healthy soils to ensure the essential services they provide.

Undoubtedly, sustainable management systems and practices will unlock the full potential of soils to support food production, store and supply clean water, preserve biodiversity, sequester more carbon, and increase resilience to a changing climate.

Sustainable soil management will also advance progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change. It should become the worldwide norm in order to optimise our use of soil now and preserve and protect it over the long-term.

Pulses, also known as grain legumes, can boost soil health while supporting healthier and nutritious diets. Dry beans, peas, lentils and other pulses combine with soil in a unique symbiosis that protects the environment, enhances productivity, contributes to adapting to climate change and provides fundamental nutrients to the soil and subsequent crops. Pulses can fix atmospheric nitrogen in their roots. By freeing soil-bound phosphorous to make it accessible and usable by plants, pulses also reduce the need to apply external fertilizer. These are all drivers of sustainable development.

The international community has identified collaborative and coordinated ways to protect and sustainably manage soils. There are valuable recommendations in the recently endorsed Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management developed by the Global Soil Partnership.

Following these guidelines will help pave the way to boosting the health of soil and fully unlocking its potential to support mitigation and adaption actions in a changing climate.

The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, adopted a resolution proposing December 5 as World Soil Day to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human wellbeing.

In Guyana, in an effort to consolidate national food security, preparation has begun for the submission of a proposal for Grant funding from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to the tune of $US10 million.

At the observation in Rome, Italy, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder called for world leaders to better adapt to climate change, by understanding the impacts it has on food security.

However, for Guyana, the role of women in the food system remains a critical aspect, and if there is to be a national policy change equitable opportunities to earn and learn should be compatible with healthy and safe pregnancies and child feeding.

One of Reuters’ photos of the year: Fog covers the Inntal valley as the sunrise is seen from the Hundskopf mountain in the western Austrian village of Gnadenwald, Austria (Reuters/Dominic Ebenbichler)

An open letter to City Councillors

Dear Editor, Permit me the space in your pages for an open letter to City councillors.

Eight months ago we assumed office as councillors of which a large part of our mandate is to consider the general welfare of the whole municipality, the Capital City, Georgetown.

We were already working in our various constituencies and sought to amplify our efforts by aligning with an organisation whose vision and mission closely resembled ours.

We, perhaps, had laboured with utopian hopes that with the added legitimacy a new dynamism would be affected in the communities we inhabit.

But such hopes as we harboured remain unrealised, and as our national poet says ‘those miseries you cultivate as yours as well as mine’.

I am certain that you were surprised, as I was, the issues that should have found ventilation before the Council were decided on beforehand and little more than tacit acceptance was required of us, on other is-

sues the body Council was entirely circumvented or ignored; public trust diminished.

What remains an anomaly is that we are a repository of so much talent, experience, and training as councillors that our City should have been on a growth path for success and excellence, less reliance on Central Government, yet before us is a City in crisis on every front.

We have sat at Council in disbelief at what we saw transpiring before our eyes, we have spoken in corridors in hushed tones, or with words whispered in phone calls of the little interest expressed by those in command to chart a different course. Yet, time would have the final word, which brings us to this moment in the history of our Council, and a chance at something great.

As I said to my sons, Jon and Ethan, on the eve of LGE: “The services of a city are essential to its human dignity, whether infrastructure: roads, street lights, drains or essentials like health and fire servic-

es or police protection etc.

They all have to work effectively and efficiently, geared toward the good life for the citizens who engage them.”

I was hopeful that by the time they grow up they would “appreciate that the things you now freely enjoy were bought these many years ago at a high cost and a long arduous struggle.”

I am afraid now that on our present trajectory your children and mine, your family and mine, the next generation of City councillors, and inhabitants, will only inherit all the struggles we now face. If you are in doubt ask yourself are we better off than we were in April?

My dream and my ardent hope for us as councillors is that we have a greater say in the management of our constituencies, that we are given the tools; empowered to make the changes that are necessary.

My wish is for us to have a City administration that carries out the directives of the Council and for a leadership that listens to our voices; leadership that is both master and servant, trans-

parent and accountable.

Moving forward, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana David Granger sets out his administration’s vision for capital towns as engines for economic development of the regions of which they are the nucleus. This is the framework for success that is worthy of our acceptance.

Finally, I call to your remembrance when His Excellency visited with us at City Hall he told us in no uncertain terms that we are not on the City Council to represent our political parties but to represent the people.

In all that is to come we have to represent the interests of the people of Georgetown and the quality of service and leadership we offer them.

There are hard choices ahead of us; we have difficult decisions to make but I have every confidence that when future generations of city residents look back they will say this was our finest hour.

Sherod Avery Duncan, Councillor

Where are Red Thread, other groups who represent the poor?

Dear Editor, During the time of the PPP/C Government, the public saw groups such as Red Thread, Guyana Human Rights and other women and social groups protesting over every issue under the sun about how hard life was for the poor, the single parent mothers, the grassroots women, the

unemployed, etc.

As gallant knights of the poor and the down-trodden, Red Thread and all these groups (and the many popular faces like Karen De Souza and Sherlina Nageer, etc) were always in the public domain holding placards and demanding better living conditions and economic and social benefits for women

and children. We have just seen the 2017 Budget come out and only heaven can help us with the burden that has been placed on every citizen in the country. Imagine that even the wealthy are crying out, as are the businesses. And if they are crying out, I ask myself: then what is happening to the poor? Every single item that

was once zero-rated is now taxed and the poor has many other tax burdens to bear, including paying tax on water, electricity, basic foods, school and baby items, and medicines. The usual basket of goods has been drastically reduced for the poor, and the single parent mothers among others. continued on page 5

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

GRA should investigate ‘As you unlicensed businesses were’

Dear Editor, I plead your attention to kindly take a few minutes to read my sincere complaint that is not given any attention even though several complaints have been lodge to Guyana Revenue Authority to investigate this unlawful practice that is interfering with my business.

As a young entrepreneur I strive to make a living in this economy but unfortunately unlawful practices are shunning me from doing so.

I have a bar and restaurant that operates every day and I have my documents for doing so in accordance to the laws of Guyana.

I think it's unreasonable and unfair for someone else

to force my potential customers away from my bar to gain profits from an unlicensed business.

I don't fully own the establishment since I'm still in the process of paying monthly installments for my business since I'm buying over the franchise.

I also pay a monthly rent for the business adding to my expenses.

I have bills I pay and daily expenses. And with the shockingly increase of electricity of 14 per cent for 2017 I'm over the roof angry that nothing is being done to implement ways to demolish this practice.

With all these expenses any small purchases can really help me to make profits

to cover these expenses and make a decent living.

The unlawful practices of spirit, beers, energy drink, beverages and cigarettes are sending their loyal rebel customers to deface my property and stealing from me. They're defacing my property with indecent language and gesture and stealing light bulbs which I have to replace too often. They're also luring customers who come into my bar and even before entering the bar away in a spiteful and disdained attitude.

I know the Police are supposed to be informed but I do hope GRA can do something to eradicate these rebels to stop loitering there.

I've made several phone

calls to GRA expressing myself and complaining about this stigma that is taking a toll on my business and nobody has yet replied or given me any hope of investigating this.

I also have loyal customers who claim they went in to GRA and lodge complaints but 'unheard' so far.

I'm optimistic that if this letter gets publish personnel from GRA will see and understand why I'm berating myself and the seriousness of how this is clearly affecting my business. Contacts from GRA can be made to juniorminajjj@ gmail.com Sincerely, Roopeshwar R Somar

Dear Editor, In the 1970s, I did my National Service at the Papaya Training Centre in the North West District, Region One. During military training we became familiar with the command ‘As you were’ meaning, ‘go back to your previous position.’

No doubt the President, the Minister of State, and many senior functionaries in this Government are all familiar with the term as they were all military men. Even the Minister of Finance is perhaps familiar, since he was a UG student and may have had to do National Service like the rest of us.

As regards VAT and the 2017 Budget, this is the most appropriate and desired order the President can, and should give to his Finance Minister.

Never mind the campaign promises, we were a lot better off ‘the way we were’ Yours faithfully, William Tell

Where are Red Thread, other groups who...

But yet, over a week has passed and I can’t see any group that represents the poor as they did back in PPP days. Just where are these groups and people?

What became of them? How come they are not protesting and holding placards outside the Parliament and ministries stating how life hard for the poor and asking how the poor single parent mothers will raise 5 children with all these taxes and so forth?

Editor, allow me to share this bit of information I got just out of a quick research. Stabroek News (March 24, 2007): note that the PPP was in office during this period. The title of the article: “Grassroots women in moves to hold politicians to campaign promises”. I quote from that article:

“Forty-eight women from across the country have launched a campaign to write to political leaders about the issues affecting them as a way of dealing with the “unfulfilled promises” made to them. They say they are holding the parties in Parliament accountable to all grassroots women for the promises made in their manifestoes at the time of national elections in relation to a living income; affordable access to goods and services; protection of women and children from violence and a strong political voice for all women. The women decided on these four priorities last year. The group held a press briefing on Thursday to officially launch their campaign which is being supported by Red Thread

and Canada Fund.”

And there are other parts of that article: • “The main concern is that grassroots women continue to struggle to get their households going because promises were not fulfilled.”

• “The group will be writing to the various political parties next week informing them of the campaign and based on the response they will decide what action would be taken. Having a march would be considered as a possible action.”

• “The group will also be sending out constant reminders via the media to remind the politicians of their promises. ‘If we don’t

get satisfaction, we will take action,’ she said.”

• “Another woman, who was obviously upset, said that they are fed up of being ill-treated by politicians who make lots of promises to them during elections.

‘We are totally disgusted with the way grassroots women are treated… They would just wash us over like how the flood washed us over’. These comments were met with nods and applause. Another woman stated that for too long grassroots women have been sitting down. She said that ‘enough is enough’.”

Now that we have a little into the past work of Red Thread and other groups and their militan-

cy back then, what can we conclude about them today? Are these groups political extensions of the APNU, tasked to bring down and shame the PPP Government by using the poor, the single parent mothers and grassroots women? I am tempted to conclude this because in less than 2 years, Guyana’s economy has declined and many industries (all affecting the grassroots people) are struggling and thousands of people lost their jobs including those poor Amerindians (many of whom were represented in this Red Thread event in 2007). And despite all of

from page 4

this - not a word from Red Thread.

Now with a burdensome Budget as put out by the APNU/AFC Government, who promised a good life for all people, we see a great deception by the APNU/ AFC and the poor are the ones who feel it the greatest. Then how come we are not seeing and hearing from Red Thread and other women and social groups?

Are these groups carrying out political mandates under the guise of representing the poor of Guyana?

Why the silence?

Yours faithfully, Daren Jaipaul

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Foundation

– what research suggests about children and the Santa myth

By Vanessa LoBue, PhD

T

he most memorable Christmas for me was the year I was seven years old, right at the peak of my wholehearted belief in Santa Claus.

The excitement of his imminent journey down my chimney had me feeling ecstatic this particular Christmas Eve – so ecstatic that I was literally up all night waiting. I got out of bed so many times that my parents finally put me in their bed to keep me from sneaking downstairs yet again to see if “He” had come yet. The fact that they were able to find a moment to literally throw the presents under the tree without me knowing was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. I, of course, didn't even notice their anxiety while swimming in my happy holiday haze, and never doubted for a minute that old Saint Nick was the one who put presents under our tree each year, and that he was the one who gobbled down the cookies and milk I left there for him. I wouldn't realise until a few years later that my parents were behind all of my Christmas miracles every year. They were able to keep up the Santa myth for nine years before I figured it out. But according to several academics, parents, and general Santa critics, these were nine long years of lies that would effectively damage my development and my relationship with my parents forever.

Believe it or not, Santa Claus is quite a controversial figure among many scientists and parents these days, and there are countless books written on the

myth of Santa Claus, including books like “The Myths that Stole Christmas”, which claim that the Santa myth is bad for kids. The main argument is that telling kids about a magical figure that delivers presents to children from around the world on Christmas Eve is a lie, and even though it is a lie backed by good intentions, it is a lie nonetheless, and one that will inevitably unravel at some point during

the child’s development. For example, figuring out the truth can be traumatic for a child, and it projects the message that children can’t trust what their parents tell them. Further, lying in order to encourage good behaviour is manipulative and encourages children to behave well for the wrong reasons.

There is some evidence that rewards (like Christmas gifts) undermine children’s motivation. So maybe using Santa or an Elf on the Shelf to promote good behaviour isn’t the best tool if you want your kids to be good all year round. But, there is no scientific

evidence to suggest that finding out the truth about Santa is in any way traumatic for children or that it leads to trust issues between children and their parents. Yes, the Santa myth is indeed a lie, and all children will have to find out the truth eventually. But, research on the topic suggests that children tend to figure out the truth about Santa on their own around the age of

seven, and that their reactions are generally quite positive. In most cases, there is no big reveal where parents shamefully confess the truth to their sobbing and disappointed children, and there is no scientific evidence that finding out the truth causes children to doubt whether their parents are trustworthy.

My own memory of finding out the truth about Santa is consistent with this research: It was less like a traumatic revelation and more like solving a puzzle. I went over the evidence in my head: Some kids in my class say that there’s no Santa. Why

would Santa come to my house and not theirs? But if there is no Santa, how would my parents be able to hide all of those presents from me? This line of reasoning lead to a fishing expedition in my basement and attic, which ultimately resulted in discovering a doll and Tonka truck my mom forgot to wrap. I had solved the mystery of Santa Claus, and it felt good to figure it out all on my own. I even kept up the ruse about believing in Santa for one more year to give my parents a little more time to cope with the fact that their little girl had outgrown her favourite childhood fantasy.

It turns out that fantasy in general is a normal and healthy part of child development.

Children spend a large amount of time pretending, especially between the ages of five and eight. They are also constantly exposed to media including books, television shows, and movies where animals can talk, people can fly, and objects magically appear out of thin air. So why would a group of flying reindeer be any more fantastical than a talking mouse or singing snowman? Although magical thinking decreases between the ages of seven and nine (around the same age most children give up the myth of Santa Claus), it doesn't disappear forever. Sometimes we adults need a little bit of magic in our lives too, as we bear out our superstitions, relish in the excitement of “haunted” houses, and recite prayers to loved ones who have passed. (Excerpt from psychologytoday.com)

Continued from Monday

By Nigel Barber, PhD

P

Inhibiting aggression

hysical separation may promote independence, but the implied deprivation of close physical contact also increases aggression. Conversely, physical closeness goes along with emotional trust.

Students who were emotionally close to their parents had a close physical relationship involving frequent bodily contact, such as hugging and also had better relationships with other family members and with peers.

People in different societies use space differently. Friends in Sweden keep each other at longer distances than friends in Italy, for example. Likewise, French teenagers maintain closer interpersonal distances than their American counterparts as illustrated by an amusing comparison between diners at McDonalds restaurants in the two countries.

French adolescents spent a lot of their time (43 per cent) expressing affection for peers through the medium of touch (leaning against them, stroking, kissing, and hugging).

American adolescents were less demonstrative, spending only 11 per cent of their time engaged in affectionate contact with friends sitting next to them in the fast food restaurant. American adolescents spent more time touching themselves, preening their hair, and clasping their hands.

Americans were more aggressive in their conversation and gestures, prompting lead researcher Tiffany field Field to speculate that the greater degree of violence in the US compared to France might reflect deprivation of touch going back to early childhood. She invoked Harlow’s work on touch-deprived monkeys that grew up to be more hostile towards peers.

Among their other neurochemical abnormalities, touch deprived (i e, mother deprived) monkeys have depleted serotonin (and norepinephrine) levels in their brains which means that they have trouble controlling hostile impulses.

Aggressive humans have a similar neurochemical profile that could result from early deprivation of close social contact. Similar arguments can be made about control of sexual impulses.

If we can draw a line between parental practices and aggressive impulses, there is also a great deal of variation in ambition that is tied to local opportunities and associated variation in parental practices.

Inculcating ambition Children are taught to strive in societies where it is possible to rise in social status, otherwise, self-improvement is not pushed. In agricultural societies, for example, children are kept away from school because their labour on farms is more valuable than anything they might learn in in school.

This changes in developing societies where literacy is essential for holding down a job. Parents also affect ambition in more indirect ways, as James Flynn explained in his analysis of higher occupational success of Asian Americans compared to other immigrants. Exceptionally close relationships with mothers are implicated.

Having a lot of emotional support from parents affects occupational striving. Emotionally secure children are more intellectually curious, have less fear of failure, and work harder at school, and ultimately, at careers.

Although there is a current fad claiming that what parents do is unimportant to their children’s outcomes, anyone who looks at the grand scheme of societal, and economic, differences will find compelling evidence that parents shape their offspring to succeed in varied social niches around the globe. Parental practices are adaptive, and effective. (Excerpt from

psychologytoday.com)

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tuesday, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

2017 Budget unconscionable, a waste of time …brace yourself for what is about to come ‒ Manickchand

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nconscionable, a waste of time and an exercise in futility were the reaction to the 2017 National Estimates by former Education Minister Priya Manickchand, as she made her presentation on the annual debate which got underway Monday in the National Assembly.

Manickchand, a frontbencher in the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), in an impassioned presentation joined her colleague Parliamentarians in the Opposition benches, to call on Government to withdraw the Budget and craft a new one in keeping with the guidelines of the Constitution of Guyana.

She was in fact adamant that the reaction on the part of Government ministers to the growing voices of discontent is indicative of a disrespectful, arrogant and insensitive Administration which is simply being a bully.

The coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, according to Manickchand,

“is being a bully.”

The former Government minister in the PPP/C Administration told the House that the 2017 Budget is the first such in recent history that has been so widely criticised by formal bodies, such as the Private Sector Commission (PSC), in addition to the citizenry.

Manickchand told the House that she would have been happy to be able to congratulate the Minister on an early Budget, had its contents been in keeping with the needs of the people.

She dismissed the 2017 Budget as a short-term spending plan—a plan that does not define a trajectory for the nation over the next five or ten years.

The Budget instead lacks innovation since there are no plans to promote growth, she said.

Manickchand told the debate that the Budget is also devoid of any measures that would tackle the constraints facing the private sector, such as unavailable human capital, high energy costs and lack of access to capital.

Reminding the House that as Opposition Members

Former Education Minister Priya Manickchand during her presentation in the National Assembly

of Parliament, her colleagues are representing a vast section of the Guyanese population, Manickchand boldly asserted that the 2017 Budget is in fact useless and ill thought out.

Misleading

Speaking to some of the effects of the allocations and measures in the 2017 Budget, Manickchand used the occasion to rubbish the decision by Government to apply Value Added Tax (VAT) to all of the budget agencies.

According to Manickchand, this in itself

ECD mother of 4 hacked to death in NY

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mother of four was in the wee hours of Monday stabbed to death by her husband who almost decapitated her in front of eyewitnesses in Richmond Hill, New York, USA. Dead is Rajwantie Basdeo of South Jamaica, Queens, New York and formerly of Lot 250 6th Street, Foulis, East Coast Demerara.

Her husband, Prem Rampersaud, 50, was arrested after committing the heinous crime.

Based on reports received, the jealous man attacked his wife shortly after midnight at the corner of 103rd Avenue and 124th Street, slapping and choking her before pulling out a

Dead: Rajwantie Basdeo

knife and stabbing her several times.

After stabbing the woman, the suspect attempted to cut off her neck which

was witnessed by persons traversing the streets who immediately alerted the Police.

Basdeo was rushed to the Jamaica Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The suspect who was arrested in proximity to the murder scene told homicide detectives that his wife arrived in the US less than a year ago and he later found out that she was having a relationship with a man she met online.

He admitted that he purchased a long kitchen knife and waited for her to leave work on Sunday evening. The Police have since retrieved the knife believed to be the murder weapon. turn to page 11

defeats the arguments by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who had suggested that the spending on Education has been increased over the previous year.

Manickchand countered, saying that the Minister is being misleading since with the application of VAT at least $1 billion has been slashed from the Ministry’s expenditures.

She suggested that the monies being taken back

by Government could have in fact been invested to upgrade the infrastructure in the education system, but what obtains is that Government has in fact robbed the children of the nation.

A visibly livid Manickchand also railed

against Government’s decision to apply VAT on education materials and queried if Government had seriously thought out the consequences of the collective Cabinet decision.

According to the former Education Minister, there are more than 15,000 students in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) alone that attend private schools and will now be subjected to paying fees that will now attract a 14 per cent VAT. Manickchand queried if Government was prepared to accommodate those students should they be unable to afford private schools.

Taxing the nation

She lambasted the Administration’s inability to present a long-term developmental plan such as serious investments in the University of Guyana, a Deep Water Harbour, or investments in human capital.

“There is nothing new in this Budget, just an attempt to tax the nation… it is a waste of time, it’s useless, an exercise on futility, it is a waste of time in terms of developing this country,” according to Manickchand.

She stated that what Government is in fact focused on is taxes on just about everything, including educational and medical

services and supplies.

“People now have to pay VAT on medical services, on medicines,” Manickchand said, and suggested that persons cannot even afford to get a headache now since medications will now be 14 per cent more expensive.

She lambasted too the imposition of VAT on accessories required by the differently abled.

Manickchand observed that in a year when the Finance Ministry boasts of a sign language interpreter for the presentation of the 2017 Budget, the Minister has instead slapped VAT on hearing aids.

The former Education Minister also lambasted the Administration over the proposed measure to remove items from the zero-rated list that would in fact drive up the cost of living for all.

“This is a brace-yourself budget… Brace yourself Guyana for what is about to come,” Manickchand said, even as she sought to castigate the decision to apply VAT on the staple of any child’s education—play dough.

According to Manickchand, the promises of the APNU/AFC coalition were in fact big fat lies, and that Budget 2017 now only promises prosperity by taxation. (Gary Eleazar)

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tuesday, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

IN THE COURTS

2 jailed, fined $8.4M each for narco trafficking Salaries…

S T

hirley Sinclair had to be helped out of the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan after she broke down in tears upon hearing that she was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and fined $8.4 million for attempting to traffic narcotics.

She was facing a trafficking in narcotics charge which stated that on November 26, 2016 at 53 David Street, Kitty, Georgetown, she aided another to traffic 5.612kg (5612 grams) of cannabis.

On Monday, she pleaded guilty to the charge and begged for mercy after it was read to her.

The Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor read the facts surrounding her arrest to the court, which stated that on the day of the incident, the defendant collaborated with one Nigel Lewis to transport the

Shirley Sinclair

drugs, hidden among groceries, to Skywest, a postal office, where they both attempted to send the illicit item to an Orin Matthews of Matthews Ridge.

However, the manager at the postal service smelt a weird scent emanating from the package and contacted CANU ranks who discovered four well-wrapped parcels

hidden in the box.

After an investigation, the defendant and her accomplice were both apprehended.

They both admitted to the offence. Sinclair in her bid to acquire leniency from the Magistrate explained that she was facing a financial crisis.

Sinclair’s accomplice, Nigel Lewis, 42, of Albouystown, an employee of Skywest Postal Service, also made a court appearance and was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined $8.4 million.

He admitted that on November 26, 2016 at Lot 53 David Street, Kitty, he aided another to traffic 5.612kg of cannabis.

He also admitted to sending Sinclair to uplift the package from an unknown individual along with $30,000 in cash.

He told the CANU investigator that after she uplifted

Nigel Lewis

the package, he assisted her with packing a box with the drugs and groceries which she later delivered to his place of work to be posted.

However, in Court, he told Magistrate McLennan that he was not the official person at his place of work to send packages through to be delivered.

Eccles fatal accident

Driver slapped with causing death charge

G

regory Williams, 42, of Soesdyke Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was on Monday charged for causing the death of Mary Williams, the woman who was ran over by a motor lorry on Friday last.

Williams pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated

that on December 2, 2016 at Industrial Site Access Road, Eccles, EBD, he drove motor lorry GPP 1637 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Williams.

In a bail application, his Attorney, Nigel Hughes successfully requested bail for

his client, noting that the defendant had stopped at a vendor and was about to move off when someone screamed that a woman was caught under his vehicle.

The victim had just exited Norton Street, Bagotstown and had walked onto the main access road when she was run

The dangerous driving accused: Gregory Williams

over. It is unclear how the woman ended up under the vehicle.

Attorney Hughes stated that his client stopped and went to the woman’s assistance and stayed at the scene

Dead: Mary Williams

of the accident to assist Police with their investigations.

He told the Magistrate that the defendant had no previous brushes with the law and the accident was an unfortunate one.

Bail was granted in the sum of $500,000. Williams will return to court on January 19.

…and sweetness here was a letter in the press highlighting the super salaries of some executives at GuySuCo. It wasn’t surprising that it boggled the minds of the ordinary man in the street. But what was shocking was Cabinet claimed shock and promised they’ll look into the matter.

“Look into the matter?” After a $52 million Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Sugar Industry - which presented its report to Cabinet - they didn’t know about these salaries?

The Cabinet also appointed a new Board of GuySuCo under the Chairmanship of Dr Clive Thomas, who - not so incidentally - is Chairman of the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA). HE didn’t know about these salaries?

Jeez! Their size clearly indicates a massive heist of State assets - and he missed this? Thomas also serendipitously happens to be an advisor to the President. He didn’t whisper anything into the President’s ear? Something is clearly rotten in the state of our PNC-led Cabinet.

Our Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo got into Office – and his own multimillion-dollar remuneration package – on the backs of the sugar workers of Berbice. And HE didn’t know? But that provides a clue, doesn’t it? It’s simply SHAME! The entire Cabinet - from the PM down to the most junior minister - had awarded themselves that 50 per cent salary increase. This teed off the Government workers - who they’d promised a “significant raise” – to such an extent they’re probably terrified to mention the abomination in salaries they allowed in sugar. Let sleeping dogs lie, nuh?

But now that the cover’s blown and they’ve promised action, how will they reduce these GuySuCo Executives’ salaries, when theirs are also in the stratosphere? And let’s not hear any talk about work performance. Has the Cabinet done any better at running the country than the Management of GuySuCo in running the sugar industry?

Both entities have been run into the ground, that’s what!!

And it’s clear both lots are absolutely clueless about turning around anything.

So what’s to be done? Well… what should’ve been done from the very beginning… and should be done henceforth when it comes to setting salaries. Tie the salaries of the Cabinet and the GuySuCo execs to performance. For GuySuCo execs, the yardstick should be production and profitability and for the Cabinet, the yardstick should be economic growth and budget surpluses.

If we don’t see improvement according to these metrics, then the way forward is clear – reduce the salaries of each category of executives to a multiple of ten times the salary of the lowest paid worker under their watch.

If they can’t live on 10 times the salary of a security guard, then how can that guard live? …and the budget Guyana went off wage controls some decades ago – except when setting minimum salaries. So what the Government does is to tinker with the minimum salary that is non-taxable. This year they’ve moved the tax exempted annual salary from $660,000 to $720,000 (which, not so incidentally is the MONTHLY salary of a JUNIOR Minister!!). But what does this really mean for the poor?

The rise in exemption is $5000/monthly. So at a 33 per cent tax rate, they’re saving $1650 monthly. Better than nothing? Well actually it’s worse than nothing. Because of the PNC-led coalition Government now moving a raft of items bought by the poor as survival fare - such as bread - from the “zero-rated” VAT category to the cruelly ironically named “exempt” category, those items will now cost several times that $1650!!

So the change for poor at the bottom of the economic ladder – which is from all classes and strata – has now been moved from “nothing” or zero to “negative”.

This is the new math of the PNC-led Government.

“Less is more” and it’s supposed to make us “conserve”!! …tax free Nobody begrudges Prezzie and the Chancellor of the Judiciary their mega salaries.

But what happened to the Tax Reform Committee’s recommendation that they don’t have “tax free” status?

Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

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tuesday, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Opposition upbraids Business Minister for failures over 2 years in Office …as Granger’s Green economy proposal dismissed as ‘rum shop gaff’

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usiness Minister Dominic Gaskin and his shadow counterpart in the National Assembly, People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament Joe Hamilton, were the first to trade barbs as the first day of the debates on the 2017 Estimates got underway.

Minister Gaskin in his presentation spoke of the virtues of an early Budget being presented, while his shadow counterpart lamented the Business Minster’s failure to achieve anything substantial during his tenure.

Hamilton told the House that this was his view since the Minister from his inception in the portfolio, has only ever regaled about the things that he and his ministry ‘will do’, instead of what it has, in fact, accomplished.

Defending the more than $1 billion allocated for the Business Ministry in 2017, Gaskin was adamant that with the early presentation of the estimates, Guyanese, including the business community, will now be able to plan for the upcoming year.

Government, he said, did not wish to skylark with such an important fiscal tool in the form of the Budget by waiting to present it for passage until April—as was the case under the PPP/C Administration.

Taking a swipe at one of the Opposition speakers who drew reference to the fact that the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change

(APNU/AFC) Government had inherited consistent and sustained economic growth, Gaskin suggested that the decline had begun before the current Administration took office.

Green State

Responding to allegations of there being no comprehensive plan with regards President David Granger’s stated proposal of pursuing a Green State, Gaskin used the occasion to point to the $1 billion allocation to pursue projects in alignment with the President’s vision.

He spoke of the tax concessions and holidays announced to benefit the sector.

Government has also been taking flack over its proposal on the green energy front to provide concessions for the import of electric cars and charging stations, but according to Minister Gaskin, “we are looking at initial stages of developing the green economy.”

He sought to defend the Administration’s handling of the PetroCaribe fund, saying that his predecessor’s approach to utilising the fund was a flawed one, since it was Government taking a long-term debt to convert it into short-term payments for a sector that was in trouble—the rice industry.

Speaking to some of the developments for 2017 as it relates to the Business Ministry, Gaskin pointed to the refurbishment of the Guyana National Exhibition Centre which he said would serve to boost the venue

Lethem re-elects Mayor, Deputy Mayor …as municipalities continue internal elections

T

he Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) Municipality has re-elected its Mayor, Carlton Beckles, and Deputy Mayor, Maxine Welch, to serve another year after unanimous votes at the Council’s elections last Thursday.

The elections were held at the Lethem Town Hall.

According to Town Clerk Keisha Vincent, voting commenced at 09:30h and was completed by 10:30h.

So far, three of the nine municipalities have already concluded elections.

Internal elections at the Municipality of Anna Regina were held on November 29 with Mayor Rabindranauth Mohan, and Deputy Mayor Darshan Persaud being reelected to their substantive positions.

At Corriverton, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), former

Deputy Mayor, Krishnand Jaichand emerged the new Mayor, replacing incumbent Ganesh Gangadin by a 9/6 voter ratio, while Councillor Jamna Ghamandi was elected Deputy.

The Rose Hall Municipality is expected to hold its elections on Wednesday, December 7, with Linden following on Thursday.

The Municipalities of New Amsterdam and Mabaruma have scheduled their elections for December 14, with the Bartica Mayor and Town Council announcing its elections for December 15.

Meanwhile in Georgetown, Deputy Mayor Sherrod Duncan is expected to challenge Mayor Patricia Chase-Green for the position of Mayor.

All elections are expected to be completed by December 16, 2016, as stipulated by law.

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin

with regards the hosting of business expositions.

The Minister spoke too of the continued pursuit of a single window processing system, in addition to upgrades at the Guyana Small Business Bureau and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, among other departments that fall within the purview of his Ministry.

According to Minister

Gaskin, the Business Ministry is pursuing a fiveyear strategic plan germane to the acceleration of business development in Guyana, including reducing the barriers to doing business here.

Communicating a message directly to the business community, Minister Gaskin was adamant that Budget 2017 is “pro-busi-

ness and pro-worker.”

Hamilton in rebutting the Minister’s presentation, was equally adamant that Budget 2017 is in fact ‘poisonous’ and can in fact be considered “the first death announcement Budget” that will transition the nation from bad to worse— a Budget that is bad for all Guyanese with the exception of Government functionaries and their cronies.

Hamilton in his rebuttal of Minister Gaskin’s presentation, said he should have focused on employment and business opportunities instead of regaling the House with plans to refurbish the exhibition centre, the purchase of a vehicle and the rental of tents.

“Rum shop gaff”

Dismissing as “rum shop gaff”, Hamilton in making his presentation also took a swipe at the Government’s proposals to provide incentives for the import of charging stations for electrical cars, in addition to the cars

themselves.

He lamented the current state of affairs of the electricity grid, saying that the substantive Minster, David Patterson, is hard-pressed to keep the power flowing in order to ensure that the fish and chicken in the ordinary man’s fridge does not spoil.

Hamilton also seized the opportunity to call out the entire Government over the 2017 Estimates, drawing reference to the growing voices of opposition as against the very few Ministers that have gone into the public domain to speak in its defence, saying “like they themselves have a difficulty with the Budget and their measures.”

Hamilton concluded his presentation to the debate by saying, “all and sundry” have indicated their displeasure with the measures proposed in the Budget; and joined with his colleagues to call on the APNU/AFC Government to withdraw its Budget and work with the PPP/C to “come again”.

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tuesday, december 6, 2016

News

Guyanese corrections officer gunned down in Brooklyn

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n off-duty corrections officer was on Sunday evening shot and killed as she sat in her car in Flatlands, Brooklyn, NY in an apparent execution style killing.

Alastasia Bryan, 25, a Guyanese by birth, was executed in the vicinity of East 73 Street and Avenue L in Flatlands at about 21:15h when a dark coloured Honda rolled up and fired off a volley of five shots. Police confirmed that a single bullet hit the officer in the head, killing her instantly.

The execution reportedly took place nearly four miles from the woman’s East New York home. New York homicide detectives are of the belief that Bryan’s death appeared to be planned, pointing out

Dead: Alastasia Bryan

that the killer may have been waiting at the intersection before she arrived.

While there had been initial questions whether Bryan was intentionally targeted or if the shooting was random, Police on Monday stated

that detectives had obtained surveillance video showing a man getting out of a vehicle and walking up to Bryan’s car.

The video showed the man opening fire and then getting back into his vehicle and taking off.

The victim’s mother, Ingrid Bryan, who rushed to the scene upon receiving the devastating news wailed, “My daughter doesn’t do anything except comes and goes from work. Work was all she cared about,” adding I’m so sad and upset right now. I’m grieving.”

No arrests have been made but investigations are ongoing, officials said.

The City of New York’s Department of Corrections released a statement saying,

“Tonight (Sunday) DOC suffered a tragic loss when an off-duty officer was fatally shot. Our thoughts are with the officer’s family, friends and colleagues.”

Elias Husamudeen, President of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, said in a statement that the entire City of New York is shocked and grieving the horrific murder of one of the youngest members of New York City’s boldest.

Bryan, a recent graduate from the city Correction Academy, was a rookie at the Anna M Kross Centre on Rikers Island. Police are reviewing security camera footage of the area and are looking for a gray or beige Honda Civic car. (Adapted from NBC)

EU partnering to restore deteriorating City Hall

T

he European Union and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council have signed a contract that will facilitate a study for a comprehensive Restoration and Sustainable Conservation Management Plan for City Hall.

The contract which has been awarded to EURONET Consulting GEIE for

GYD$64 million (EURO €279,196) is expected to be concluded by March/April 2017. The team will include experts from both Europe and Guyana, and the National Trust of Guyana and City Hall will be actively engaged during the period of consultancy.

The core of the assessment will involve conduct-

City Hall

ing a condition assessment and evaluation of the physical and structural state of City Hall and the City Engineer’s Buildings; preparation and presentation of a comprehensive green restoration plan and a sustainable conservation management plan for City Hall and the City Engineer’s Buildings; and facilitating training sessions and strengthening capacity within the relevant stakeholder agencies.

EU Ambassador Jernej Videtiĉ highlighted that ''Georgetown’s iconic City Hall and the City Engineer’s Buildings built in 1889 are unquestionably among the most outstanding architectural, cultural and historically significant buildings in Guyana.'' Ambassador Videtiĉ added that, ''The EU was delighted to help by funding this study, which will hopefully lead to a process that will see City Hall returned to its former glory.” City Hall and the City Engineer's Buildings are a part of Guyana's tangible heritage and are considered important to the Nation's historic fabric.

In a bid to preserve and promote its cultural heritage value internationally, Guyana became a signatory in 1977 to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the first Caribbean State to do so.

Humpty Dumpty had a fall but who will pick him up?

O

ne drawback from writing a weekly column is that so many events develop in the time period between submissions that choosing what to write on becomes a matter that depends largely on importance and timing. Put simply, the idea of writing newspaper columns is about what is going on and what deserves immediate attention.

Against this backdrop of events like the demise of Fidel Castro and the presentation of Guyana’s budget, a serious message from Minister Khemraj Ramjattan that cold cases would be reopened in Berbice and the exchange on the competence of Guyanese doctors trained in Cuba might have been drowned out.

As far as Castro is concerned, disappointment looms large on the writeups on him, which arguably, have been hamstrung by love Dr Lomarsh Roopnarine and loathe analyses. Perhaps more forward-looking would have been views from the layperson, however cryptic, of this man rather than what we already know of him. One person told me that if you live in Cuba and you are critical of Castro and you want to talk about him you are encouraged to use a sign language like this: open your palm and bring it to your jaw and then move up and down. That is Fidel’s beard.

Meanwhile, the budget from the APNU is a slap in the face insofar as where and when the working class is considered. The increase of taxes on electricity and water, the basic necessities of the poor, does not demand a rocket scientist to envisage that chaos will be unleashed on the working class. Even anecdotal evidence much less voices from the opposition and private sector suggests that the budget will biff an already beleaguered working class and provide a feeding trough for politicians. The public is piped down once again by another budget from a callous coalition.

The delivery, if there is one, from our fussbudgety politicians, is marginally different from a catafalque to the living dead.

To return to my initial focus, I am moved by Minister Ramjattan’s remarks on solving cold cases. I fully support this initiative and I suspect that it will provide an opportunity for him to make up for falling behind. It is no secret that support for this regime dwindles daily in light of its continuous political fumbles and foibles. The most recent being the involvement of some politicians in the D’Urban Park predilection.

What would be the approach towards solving these cold cases is open to speculation but I encourage the Minister that the public must be a vital partner in this endeavour. This is an opportunity for the Police and community to reassess, rearrange and recommit themselves to crime fighting priorities so that a cooperative purpose can be formed to bring about best results. To do otherwise would not only be counterproductive but also urgent attention must be given to ongoing cases like the alleged mastermind, now escaped artist, hiding out for a heinous crime. The crime wave has cradled this nation rocking it to its own rhythm.

The exchanges on the competence of Guyanese doctors trained in Cuba have also produced its own rhapsodic rhythm. The questions on how competent these doctors are, is as strong as the foundation on which this country sits. What emerged, however, from the exchanges was disappointing. It is not about one doctor or all doctors who engaged in malpractice. That is petty bordering on paranoia.

In the medical field, when you hurt one you hurt all even with sound procedures. The medical situation in Guyana begs the question whether medical malpractice is caused by poor training or a lack of resources—or both.

What is unsettling about this conversation is the continued reliance from the political divide on providing healthcare to the public from Guyanese Cuba-trained doctors while the upper crust seeks medical care in developed countries. For ordinary Guyanese, the former case is like playing Russian roulette.

The time has come to depart from ideological fishing (solidarity of international socialism, south-south relations, etc) based on frivolous thoughts to financing and furnishing Guyana’s own medical system. Guyana cannot afford to depend on Cuba to satisfy its medical needs. Cuba is in the throes of monumental changes least of which will be to discontinue offering medical scholarships overseas.

I predict that Cuba will send its students to study medicine in the US. There is an inward hunger for this, given the years of starvation and strangulation perpetuated by the US. Guyana must accept the eventual and inevitable outcome that Cuba would someday no longer afford to offer medical scholarships and the country must prepare itself to chart its own future medical course to move beyond medical modicum and madness. Someday the country would even be in a position to offer medical training to Cubans in Guyana.

(Send comments to: lomarsh.roopnarine@jsums.edu)

tuesDAY, december 6, 2016

guyanatimesgy.com

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News

PPP hopeful for early prosecution Sophia man nabbed of technocrat parliamentarians with ammunition

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee

T

he People’s Progressive Party (PPP) said it was anxiously awaiting its day in court against the two Government technocrat members sitting illegally in the National Assembly.

The Party’s General Secretary, Clement Rohee on Monday said the resolution of the legal disputes in

relation to the composition of Parliament was central to democracy and a matter of paramount national importance.

Rohee, who was at the time speaking at the Party’s weekly press conference at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown, noted that the PPP welcomed the recent move by the Court of Appeal to have the case involving technocrat members Citizenship Minister Winston Felix and Minister within the Social Protection Ministry, Keith Scott heard.

“The Party notes that an early date is now fixed for the hearing of the appeal filed by the Attorney General. The PPP anxiously awaits this date. It is our hope that the AG will not delay and stall this matter further as has been his strategy in relation to all political cases filed by us since May 2015,” Rohee said.

The matter involving the two Government Ministers came up for hear-

ing on November 4 last, at which point Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh ordered that “immediate steps be taken towards the settling and preparation of the record of appeal”.

The obligation to settle and prepare the record of appeal is on the appellant:

National Assembly as technocratic members of the Assembly.

Chief Justice (ag) Chang had handed down the decision during his pre-retirement and had declared that Felix and Scott, by virtue of their status as elected members of the National Assembly, cannot sit in Parliament as Technocrat Ministers.

Meanwhile, Rohee said the Party repeated its concerns regarding the delay of the hearing of the election petition filed concerning the May 2015 General and Regional Elections. He said the latest bout of delay is being caused by the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield. He said the CEO’s role was an impartial one as prescribed by the Constitution.

“In total disregard, he

Minister Winston Felix

Attorney General Basil Williams.

Then acting Chief Justice Ian Chang in the High Court proceedings had ruled that the two MPs were unlawfully and unconstitutionally occupying seats in the National Assembly.

PPP executive Anil Nandlall said he had implored the Court to fix an early date for the hearing of the appeal since it concerned a matter of national importance.

PPP member Desmond Morian had moved to the court seeking to bar the Government Ministers from sitting in the National Assembly unless their names were extracted from their coalition’s list.

Felix, the Citizenship Minister and Scott, Minister with responsibility for labour, are sitting in the

Minister Keith Scott

has filed proceedings to strike out the elections petition and even after his challenge was dismissed… filed an appeal to this. All of these things cause major setbacks to the hearing of the election petition. This is clearly a travesty,” Rohee said.

A

28-year-old unemployed man was on Sunday evening nabbed in C Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, with several rounds of illegal ammunition.

The man who gave Police his address as B Field, Sophia, and Meadow Brook Gardens, Georgetown, was

reportedly observed acting in a suspicious manner.

He was approached by the Police who requested a search to be done on his person. It was during this that five .22 live rounds of ammunition were unearthed in his pocket.

He is to be charged shortly.

ECD mother..

Rampersaud was on Monday morning charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Leila Basdeo, mother of the dead woman, when contacted told Guyana Times that the two always shared a rocky relationship, noting that at one time her daughter wanted to leave him but remained in the relationship because of the children.

In tears, the mother related that her daughter and the suspect have been married for the past 30 years.

“She marry he when she was just 14… but she does always complain that he does beat she,” the mother related.

She further stated that both Rampersaud and Basdeo visited the United States before and this was their second time in that country. She explained that her daughter went back in October but he only returned three weeks ago.

from page 7

“He nah bin ah get place to stay, but when he do get the place, she booked he ticket and he went over… they use to stay separately, but she does carry food fuh he,” the grieving woman stated.

While she could not say what occurred, she recalled that she was at home on Monday morning and at about 6:30h, she received a phone call from the woman’s son-in-law.

She was asked to visit their home, which was a strange request given the time in the morning. Upon arriving she was given the devastating news. “All they tell me is that meh only daughter get stab and she dead…”

The now dead woman was reportedly taking care of a few relatives and was heading home when she was attacked and killed.

Investigations into the murder are continuing.

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tuesDay, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Baby milk denial claims

Labour Minister Quantity raises eyebrows, can defends Govt’s arrest amount to tax evasion – source of tax evasion

…as Cole dismisses allegations

GA-FDD Head Marlon Cole

T

he Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) Director Marlon Cole on Monday rejected allegations that he has personally denied a businessman from importing 100 cases of infant milk for his babies.

The Director stated that the Department received a letter from the businessman, requesting a waiver for the infant formula for his newborn twins, who would be coming into the country in two weeks. Cole said because the businessman sugg e s t e d that the milk was for personal use, the Department responded by referring him to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to seek its intervention as it relates to classification of the items.

He stated that it was GRA’s responsibility to classify items as commer-

cial quantities or personal use. According to Cole, the GA-FDD only deals with commercial quantities and as such, if products were for personal use, they would not be referred to the Department.

Speaking with Guyana T i m e s businessman Frank Sanichara said, “I’m not trying to run away from paying my taxes.”

B u t even as Sanichara denies intention to evade taxes, a private sector observer, who has been following the issue, told this publication that the quantity of baby milk the businessman is attempting

…“this is truly a Christmas Budget” – Scott

M

Frank Sanichara

raises eyebrows. According to the private sector observer, 100 cases of milk (equivalent to 2400 tins) is excessive for two infants to drink in two weeks. It was also noted that this suggests that something is amidst as this can amount to an attempt to evade taxes.

inister within the Social Protection Ministry with responsibility for labour, Keith Scott has sought to defend the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government’s staunch stance on tackling tax evasion and tax avoidance, saying more could have been achieved over the years had it not been for the rampant mischief that is tax evasion.

Minister Scott was at the time giving his presentation in the debate on the 2017 National Estimates (Budget) – a Budget that has since seen Government being on the receiving end

the prayers of the business community had been answered when Minister Jordan announced a reduction in the Corporate Tax from 30 per cent to 27.5 per cent.

Government, he said, will be losing out on in excess of $750 million annually as a result of the concession offered to the business community.

Jobs created

Addressing his remit as Minister with responsibility for Labour, Scott told the House that at the beginning of this year the Ministry’s Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency had pro-

Minister within the Social Protection Ministry with responsibility for labour, Keith Scott

of severe criticism over the proposed revised taxation system, inclusive of additional penalties and regulations.

According to Minister Scott, “It was established by reputable sources that tax evasion was more rampant then than ever, and I would not say that that situation is any way different today.”

Scott used the occasion to point out to the members of the National Assembly that the measures outlined in Budget 2017 are meant to tackle the scourge of tax avoidance and tax evasion head-on “by introducing a series of measures that will arrest this trend which will make available more dollars to the economy and thereby causing more jobs to be created for the benefit of all.”

He told the House that the levels of unemployment in Guyana could have been much lower “if there had been a more even distribution in the execution of our legal and moral responsibilities in the context of taxation, that is the payment of the various taxes, including income taxes, rates and taxes”.

Speaking to some of the relief measures announced by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, Scott also drew reference to the reduction in the corporation tax meant to benefit large businesses.

As such, he reported his pleasure at reiterating that

jected finding employment for some 3500 persons.

He told the House that the Ministry managed to achieve 89 per cent of its target by placing some 3122 individuals in gainful employment.

Speaking to the reduction in the income tax rate to be paid, calculated at 28 per cent instead of 30 per cent, Minister Scott said, “I am sure that this entire House would agree that these and other tax measures translates into a good life.”

Scott also used his presentation to laud several of the other measures of the 2017 Estimates announced

by Minister Jordan, such as the accommodations for GRA tender compliance and the automatic issuance of temporary certificates.

According to Minister Scott, the measures are meant to create a more level playing field with regard to the tendering of contracts.

He noted too that the measures were intended to improve transparency and lead to a more equitable distribution of resources, as well as to make for good corporate citizenship.

Scott, in his presentation, contended, “This is truly a Christmas Budget… it has offered a gift to all sectors of our society and has left the traditional prophets of doom with no ammunition to attack us ,but to resort to lies and distortions.” (Gary Eleazar)

news

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tuesday, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Boy dies, brother ‘brain dead’ “Let the world know where Venezuela stops after suspected water poisoning and where Guyana begins” – President

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he death of a nineyear-old boy from the village of Kako, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) and the hopeless condition of his 11-year-old brother who was said to be brain dead has caused alarm in the small community and has left health officials baffled, said Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton.

Norton, at an emergency press briefing, stated that health officials were concerned by the situation and also baffled by the circumstances surrounding the death of the child. He stated that while the situation was not linked to meningitis as reported in some sections of the media, it has been determined that it was linked to encephalopathy (brain damage).

Tests were conducted by local medical officials, while other samples were sent to Trinidad and Tobago for further evaluation. According to Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen Boyle, those results

Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton

will be back by the end of this week.

She indicated that the origin of the illness suffered by the boys was unknown, but the symptoms pointed to a toxin. However,the health official was quick to state that it was not linked to any mining activity in the area.

Notably, mining takes place about half a mile from the village. “Kako is in the Kako River about half a mile from the Kako

River mouth...mining is in the Mazaruni River not in Kako. The fact that you have mining in and around the area, there is no reason to associate death to mining activity,” Dr Boyle said.

She stated that when the child died and his brother fell ill, the community became alarmed and 39 children were taken to the village of Karamarang for treatment after they started experiencing a running nose and cough.

“The community health worker thought it best to get children from Kako to Kamarang where two doctors are stationed...even though they were not advised by the Doctor to do so, but Doctors evaluated and found that of 39 children, five had elevated temperatures, and most others had a common cold and cough.”

“None of them had symptoms similar to the two brothers. They were all treated and sent back to their village,” Dr Norton added. Investigations are ongoing.

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resident David Granger on Wednesday called on the servicemen of the country, particularly those posted in the Eteringbang, Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and other western Guyana locations to not only be watchful and on guard, but also to endeavour, through their actions and encounters, to let the world know that the Guyana/Venezuela Border controversy was settled 117 years ago and that they are defending sovereign territory.

Speaking at the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) annual Christmas lunch at Eteringbang, the President said that as the persons responsible for the country’ security and territorial integrity, the Policemen and Soldiers must exercise their duties with passion and love of country. “This Cuyuni River is important to us. It is the definition of our sovereignty and your duty as Soldiers and Policemen is to draw the line so that the world would know where Venezuela stops and where Guyana begins. This has been one of the most painful experiences of our history.

Even as we celebrate our 50th

President David Granger serves lunch to some of the nearby villagers who were invited to the annual Christmas lunch at Eteringbang, Region Seven

Anniversary of Independence we have had to put up with 50 years of provocation. Some people don’t understand how we feel about this river and about this territorial controversy. The Venezuelans have been preventing investors from coming here. It has not been easy and I tell my colleagues in the other countries that it is like a bone is stuck in our throat, it is causing us pain, it is preventing us from developing this country to benefit the Guyanese people,” the President said.

The President noted that as far as Guyana is concerned, the matter had been settled

117 years ago with the signing of the Geneva Agreement.

He noted too that Venezuela at that time had been awarded land space, which had originally been demarcated as part of British Guiana, yet it continues to claim even larger territory to this day.

The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces said that while Guyana is a peaceful and friendly country and is open to discussions, Venezuela too must understand that it is infringing and laying claims on territory which in no way belongs to that country.

TURN TO PAGE 16

Canadian High Commissioner urges attitude change toward violence

T

he High Commission of Canada partnered with the Social Protection Ministry and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to organise a self-defence workshop as part of the High Commission’s observation of the 16 Days of Activism Against GenderBased Violence.

Representatives from Government and non-governmental agencies gathered at the High Commission on Saturday before setting off for the bandstand at the Kingston seawall.

With the understanding that the 16 days of activism were also a call to action, the High Commission went a little further than the aware-

ness raising campaign by organising a session in basic self-defence techniques.

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Pierre Giroux said that unequal treatment of women and girls was one of the main reasons they were unable to realise their basic human rights and was also a contributing factor to violence against them. He called for a change in attitude towards violence against women or anyone in society.

Instructors from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) volunteered their skills, demonstrating how to counter common attack methodologies and also responding to specific requests from at-

#OrangetheWorld: Participants in the Canadian High Commission’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence activities at the diplomatic headquarters before heading over to the seawall on Saturday

tendees.

Many participants shared that they found the session so useful, they would

like regular sessions on selfdefence in the future.

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based

Violence campaign began on November 25 and ends on December 10, Human Rights Day. This year, the

theme of the United Nations campaign to end violence against women is “Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence against Women and Girls”.

Canada has been at the forefront of advocating for the elimination of violence against women for over 20 years. In 2015, through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), Canada supported the operationalisation of the Domestic Violence Unit at the Social Protection Ministry.

Through CFLI, Canada also supported groundwork for the launching of a Gender Studies course at the University of Guyana.

14

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESday, deceMber 6, 2016

Regional

Venezuela issues larger denomination Mexico seizes fugitive Governor’s art banknotes amid currency meltdown

V

enezuela is to issue larger denomination banknotes as soaring triple-digit inflation and a currency in freefall reduces the worth of the country’s largest existing bill to around two US cents on the black market.

Six new banknotes ranging from 500 to 20,000 Bolivars will begin circulating on December 15, according to the central bank.

At present, the largest-denominated bill is 100 Bolivars which is worth just a few US cents. Given that a two-litre soft drink can cost 25 times that much, shoppers are said to need backpacks just to carry the cash for their purchases.

The new bills will have a similar design to the notes currently in circulation, but will have different colours.

Venezuela’s currency

President Nicolás Maduro

lost 67 per cent of its value on the black market last month, falling to 4587 bolivars per US dollar – the steepest monthly plunge ever, according to data by Dolar Today, which tracks the black market rate by monitoring transactions with the currency at foreign exchange houses across the border in Colombia.

Runaway inflation, believed to be the highest in

the world, is expected to surpass four digits next year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Caracas hasn’t published price data since 2015.

Making matters worse, cash has become virtually unavailable, with ATM withdrawals capped at an extremely low amount and, on Friday, the nation’s credit card payment system unexpectedly stopped functioning for several hours.

President Nicolás Maduro blamed the malfunction on a “cyberattack”, and ordered the Sebin intelligence service to raid the offices of CrediCard which processes payment for Visa and MasterCard. He’s also accused “mafias” in neighbouring Colombia of trying to carry out an “economic coup” against his socialist-run economy. (Excerpt from

Caribbean360)

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exican Police have raided a ranch belonging to the former Governor of the state of Veracruz, Javier Duarte.

Duarte stood down from his post in October to face corruption charges and disappeared a week later.

Officers searching his luxury ranch seized 17 paintings believed to be by famous artists such as Joan Miro, Fernando Botero and Leonora Carrington.

Police continue to search for Duarte, who has been charged with organised crime and money laundering.

Duarte denied the accusations made against him before his disappearance, but has not spoken out since.

Police are searching for Javier Duarte, who disappeared shortly after he resigned

Veracruz Governor Miguel Angel Yunes Linares, who took over as Governor last week, said the works of art seized on Sunday would be auctioned off.

The proceeds would be used to finance a children’s

hospital, he said.

Yunes alleged that the property had been furnished using money siphoned off from public funds.

“More than 200 million pesos ($9.7m; £7.6m) stolen from the people of Veracruz were spent doing up this house so that Duarte could have people over, now he won’t host anything anymore,” he said.

Officials said the paintings would still have to be verified by experts, but they believe they are dealing with works by Mexican painters David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo, Spanish artist Joan Miro and English-born Mexican painter Leonora Carrington.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Caribbean SMEs to benefit from entrepreneurial asset, commercialisation project

Venezuelan women flock to Colombia border town to sell hair

W

omen from crisishit Venezuela are crossing the border in droves and selling their hair in a Colombian border town in order to afford scarce basic necessities such as food, diapers or medicines.

The trend, which has taken off in recent weeks, is another sign of the oilrich country’s deepening crisis amid shortages and spiralling inflation that have millions skipping meals and forgoing costly medical treatment.

Dozens of middlemen, known as “draggers,” stand on a bridge linking San Antonio, Venezuela, to Colombia’s La Parada, calling out: “We buy hair!”

Some 200 women a day

are taking up their offer at one of seven makeshift stands dotting La Parada, according to estimates from five middlemen. The locks are then sold as extensions in the western Colombian city of Cali.

Celina Gonzales, a 45-year-old street vendor, stood in line for an hour to sell her mid-length brown hair for 60,000 Colombian pesos, or about $20 – the equivalent of a monthly minimum wage and food tickets back home.

“I suffer arthritis and I need to buy medicine. This won’t be much, but at least I can buy painkillers,” said Gonzales, who had not told her family what she was doing.

Venezuela’s leftist

Government blames the crisis on businessmen waging an “economic war” to sabotage it. The Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

As the economy teeters under a third year of recession, Venezuelans are increasingly ending up empty-handed despite long lines for heavily-subsidised food.

Non-subsidised food is far too expensive, with a bag of rice sometimes costing around a tenth of monthly earnings.

Many are forced to survive on starches or forage through garbage for scraps.

In recent months, hundreds have drifted across to Colombia to buy groceries.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Cemex makes takeover bid for TCL

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exico’s cement giant, Cemex, Monday morning announced that it will be making a takeover bid for Claxton Bay-based Trinidad Cement Ltd. Cemex, through one of its indirect subsidiaries Sierra Trading, is looking to acquire 132,616,942 shares at a price of TT$4.50 in cash per TCL share.

The proposed offer price represents a 33.13 per cent premium over TCL’s price of TT$3.38 at the close of trading on Friday.

Cemex currently owns 39.5 per cent of TCL, which announced at the end of October that its revenue had declined by 12.2 per cent for the first nine months of 2016, which it said had been caused by a “precipitous fall in construction activity in Trinidad and Tobago.” (Trinidad

Guardian)

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry in Jamaica, Reginald Budhan (right), shares a joke with Executive Director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), Lilyclaire Bellamy, at the official launch of The Reach Entrepreneurial Asset Commercialisation Hub (Reach)

S

mall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Caribbean Region are to benefit from a technical cooperation project that will enable them to generate wealth from their intellectual entrepreneurial assets (IEA).

Dubbed Regional Entrepreneurial Asset and Commercialisation Hub (REACH), the project will provide capacity building, training and mentorship in technology commercialisation; creative industries intellectual asset management; and product branding value capturing.

Jamaica’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce,

Agriculture and Fisheries, Reginald Budhan, speaking at the official launch of REACH at the Courtyard

by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston, said the project will: provide an enabling environment to support the commercialisation and monetisation of the creative industries and intellectual assets in Jamaica and the wider Region; bring needed support to entrepreneurs and innovators; and help to boost Intellectual Property (IP) investments in the region.

Budhan said the initiative provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to unite and take full advantage of the untapped intellectual property resources through-

out the Region.

He noted that Jamaica, for example, has vast creative capacity that remains largely underutilised. He mentioned that in 2004, the International Intellectual Property Institute reported that from the US$1 billion generated from reggae, including retail sales, copyrighted music and retail merchandising, Jamaica only earned US$1.4 million.

“This large gap indicates that there is strong potential for Caribbean countries to capture more of the total market value,” he said, adding that there was huge demand for monetising innovations through improved management of IEAs. (Excerpt

from Caribbean360)

Jamaican arrested day after making FBI wanted list

T

Cemex, through one of its indirect subsidiaries Sierra Trading, is looking to acquire 132,616,942 shares

he FBI says it has arrested a Jamaican fugitive a day after he was added to the agency’s top 10 most wanted list following the deaths of four people at a Los Angeles birthday party in October.

Marlon Jones was added to the list Thursday, with a

reward up to US$100,000 offered for information leading to his arrest.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says the agency’s fugitive task force arrested Jones after a freeway pursuit following a tip from the public.

Los Angeles prosecu-

tors have filed four counts of murder against Jones for a wild gun battle that erupted in a home after the FBI says Jones shot and killed a rival Jamaican gang member.

Three others were killed and 10 were wounded in the ensuing gun fight. (Jamaica Observer)

tuesday, december 6, 2016

guyanatimesgy.com

15

Around the World

Renzi’s resignation after referendum Libyan forces claim control of Sirte rout leaves Italy in limbo

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talian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was set to resign on Monday after suffering a resounding defeat in a referendum over constitutional reform, leaving the eurozone’s thirdlargest economy in political limbo.

His decision to quit after just two-and-a-half years in office deals a new blow to Europe’s political establishment, already reeling from the Brexit vote and struggling to overcome populist forces.

It is a dramatic loss for Italy’s youngest premier, who had been feted around the world as a pro-European reformer and lauded by US President Barack Obama for his “bold, progressive” leadership.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks during a media conference after a referendum on constitutional reform at Chigi palace in Rome, Italy, December 5, 2016

His resignation announcement followed a referendum that the 41-yearold turned into a de facto vote on his own domestic popularity – one he gambled everything on by pledging to quit if he lost.

The euro initially fell along with European stock

and bond markets on concerns that early elections could follow, possibly paving the way for an anti-euro party to win power, but markets rebounded as European officials dismissed talk of a broader euro zone crisis.

It is unclear if Renzi will have enough support in his

Democratic Party (PD) to remain party leader – a role that could give him a say in who becomes the next Prime Minister.

Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, who has pulled out of meetings with European Finance Ministers in Brussels this week, is viewed as a possible candidate for Prime Minister. Senate President Pietro Grasso and Transport Minister Graziano Delrio have also been tipped as potential premiers.

The government crisis could open the door to elections next year and to the possibility of the opposition 5-Star Movement gaining power in the heart of the single currency area. (Excerpt

from Reuters)

India politician J Jayalalitha dies at 68

O

ne of India’s most influential and colourful politicians, J Jayalalitha, has died at 68.

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu state suffered a heart attack on Sunday night and died at 23:30 local time on Monday, Chennai’s Apollo Hospital said.

Thousands of her supporters had gathered to pray for her recovery.

The former film star served as Tamil Nadu chief minister four times. She had been receiving treatment for months.

Jayalalitha is revered by many, but seen by her critics as having created a cult of personality over the years.

There are fears her death

The former film star served as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister four times

could spark unrest given the extreme devotion she inspires among her supporters, many of whom refer to her as “Amma” (mother).

Earlier reports of her death, which were swiftly withdrawn, prompted scuf-

fles between Police and her supporters outside the private hospital.

A false report of her death earlier in the day prompted an outpouring of grief among supporters.

Tributes began to pour

in for Jayalalitha as soon as her death was confirmed by Apollo, which had been treating her since September 22.

Jayalalitha’s party AIADMK – which had earlier lowered the flag to halfmast before hoisting it up once more – also confirmed she had died, tweeting “our beloved leader, the Iron lady of India... Amma, is no more”.

Senior AIADMK politician O Panneerselvam was sworn in as chief of Tamil Nadu within hours of her death, the party’s Twitter account confirmed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to offer his condolences. (Excerpt

The victory in Sirte follows a bitter seven-month campaign against ISIL in the area [Reuters]

F

orces aligned to Libya’s United Nationsbacked national unity government have gained full control of Sirte after months of fighting, in a major blow to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in the country.

“Our forces have total control of Sirte,” Reda Issa, a spokesman for pro-government forces, told AFP news agency on Monday. “Our forces saw Daesh totally collapse,” he said referring to the Arabic name of ISIL. The battle for the coastal city, which was the last significant territory held by ISIL, also known as ISIS, in Libya, cost the lives of hundreds of loyalist troops as well as an unknown number of ISIL fighters, Issa said.

The Government forces seized the coastal city’s Jiza al-Bahrieh district, the last area where the armed group

has been holding out, and were in the process of securing it, Issa said in a separate interview with DPA news agency.

“Daesh has totally collapsed and dozens of them have given themselves up to our forces,” said a statement on the loyalist forces’ official Facebook page.

The developments follow a bitter seven-month campaign against ISIL, which took advantage of Libya’s split between rival governments in the east and west of the country to build up its largest territory outside of its heartland in Syria and Iraq.

Akram Glawan, Misrata Hospital spokesman, told AP news agency that 711 Libyan fighters have been killed battling ISIL during the sevenmonth operation in Sirte and that another 3200 have been wounded. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Mirziyoyev scores landslide win in Uzbek presidential poll

from BBC News)

US seeks to reassure Beijing after Russia says to start talks with US on Aleppo rebel withdrawal Trump call with Taiwan leader

T

he White House said on Monday it had sought to reassure China after President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s leader last week, which the Obama Administration warned could undermine progress in relations with Beijing.

The statement from a spokesman for US President Barack Obama highlighted concerns about the potential fallout from Trump’s unusual call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, which prompted a diplomatic protest from Beijing on Saturday.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said senior National Security Council officials spoke twice with Chinese officials over the weekend to reassure them of Washington’s commitment to the “One China” policy and to “reiterate and clarify the continued commitment of the United States to our longstanding China policy”.

The policy has been in place for 40 years and is focused on promoting and preserving peace and stability in the strait separating China and Taiwan, which is in US interests, Earnest said.

“If the President-elect’s team has a different aim, I’ll leave it to them to describe,” he said.

“The Chinese Government in Beijing placed an enormous priority on this situation, and it’s a sensitive matter. Some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue flaring up,” he said.

Despite tensions over matters ranging from China’s pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea and trade, the Obama Administration has highlighted cooperation on global issues, such as climate change and Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programmes. (Excerpt from Reuters)

T

he Russian Government said on Monday it would start talks with Washington on a rebel withdrawal from Aleppo this week as Russian-backed Syrian forces fought to seize more territory from rebels who are struggling to avoid a major defeat.

The latest army attack, which saw fierce clashes around the Old City, aims to cut off another area of rebel control in eastern Aleppo and tighten the noose on Opposition-held districts where tens of thousands of people are trapped.

Advances in recent weeks have brought Damascus, backed militarily by Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, closer to recapturing Syria’s second largest city before the nearly sixyear war and a prize long sought by President Bashar al-Assad.

The rebels are now reduced to an area just kilo-

metres across.

While Assad’s allies have in the past year turned the battle in his favour, Western and regional states backing the rebels have been unwilling or unable to prevent a major defeat for groups who have fought for years to topple the Syrian leader.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks with the United States on the withdrawal of rebels would begin in Geneva on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. There was no immediate comment from Washington, which has backed some of the rebels.

“Those armed groups who refuse to leave eastern Aleppo will be considered to be terrorists,” Lavrov told a news conference.

“We will treat them as such, as terrorists, as extremists and will support a Syrian army operation against those criminal squads.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

Karimov’s reign was often criticised for extreme abuses of human rights [Anvar Ilyasov/Pool/Reuters]

U

zbekistan’s acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has won a tightly controlled presidential election following the death of longtime ruler Islam Karimov.

Mirziyoyev, the Central Asian country’s Prime Minister for 13 years, received more than 88 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s poll, according to the Central Election Commission.

Murza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov, the commission’s head, said on Monday that at least 15.9 million people voted for Mirziyoyev.

An observer mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there were “indications of ballot box stuffing and widespread proxy voting” during the vote.

“The dominant position of state actors and limits on fundamental freedoms undermined political pluralism and led to a campaign

devoid of genuine competition,” said Peter Tejler, the head of the mission.

Mirziyoyev, 59, seemed to face little actual competition in the vote. Two of his election rivals were the same pro-regime candidates that Karimov himself had faced in the last presidential election in 2015.

He has vowed to push ahead with the legacy of Karimov, who succumbed to complications from a stroke in September at the age of 78 after ruling for more than a quarter of a century.

Karimov’s reign was often criticised for extreme abuses of human rights.

Under his rule, Uzbekistan enjoyed mostly cordial relations with foreign powers active in the region, but kept all of them at arm’s length, while regularly threatening smaller neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

16 news

tuesDay, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Diamond woman crushed to 2016 API non-payment GAWU seeks redress from GuySuCo death after wall collapses

A

Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) woman was on Sunday night crushed to death after one of the walls in her home came crashing down.

Dead is 30-year-old Sherry Europe, of Little Diamond.

Guyana Times understands that the house in which she lived was under construction and at the time of the incident, she was home alone.

Reports are her body was discovered about 22:00h by her uncle who went to check on her.

The uncle told this publication that he went to his niece’s home to check on her as was his custom because she lived alone.

However, after several calls and no response, he decided to enter the house through a window.

Dead: Sherry Europe

“When I came into the house, it was very dark, but I kept calling for her but still no response. But when I came to this corner and I looked into the bathroom, I saw the fallen wall so I told my friend that was with me to shine a light and when he

did I saw her lying there under the wall with her hands trying to block it.”

From all indications, the woman was about to take a bath and a wall in the bathroom fell on her, breaking her neck.

“The wall was on her neck and it looked as if it broke her neck,” her uncle explained in distress.

The Police were summoned to the scene.

Europe was described as a very loving individual who mostly kept to herself.

“She is a very nice girl, very nice. You would find her on her phone most of the time and when she is not, she usually keeps to herself,” the uncle related.

This publication was told that the young woman was overseeing the construction of the house which belongs to her mother who resides overseas.

Bartica Massacre trial resumes today

T

he trial of the three men accused of carrying out the brutal 2008 Bartica Massacre resumes today at the Demerara High Court.

The murder trial will continue before Justice Roxanne George after a twoweek adjournment.

Mark Williams, Dennis “Anaconda” Williams, and Roger Simon are the three standing trial for the killings, while co-accused Celbert Reece and Michael Caesar both pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter earlier in the trial.

Justice George had ordered probation reports for the two men. But after Reece’s report was completed and sent to the High Court early, he was sentenced to 420 years by the Judge. Justice George had begun the sentencing with 65 years for each of the count but deducted 10 years for the guilty plea, another 12 years for mitigating factors and eight years for the time spent incarcerated awaiting trial. This brought the sentence down to 35 years on

Mark Williams, Dennis “Anaconda” Williams and Roger Simon are standing trial for the Bartica Massacre

each charge; however, the sentences will run concurrently. Reece will be eligible for parole only after serving 30 years in jail.

Meanwhile, Caesar is scheduled to know his fate

by December 16.

When State Prosecutor Diana Kowlessar had first presented the case, it was stated that on February 17, 2008, while residents were watching a 20/20 cricket match on television, Mark Williams, Dennis “Anaconda” Williams, and Roger Simon “struck terror

with wanton disregard for life”, resulting in the deaths of 12 persons, including three Policemen.

The men, who were allegedly part of the Rondell “Fine Man” Rawlins’ gang attacked the town and fatally shot Police Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne. Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas and Baldeo Singh were the civilians killed.

“Let the world know where Venezuela stops...

“Guyana and Venezuela can live in peace. We live in peace with Brazil and we can live in peace with Venezuela, but people across the border must understand that this territory is ours. We cannot stop being vigilant because this land belongs not only to us, because we are just the trustees. We have to give [this land to] our children and grandchildren. You [Soldiers, Policemen and

civilians] are the eyes and ears at this western point of Guyana to keep us informed, to let us know if there is any breach of our territorial integrity. All of them must understand and respect our territorial integrity,” he said.

The President expressed gratitude to the servicemen for their commitment and dedication during the past year, noting that Guyana is grate-

FROM PAGE 13

ful.

After serving lunch to the servicemen and villagers who were invited to the festivities on the base, the Head of State visited the Eteringbang Police Station to get a first-hand look at the facilities. He was warmly received by the Policemen there who noted that this is the very first time that a President, sitting or otherwise, has visited that facility.

I

n light of the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s reported intention to not pay sugar workers their expected Annual Production Incentive (API) for 2016, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has sought redress, tapping the Social Protection Ministry for help in that regard.

In an interview with Guyana Times on Monday, the Union’s General Secretary, Seepaul Narine confirmed that GAWU has applied to the Ministry for reconciliation talks with GuySuCo to advocate for a reversal of the decision to not pay out the API. “There is supposed to be a hearing, [but] we are waiting on the Ministry to confirm a date,” the General Secretary told this publication.

Regarding the final countdown to the December 31 closure of Wales Sugar Estate, Narine explained that as far as the Union was aware, the plan would go forward to discontinue sugar operations at the entity. It was, however, suggested that GAWU was still in the dark about the Sugar Corporation’s plans to subsume workers into the new ventures that the Estate would undertake under the conversion plans.

“They haven’t said anything to us; they are not engaging us, they are not meeting so we don’t know what are their plans,” the General Secretary disclosed.

He further stated that with only weeks to go before the shutting down of Wales,

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

GAWU General Seepaul Narine

Secretary

he advocated by way of a letter, that GuySuCo met with GAWU to engage in discussions. Narine reiterated that “over 1700 people” would lose their jobs, thus affecting hundreds more – their family members. He added that communities and businesses in the surrounding environs would also be affected.

The GAWU General Secretary also highlighted the dispirited outlook for the future of the country’s sugar industry.

“There is no certainty, because there are different things that have been said: that Skeldon will be sold, that the factory at Rose Hall will be closed and, therefore, the Providence section will be closed,” he noted.

GAWU last week announced that GuySuCo reportedly broke with a 64year tradition by not paying sugar workers their 2016 API. In fact, the Union observed that even when the sector was nationalised, the payments continued.

“This incentive to a section of the productive workforce continued after nationalisation which took place under the Administration of LFS. Burnham who assured the workers on Vesting Day – May 26, 1976 – that their ‘conditions of employment shall not be less favourable’,” the Union stated on Wednesday last.

The revelation of the supposed non-payment comes despite Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s announcement that Government intended to provide a $9 billion bailout for GuySuCo to aid the cash-strapped sugar industry. However, in his presentation of Budget 2017 to the National Assembly, Jordan had suggested that money injected into the industry, in its current state, was money wasted and further opined that it would make no impact on the operating losses and cash deficit status of the sector.

(Shemuel Fanfair)

Magazine launched to celebrate pan music in Guyana

T

he Education Ministry, Department of Culture, Youth and Sport on Saturday evening launched a magazine titled “Portrait in Pan” that captures the life of pan music in Guyana.

Permanent Secretary Alfred King stated that the magazine is a valuable venture since it captures pertinent information that can be used by music students.

According to King, the President had a vision for steel pan during the Jubilee celebrations, especially for the introduction of regional steel bands. This vision was grabbed by GuyOil which started a steel band programme in Bartica. He added that over the years, Republic Bank Guyana has played a significant role in the development of steel pan music, which is evident in the Pan-O-Rama competition and the Pan Minors programme. Administrator of the National School of Music, Andrew Tyndall, highlighted that over the next five years the goal is to install 20 steel bands in schools. He stated that a

Performers presenting a rendition at the launch

few of the bands have already been bought and will be delivered to the respective schools before the end of the year.

He noted that attention will also be in encouraging and promoting community steel bands. All of these initiatives will, together, boost the appreciation of and participation in the art form.

Meanwhile, the Ministry, in collaboration with the Guyana Musical Arts Festival Committee, presented tokens of appreciation to a number of persons and organisations who

have demonstrated their commitment and dedication to the sustainability of steel pan music. At the launch of the magazine, there was a ministeel band competition which saw participants performing classical pieces.

The first, second and third place winners were North Ruimveldt Secondary School (Pan Groove), the National Steel Orchestra, and GBTI/ Buxton Steel Orchestra, respectively.

The Best Conductor spot was awarded to Ray Sparman followed

by Colgrain Whyte.

news

17

tuesday, december 6, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Govt receives final CoI report into Puruni mining death

M

inister of State, Joseph Harmon on Monday received the final Report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI), which was established to probe the circumstances surrounding the mining pit collapse that killed Keon Wilson, at Rock Creek, Puruni, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) on October 8, 2016.

The Report was handed over by the Commissioner, Rear Admiral (ret’d) Gary Best at the Minister’s office at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Minister Harmon stated that the Report would serve as a guideline and help to identify further steps the Government should take to ensure that no more lives were lost in this fashion. “[The] Commission of Inquiry is intended to elevate the level of this [investigation] into these matters, so that the world would understand that we put a very high premium on the life of every single Guyanese… I trust that the recommendations that have been made in this report will act as a guide to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Ministry of Natural Resources, in so far as the safety mechanisms are concerned,” Harmon said.

Additionally, Minister Harmon has said that though the Government has

S

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon receiving the final CoI report from Rear Admiral (ret’d) Gary Best on Monday

come under criticism for setting up several inquiries, they were the only way facts and evidence could be gathered to ensure relevant action was taken.

“These Commissions of Inquiry are not done for the sake of mounting Commissions of Inquiry.

They become a call to action and, therefore, the recommendations will be carefully studied, in the first instance by the Ministry of the Presidency and the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Report will be shared to the Cabinet, and the Cabinet will also have an input in the matter particularly as it relates to the executive summary and the recommendations that have been made

by the Commissioner,” the Minister of State said.

Rear Admiral Best explained briefly that three levels of culpability have been identified. “I found that there are three levels of culpability; at the personal level, the operational level and the regulator level. The Report asked for me to determine blameworthiness, so I had to look into that carefully,” he said.

The Commission was established on October 18, 2016. A preliminary report was submitted to Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman on November 9, 2016, and the deadline for submission of the final report was extended from November 18 to Monday.

First Lady launches Self Reliance workshop at Blairmont

First Lady Sandra Granger (seated third from left) is flanked by facilitators and the 24 participants

F

irst Lady Sandra Granger took the Self Reliance and Success in Business workshop to a group of 24 women assembled at the Blairmont Hindu Temple, West Coast Berbice, where she expressed the hope that it would spark an entrepreneurial spirit that will lead them to venture into business.

While there on Monday, some of the women expressed an interest in establishing catering services and Region Five Councillor, Carol Smith-

Bosai awards country's top students

Joseph, who chaired the proceedings, immediately arranged for an officer from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards to attend today’s session to start the process for them to obtain food handlers certificates.

While several of the younger women said that they sometimes dabbed in cosmetology and catering to earn a small income, many of the older women said that they had devoted their lives to serving in the temple in various capacities and did not perceive

themselves as particularly talented.

The First Lady said that she expects that at the close of the workshop, the participants would recognise the value of their labour and would have gained confidence.

“It not only teaches you the participant to run your business, and run it successfully, it does it in a way that you can understand and… [provide you with the opportunity to] share in your communities…. So whether you are already running your business or

uccess through hard work and dedication paid off for numerous outstanding students across the country who benefitted from awards, as bauxite mining company Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Incorporated (BMGGI) presented its annual bursary awards, where the top National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) performers were honoured.

The bursary awards, presently in its 11th year, saw the top 10 children of the company's employees and those in the top 10 for Region 10 (Upper Demerara/ Berbice) and Linden, as well as Guyana's top 10 being awarded at a ceremony held at the Egbert Benjamin Centre, Mackenzie, Linden.

Bosai Senior Personnel

marks) and Tieanna Croal (544 marks). Among those honoured at the National top 10 for NGSA were Anthony Ferreira and Aryan Singh (both 568 marks).

Top 10 employees’ children at CSEC included Daicia Caesar (7 ones, 3 twos and 1 three) and Serena Shania Scott (3 ones, 2 twos, 4 threes and 1 four); while among the top performers for Linden's top 10 at CSEC included Asher Marks (45 points) and Risa Retemeyer (44 points).

Among the top 10 awardees for the National top 10 at CSEC, were Kayshav Tiwari (19 ones), Aidila Ali (18 ones, 3 twos and 1 three) and Fatima Karim (18 ones 1 two). During the ceremony which saw the attendance of students, parents and family members, count-

bursary awards programme, as well as other academic activities such as graduation ceremonies, sports, tours and pageants.

"Our young awardees, you are here today because we want to recognise your excellence… All of you are excellent students and I know you will continue in the path you started. I'm very proud of you and because we keep seeing greatness every year we will continue to embrace the awards every year to recognise the top performers across the country… continue on the path of greatness,” he said.

Shang continued that while this year's awards will be the final one witnessed by himself as General Manager of the company, he noted that his successor Eric Yu will continue to make the

Bosai officials along with Region 10 representatives pose with the NGSA awardees

Officer, Trudell Marks, in delivering the welcoming remarks noted that the awards programme is just one of the company's signature programmes which gives back directly to Linden and Guyana.

Marks further acknowledged the exceptional performances of the students topping their respective categories. Among the top 10 NGSA awardees for employees' children were Danica Wilson (537 marks) and Hrithik Mohammed (496); among Linden and Region 10's top 10 NGSA students were Erenilda DeSouza (551 marks), Jaheim Joseph (548

less words of encouragement poured in. Bosai Community Relations Officer Vanessa Mitchell Davis who chaired the programme encouraged the awardees to aim for the stars and aspire for greatness. Congratulatory messages and encouraging words also poured in from Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland, Regional Chairman Renis Morian and Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira. In his address to the gathering, Bosai General Manager Robert Shang highlighted Bosai's continued support towards the community's educational development, through its

awards bigger and better. In his final encouragement to students, Shang congratulated them, especially those who attained double awards, while urging students to aim for triple awards. He noted too that as Bosai continues its expansion over the years, some may even be employed at the company as managers. Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Horace James, in his charge to recipients encouraged them to continue the quest for excellence and to shoot for the stars, while never allowing anyone to set limits for them.

you’re thinking of setting up a business, it’s going to guide you because it gives you all the basic things you need to know to run your business,” the First Lady said.

She also said that she expects that the ambivalence that some of the women expressed will be replaced by enthusiasm as they participate in the usually lively sessions: “I know you will have a very exciting five days and when we come back, I hope you all would have completed it, and you will step forward with confidence… This is the workshop where they teach you not only about your product, but how you can package it and market it.”

According to the First

Lady the certificates receive at the close of the programme is recognised by several institutions, including the Small Business Bureau. Further the community component of the programme has allowed other graduates to put to good use their organising skills for the betterment of their communities. “[The workshop] recognises that while you might be a business person, you still have to operate in a community and when a community does well, your business proposers, so that is smart thinking… We hope you will go back to your communities and… teach other women and other men as well, if they are interested in learning from you, how to conduct

a business and make the whole community a thriving…place. I hope at the end of it you come out satisfied that you have spent your days fruitfully,” the First Lady said.

Marcia Meredith, facilitator at Interweave Solutions Incorporated, Pandit Ravi of the Blairmont Temple and several members of staff from the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration also attended the opening. To date over 300 women have benefited from the workshops, which are funded by the Ministry of Social Protection and hosted under the auspices of the Office of the First Lady in collaboration with Interweave Solutions Incorporated.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

tuesday, december 6, 2016

ARCHIE

Don’t let boredom cost you.

Ensure that what you want to (March 21- see happen plays out properApril 19) ly. Waiting for someone else to make a move will add to your frustration.

ARIES

Plan a business trip or set TAURUS up a meeting that will allow (April 20- you to present something you May 20) want to pursue. Your plans will be accepted if you are prepared to begin immediately.

dilbert

You will have to dodge GEMINI controversy today. Emotional (May 21June 20) blackmail will be used to take advantage of you. Signing up for something that requires physical action will have good results.

Share your feelings with someone you want to spend (June 21- more time with. Whether it’s July 22) personal or business, working in conjunction with someone who shares your dreams will pay off.

CANCER

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Observation can help you avoid a rash move that could end up being costly. Learn from your mistakes and implement plans you know will bring the results you want.

Be careful how you handle VIRGO domestic problems. Demands (Aug. 23Sept. 22) will be put on you if you aren’t strong enough to say no. Pay more attention to the people who make you happy.

Calvin and Hobbes

An emotional issue must LIBRA not be allowed to drag you (Sept. 23down.

Do what’s necessary to Oct. 23) take care of your responsibilities so that you can move on to more engaging pastimes.

WORD GAME

SUDOKU

You need to live life your SCORPIO way. An unusual person will (Oct. 24trigger your imagination and Nov. 22) inspire you to learn whatever is necessary to make your dream come true. Romance will take an unexpected turn.

Some advice coming your SAGITTARIUS way may not be right for you.

(Nov. 23- Consider what’s being said, Dec. 21) but don’t be afraid to take a different route if it suits you better. Change begins within.

YESTERDAY'S

solution for Last Published Puzzle

Revisit past dreams in CAPRICORN order to find a way to bring (Dec. 22something you want within Jan. 19) reach. Good fortune will be the result of a carefully considered plan.

Put your energy into someAQUARIUS thing constructive.

Don’t (Jan. 20waste time arguing or trying Feb. 19) to persuade uninterested individuals to see things your way.

Explore your passion projects and add to your qualifications.

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

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

PISCES Your creativity will sur(Feb. 20- face when faced with controMarch 20) versial or demanding people.

Don’t be afraid to express your thoughts, and follow through with your plans.

guyanatimesgy.com

Morgan, Hales return to ODI, T20 squads

Eoin Morgan led England to ODI series victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home this summer

C

aptain Eoin Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales have been named in the England squads for next month’s oneday and Twenty20 series in India.

Both players chose to miss the tour of Bangladesh in October because of security concerns.

Joe Root features in both squads, having been rested for the ODI series win in Bangladesh, but Ben Duckett, James Vince and Steven Finn miss out.

England play three ODIs and three T20s in India from 15 January to 1 February.

Morgan, 30, is the seventh highest England ODI run-scorer in history, with 5,020 runs at an average of 37 in 170 matches.

Under Morgan, England won seven of their eight ODIs this summer, but the left-hander averaged only 29 from 13 innings in 2016.

Hales, 27, who made the highest one-day score by an England batsman when he hit 171 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in August, averages 37 in 38 games.

Northamptonshire lefthander Duckett, 22, scored two fifties in his first three ODIs against Bangladesh but was dropped from the Test team after managing only 18 runs in three innings on the current tour of India.

England coach Trevor Bayliss said there was never any doubt that Morgan and Hales would come back into the team after missing the Bangladesh trip.

He dismissed suggestions that their return would aggrieve players who toured Bangladesh, where Buttler led the team to a 2-1 victory in the ODI series.

“No-one was annoyed that they didn’t go,” Bayliss told BBC Test Match Special. “They are good mates of all the players in

the team. There are certainly no problems at all.”

Asked whether Morgan’s position as captain had been weakened by his choosing not to tour Bangladesh, Bayliss said: “No, not at all.

“He’s been the captain for the last couple of years during a successful period in white-ball cricket.

“There have been no

five-match series, with the fourth Test in Mumbai starting on Thursday.

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Alex

Hales has a strike-rate of 94 in ODIs and 133 in T20s

whispers around the squad or from anyone. In fact, everyone is looking forward to welcoming him back to the fold.”

On Duckett’s omission, Bayliss said: “He did extremely well in Bangladesh and that’s a great sign for not only himself but for English cricket moving forward.

“He’s certainly come up the pecking order. If we’d have let someone else out they’d have been desperately unlucky.

“The batters we have have been a part of the one day cricket in that successful period over the past two years. We wanted to keep things stable. “England’s Test team trail 2-0 in the

Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).

T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Tymal Mills (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire). (BBC)

tuesday, DECember 6, 2016

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Former FIFA President Blatter loses appeal against ban

F

ormer FIFA President Sepp Blatter has lost his appeal against a six-year ban for ethics violations, imposed amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake the world soccer body, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Monday.

CAS ruled that Blatter had authorized payments to Michel Platini, then the European football boss, worth over $2 million that amounted to “undue gifts” and therefore violated FIFA’s code of ethics.

Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, told Reuters in a telephone interview that he was “disappointed but not shattered”.

He resigned in June last year after several dozen football officials, including FIFA executive committee members and former members, had been indicted in the United States on graft charges, along with two sports marketing firms.

The 80-year-old Swiss was not among those indicted, but became embroiled in scandal when he was banned from all football-related activity the following December by FIFA’s Ethics Committee along with Platini, then president of the European soccer body UEFA. The men were banned, initially for eight years, over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($1.98 million) that FIFA made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter’s approval, for work done a decade earlier. The bans were reduced to six years by FIFA’s appeals committee in February.

Both men denied wrongdoing and Blatter said the payment related to a verbal agreement.

CAS said in a statement that its three-man panel

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter is seen leaving the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

had determined that Blatter “breached the FIFA code of ethics since the payment amounted to an undue gift as it had no contractual basis”.

“The Panel further found that Mr Blatter unlawfully awarded contributions to Mr Platini under the FIFA Executive Committee retirement scheme which also amounted to an undue gift.”

Criminal investigation

Swiss prosecutors are now investigating Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds over the payment, which they describe as “disloyal”, though he has not been charged.

And in September, FIFA’s Ethics Committee said it was investigating Blatter and two other former leading FIFA officials over the salaries and bonuses they had received while in office.

Those probes come against a broader background of suspicion over the FIFA Executive Committee’s allocation of FIFA’s show-

piece event, the four-yearly World Cup, to Russia and Qatar on Blatter’s watch; Swiss authorities are investigating whether bribes were paid to help secure the hosting rights.

Blatter, who must also pay a fine of 50,000 Swiss francs, told Reuters after the CAS ruling: “I have accepted it now. I have got to the stage where I have struggled enough, I have worked enough.”

“I still have contact with people in football and heads of state,” he said. “We have developed football all around the world, we have made football part of the economy and it also has some political influence ...

“I do hope that at a future FIFA Congress, somebody will stand up and say ‘perhaps President Blatter is not so bad’.”

CAS cut Platini’s ban to four years in May but said on Monday that Blatter had not requested a reduction, adding: “In any event, the panel determined that the sanction imposed was not disproportionate.” (Reuters)

Manchester City and Chelsea charged over player behaviour

M

anchester City and Chelsea have been charged by the Football Association for failing to control their players during the Premier League game on Saturday.

The charge follows the mass fracas in the 95th minute of the game at Etihad Stadium, which Chelsea won 3-1. City had forward Sergio Aguero and midfielder Fernandinho sent off, but Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas will not face any further action. City manager Pep Guardiola apologised for his team’s part in the incident. Aguero, 28, received a

Players and officials from both sides got involved in the fracas

four-match ban for what was his second dismissal for violent conduct this season, following a high and late challenge on Chelsea defender David Luiz. Fernandinho clashed with Fabregas in the

scuffle that followed Aguero’s challenge, and the Brazil midfielder will serve a threematch ban.

Both clubs have until 18:00 GMT on 8 December to respond to the charge. (BBC)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

tuesday, DECember 6, 2016

Chapecoense confirmed as Copa Sudamericana champions Seventeen-year-old Lauren Hew

S A

Chapecoense have been declared winners of the Copa Sudamericana

s expected, Chapecoense have been declared winners of the Copa Sudamericana, while Atletico Nacional have been granted a fair play prize.

Chapecoense have been named as the winners of the Copa Sudamericana

by South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL. Interim club president Ivan Tozzo confirmed at the weekend that the decision had been made following a formal request from Atletico Nacional, who had been due to face Chapecoense in the final of the competition.

The plane carrying the Chapecoense squad and a number of journalists for the first leg of the final crashed en route to Medellin two days before the match was due to take place, killing 71 people on board.

Atletico have been rewarded for their gesture

with a fair play prize.

“CONMEBOL’s Council has decided to declare Chapecoense as the champions of the 2016 edition of the Copa Sudamericana, as well as grant Atletico Nacional the extraordinary recognition of the ‘CONMEBOL Centenary Fair Play’ prize,” a statement released by the organisation read.

Chapecoense are to receive “all the sporting and economic prerogatives that this entails”, CONMEBOL confirmed.

The decision to award Atletico a prize, which includes a cash sum of $1million, came as a result of their willingness to “promote South American football in a spirit of peace, understanding and fair play in the pursuit of sporting values always having prevalence over commercial interests”, it added.

Football matches across the world have been preced-

ed by moments of silence in recognition of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

A tribute was held at the club’s Arena Conda over the weekend, attended by CONMEBOL chief Alejandro Dominguez, Brazil coach Tite, the country’s president Michel Temer and head of FIFA Gianni Infantino, along with hundreds of supporters.

Last week, Brasileirao clubs issued a joint statement in which they requested that Chapecoense be made exempt from relegation for the next three seasons, while they offered to loan players to the club for free.

Former Barcelona and Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen has offered to play for the club if needed, while Brazil great Ronaldinho and ex-Argentina midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme have also been linked. (Sportsmax)

West Berbice CA heighten 50-over preparations T he West Berbice Cricket Association will commence it’s preparation for the upcoming GBC 50- overs Franchise league with a practice match on Saturday December 10, at the Bush Lot ground from 9:00h.

The change is to facilitate the Rose Hall Town Sports Club’s annual Busta tournament which is scheduled for Sunday December 11.

Players have been placed in two teams which will be captained

by Krishnadat Ramoo and Sherwyn McPherson respectively.

Team A includes; Krishandat Ramoo (Captain), Leon Andrews, Andrew Dutchin, Steffon Adams, Asgar Matabeek,

Krishnadat Ramoo

Kris Ramnarine, Parmanan Ramdhan, Brian Nurse, Kevin Jawahir, Glenroy Fraser, Javid Karim, Akeem Miller, Keyron Fraser and Jauid Saywack Team B; Sherwyn McPherson (Captain), Avishkar Sewkarran,

Brandon Bess

Raffel Estraido, Keith Fraser, Brandon Bess, Renision Mitchell, Quacey McPherson, Arthley Bailey, Brentnol Woodford, Rendell Bobb, Wendell Fordyce, Collis Butts, Wakar Hassan and Cladius Fraser

eventeen-year-old Lauren Hew will lead a three-member team from the Cayman Islands to the FINA World Swimming Championships set to begin in Windsor, Canada on December 6 and run until December 11.

The three Caymanians be among an estimated 900 swimmers, representing 170 national federations.

The Florida-based Hew will be banking on her experience to help her do well in Canada. She has previously represented her country at the 2014 World Championships in Doha, Qatar and in Russia in 2015. She also competed at the CARIFTA championships, the Caribbean Island Swimming Championships as well as the Commonwealth

and Junior Commonwealth Games.

She will be competing in 100m and 200m backstroke and the 200m freestyle and said she is proud to be representing her country. “I love my island and take so much pride in representing the country,” she said. “Nothing is more honorable than having the opportunity to represent my home.”

The other members of team are Alex McCallum and Allison Jackson, who are also thrilled to be heading to Canada.

14-year-old Jackson is excited about competing in what will be her first world championships.

“I will be able to see professional swimmers race and be able to race against them, which is something I

wouldn’t experience at any other meet I’ve been to before,” she said. “It means a lot for me to be able to travel to a meet outside of the Caribbean and represent Cayman on a global scale.”

Technical Director of the Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association, Bailey Weathers, said competing in Canada among some of the world’s best swimmers will benefit her country’s representatives.

“This is an excellent opportunity for our swimmers to gain international experience against the world’s best and to develop the necessary building blocks to progress to the next stage of their swimming career,” said Weathers who will head the delegation to Canada.

(Sportsmax)

French Grand Prix returns for 2018 after 10-year absence

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won the last French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours in 2008

T

he French Grand Prix will return to the Formula 1 calendar in 2018 after an absence of 10 years.

The race will be held in the south of France at the Circuit Paul Ricard - also known as Le Castellet which last staged the event in 1990.

The deal was announced

by Christian Estrosi, the president of the regional authority of Provence and the Cote d’Azur, in Paris on Monday. The French Grand Prix was last held at MagnyCours in central France in

2008.

France hosted the first grand prix in 1906 but lost its race because the organisers were unable to fund the event.

Le Castellet is owned by the family trust of F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone, but he told Reuters last week the promoters were renting the track from it.

The 86-year-old said the race was likely to be held at the end of July.

It is the second European race to return in the past few years - following the re-es-

tablishment of the Austrian Grand Prix, which is now funded by Red Bull.

Other European races are struggling to meet the demands for ever-higher fees from F1 - Germany has dropped off the calendar in 2017, although is expected to return in 2018, and the future of the Italian race was in doubt until a new deal was agreed last week.

Silverstone’s owners have said they are looking into whether they will be able to continue to afford the British Grand Prix after 2019.(BBC)

21

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here are reportedly plans for the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, South Trinidad to host the opening ceremony of the 2017 HERO Caribbean Premier League.

The incomplete stadium had been sitting idle for the past few years but for the past year the current government resumed work to complete the facility that was named after that country’s most famous cricketer, the Trinidad Guardian reported.

Once complete the government is expected to bid for the opening ceremony of the CPL which will coincide with the official opening of the stadium in July 2017.

“The stadium is owned by the government and, of course, the owners of the CPL will be looking to use it because it would be cheaper than the Oval,” a source told the Guardian. “The venue is world class for what it offers in terms of ‘live’ broadcast and this will be a great fit for the

CPL which is called the greatest party in sport when it comes to the game’s T20 format.”

According to the newspaper, CPL rents the Queen’s Park Oval for an average of US$40,000 per day and now the government can use the facility to negotiate with the organizers to have more matches played in T&T. The stadium has been at the centre of controversy involving significant cost overruns which resulted in construction being halted for several years.(Sportsmax)

Kumar to lead ICC Americas in Regional Super50

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anada captain and St Lucia Zouks allrounder Nitish Kumar has been named to lead a 15-man ICC Americas squad that will play in the 2017 Nagico Super50 competition in Barbados from January 24 to February 18.

Kumar is one of eight holdovers from the ICC Americas squad that went winless in their debut appearance at the Nagico Super50 in Trinidad & Tobago this past January.

The 22-year-old Kumar currently attends MCCU Loughborough and is one of six Canada players in the squad.

He was the team’s leading wicket-taker with six wickets in five games at the 2016 Nagico Super50 and was also one of four players to finish with at least 100 runs. Srimantha Wijeyratne, who was ICC Americas leading scorer after making 130 runs in four innings, and Trinbago Knight Riders wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq have also been retained.

Ruvindu Gunasekera, who captained the ICC Americas squad in 2016, has been left out along with fellow Canada batsman Navneet Dhaliwal and fast bowler Jeremy Gordon.

Gunasekera who had made his Canada debut at 16 after migrating there in his youth, stated in a recent interview that he had moved back to his native Sri Lanka to pursue a professional career there. He opened the batting for Moors Sports Club, making 28 and 1, in a loss this week to Colts CC to begin the Sri Lanka first-class season.

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots offspinner Nikhil Dutta, who was omitted from the 2016 ICC Americas squad after a lacklustre performance in an open trial held at Indianapolis in September 2015, has been

picked along with fast bowler Cecil Pervez, who tied for the team lead in wickets during the 2016 Auty Cup in Los Angeles against USA. Left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar is the other new Canada player in the squad.

Eight Americans have been picked, down one from the 2016 ICC Americas squad. USA captain Steven Taylor has been named Kumar’s vice-captain while allrounder Timroy Allen,

Nitish Kumar led Canada to victory in the 2016 Auty Cup and has been chosen to captain ICC Americas in Barbados

fast bowler Ali Khan, legspinner Timil Patel and batsman Alex Amsterdam have been retained.

Fahad Babar, who made two half-centuries against Canada during the Auty Cup, has been picked for the first time along with fast bowler Jessy Singh and batsman Nicholas Standford. Akeem Dodson, Danial Ahmed, Muhammad Ghous and Hammad Shahid are the four players from USA who were part of the squad in 2016 that have been replaced for 2017. Babar and Singh have just arrived in Sri Lanka to spend the next seven weeks with the

Kalutara Physical Culture Club in Tier B of the Sri Lanka first-class competition. The opportunity was facilitated for them by USA coach and former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Pubudu Dassanayake.

Both players will remain with Kalutara PCC until the end of the competition on January 22.

Allrounder Kamau Leverock has been chosen as the only Bermuda player in the 15-man ICC Americas squad. Leverock took 5 for 30 against a Canada Developmental XI on October 23 and then impressed with the bat at WCL Division Four, striking 137 off 111 balls including ten fours and eight sixes in a win over Jersey. Bermuda left-arm spinner Delray Rawlins was also considered but had to withdraw from consideration due to commitments with Sussex and England Young Lions. ICC Americas first match is against Combined Campuses and Colleges on January 26.

They are joined in the fiveteam Group B by Guyana, Jamaica and hosts Barbados Pride. Group A consists of Trinidad & Tobago, Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, West Indies U-19 and English County side Kent. 2017 ICC Americas squad: Nitish Kumar (capt), Hamza Tariq (wk), Timroy Allen, Alex Amsterdam, Fahad Babar, Nikhil Dutta, Ali Khan, Kamau Leverock, Timil Patel, Cecil Pervez, Jessy Singh, Nicholas Standford, Steven Taylor, Srimantha Wijeyratne, Saad Bin Zafar In: Fahad Babar, Nikhil Dutta, Kamau Leverock, Cecil Pervez, Jessy Singh, Nicholas Standford, Saad Bin Zafar Out: Danial Ahmed, Navneet Dhaliwal, Akeem Dodson, Muhammad Ghous, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Hammad Shahid

(CRICINFO)

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GUYANATIMESgy.COM

tuesday, december 6, 2016

GFF/Stag Elite League II…

Conquerors, GDF remain unbeaten after Linden debut

Parika Salem win T20 title after seesaw battle

― Topp XX horrid run extends

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Fruta Conquerors were all over Buxton United at the MSC on Sunday

he Stag Elite League headed to the McKenzie Sports Club Ground in Linden for the first time on Sunday which saw table toppers, Fruta Conquerors remaining on top of the table and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) trailing after recording comprehensive victories to remain unbeaten.

Following consistent rainfall over the weekend, the outfield was soaked but nevertheless allowed Conquerors to fend off Buxton United 2-1 and GDF thrashing Topp XX 4-1.

In the opening encounter, Fruta Conquerors were played positive to remain undefeated after four games while Buxton who were trying to bounce back from their recent slump have now lost three consecutive games after their opening victory.

Though the confident Conquerors side were playing positively, Buxton looked like a team with blood in their eyes which resulted in neither team scoring in the first half.

Conquerors will then break the deadlock when Eon Alleyne found the back of the net, making the best of the play set up by Jermain Junor seven minutes into the second half (52nd minute).

However, their celebrations were short-lived as Buxton United equalized with a header from Clive Andries one minute later.

Suddenly, the game had life again and Kwame La Fleur ensured his team squeeze

past Buxton United in the 78th minute.

Meanwhile, the GDF made light work of home team Topp XX who are sitting at the bottom of the table to win the match 4-1.

Topp XX were hoping for a change in fortunes as they play in familiar territory but it was not to be as the competitive army men dented their hopes and that of their home fans.

side with his second goal of the night in the 53rd minute leaving Topp XX stunned 3-0.

But the Linden side had something to celebrate as Travis Watterton capitalized on a penalty kick in the 56th minute to put a goal in their corner.

Topp XX were awarded another penalty in the 71st minute which was a result of Simon hand-ball and given a

Eon Alleyne and Kwame La Fleur scored a goal each for table toppers Fruta Conquerors

Olvis Mitchell got the Army men off to a flyer, capitalizing on some sloppy work by the goalkeeper to bore the net in the 13th minute The crowd further vented their frustration as Kennard Simon added to the Lindener’s woes sending his side 2-0 in the 27th minute effectively being the only two goals of the first half.

Topp XX returned to the second half looking like a team with intent of taking back the match but Mitchell troubled the Linden based

red card but Watterton were unable to make it two in two.

The military immediately responded, this time through Delwin Fraser, who secured the fourth goal for his side in the 75th minute and with it, the convincing victory and three valuable points.

The League will head to Berbice on Friday for a double header the Number Five Ground, where Monedderlust will host to GDF from 20:30 hours while Topp XX will take on Victoria Kings in the opening contest from 18:30h.

The Parika Salem team seem pleased after a splendid display in the final on Sunday

A

fter much hype, the dust was settled on Sunday at the Vergenoegen ground with Parika Salem Sport Club defeating Hyde Park by four wickets to win the final of the East Bank Essequibo Cricket Committee (EBECC) T20 tournament in a low scoring thriller.

Sixteen wickets tumbled to make the climax to a good tournament even more dramatic. It was Hyde Park who was on the receiving end of losing wickets from the get go and never recovered from their bad start. Medium pacer Javed Shafeek began the destruction when he bowled opener Mark Braithwaite off the very first ball before Nandkishore Rodman was run out without scoring.

Jimol Marks then uprooted the stumps of Yougister Bachan (00) to leave the score at 16-3 and before long, Hyde Park were bowled out for 72 in the 16th over.

There were some brave efforts in the middle order with Adrian Johnson playing some shots and got support from Ricardo Adams who played a typically aggressive innings.

However, Adams was then caught just inside the cover boundary off Ravin Balgobin at 35-4 before Ucil Armstrong was lbw to left

arm spinner Hemchand Persaud for 10 to leave the score at 53-5. Any hopes of a huge Hyde Park total largely depended on Johnson but after he caught off Jason Heyliger for 18, the rest of the batting crumbled against some tidy bowling leg by Balgobin with 4-16, Marks 2-9 and Persaud 2-13.

Parika Salem Openers Kevon Boodie and Mark Gonsalves then began purposeful with a commanding opening stand of 32 before the latter was removed by Bachan for 14. Boodie who took boundaries off Adams was then given out LBW to Looknauth Chinkoo for 18 with the score on 50.

Kevol Savory who hit two fours and one six skied left arm seamer Rodman to short mid-wicket to depart for 17 while Chinkoo had Looknauth (01) stumped leaving the score at 55-4.

Michael Goberdhan and Travis Mohamed inched their team closer to victory before Mohamed was removed by Adams for 14.

Chinkoo who bowled with variation and control removed Marks for one before Goberdhan (06*) hit the winning runs as they finished on 78-6 in 14.5 overs. Chinkoo claimed 3-12 while Bachan, Adams and

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The battle was on for control between GDF (red) and Topp XX under the night sky on a damp MSC outfield

TEAM

GP

W

L

D

GF

GA

GD

POINTS

Fruta Conquerers

4

3

-

1

9

1

+8

10

GDF

3

3

-

-

15

2

+13

9

Monedderlust

3

1

2

-

4

8

-4

3

Victoria Kings

3

1

1

1

1

7

-6

3

Buxton United

4

1

3

-

4

12

-8

3

Top XX

3

-

3

-

2

9

-7

0

he East Demerara Football Association (EDFA) Senior League continued on Sunday at the Golden Grove Ground, East Coast Demerara with Ann’s Grove counter attacking to emerge winners in a 2-1 contest against Golden Stars.

Initially two games were to be played however, the first match between Beterverwagting and Mahaica was forced to be called off due to the want of referees.

Calvin Lilly stunned Ann’s Grove with a goal in the 19th minute which immediately sent the visitors

Rodman had one each.

The day began with Vergenoegen brushing aside Tuschen A by 94 runs to win the third place playoff. The assault was set up

by Lennox Andrews with 78 as Vergenoegen posted 168-7 after batting first.

Andrews shared in useful partnerships with Royden Hendricks and Stephon Johnson as he anchored his team batting. Andrews struck seven fours and three sixes in a top score of 78 while Johnson made 22, Hendricks 16 and Julio Jones 15.

D. Singh and Mohamed Saffie picked up two wickets each. Yestesh Dhanpaul took a few boundaries in the first over delivered by Eon Daniels and added 42 for the opening stand with V. Kissoon to get his team reply off to a fine start.

However, after Dhanpaul and Kissoon went for 20 and 13 respectively, Tuschen A suffered a massive collapse and were bowled out for 74 in 13.2 overs. A. Khan was the only other batsman to reach double figures with 11 in a disappointing batting display. Jones snared 3-14 while Daniels, Jamal Gomes and Johnson had one each.

The presentation will be done on Sunday at Tuschen ground.

on the back foot as they managed to fend them off up to the half time with the score 1-0.

However, Oswald Duke scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute while Ryan Fields sealed the deal, capitalizing on an opening in the 70th minute to send Ann’s Grove ahead.

With the result, the visitors walked away with three points while the home side was left empty handed.

The action will resume at the same venue on Sunday December 11 with more first round matches.

guyanatimesgy.com

tuesday, december 6, 2016

Tough day on the track but Ming still on top

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yclists and friends of the sport rolled in to The Bunker 81 Sports Bar at Lime and Hadfield Streets for the cycling fraternity’s annual cycling awards ceremony.

The night was blessed with a healthy turnout and went according to the script.

As expected, Junior Niles of team Cocos dismantled the Masters Under 45 category with 142 points and 17 wins to beat out Carlton Wheeler’s Jaikarran Sukhai with 52 points and Roraima’s Warren McKay in that order to the top prize.

Geron Williams was named the Outstanding Cyclist in International races having eight wins including 1st Caribbean rider in Trinidad and Tobago as well as two seconds.

Claire Fraser-Green was named 2016 female cyclist of the year with two gold national championships while Christine Matheson, with two silver national championships was judged runner up as Whitney Poyer was the 2016 improved female cyclist. Keon Thomas was the outstanding mountain bike cyclist of the year representing Guyana in the Caribbean Mountain Bike Championships.

In the open category, Orville Hinds raced away from the pack to be the best senior rider on points standing having amassed a total of 198 points during the season inclusive of 11 home wins.

The Gillette Evolution rider was closely trailed by team mate, Michael Anthony with 169 points including seven wins.

Twenty year old Linden Bauxhall Flyer’s rider, Shaquel Agard, who also the National Three-Stage winner was crowned third overall with 160 points inclusive of three wins. Raul Leal of Evolution was in fourth with 154 points and seven wins while Evolution team mate Marlon Williams was in 5th.

Agard was also deemed to be the most improved cyclist of 2016 having jumped 104 points while Christopher Griffith was also another

23

Calvin Ming “Thank you 2016, look out 2017,” was the message from local cyclists at their awards ceremony on Sunday night

improved cyclist moving up 30 points.

On the other hand, We Stand United took command of the Junior division with Raphael Leung leading the way 118 points inclusive of 11 wins and Berbician Andrew Hicks, who is the National Schools’ Cycling champion with 107 points inclusive of eight wins. Team Evolution’s Christopher Cornelius is expected to round off the awardees in that category with 84 points.

Raymond Newton was the Outstandind Masters’ Over 45 cyclist.

The organizers extended thanks to everyone who made it possible, namely Shameer Baksh of Universal Auto Spares & General Supplies, Robin and Juliet Persaud of Money Gram at LBI, Damian Persaud of Superbet also at LBI, Kurt Bunbury of Kurt and Carol Grocery, Turhan Harris of Money Gram, in New Amsterdam, Jude Bentley Bike Shop at Robb Street, Terrence ‘Palm-fly’ Burnham of the USA, Nigel Anthony of Linden, Kamal Seebarran of Ray’s Auto Sales, Johnny Creavalle of USA, Alanzo Greaves, Cornel Greaves, Ronald Ferrier, Alex Mendes of Bunker 81 Sports Bar, Keith & Stephen Fernandes of Bounty Farm Limited, Sean Chin Chan of Chin

Shaquel Agard

GFF Technical Staff Training course begins

Geron Williams

Chan bike shop also of Robb Street, Natasha & Paul Chooweenam, Alvin Singh,

Malcolm Sonaram and friends and supporters of cycling.

Cornelius, Low are newest Banks Brand Ambassadors

B

Banks DIH Limited newest Sport Brand Ambassadors Kemo Cornelius (2nd from left) and Rebecca Low pose off with the company’s Co-Managing Director/Marketing Director George McDonald (left) and Sales Executive Carlton Joao

anks DIH Limited is pleased to introduce its newest Sports Brand Ambassadors - Karateka Kemo Cornelius and Squash player Rebecca Low. Cornelius, who is a 2nd Dan Black Belt karateka and a member of the YMCA Karate Dojo is being sponsored under the Malta Supreme Brand.

The 18-year old achievements include; team Kata gold medal at the 12th Caribbean Karate championship in Jamaica in 2016 and Silver medal in the Boys 17-19 years individual Kata, Gold medalist in four categories at the 2nd international karate Daigaku World Cup in 2015.

He has also won medals at the Caribbean karate championships in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Grenada and St. Lucia over the past four years. Karate is not all that he is finding

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he second round of races for the 2016/2017 FIA sanctioned NACAM Mexican championship series was held near the picturesque city of PUEBLA, December 4-5, in fine weather.

Guyanese Calvin Ming qualified in P2, and unfortunately, after the start of the opening race, the car developed a problem with its handling while exiting the corners which relegated him to a P3 finish.

Some adjustments were done prior to the second race which saw him starting in P4, due to the reverse grid formula to make the racing more competitive, however, time around the car started to lose power and he managed to finish the race in P3 again.

An irregularity was subsequently found in the computer controlled engine management system, shortly before the start of race number three which he started in P2. After a closely fought battle from the start to finish of the race, he finished in P2 just behind winner Giancarlo Vecchi, with Luis Alfonso Perez in P3.

All things considered, Calvin had a good weekend, and he continues to lead the championship after the first round in Mexico City at the Formula 1 race last October.

The next round is scheduled to be held in Cancun, at the end of January 2017.

Calvin is a member of the Ram Racing Team which is owned and operated by the retired Mexican Air Force General, Jose Ramos and his son Jose Ramos Jr. and supports a team of three drives.

interest in, Kemo is currently pursuing a diploma in Land Surveying at the Government Technical Institute (GTI).

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Rebecca Low will be sponsored under the I-CEE brand.

The prolific young Squash player won the Girls Under-17 Plate finals at the United States (US) Open in 2015. She travels to North America to compete in the US and Canadian Open championships. Low is a member of Guyana’s successful squash team and is qualified as a level two coach who coaches at weekends. She is the head prefect of Marian Academy.

The two sport brand ambassadors were introduced to Banks DIH Limited CoManaging Director/Marketing Director George McDonald and Sales Executive Carlton Joao during a simple ceremony at Thirst Park where they were presented with their sponsorship kit.

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he Guyana Football Federation Inc. (GFF) will host a three-day staff training course for technical officers beginning today at the National Resource Centre, Woolford Avenue Georgetown.

According to a Media Release from the Guyana Football Federation, the training will cater for approximately twenty-six (26) participants from across the nine Member Associations of the GFF and will be held daily from 09:00 to 17:00h. According to Technical Director, Ian Greenwood, the purpose of the staff training event is twofold, according to the release.

“First, it will serve to upskill selected coaches who have recently completed either the CONCACAF D. and/or GFF D. License Course. This will be based on the new GFF Technical Department’s national playing and coach philosophy as we strive to overhaul, improve and professionalize football on

Ian Greenwood

a national level. Secondly, we are assessing the coaches on the course to recruit a brand new workforce of Technical Development Officers (TDOs) and GFF Youth Coaches in all nine Member Associations.”

The programme will be both theoretical and practical in nature and will be facilitated by Greenwood and Lyndon France, GFF’s Technical Development Officer (TDO).

tuesday, december 6, 2016

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Tough day on the track but Ming still on top Pg 23

Calvin Ming had an eventful day but finished well in Puebla, Mexico

Journey to CONCACAF U-15 tourney begins

The National Under-15 selectees assembled for their preparation camp at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue on Monday ahead of the December 17 to 22 invitational tournament in French Guiana. The squad of 26 who are under the guidance of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Director Ian Greenwood and other technical staff will be trimmed to 16 before departing on December 16, 2016 for French Guiana. The GFF is also seeking to use this event as preparation for its participation in the scheduled August 2017 CONCACAF U-15 tournament

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