Guyana Times Daily

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 2723

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

PRICE

Haags Bosch Landfill

Residents affected by smoke, fumes as fire reignites Page 7

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Guyana-born cardiologist jailed for P8 fraud

– garbage now diverted from Mandela dumpsite to Lusignan

Murder suspect escapes from NA prison Page 13

– manhunt launched

Man's body dumped at GPHC

Page 17

– taxi driver arrested

President meets with Guyanese students studying abroad

Corentyne murder brawl

P2

Kempton Gray's injuries during fight caused death

Page 13 President David Granger meeting with a group of eager young Guyanese students who are studying abroad at the first International Student Networking event on Monday

Amaila Falls Hydro Project Local Govt Commission to IDB still be established conducting for LGE feasibility study Page 10

– funding provided in 2016 Budget

Eccles businesses complain of deplorable road, no P11 electricity

– despite Patterson’s pronouncement

Page 3

Rose Hall sanitation staff strikes for Christmas bonuses Page 17

Work to commence on Ogle/ P9 Diamond bypass road – construction will take 2 years

Region 2 vendors complain of economic decline P9

2 NEWS

wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

President visits Diamond, Leonora Diagnostic Centres

Administrator of the Leonora Diagnostic Centre, Dev Hira (centre) explains the functions of this piece of equipment in the X-ray Department of the Leonora Diagnostic Centre to President David Granger; Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton and other members of the team while hospital staff look on

P

resident David Granger has pledged to develop the capacity of the Diamond and Leonora Diagnostic Centres, following a tour of those facilities on Tuesday. The President also used the opportunity to observe the maternity care capabilities of the institutions.

During the ‘fact-finding’ mission, the Head of State said that the objective of the exercise was to assess the capabilities of both institutions.

“We wanted to see the challenges that face the ordinary patients who came in off the road. Mothers particularly, and we want to see what measures needed to be put in place in order to pro-

vide a better quality health care,” President Granger said.

The President was accompanied by Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton and Minister of State Joseph Harmon, and other senior medical officials.

Meanwhile, Dr Norton said while the tour of these facilities has highlighted various challenges that will be addressed, one of the aims of the visit was to look at opportunities to build capacity in maternity care.

The Minister noted that it is unfortunate that at both facilities, there is capacity for vibrant maternity units but this potential has not been developed.

Speaking on overall chal-

lenges, the Minister noted that it is critically important that the issue of nursing shortage be addressed. He added that plans are in train to provide better conditions for nurses as well as patients in the maternity ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

“They are hardworking nurses, I think they like their work and they all seem enthusiastic, but we must give them the materials and facilities that they need to work,” Dr Norton said.

According to him, while expansion works are ongoing at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Maternity Ward, the Government also plans to bring the maternity wards outside of the city up to standard.

Corentyne murder brawl

Kempton Gray's injuries during fight caused death

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s Police in Berbice continue their investigations into the Manchester, Corentyne brawl which left two men dead, ranks were able to get statements from persons who witnessed what transpired on Sunday.

Police had said in a release that about 22:30h on Sunday, a group of men were imbibing at a bar at Manchester when an argument erupted and turned into a disorderly brawl involving the use of cutlasses and knives. During the incident, Mark Simon and Kempton Gray received injuries that proved to be fatal.

The release added that they were taken to hospital where Simon was pronounced dead on arrival and Gray succumbed while receiving medical attention.

The three injured men – Bhiron Robertson, Samuel Fraser and Gary Tyndall remain hospitalised, with Robertson handcuffed and under guard. It is alleged that Robertson is responsible for the death of Simon.

Speaking with this publication on Monday, Garfield Gray, father of the now deceased Kempton Gray, said it was unclear how his son was injured since he went to the Port

Kempton Gray

Mark Simon

Mourant Hospital only to accompany an injured cousin.

According to the senior Grey, his son left the hospital and escaped from Police after he was identified by one of the injured men as being one of the persons involved in the stabbing incident.

The father said an ambulance later took his son to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he died shortly after.

However, B (Berbice) Division Commander Christopher Griffith said when Gray got away from the Port Mourant Hospital, he was already injured and bleeding. According to him, ranks on duty were alerted that a man was seen try-

ing to break into a house at Clifton Village, but when residents approached him, it was discovered that the man was bleeding.

He said when Police arrived, they discovered it was the man who had escaped from the Port Mourant Hospital.

“He would have lost a lot of blood, because it was one and a half hours after he left the Port Mourant Hospital that the Police found him,” Griffith said.

Gray arrived at the New Amsterdam Hospital about two and a half hours after being injured. According to one eyewitness, when Gray was taken out of the ambulance at New Amsterdam, his clothes were soaked with blood.

news

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wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, December 30 – 08:30h-10:00h and Thursday, December 31 – 09:00h-10:30h.

The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, December 30 – 07:35h-09:05h and Thursday, December 31 – 08:20h-09:50h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

Weather: Thundery to heavy rain showers can be expected throughout the morning, with light rain showers dominating throughout the afternoon. Cloudy skies and thundery showers are expected in the evening.

Temperatures are expected to range between 25 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East to East North-Easterly between 4.47 metres and 6.25 metres per second.

High Tide: 07:31h and 19:47h reaching maximum heights of 2.44 metres and 2.46 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 01:04h and 13:20h reaching minimum heights of 0.68 metre and 0.80 metre respectively.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

LOTTERY NUMBERS 08 10 20 15 13 24 12 Bonus Ball

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Tuesday, December 29 , 2015

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IDB still conducting feasibility study

– despite Patterson’s pronouncement

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WEATHER TODAY

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Amaila Falls hydro project

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

espite new studies currently being conducted on the feasibility of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson has gone ahead and announced that Government is not interested in the controversial project in its current model.

The Minister’s comments came as the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) is in the process of conducting a study on the correct “energy matrix and energy mix” for Guyana to meet its hydropower needs for the next 30 years.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan had previously stated that the study is due early next year and will include the analysis for five hydro sites, including Amaila. There are currently 67 possible sites for hydropower development in Guyana and of this; IDB is assessing five of them.

These include Kamira, Kumu, Tumatumari, Tiger Hill and Amaila.

When contacted on Tuesday, the Public Infrastructure Minister confirmed to Guyana Times that the IDB study recently began and is currently ongoing.

In an interview with this newspaper on Monday, Patterson emphasised the need for more studies to be done, positing that “Hydro power has a long gestation period. The only report for Amaila that was substantially completed would have been the environment; the technical and all other studies were not completed”.

Nevertheless, he went on to say that the future of the Amaila Falls project in

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

its current financial model is not sustainable. “It is more than the economy can bear, the numbers that are banding around are not the final numbers and it would be criminal to take it as it is,” he said.

Patterson pointed out that while Government cannot work on the project in its current formation, he noted that Amaila Falls has not been abandoned. “If any investor is willing to take the risk on, for Amaila ,they are free to come… but the Government will not bare the risks of the project as it currently is,” Patterson stated.

Against the backdrop of the need for renewable energy in Guyana and the push by the Opposition for the project to be completed due to the vast benefits to be received, the Minister is contending that if the project has such enormous benefits, then why no investor has taken up the project.

The plant, with the proposed location at the confluence of the Amaila and Kuribrong rivers, was expected to deliver electricity to Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, and its sec-

ond largest town, Linden.

Minister Jordan had posited that the Amaila project is too expensive to pursue. He explained that the Amaila Hydro will cost GPL US$2.6 billion over 20 years (US$130 million per year) and this was too unreasonable.

However, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had contended that instead of Amaila Falls costing GPL US$2.6 billion over 20 years, GPL would actually be saving almost US$2 billion, or G$400 billion, at 2012 prices.

On November 20, Winston Jordon had announced that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change coalition never abandoned the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.

Jordon was at the time delivering the feature address at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) annual dinner at the Pegasus Hotel.

“I hope that it is absolutely clear that contrary to reports that we have abandoned the project; that the project has always been on the burner,” the Minister stated.

Jordan had also asserted, during Budget 2015 presentation, that it would be “criminal” to pursue the Amaila Project as it would be too costly a venture for the Government to embark on. Despite these public statements, Jordan insisted Government had never abandoned the project.

The Finance Minister had stated that in addition to the study by the IDB, Government is also in discussion with Norway to procure another review of the project; to pronounce,

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson

once again, on the viability.

Then on December 10 on the sidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in Paris, France, while signing a US$300,000 agreement with Green Climate Fund, Jordan said that Norwegians were seeking to have an independent study conducted on the Amaila Project so that it could be brought to finality.

The Minister added Guyana was particularly interested in how the US$80 million can be unlocked for the development of the country.

“We welcome that as it would bring some sort of finality. This will ensure that once for all, we will know if it’s viable and how can we find a sponsor and if it is not, how we can get the money to facilitate it.

We got a confirmation in the meeting that this money (US$80 million) was for Amaila, but if the Amaila does not go through, it can be channelled into clean and green energy initiatives,” the Finance Minister said.

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guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, december 30, 2015

Views Editor(ag): Michael Younge Tel: 225-8697, 225-6695, 225-5634, 225-8696, 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, sales@guyanatimesgy.com

Editorial

Governments keep giving in to the tobacco lobby

E

ven large tobacco companies acknowledge that tobacco is a killer. Yet there is a shameless lack of care that so many Governments appear impotent in the fight against tobacco.

Virtually all Caricom countries are signatories to the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC). But all Caricom countries have failed to implement the provisions of the FCTC and in so doing are contributing to the ill-health and unnecessary deaths of thousands of their citizens. Caricom Governments are guilty of causing the ill-health and death of too many of their citizens.

Take, for instance, Governments’ inaction to meet one of the obligations under the FCTC to regulate packaging and labelling of tobacco products to include health messages and to reduce attractiveness of the packaging. While some countries like Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and several European countries have successfully acted to introduce regulations limiting the colours used on tobacco packages and to insist on certain health messages, most countries in the world have not done so. The FCTC deadline has passed, but the majority of countries are yet to implement regulations to introduce labelling and packaging regulations for tobacco, at least 10 years after they agreed to do so.

During the tenure of former Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, frenzied efforts were being made by Guyana to introduce picture labelling on tobacco packages to educate people on the negative health impacts of tobacco. But Guyana agreed to await the common response of Caricom. While CROSQ, the standard agency of Caricom, proposed a labelling and packaging standard five years ago, at least one country objected and to date the standards for labelling and packaging of tobacco remain an elusive target in Caricom.

It appears that BIG TOBACCO had its lobby working and given the need for consensus in Caricom's decision-making process, the move to introduce rigid labelling and packaging requirements was scuttled in Caricom. We believe that Guyana should move ahead with its standard and not wait for Caricom. The fact that the standard was developed during the tenure of a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Minister should not prevent the present Minister of Health from moving forward with implementing the standard.

Another obligation of the FCTC is for Governments to increase taxes on tobacco products. While some countries have moved ahead to implement higher taxes on tobacco, Guyana has failed to do so. Indeed, most of the Caricom has failed to implement the FCTC requirements to introduce higher tobacco taxes. In Guyana's case, about $7 billion is raised through tobacco taxes annually. There is fear that higher taxes might lead to more smuggling. But Suriname has raised tobacco taxes. While smuggling remains a great challenge, the evidence is also quite clear that increased taxes reduce smoking in countries. We urge A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) to introduce higher tobacco taxes. This is a good time to consider this proposal since Budget 2016 is under preparation.

Countries (and cities) that have adopted such regulations have had great success reducing smoking rates and saving lives. In New York City, where they have some of the most comprehensive tobacco policies in the world, the smoking rate among adults has fallen by nearly one-third, and among high school students, it has been cut in half. This progress helped to increase average life expectancy in New York City: in 2010, it was 80.9 years in the City, more than two years longer than in the country as a whole.

Tobacco use causes more deaths around the world than HIV/ AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. If nothing is done, one billion people will die of tobacco use by the end of this century. This is why many countries around the world are making bold moves to stop the tobacco scourge. Recently, Jamaica passed tough laws against smoking in public places. Bangladesh has enacted new rules that are a big step toward banning smoking in public places and on all modes of transportation.

In Guyana, through the Public Health Ministry and with support from PAHO and organisations like the Bloomberg Foundation, there is an ongoing effort to build public support for comprehensive new legislation that includes some of the most effective tobacco-control techniques, like advertising bans and graphic warning labels on packages. Guyana Times urges the Public Health Minister to take a pro-health stance against tobacco.

Would you drink a potion of acetic acid, acetone, ammonium, arsenic, butane, benzene, formaldehyde and other chemicals? Yet that is what smokers do each time they puff. And each time someone puffs near you, they contaminate the air and poison others around them who do not smoke. How can our Governments stay silent?

The tobacco legislation is in the Public Health Ministry. It has been sitting there for at least five years. The Government must present it to Parliament now.

The arrival of the drone ushered in new possibilities for photographers looking to find a new angle. Users of the site Dronestagram have been voting for their favourite images. This beautiful island image was made by the user Marama Photo Video who said: “We were waiting for sunset, drinking a Hinano, installed in warm water, rain was behind us, a rainbow appeared, this is Tahitian life.” (BBC News)

Political extremism must be rejected Dear Editor, Guyanese should be deeply concerned and troubled by the overbearing, vindictive and vengeful influence being exerted on the Granger Administration by a group of known individuals who are bent on pushing the Administration to take extremist positions.

Regrettably, there are some in the Administration who are sympathetic to this extremist ideology, which has a strong racist component being peddled by that particular group of individuals who claim to feel a “sense of frustration and betrayal”.

At the knob of their “frustration and betrayal” is their inability, thus far, to gain a tactical advantage over the Granger Administration by pushing their extremist, vengeful agenda; even threatening the Administration that “if they don’t act in the new year” their inaction can undo all their “excellent achievements.”

Tacuma Ogunseye, Clive Thomas, David Hinds, Lincoln Lewis and Eric Phillips are the most prominent and belligerent of the lot. They resemble an assembled posse who have set themselves the task of going after the jugular of a number of People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) persons who

they despise for a combination of reasons but fundamentally, for political and ideologically reasons.

Posturing as consummate apologists for the Granger Administration, they claim that: “The PPP/C Administration left major challenges for the new Government to resolve” and that “Most of the challenges are grave and are impossible for any new Government to resolve in the short-term.”

Introducing a plethora of anecdotal generalisations and impervious to evidence, Ogunseye for his part, sought to impose as factual and truthful his group’s single-valued interest as a public interest. He offers not a single shred of scientific evidence or statistical data to corroborate his call for the Granger Administration to pursue his vendetta.

For example, Ogunseye claims that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition came to power, “At a point in the country’s history of unprecedented social, economic and political crisis.”

But Ogunseye should be reminded of the McIntyre Report which analysed Guyana’s economic decline during the 1985-1991 periods. That Report stated: “Real GDP had declined by an average 10

per cent in 1982-1983 as a result of sharp contractions in the bauxite sector and decline and stagnation in most other productive sectors. Economic decline eased up in 1984, but the economy remained stagnant through 1987 with a per capita gross domestic product of only US$500.

Guyana was one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.”

The report added: “There was a steep increase in commercial arrears and the total Public Sector external debt reached almost US$1.9 billion by 1989 or more than twice its level at the beginning of the 1980’s. Measured by the usual indicators of debt to GDP and debt to exports, Guyana became one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world.”

Is this the “crisis situation” Ogunseye refers to when the APNU/AFC attained office in May 2015?

The red herrings Ogunseye threw into his “analysis” through his assertion that the PPP/C mobilised its “supporters to squat on Government lands on the East Coast”; “encouraged sugar workers to down tools”, and is “exploiting historic racial insecurity” is aimed at justifying his call for the Granger Administration to “take appropriate action in the New Year….”

Ogunseye calls on the Granger Administration to: “Bring an end to the retreat in its publicly stated policy to bring justice to wrong-doers of the previous regime.” He goes on to dictate to the Granger Administration to “charge and prosecute PPP wrongdoers” He claims that APNU/ AFC supporters view the non-action by the Granger Administration as an indication of “political weakness” because they had been led into believing that “justice would have been dispensed swiftly and fearlessly.”

Ogunseye must realise that political trials have grave political implications, particularly for a political party with 32 seats in the National Assembly; controlling seven of the 10 regions and with mass support.

David Hinds and Tacuma Ogunseye are singing from the same hymn sheet.

Hinds for his part, commenting on the recent huge salary increases gifted to Government Ministers said: “Government misread the feelings of its supporters and this is worrying”. This he claims, “Show that Government is out of touch with realities on the ground.”

CONTINUES ON PAGE 5

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wednesday, december 30, 2015

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Mental health is a critical needs sector

Dear Editor, The World Health Organisation (WHO) has long stressed the need for mental health care to be decentralised and integrated into primary health care with the necessary tasks carried out, as far as possible, by general healthcare workers rather than by specialists in mental health.

This is especially critical in developing nations like Guyana where mental health specialists are in very short supply, but the need for the delivery of mental health care is acute.

According to the WHO, “By making healthcare workers sensitive to the presence of mental health problems and by equipping them with skills to deal with those problems, much wastage of efforts in general health care can be avoided and health care can be made more effective.

Furthermore, “research has shown that emotional and psychological distress may be an early manifestation of physical disease processes, or may itself cause such diseases (the mind/body connection).” Thus, “an important concept in primary

health care is that health activities should develop horizontally to involve other sectors working within the community…inter-sectoral collaboration, involving governmental and nongovernmental organisations is important in all areas of health.”

In fact, The Caribbean Voice is among entities and commentators that have been calling for teachers, Police Officers, general healthcare workers, priests, moulvis/imams and pandits as well as social science majors at the University of Guyana to be trained in basic mental health care.

Additionally, as Guyanaborn Dr Lear Matthews pointed out in a recent article, “The University of Guyana, through its Social Work Programme, must play a prominent role in research, programme design, prevention and treatment of mental illness.”

Incidentally, we note that the Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence, has been pushing collaboration with respect to tackling gender-based violence.

This need for an inclusive, holistic approach to mental health care is im-

perative, given that, according to a 2008 WHO report on Guyana, “75,000 to 112,500 Guyanese suffer from mental disorders and require some level of mental health care services. Of these, approximately 22,500 to 37,500 would be expected to suffer from severe mental illness. These projections do not include the number of patients with epilepsy and mental retardation (developmentally disabled), which are not surveyed in typical psychiatric epidemiologic studies, but are included in the population serviced by mental health care services in Guyana.”

Collaboration then is the pragmatic avenue through which good mental (and overall) health can be effectively achieved, in spite of the constraints of resources and facilities. Dr Gregory Popcak, author, pastor, counsellor and psychologist, has identified components of good mental health, among them: 1) Attuned Communication – the ability to pick up on the meaning of subtle, non-verbal, physical cues (facial expressions, tones of voice, pos-

Political extremism...

His colleague Ogunseye echoes similar sentiments but in the context of the need to “bring to justice the wrong doers of the PPP/C Government.” In this connection, Ogunseye claims that: “APNU/AFC supporters are angered by the apparent reluctance of the Government to respond in kind (to the PPP’s aggressive politics). He then asserts; “it would be a grave political mistake for the APNU/AFC leadership to

underestimate its supporters’ demand for justice on behalf of the nation.”

What influence do these two individuals have on the Granger Administration and Granger himself is anybody’s guess. They both want to achieve the same objective but from two different perspectives.

This political extremism germinating within the APNU/AFC must be rejected.

The PPP will never al-

ture) that indicate another person’s emotional states and degree of well-being.

2) Emotional Balance – the ability to maintain optimal emotional functioning; to be emotionally stimulated enough to be aware and engaged in impacting circumstances and relationships, but not so emotionally stimulated to be regularly flooded by one’s own feelings and be carried away by them.

3) Response Flexibility – the ability to pause before acting on impulses and to wilfully change the direction of one’s actions if doing so is better than the dictates of one’s initial impulses.

4) Fear Modulation – reducing fear. People with anxiety and panic disorders, especially, have a difficult time modulating the brain’s fear responses.

They become easily flooded with anxiety where others might just experience nervousness or even excitement.

5) Insight – the ability to reflect on one’s life experiences in a way that links one’s past, present, and future in a coherent, cohesive, compassionate man-

FROM PAGE 4

low the Government to strip the Guyanese people in general and the leaders, members and supporters of the PPP in particular, of their civil and political rights. The PPP will not now or ever allow the extremist elements within and outside the coalition to deny it its constitution-

al rights. The PPP fought too long and hard to now allow this travesty to come to pass.

Sincerely, Clement Rohee General Secretary People’s Progressive Party

ner. Insight helps one to make sense of both the things that have happened in the past and the things that are happening now.

6) Empathy – Essentially, empathy is the ability to have insight (as defined above) into other people. Empathy is the ability to imagine what it is like to be another person, and to reflect on their experiences in a way that links their past, present, and future in a coherent, cohesive, compassionate manner.

Empathy helps one to make sense of other people’s lives, the way they think, and their feelings.

7) Morality – the ability to imagine, reason, and behave from the perspective

of the greater good. This includes the ability to delay gratification and find ways to get one’s needs met while understanding and accommodating the needs of others.

These aspects of good mental health can go a long way in positively impacting a range of issues that are mental health related: suicide, which has reached crisis proportions, and gender-based violence, child abuse, alcoholism, violent crimes and sexual crimes which are all significant issues. In effect, the nexus between mental health and violence is a tangible one.

Annan Boodram The Caribbean Voice

GPF unaware of disciplinary matter against Ramnarine

Dear Editor, Cognisant of statements publicised in the media which have been attributed to the People’s Progressive Party General Secretary and former Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Clement Rohee concerning disciplinary matters relating to Police Officers that have not yet been addressed and in which reference was made to Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine, DSM, the Guyana Police Force wishes to state that it is unaware of any disciplinary matter pending against Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine, DSM. Sincerely, Ivelaw Whittaker Public Relations and Press Officer

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BY SIERRA FLUCCI

I

admit, I’ve thrown on a TV show and plopped my child in front of the screen when I needed to get dinner on the table.

But on the occasions when I’ve sat down and watched my children’s shows with them, I’ve been amazed by how rewarding the experience was.

Take Phineas and Ferb, for example. I never realised how clever it was until I took the time to watch a whole episode with my child. And I found so many things to talk about with him afterward. How did the boys solve the problem?

(By working together.) Why was Candace so mean to her brothers? (Because she was embarrassed.) Do you think you’d do that kind of thing without asking Mom or Dad first? (No way!)

When you can, watching TV alongside your children can help you bond through a shared experience. It can also give you an opportunity to reinforce your values and counteract any negative messages. And the window into your child’s world is priceless.

Here are some realistic conversation starters to keep in your pocket for when a show ends:

Ages two to four

Watching TV with children ages two to four, is less about delving into provoca-

guyanatimesgy.com

Foundation tive topics than it is about reinforcing shows’ positive social messages and lessons.

Ask: • How did that song go again? Let’s sing it together.

• What were the colours of the rainbow the chil-

• How did the characters work out their problem?

• Did the characters do something you wish you could do?

• Who were your favourite characters, and why?

• Do the boy characters

• Can you tell that the show is edited? What are the clues?

• What makes that character appealing? Or not?

• Did anything in this show surprise you or teach you something you didn’t know?

• Does this show intend to teach something or get a certain message across?

Ages 12-14

dren saw?

• How many balloons did the girl have?

• Why were the characters happy/sad/mad?

Ages five to eight

Children in the five to eight age range start to see a lot more action and interpersonal conflict, though many shows targeted at this age portray positive resolutions. Asking children to relate what they see to their own experiences helps the positive lessons sink in. Also, anything that can help children start to be more media savvy is a good thing.

Ask:

dress differently than the girl characters?

Why? • What made the show more exciting/scary/ funny?

Ages nine to 11

As children get a little older, they’re more curious about the outside world and are figuring out how people relate to each other. Children this age can be very receptive to age-appropriate guidance, and using TV as a jumping off point can be a super-helpful tool.

Ask: • What was the consequence for that character’s behaviour?

As children enter the teen years, watching TV together can get a little hairy.

They’re interested in pushing boundaries, and you might have to talk about exactly why certain shows are off limits. But even controversial TV can be an opportunity to get conversations started and gain some insight into your child’s social life and inner thoughts.

Ask: • Does that situation seem realistic?

• Do any of your friends act like that?

• What would happen in real life if someone acted that way?

• Do any of these characters seem like “types”?

Why do so many shows repeat the same stories or create such similar characters?

• In reality shows, what do the participants stand to gain or lose by appearing on the show?

(Yahoo! News)

BY MICKY MARIE MORRISON

I

f you had a C-section, keep in mind that in addition to recovering from the drastic bodily changes resulting from pregnancy, you are also recovering from a major abdominal surgery.

This means that you will be weaker, especially in the abdominal muscles, than the new mom who didn’t have a C-section, and will have more pain and difficulty with mobility. Your doctor will give you guidelines on the activities that are allowed and those that are advised against in the first days and weeks after surgery, but many women have doubts about exactly when it’s

okay to start exercising.

The first days: It’s important to stand up straight from day one and not give into the pain by altering your posture. An elastic abdominal support may help to relieve the discomfort and stabilise the incision, especially while you are up and about for the first two to three weeks.

Weeks two to six: I recommend not attempting any exercise until 10 days post-op to

give your incision time to mend while it’s most fragile. Most doctors require a follow up visit around eight to 10 days post-op and again at six weeks post-op.

Ask your doctor at those checkups what you are allowed to do in the weeks that follow. Many doctors have a stock response to avoid all exercise until six weeks postpartum. However, if you ask for more detailed advice regarding specific gentle exercises, most agree that you can, in fact, start to do some exercise before.

I often advise women to show their doctor a portion of the videos that I made for the first six weeks post-caesarean on BabyWeight.TV. If you were fairly fit going into surgery,

your doctor will likely approve exercise. But even if you were not exercising through your pregnancy, extremely gentle exercise is generally allowed.

Professional advice: Dr Leighanne Glazener, ob-gyn at the Corpus Christi Women’s Clinic in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the advising MD for my book Baby Weight, says: “I tell a new C-section patient on discharge that she can walk all she wants, but not to lift anything over 20 pounds for six weeks. She can drive when she can move well enough to comfortably turn and look over her shoulder and to stomp on the floor as is required to hit the car’s brake quickly without hesitation, which is usually around the two week mark. I caution against any abdominal “crunch” exercises until six weeks post-op, when the fascial incision, the most important layer, is healed by at least 80 per cent, to reduce the risk of hernia.”

Your surgeon is familiar with your particular case and must ultimately be the one who clears you for exercise.

You might be in a hurry to get moving and recover your shape, but returning to activity before your body is ready will result in a setback and slow your recuperation in the end.

Sometimes even after you are medically cleared to exercise, you’ll feel discomfort during or after your workout, often felt as an uncomfortable pulling or burning sensation around the incision, or as an ache that lasts for several minutes or longer after activity. Heed the warning signs and reduce activity for a day or two. The best approach is to first listen to your doctor and then to listen to your body. Your body might tell you it is okay to start moving, but you should only do so after your doctor tells you it’s okay. (Yahoo! News)

news

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wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Haags Bosch Landfill

Residents affected by smoke, fumes as fire reignites – garbage now diverted from Mandela dumpsite to Lusignan

BY KRISTEN MACKLINGAM

D

ark, thick smoke filled the air in the New Eccles Industrial Site Housing Scheme on Tuesday morning, when another fire erupted at the nearby dumpsite, affecting a number of persons in the area.

This second fire comes just a mere nine days after a previous fire took place at the Haags Bosch Landfill site as a result of internal combustion.

When Guyana Times visited the location on Tuesday, heavy smoke had already filled the air some three streets away from where the fire was blazing.

One employee of housing development Windsor Estates,

This publication understands that on that occasion, the fire service was notified of the fire outbreak the fire truck(s) took an average of two hours to arrive at Haags Bosch. After spending a short time battling the fire, the firemen stated that they only had “10 minutes of pumping time left”.

The Site Manager said that the firemen’s vehicle(s) ran out of fuel and therefore they could not stay and douse the flames as they should have.

Stanton posited that after going back and forth each day at the dumpsite, a fire fighter on Wednesday last approached him and asked his advice on the way forward

Meanwhile, as a result of the fire, the disposal of garbage was temporarily redirected to the Mandela Dumpsite in Georgetown. However, residents in proximity to that area objected to Mayor Hamilton Green, who in an effort to please them, instructed that the garbage be taken to Lusignan dumpsite. told this newspaper that earlier in the morning, the smoke had badly affected some persons in the compound.

He explained that since Sunday last, when the first fire occurred, smoke has been emitting from the garbage site.

However, he maintained that regardless of where the wind takes the smoke, the health and well being of persons in the area and residents are affected.

Meanwhile, Site Manager for the Haags Bosch Landfill, Lloyd Stanton, told Guyana Times on Tuesday that it is unclear as to when the smoke and fire at the dumpsite will be contained.

He stated that this will depend on the resources which are made available to him since it is not a simple job to extinguish a fire at such a location.

Stanton explained to Guyana Times that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has been back and forth at the dumpsite since fire broke out two Sundays ago.However, he posited that for a fire of such magnitude to be “completely put out” the fastest and wisest course of action would be to have fire tenders and firemen stationed at the landfill site on a 24 hours basis to battle the flames and smoke.

“If I have the resources, I can have the fire and smoke gone within 48 to 72 hrs but I don’t. You can’t out a part of the fire and leave because once you leave it, it is going to escalate. The fire will reignite if it is not properly put out and left unattended,” the man stated.

According to the Site Manager, from the inception, the fire service had not taken his advice when they arrived at the scene two Sundays ago and proceeded to extinguish the fire by simply “spraying water all over the place”.

since the fire service was not making much progress as was expected.

However, to date, the fire service is yet to take into consideration the recommendation of the Site Manager of having fire tenders stationed at the Haags Bosch Landfill to battle the fire on a shift system.

“Right now the fire is about 70 per cent out, the entire area that was burning, and there is about 30 per cent of fire left to be extinguished…

We are using what resources we have right now to contain it but if the fire service implemented a shift system and have people here at all times it would be over quite soon… you can’t leave it because it will escalate,” Stanton further explained.

He told Guyana Times that in the interim, measures are being put in place to accommodate the garbage which is supposed to be disposed of at the site.

The refuse which the garbage trucks are bringing to Haags Bosch is being placed in a “temporary site” and when the fire is fully contained and extinguished, moves will be made to ensure that this garbage is transferred from the temporary holding site.

Meanwhile, the Communities Ministry in a press statement on Tuesday stated that due to the fire, the site is inoperable despite efforts by firefighters and the contractor who manages the site to extinguish the blaze.

According to the Ministry, the failure in putting out the fire resulted primarily because the contractor did not adhere to the Operations Management Requirements as stipulated under Section 15.6 of the signed agreement regarding fire prevention and firefighting.

“This unhealthy situa-

Heavy smoke spreading from the Haags Bosch landfill to the Eccles Housing Scheme, EBD

tion does not surprise the Ministry, owing to the poor management techniques and inadequate security measures, among others employed by the contractor,” the media release said.

The Communities Ministry also stated that these factors, together with the landfill not being vented and the failure to provide daily earth cover have contributed to the significant buildup of methane gas.

This, when ignited continues to burn in an uncontrollable

manner.

Guyana Times also understands that during the initial stages of the fire, the contractor was assisted by the GFS, which requested the contractor to provide, in accordance with the conditions of the contract, additional resources needed to enhance their capacity to control the blaze.

These included three high capacity pumps (six-inch diameter) to enhance the flooding of the site in several locations where the fire exists.

Two heavy-duty cranes, draglines or long boom excavators to excavate the waste pile in an effort to reach the bottom where the fire may be located and water hoses (six-inch diameter and 450 feet in length).

“Despite numerous engagements with the assigned contractor, the supply of the items was delayed. This hampered the Guyana Fire Service’s capacity to arrest the fire,” the Communities Ministry added.

Meanwhile, as a re-

sult of the fire, the disposal of garbage was temporarily redirected to the Mandela Dumpsite in Georgetown.

However, residents in proximity to that area objected to Mayor Hamilton Green, who in an effort to please them, instructed that the garbage be taken to Lusignan dumpsite.

This newspaper was told that residents of that community have also objected to this move by the Mayor and City Council, citing that the East Coast has its own garbage problems.

Speaking with Guyana Times, a community activist stated that it is time that the Mayor and City Council initiate a proper and clear garbage disposal plan. The activist noted that it is unacceptable that a decision was made to take Georgetown garbage to the East Coast of Demarara dumpsite, which is also plagued by its own disposal challenges. (kristenm@ guyanatimesgy.com)

8 NEWS

wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Guyana-born cardiologist jailed for fraud

A

Guyana-born cardiologist has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for performing unnecessary catheterisations, tests, stent insertions and causing unnecessary coronary artery bypass surgeries as part of a scheme to overbill Medicare and other insurers by US$29 million.

Dr Harold Persaud, 56, was convicted earlier this year of one count of health care fraud, 13 counts of making false statements and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from criminal activity.

A hearing is scheduled for January 27, 2016 to determine restitution.

Dr Persaud had executed a scheme to defraud and obtain money from Medicare and other insurers between

Dr Harold Persaud

2006 and 2012.

According to court documents and trial testimony, he used billing codes that reflected a service that was more costly than what was actually performed; performed nuclear stress tests on patients that were not medically necessary; know-

ingly recorded false results of patients’ nuclear stress tests to justify cardiac catheterisation procedures that were not medically necessary; performed cardiac catheterisations on patients at the hospitals and falsely recorded the existence and extent of lesions (blockage) observed during the procedures; and recorded false symptoms in patient records to justify testing and procedures on patients.

He also improperly referred patients for coronary artery bypass surgery when there was no medical necessity for such surgery, which benefited him by increasing the amount of follow-up testing he could perform and bill to Medicare and private insurers; and performed medically unnecessary stent procedures, aortograms, renal

angiograms and other procedures and tests.

As a result of the scheme, Persaud overbilled and caused the overbilling of Medicare and private insurers in the amount of approximately US$29 million, of which Medicare and the private insurers paid approximately US$5.7 million, according to court records.

“This defendant used his medical licence as a licence to steal,” said First Assistant US Attorney Carole Rendon.

“This prison sentence is well deserved.”

Special Agent in Charge Stephen D Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Office, reacting to the sentence, said Dr Persaud violated the sacred trust between doctor and patient, ripped off taxpayers and put patients’ lives at risk. (Caribbean360)

$75,000 compensation for assault victim

A

n overseas-based Guyanese on Tuesday was fined $75,000 for assault when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged for assault.

Darren Chowtie, 36, of Lot 7 Bushman Hill, Leguan, who is on vacation in Guyana, pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that on December 26 at Bushman Hill, he unlawfully assaulted and wounded the Virtual Complainant

(VC), Kitnaram Persaud with intent to cause him bodily harm.

According to the facts presented by Police Prosecutor Deniro Jones, the VC and the defendant, who is a cab driver overseas, have been known to each other for over 15 years. The Prosecutor told the Court that on the day in question, the VC received information that the defendant had assaulted his brother and, as such, he went to a popular shop in Leguan where the

defendant was to confront him about the incident and an argument ensued.

According to the Prosecutor, the defendant then took a cutlass and dealt the VC several blows across his body and his face.

Prosecutor Jones noted that the VC was subsequently rushed to the Leguan hospital with multiple abrasions and lacerations about his body.

When given a chance to speak in the Court on Tuesday, Chowtie stated

that he would like to settle the matter amicably, as he and the VC have known each other for many years.

The VC agreed to an amicable solution, telling the Court that he and the defendant are “like relatives” and he would also like to be able to move on from the incident.

Magistrate McLennan ordered that the defendant pay $75,000 to the VC with an alternative sentence of six months in prison.

Barbados-based Guyanese charged for fraud

A

Barbados-based Guyanese was on Tuesday ordered to pay $100,000 in compensation when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged for fraud.

Trevor Carter, 45, of Lot 4 Henry Street, Werk-enRust, pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that in January of 2011 he used money given to him to be delivered to someone else for his own use.

The Court heard that in January 2011,

Carter received Bds$1000 (G$100,000) from Orell (only name given) which was to be given to Natasha Divine.

This money was never delivered and the defendant could not be reached, the Court was told.

When given the opportunity to speak, Carter explained that the Virtual Complainant (VC) Divine was known to him and he was indeed given the money to give to her.

He added that at the time the money was given to him in Barbados, he was not coming to Guyana and he decid-

ed to give the money to someone else to deliver to Divine.

He further stated that he did not know that the money was not delivered, but he accepted responsibility for what transpired.

The VC stated that the money was sent to her from a relative in Barbados. She explained to the Court that after the defendant arrived in Guyana in 2011, she could not reach him and he did not attempt to make contact with her to deliver the money.

She added that on October 15, 2015, she saw

the defendant and decided to confront him about the money which she never received in 2011.

The VC told the Court that the defendant told her that he was going to contact her another day to give her the money, but again she never heard from him.

As such, she made a report at the Brickdam Police Station and the defendant was arrested.

Magistrate McLennan ordered that the defendant pay $100,000 to the VC

by January 3 or face three months imprisonment.

Eyew tness A bridge…

I

…or bridgehead?

t seemed to be kind of a “ho-hum” announcement at the beginning of the week – the BBCI had accepted the original offer of the Government to reduce tolls by stipulated amounts, while accepting a subsidy of $31 million for revenues lost. But really, it wasn’t: it was the nail that destroyed the “Public Private Partnership” (Px3) model for fostering developing Guyana.

Even if we give the benefit of the doubt to the Government about wanting to “lower the burdens” on the commuting Berbice Public, does the marginal $300 some car owner saves really lower anyone’s burdens?

What it is, is the decision represents a capitulation

by BBCI to governmental browbeating just to keep a populist campaign promise.

What’s not been reported is the real problem of the BBCI – which is to find another tranche of $500 million of revenue on top of the first $500 million ($1 billion) to pay the principal on a bond that’s past due. When those local investors agreed back in 2007 to plunk down their money to fund the Bridge, certain projections on traffic flow etc were made to deliver the funds to service the debt.

When by 2013 it became clear the projections were on the low side, the BBCI submitted a request for tolls to be RAISED to cover the shortfall. Decisions were overrun by events and the new Government just focused on offering the sop that’s the present toll reduction. The point of the matter is that the Px3 model of financing works only if the promised revenue streams are delivered.

And this is where the power of the Government to impose these kinds of decisions comes in. But we know no toll increase is going to happen now! So where does that leave BBCI? Bankrupt, that’s where! In any properly run country in the world, if a company can’t pay off its bondholders, that’s a major catastrophe – and bankruptcy has to be declared.

The Trustee for the debtors had floated a proposal for the bondholders to take a haircut on the interest (from 9 to 7%) and simultaneously extend the payout period, but from the reports, the request didn’t find favour. For a while there was a diversionary tactic of one common stockholder offering to sell its stock to the Government so as to give the latter a “majority” on the board. This was never really necessary since NEW GPC’s and QA’s Directors had already resigned to give the Government a de facto majority – way in advance.

…that’s crumbling

The Berbice Bridge connects two of the largest rice-producing areas in the country – Regions Five and Six. With what’s happening to that industry, however, this Eyewitness can see not only less traffic ahead for the Bridge – and increased cash flow challenges for BBCI – but some major challenges for the rice farmers themselves.

The loss of the Venezuelan rice/paddy market has already resulted in some US$40 million less revenue from rice exports even though the total tonnage increased.

Losing a market that was paying TWICE what you’re now getting will do that to you! Nagamootoo leveraged his support among Berbice farmers for the trappings (and salary!) of the PM’s office.

He’s now promising to replace the Venezuelan market with one in Mexico. But with all markets, the price’s the thing, isn’t it? But Nagamootoo is mum on that – as well he should be.

If it weren’t for NAFTA, the US would’ve been accused of dumping its rice into Mexico! Fat chance WE have of making any profits!

…for 2016

Your Eyewitness is waiting for the other British wallet to open up, and the new Bridge across the Demerara River to begin construction.

They did help with the first one, after all. So we’re a testament to British craftsmanship and all that!

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

9 Region 2 vendors complain of economic decline news

wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Work to commence on Ogle/Diamond T bypass road

BY INDRAWATTIE NATRAM

– construction will take 2 years

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson

Indian High Commissioner Venkatachalam Mahalingam

lmost a year after acquiring a Line of Credit (LOC) from India to construct a bypass road linking the East Coast Demerara and East Bank Demerara Highways, the Government of Guyana is finally moving apace with the project.

In an interview with Guyana Times, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson stated that the money has already been approved by the Indian Government and the next step is for the final design of the road to be done. “[The] Government of India will be sending down shortly in the course of next year, a list of consultants and from that (list) we will select one who will do the final design of the road (Ogle to Diamond or East Coast to East Bank),” he disclosed.

After the design is completed, the Public Infrastructure Ministry will commence the bidding process to start construction. Minister Patterson anticipates that actual construction will commence in the third quarter of 2016 and will last for approximately two years.

“It is anticipated to be like a 24-month construction period. It’s virgin territory, as you know, and so there is quite a lot of work to be done. There are crossings, rivers, drainage and things like that.

Fortunately where (the road) is going, we don’t have utilities so we won’t have delays in that regards. But we have to constructs drains, we have to construct roads, we have to build the road up, we have to construct crossings, we need culverts for the bridges and then we have to construct con-

nectivity onto the existing roadways – both East Bank and East Coast,” the Public Infrastructure Minister noted.

During a visit to India in January this year, former President Donald Ramotar secured a Line of Credit to build a bypass road from Ogle to Diamond, EBD. The agreement for the US$50 million grant was brokered between Ramotar and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking with Guyana Times in October, Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam, had explained that the Indian consultant, who will be appointed, will oversee and facilitate the execution of the project.

According to Mahalingam, as part of the agreement between the two countries, an Indian company will have to be awarded the contract for the road link project. However, he noted that like in the case of the Specialty Hospital project, which ever company is awarded the contract will also have to solicit the help of a local contracting company.

“They can bring everything here and do all by themselves, so yes they will have a local company to help,” he stated.

In an effort to reduce traffic congestion for commuters on the East Bank of Demerara, the previous People’s Progressive Party/ Civic regime was working on constructing an ‘East Coast to East Bank’ bypass road. In fact, a feasibility study for this link was completed and discussions were ongoing, as it relates to the advancement of the project.

A

he holiday season is almost over and vendors selling at the Anna Regina, Cotton Field and Charity markets in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), have reported slow sales due to the region’s snail-like economy.

A number of vendors have complained that they will be entering the New Year with little or no mark up on the items they purchased for the holiday season. This, several vendors said, is a direct result of the negative effects of the rice industry in the region, which is staggering the growth of the region’s economy.

Speaking with Guyana Times, a vendor at the Anna Regina Market said that when compared to last year, business this holiday season is “dead”.

“Business slow and dead

Sparse shoppers at Charity Market

and people are not shopping,” she said, adding that she is unsure as to when business will pick up in the region. These sentiments were echoed by a number of other stall holders and vendors at the Anna Regina and Cotton Field markets.

The Proprietress of Lisa’s Variety Store at Anna Regina, agreed that business is extremely slow for her. She noted that for the same period last year, her store had already re-

plenished stock as they had “sold out” early in the season.

Meanwhile, at Charity Market, the atmosphere and reaction were no different. Stall holders there too complained of the slow pace of business, noting that it is the worst slow down in business that they have experienced in a very long time.

According to a meat vendor at Charity, she was forced to sell meat at a re-

duced price to get the commodity off, rather than to have it all spoil.

Another vendor lamented that for the entire day, she only sold $5000 worth of items.

The vendor related that she has never experienced such a decline in sales.

“People crying out bad, New Year drawing near and imagine I still got my stock, things didn’t really sell, people just buying what they need now,” the vendor lamented.

A fruit vendor, Shelly Persaud, also related that business is also stagnant for her, adding that she stocked up on grapes, apples, carrot, celery and nuts for the season and complained that the sales she received is not encouraging.

While vendors are trying to cope with the economic situation, they remain optimistic that sales would improved in the coming days.

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guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, december 30, 2015

News

Local Govt Commission to be established for LGE – funding provided in 2016 Budget

T

wo years after laws were passed providing for the establishment of a Local Government Commission, the body is now expected to be operationalised in early 2016. This will be in time to provide oversight to the new local government organs (LGOs) that will take effect, following the March 18, 2016, Local Government Elections.

Parliament approved the creation of the Local Government Commission in 2013.

In a recent interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan disclosed that funding for the Local Government Commission would be provided for in the 2016 National Budget.

This, he said, would allow for the commencement of the operationalisation of the Local Government Commission, thereby ensuring it comes into being at the same time as the new councils. Minister Bulkan noted that the Commission would have responsibility for regulation and oversight of all local authorities. According to the Local Government Commission Act 2012, which allowed for the Commission to take effect, the Commission has the powers to monitor and review the performance and implementation of the policies of all LGOs, including taxation and protection of the environment. It will also monitor, evaluate and make recommendations on policies, procedures and practic-

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan es of all organs in order to promote effective local governance.

The Commission also has the power to investigate any

matter under its purview and proposes remedial action to the Minister, whenever or wherever necessary; to monitor and review all existing and proposed legislation, policies and measures relating to LGOs. The Commission reports to the Minister on the need for any amendment; to examine and propose ways of enhancing the capacity of LGOs, and to hear appeals instituted by employees dismissed by any LGO. The establishment of the Commission was identified as part of the Local Government Reform process.

The Ministry of Communities however will not be totally divorced from the general management of LGOs, as it will still have broad responsibilities for the operations of the councils.

Ministry not responsible for domestic street lights – Patterson

P

ublic Infrastructure Minister David Patterson has announced that the Ministry of Public Infrastructure is not responsible for the electricity bill for domestic street lights.

His comments came in light of complaints by residents of Sophia, Greater Georgetown, that there are

inadequate street lights in the area.

During an interview with Guyana Times on Monday, the Minister stated that such responsibility for the payment of street lights bills is not the liability of the Ministry but such duty lies exclusively with the Mayor and City Council or the Neighbourhood

Democratic Council (NDC).

“So, it is neither this Ministry or GPL that are responsible for street lights.

What we do under this Ministry for the urban roads, the main roads; we have a budget which we work with that pays for the main access roads,” Patterson explained.

He further noted that in or-

der to rectify the street light issue, the residents of Sophia will have to apply to City Council, who will determine whether or not their budget can sustain the additional lights.

Also, there are current contracts to re-do certain main access roads and Sophia was said to be one of the areas, and street lights will definitely be included, he added.

Earlier in the year, residents of Bath Settlement, Corentyne, Berbice had taken to the streets to protest the removal of the lights within the community. The protest commenced after the Government made a decision that the community would have to pay for the electricity of its street lights.

Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had said that GPL cannot afford to subsidise the electricity cost for the residents of Bath Settlement, since that responsibility was that of the NDC.

Reggae redux S

atiricus was a roots man, as should be clear by now. His dad had swayed to Ska and Rock Steady and had passed on his collection of the Wailers original hits to him. Long before Brother Bob had decided to move off on his own. He who felt, knows and young Satiricus has felt and known.

So Satiricus was more than a bit upset about the news that Joss Stone had just been honoured as “2015 Reggae Artist of the Year” by Billboard.

Joss who? Satiricus was happy that Bounty Killa had called the blonde British singer out. Bounty felt the Jamaican Government should do more to protect the legacy of Reggae.

Was this going to be an upgrade of the appropriation of cornrows by Iggy Azalea into appropriation of dreads? When will this culture vulture behaviour stop? But what could the Jamaican Government do about that? But it was more than cultural appropriation. It was a matter of survival.

As a boy, the young Satiricus was told by his Daddy about the toothy Osmonds trying to elbow in on the Jackson Five’s fame.

But Satiricus had been shocked they were able to sell so many albums. Who the heck would listen to those smaltzy studio-produced concoctions?

The Jackson Five had the real Motown Sound. After outraged responses to their Joss Stone coronation (“Is this another Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe announcement?”), Billboard pointed out they go just by number of albums sold. And Stone’s record did sell 27,000 copies.

And that’s the question, no? Who buys albums?

It’s clear it’s mostly white kids who shell out the bucks for music and it’s also clear that they’ll prefer to shell out the said bucks for other white folks records.

It’s as simple as that. So this is where the Jamaican Government could come in, thought Satiricus.

To protect the sanctity of Reggae, as soon a real roots man came out with a reggae album, the Government of Jamaica could subsidise its sales so that it would always outperform the Joss Stones of the world.

Where would it get the money from? Well from the sale of medical Ganja!! What else? Everything would be Irie!

wednesday, december 30, 2015

guyanatimesgy.com

11

News

Industrial Estate businesses complain of deplorable road, no electricity

By Kristen Macklingam

A

number of business persons who have bought lands at the New Eccles Industrial Estate, East Bank Demerara (EBD) are suffering major losses on account of the appalling state of the road and the lack of electricity in the area.

Guyana Times recently visited the area which is located one street away from the Haags Bosch Landfill. A number of warehouse bonds have been constructed in the area and are operational.

The road which leads to businesses including Beesons Windows and Doors, Crown Mining, John Deere Machinery and a new publishing company is in bad condition.

Many persons have complained that the relevant authorities are yet to repair the road and that continues to be a hindrance to customers as well as potential customers, especially when it rains.

Beeson Windows and Doors Director Muhammud Ahsan Ul-Haq told this newspaper on Tuesday that two years passed before his building could receive any water, with the water system becoming functional only three weeks ago.

However, he explained that to date no electricity was being provided in the area although the businessmen have paid their monies for this.

As such, he said, he had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars installing solar system panels so that the business could begin operating.

Ul-Haq contended that the most troublesome issue was the lack of telephone lines and this has a direct impact on the company accessing emails, websites and orders for supplies through the Internet.

He expressed his disappointment that the telephone company to date has not supplied the area with telephone lines as these were an essential part of running a business by enabling communication.

He said he hoped that the relevant authorities would look into this matter soon since the lack of such necessities was having an adverse impact on the businesses in the area.

Guyana Times understands that many owners of the establishments who have invested millions of dollars into their properties have been forced to either use generators for electricity or have no electricity at all.

A couple who will be opening up a business in the area very shortly stated that they have invested millions of dollars in their

building and to date, they cannot receive any water or electricity.

The businesswoman has explained that while they have been finalising the process for the business to be up and running, their children have refused to come to the establishment.

“We don’t have electricity. Nobody in the street has electricity; it is supposed to be provided. We bought the land in 2011 and never had current,” she complained.

According to the woman, she is at a loss as to why the street before the Industrial Estate has both water and electricity and this cannot yet be extended to accommodate businesses.

She explained that while she bought two generators, it would not be feasible for her to use them for operating her business especially when her money has already been exhausted in developing the property and the building.

“We have no power, everyone behind us has current. I have generators, but it is too expensive since I would be operating at a loss and not get a profit. To run a generator, it would cost me about $30,000 per day for fuel. So, I don’t know why they charged us infrastructural fees at all,” the woman stated.

This publication understands that everyone who owns properties and bonds in that street paid all the fees that they had been mandated to pay.

However, they are yet to receive their end of the bargain and this has been costing the businessmen much money to date.

“We paid everything they ask for… and they are supposed to provide these things like water, electricity and road, aren’t they? … at one point they sent a letter if you don’t build, they will repossess and all that, so everyone had to build, so now what? How you expect me to do my business with competitive price and all, yet you can’t provide what I paid for?” the couple questioned.

Guyana Times was also told that the owners of the properties in the street were promised a road which would lead into the Eccles Housing Scheme as well.

However, to date, there are only bushes and shrubs at the spot which had been identified for the construction of the road.

“We are glad for this thing to be exposed and some good thing come out of it, because it is ridiculous. It is a horrible situation the back here and don’t talk about the mosquitoes and all kinds of things like that. Even the smell is unbearable here,” they added. (kristenm@guyanatimesgy.com)

The road which leads to businesses including Beesons Windows and Doors, Crown Mining, John Deere Machinery and a new publishing company in deplorable condition

12 news PPP/C wants Bills to be sent Keeping it real to Special Select Committee wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams

A

s the National Assembly prepares to meet today, the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has written to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, requesting that the Law Reform Commission Bill 2015 – Bill No 12 of 2015 and the Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2015 – Bill No 11 of 2015 be sent to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee for consideration.

PPP/C MP Mohabir Nandall, on Tuesday, dispatched two letters to Williams’ Chambers.

In his letter on the Law Reform Commission Bill, Nandlall said that the establishment of a Law Reform Commission was always on the agenda of the PPP/C Administration.

However, he said the Party “emphatically disagrees” with the manner in which the Bill seeks to constitute the Commission, adding that Clause Three of the Bill provides that the Commission shall be appointed by the President, acting after consultation with the Legal Affairs Minister.

This, Nandlall’s letter said, blanks any input or nominees from the Judiciary, the legal profession, the

Private Sector Commission, labour movement, the rights based organisations or parliamentary political parties.

“We eschew this new and novel model of governance where the Executive consults with itself. This flies in the face of meaningful consultations and made a mockery of Article 13 of the Constitution,” the letter stated.

Nandlall reemphasised that there were never any proper consultations held in relation to the Bill, adding that the Opposition considers the establishment of permanent Law Reform Commission as important to the welfare of Guyanese as it is to the country’s fledgling democracy.

“In these circumstances, we request that the Bill be committed to a Parliamentary Select Committee to, inter alia, review and hold consultations in relation to how the Commission should be constituted and to address any other relevant matters in relation thereto,” Nandlall said.

The former Attorney

Anil Nandlall

Ministers of Government.

“It is not an Executive or political unit and its mandate is certainly not partisan or political,” he highlighted.

With regards to the Coroners Amendment Bill, Nandlall in a separate letter also requested that this Bill be sent to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee.

He argued that rather than seeking to tinker with a singular section of the Act as the Bill seeks to do, a more prudent course is to sub-

were apart.

“Additionally, we are of the considered opinion that the Bill in its current construct is inherently flawed and does not address the real mischief of the principal Act,” Nandlall said.

He also highlighted a number of other complex issues which needed to be addressed at the level of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee.

According to the former Attorney General, it is the considered view of the PPP/C that the Bill should benefit from the input of organisations and persons such as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Human Rights Association, the labour movement, the Private Sector, and parliamentary political parties; all of which are considered to be important stakeholders that should make their contribution before a Parliamentary Special Select Committee.

The Law Reform Commission Bill 2015 – Bill

Parliament Building

General reminded that Law Reform Commissions are normally independent bodies whose compositions are broad-based, as they are expected to review every conceivable branch of the law affecting every segment of society and make recommendations to the relevant

ject the Principal Act to the Holistic Review referred to in the report of the Discipline Service Commission, of which President David Granger and head of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) List, Professor Harold Lucthman

No 12 of 2015, tabled by Williams on December 17, 2015 and is due for its second reading at Wednesday’s sitting, while the Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2015 – Bill No 11 of 2015 was also presented by Williams on December 17 and is due for its second reading.

2015 will go down as a historic year

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he year 2015 will go down in history as a watershed year for Guyanese for a number of reasons. Some reasons are more important than others, but here are a few of them.

One, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), once a mass-based political party, was removed from office after 23 years of governing the country, following a much longer 28 years of People’s National Congress (PNC) rule.

Dr Baytoram Ramharack It was a shock to the PPP and its supporters, many of whom felt that the party was invincible. The PPP leadership had invested an enormous amount of energy and resources to secure a victory during the 2015 election, although the previous election had shown a decline in support, resulting in the party maintaining Executive power, but not a majority in Parliament. The PPP leadership continues to argue that the party was cheated out of office. As I have argued before, if, as the PPP claimed, similar irregularities (tampering with Statements of Poll, intimidation of polling agents, etcetera) existed during the previous election, then the Party, in Government at the time, was responsible for setting the mechanisms in place to prevent such irregularities from recurring.

The PPP leadership was aware that the Party was in trouble and faced the possibility of losing the 2015 General and Regional Election. So the Party relied on the reputation and experience of former President Bharrat Jagdeo. Jagdeo’s presence in the campaign overshadowed that of President Donald Ramotar, whose three-year term is considered as a failure in terms of its accomplishments, as well as the lack of an ability to mobilise and secure the traditional Party base. Given the results of the election, it can be argued that the Opposition effectively mobilised its forces to encircle the PPP, partly by cultivating an image of a Opposition party that was less willing to rely on violence and street protests and by making effective use of social media during the election campaign which painted the PPP/C as being corrupt and discriminatory towards its supporters.

Two, the PPP/C was removed by a coalition of forces, the two largest being the PNC and the Alliance For Change (AFC). Coalition politics since the PNC-United Force (UF) coalition that brought a victory to Forbes Burnham. The parties – the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the AFC, after much speculation and anxiety, agreed to a menu of measures and both parties signed the Herdmanston Accord to seal their agreement. While the key members of the AFC have not raised any major concerns, others have commented on an erosion of the powers of some of the AFC members within the coalition. Some Guyanese have speculated that the AFC may have even lost its support base which helped push the coalition to victory. However, the Local Government Election set for March 2016 will allow us to better assess the strength of the key political parties, although the AFC will campaign with its coalition partner, the APNU. Three, ExxonMobil’s discovery of a possible $40 billion oil and gas reserve in the northern part of Guyana, with a potential worth of 12 times the value of the Guyanese economy, creates hope for an improvement of the nations’ human and economic development. How the revenue from this large oil/gas discovery will be utilised by the Government coalition remains to be seen.

Undoubtedly, despite the fluctuations in oil price and a greater reliance on natural energy sources, if the new found wealth is managed effectively, an oil economy has the potential to transform Guyana from a backwater country into a modern nation state.

Four, a series of Government forensic audits commenced into the activities of members of the PPP Government, with the hope of finding malfeasance and corruption. So far, after more than seven months in office, the Government has not yet provided credible evidence for the prosecution of a “big fish”.

Threats continued to be made against suspects who may have cheated the Guyanese people and stolen State assets. Clearly, the guilty should be prosecuted, but the actions of the Government so far has convinced many Guyanese that witchhunting and discrimination against Opposition supporters might be at play. In our already divided society, these actions, be they real or based on suspicions, if left unresolved can only create further racial rift in an already fractured society.

Finally, as the nation gear up for the upcoming Golden Jubilee celebration, social cohesion seems to be the new buzzword, replacing national unity and power-sharing, which now seems to be on the back-burner. Social cohesion cannot be achieved on terms and conditions established by the ruling coalition alone. The Government unilaterally calls the shot and the PPP has refused to participate in “unity” talks. The stalemate on the racial divide will continue to remain static, even as the nation acknowledges its 50 years of being independent. More than likely, Guyanese will have to endure another five years as a divided nation unless political leaders from both sides of the fence decide to tackle this issue with seriousness as we head into the New Year.

(Send comments to BRamharack60@gmail.com)

news

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wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Murder suspect escapes President meets with Guyanese from NA Prison students studying abroad – manhunt launched

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olice ranks in B Division (Berbice) have launched a manhunt for a murder suspect who escaped from the New Amsterdam Prison on Monday.

According to Police reports, Jagmohan Neshan, 25, of Belvedere Squatting Area, Corentyne, Berbice, was on remand at the facility for the October 2013 murder of Devindra Deodat at Hamspire, Squatting Area, Corentyne.

Guyana Times understands that Neshan was being kept in solitary confinement and was discovered missing by prison officers during checks made to his cell. The Police was summoned and are assisting with the search.

A senior officer within in the Division told this newspaper that as of Tuesday evening, they were yet to recapture the prisoner. He noted that while the manhunt was on through the day, there has been no lead as to the whereabouts of Neshan.

However, the officer pointed out that the entire situation could have been avoided had the prison officials been more vigilant. “I can’t see how you can have cameras at the prison and a tower, and still a prisoner managed to escape… and from solitary confinement too,” the officer noted in dismay. The senior officer explained that solitary confinements are supposed to be strict and the most se-

Wanted: Jagmohan Neshan

cured location in any prison, hence raising the question as to why it was compromised.

“If a prisoner can escape from solitary confinement, it goes to show the level of slackness in the security system there… I don’t understand how come no one saw him when he was drilling the whole. It gives the impress that there may be some sort of conspiracy going on,” the Policeman concluded.

As the search continues, the Police have issued a wanted bulletin for Neshan for the offence of escaping from lawful custody.

Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Jagmohan Neshan is asked to contact the Police on telephone numbers 3333876, 333-2191, 333-2151-3, 226-9941, 225-6411, 911 or the nearest Police station.

This escape comes on the heels two recent cases at the penitentiary.

In August, 24-year-old Ravindra Samaroo and

26-year-old Lennox Patterson fled after removing a board from the back of their respective cells using a bed sheet to lower themselves to the ground before making their way over the 12-foot zinc fence. Samaroo, however, was recaptured and charged.

Then earlier this month, a female Surinamese prisoner Gwendolyn Pompey escaped from the New Amsterdam Prison by jumping over the 12-foot prison fence and hiding in nearby bushes before making her way to Corriverton in an attempt to get to her native land.

She too was recaptured as she was about to board a speedboat to neighbouring Suriname.

Prison escapes have been frequent over the past months, with the Mazaruni Prison facing two such situations – the most recent being over the weekend. Luckily, both men were recaptured by authorities and sent back to prison.

President David Granger addressing the gathering.

Also in photo is Minister of State Joseph Harmon

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uyanese students studying overseas were urged to serve Guyana and to impart their knowledge and skills towards the development of this country. This was the call by President David Granger on Monday at the first International Student Networking event, where he met with a number of young Guyanese who are studying abroad and are home for the holidays.

At the event, the students were able to engage in conversations and share ideas and thoughts with the President and several Ministers, about their

plans and visions in the pursuit of the further expansion and advancement of Guyana.

The students were promised that once their studies have been completed, mechanisms will be put in place to ensure their safe return to their country.

In the President Granger’s effort to inspire the young students to return home, he vastly elaborated on the distinct beauty of Guyana and the country’s rich possession of natural resources.

He added that in order to utilise these resources to

their fullest potential, ‘human power’ is needed.

“We need people who are going to build roads, build aerodromes, and develop this country. I wouldn’t have been here had I not believed in this country. When we look at the prospects of Guyana, I believe that there is a future for every Guyanese…

Guyana is the new frontier in the Caribbean. It is a land of hope and promise and we want to guarantee that promise to the next generation,” the President said.

In response to the President’s speech, many students lauded the idea of the event and made commitments to return and serve their country after they completed their studies.

Martin Massiah, an International Business graduate, expressed how delighted he was to be back in Guyana.

Another student, Ryan Duff of Howard University, reminded how important it is for students living in different places to stay in contact and be updated on the affairs of their country.

President Granger also took this time to highlight the observation of Guyana’s Jubilee Independence anniversary to the students.

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guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, december 30, 2015

Regional

La Familia Mexican drug Stranded Cubans get permission to continue journey to US cartel founder killed

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Carlos Rosales Mendoza was on the DEA’s most wanted list

arlos Rosales Mendoza, the founder of one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels, has been killed. Rosales Mendoza’s body was found along with three other bodies by a motorway in western Mexico.

All four victims had been shot dead, foren-

sic experts said. Rosales Mendoza, 52, was one of the founders of La Familia Michoacana, a drug cartel with a reputation for extreme violence which claims to defend family and religious values.

He was on the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)’s most wanted list.

The four bodies were found in the car park of a tollbooth on a motorway in the western state of Morelia.

Forensic experts said the four had been tortured and killed somewhere else before their bodies were dumped in the car park. It is not clear who may be behind the killing.

Rosales Mendoza is believed to have got involved in drug trafficking in the 1980s in the western state of Michoacan.

He rose through the ranks of local drug gangs and forged key alliances with members of the Gulf and Zetas cartels.

In 2000, he founded his own organisation, which he named La Familia Michoacana (The Michoacan Family) after the state that was his power base. (Excerpt from BBC News)

T&T Govt saves TT$119M as it halts free textbooks

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overnment will no longer be providing free textbooks to the majority of students as it seeks to cut costs, says Education Minister Anthony Garcia.

Garcia announced the measure on Monday while being interviewed on CNC3’s Morning Brew.

In the current system, students are given use of books for the school year, which they must return. The Ministry then replenishes the stock of

books as some are lost or damaged.

This system applied to books from primary school to Form Six. This year, only 10 per cent of the books will be replenished for two classes, Form One and primary school infants. The replacement of special education resources will continue to be 100 per cent funded by Government. This means other students would need to rely on their parents to provide all of their textbooks.

In a telephone interview, Garcia said Government was set to save TT$119 million as a result of cutting back on the provision of textbooks.

He said the measure, which was decided by Cabinet, followed an ongoing series of fiscal adjustments since the 2015/2016 budget was read in October. The total cost to provide books prior to the decision for the most recent school year would have been TT$138 million. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

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housands of Cuban migrants stuck in Costa Rica for the past month have finally been given the green light to continue their journey to the United States.

This follows an agreement reached by a group of Central American nations yesterday, following talks in Guatemala City. About 7000 Cuban migrants had travelled to Ecuador through Colombia and Panama and into Costa Rica but were blocked by Nicaragua.

However, as a result of the agreement, from next month the Cubans will be airlifted to El Salvador and put on buses to cross Guatemala into Mexico and cross the border into the US. Under the US ‘wet foot dry foot policy’, Cuban migrants who arrive on land to enter the country and apply

Cubans will be airlifted to El Salvador and then put on buses to eventually reach the US

for residency, while those who are intercepted at sea are sent back.

“The solution emerging is an absolute exception and only for those people who entered national territory legally,” Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister Manuel Gonzalez said, according to Reuters.

On Sunday, Pope Francis urged Central American

Governments to show generosity in dealing with the situation.

“I invite the countries of the region to renew with generosity all necessary efforts in order to find a rapid solution to this humanitarian drama,” he told tens of thousands of people at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. (Caribbean360)

Demining Colombia ‘will take a generation’

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olombian Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said on Tuesday that mines were the biggest challenge facing postconflict Colombia.

“Demining Colombia will take a generation, tens of thousands of specialists and lots of international aid,” he told AFP news agency. Colombian soldiers and members of the country’s largest rebel group, FARC, are working together to clear mines.

But Villegas said it would take many more specialists to finish the task. After more

than five decades of internal conflict, Colombia is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

It has the third-highest incidence of accidents caused by landmines and improvised explosive devices (IED). Only Afghanistan and Cambodia have more.

While the FARC rebel group is currently engaged in peace talks with the Government, a smaller left-wing rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), continues to fight.

Mines are also being planted by drug gangs look-

ing to protect their illicit crops from counternarcotics Police. Villegas said the Colombian Army was preparing a large-scale programme to train soldiers to clear mines.

He said the plan was to bring the number of trained demining personnel up from 600 to 10,000 by mid-2016.

Under an agreement reached between Government negotiators and FARC rebels at peace talks in Havana, Cuba, soldiers and guerrilla fighters are already working together in a pilot project to clear mines.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

wednesday, december 30, 2015

guyanatimesgy.com

Around the world

Burkina Faso’s Roch Marc Christian Kabore sworn in as President

Roch Marc Christian Kabore won elections last month, the first since long-serving ruler Blaise Compaore was ousted in a popular uprising last year

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former banker has been sworn in as Burkina Faso’s President in front of thousands of cheering supporters. Roch Marc Christian Kabore won elections last month, the first since long-serving ruler Blaise

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Compaore was ousted in a popular uprising last year.

Kabore was an ally of Compaore before the two fell out. About 20 soldiers were detained on Monday for plotting to free the jailed leader of September’s short-lived coup, Gen Gilbert Diendere,

officials said.

Several African heads of state attended Kabore’s inauguration in the capital, Ouagadougou. Kabore said he would defend the constitution and “ensure justice for all”.

He once served as

Compoare’s Prime Minister, but gained popularity after opposing his bid to change the constitution and run for a third term. Compaore fled to Ivory Coast after being forced out of office.

General Diendere, a powerful ally of the ousted President, staged a coup in September. He was forced to return power to a transitional Government seven days later, after the Army sided with protesters opposed to the coup.

General Diendere was charged in October with 11 crimes, including threatening state security. He denies the charges.

The 20 soldiers accused of trying to free him were arrested during a raid in Ouagadougou, outgoing Prime Minister Isaac Zida said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Paris attacks: IS commanders ‘killed in US-led strikes’

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argeted US-led coalition air strikes have killed 10 Islamic State commanders in Iraq and Syria in the past month, a US military spokesman has said.

Some were linked to last month’s attacks in Paris and planning further attacks on the West, US Army Colonel Steve Warren added. He named one as Charaffe alMouadan, who he said had a direct link to Paris attack cell leader Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

Another was a UKeducated Bangladeshi computer systems engineer, he said. The US-led coalition has been targeting IS in Iraq and Syria for over a year. Russia recently began its own air attacks against armed opponents of the Syrian Government, includ-

ing IS. Syria-based Mouadan was killed in an air strike on December 24, said Colonel Warren. Another man with connections to the Paris attackers, Abdul Qader Hakim, died two days later in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, he added.

Colonel Warren added that an earlier air strike, on December 10, killed the UKeducated Bangladeshi computer engineer – who, he said, had supported IS hacking activities, anti-surveillance technology and weapons development.

“Over the past month we’ve killed 10 Isil [IS] leadership figures with targeted air strikes, including several external attack planners, some of whom are linked to the Paris attacks,” he said.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Indian Supreme Court upholds 2 arrested in Belgium over suspected alcohol ban in Kerala New Year’s Eve attack plot

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ndia’s Supreme Court has upheld Kerala state’s decision to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol in bars. The court rejected a petition by bar owners to overturn the ban, which restricts liquor sales and consumption to bars in five-star hotels.

The southern state wants to shut bars in a move towards total prohibition within 10 years. Kerala has India’s highest per capita alcohol consumption at more than eight litres per person yearly.

The national annual average for alcohol consumption is estimated to be about 5.7 litres per person. The Government wants to make the southern state free from alcohol in the next 10 years

to “protect youth from destroying their lives”.

The order means that nearly 700 bars will be gradually shut in the state, which is popular among both domestic and foreign travellers.

Bar owners argued in the court that the ban would severely hit the state’s income from tourism and also make many people jobless.

But the state said its priority was to protect the health of the people.

Doctors and activists have also highlighted rising alcohol abuse, blaming it for many road accidents and even marital breakdown.

They say hospitals and rehabilitation centres in Kerala are packed with patients suffering from alcohol-related diseases. (Excerpt from BBC News)

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wo people were arrested in Belgium on Sunday and Monday, both suspected of plotting an attack in Brussels on New Year’s Eve, federal prosecutors said.

Police found military clothing and Islamic State propaganda material but no weapons or explosives, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

“Our investigation revealed serious threats of an attack on symbolic places in Brussels during the celebrations for New Year’s Eve,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

A total of six people had been taken in for questioning during house searches

A Belgian police officer stands guard at the entrance of the Brussels’ central police headquarters, December 29, 2015, after two people were arrested in Belgium on Sunday and Monday, both suspected of plotting an attack in Brussels on New Year’s Eve, federal prosecutors said

in Brussels, a neighbouring province and Liege, but four of them had since been released, the prosecutors added.

Belgium has been at the heart of investigations into the Paris attacks on November 13 that left 130 people dead after links with Brussels emerged. Two of the Paris suicide bombers, Brahim Abdeslam and Bilal Hadfi, had been living in Belgium.

Belgian Police have arrested nine people in connection with the Paris attacks. But the prosecutors said Tuesday’s announcement was not linked to that investigation. (Excerpt from Reuters)

South China Sea: China anger at Motorcycle bomber kills Filipino disputed island protest dozens in Pakistan

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hina has expressed anger after Filipino protesters landed on a remote island controlled by the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea. “We once again urge the Philippines to withdraw... from the islands that it is illegally occupying,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu

Kang said on Monday.

It comes after about 50 protesters, mostly students, landed on Pagasa in the Spratly archipelago on Saturday. They said they wanted to highlight growing Chinese encroachment.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, believed to be rich in resourc-

es, dismissing rival claims by neighbours. Apart from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam all lay claim to the disputed waters.

The protesters, led by a former naval commander and called Kalayaan Atin Ito (Kalayaan This Is Ours), landed on Saturday and said

they would stay for three days – they told the BBC that they would leave by today.

They have described the journey as a “patriotic” voyage and a symbolic act of defiance against China. The government did not sanction the journey and citied safety and security concerns. (Excerpt from BBC

News)

Shahadat Hossain: Bangladesh cricketer charged with torturing maid

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olice in Bangladesh have charged the cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife with torturing their former domestic servant, an 11-year-old girl.

If found guilty, the couple may face lengthy jail terms.

They are currently on bail and deny charges of employing and assaulting a minor.

The Police charge sheet submitted to the court in Dhaka accuses the couple of physically torturing the child. Bangladesh’s Cricket Board has already suspended the medium-fast bowler.

The case is to be heard on January 12, 2016. The girl, Mahfuza Akhter Happy, was found in a Dhaka street in

September with multiple injuries, including a broken leg and a black eye.

She told Police that she had been working for the couple for a year and that they had beaten and tortured her. The charges have been brought under legislation designed to protect women and children from domestic

abuse.

If convicted, the cricketer and his wife, Jasmine Jahan Nritto Shahadat, could face jail terms of between seven and 14 years, plus a fine.

Hossain handed himself in on October 5. He initially went to Police on September 6 claiming that his maid had gone missing. (BBC News)

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t least 26 people were killed and dozens more wounded after a suicide attacker riding an explosives-laden motorcycle drove into a busy line-up and detonated outside a Government office in Pakistan.

The attack happened on Tuesday at an office of the National Database and Registration Authority in the town of Mardan, in the country’s North-West.

Local resident Mohammad Zaib said he found dead bodies scattered all around when he rushed to the blast site after hearing a loud explosion.

“I was offering my prayers in my house when the blast occurred. It was a huge blast.

When I came running here, there were dead bodies lying

all around,” Zaib told Reuters news agency. “It was like doomsday. Body parts were scattered on the ground.

Rescue workers were picking up dead bodies and putting them in vehicles.”

Pakistan has been battling armed groups since 2004 in a conflict that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and security forces personnel.

Overall levels of violence have decreased in 2015 after a nationwide military-led offensive against the armed groups, blocking their sources of movement, communication and funding. The crackdown came after the Taliban school attack in December 2014, in which more than 150 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

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wednesday, december 30, 2015| guyanatimesGY.com

KWANZAA Continued from Tuesday

Seven symbols Vibunzi: Ear of Corn

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he stalk of corn represents fertility and symbolises that through the reproduction of children, the future hopes of the family are brought to life. One ear is called vibunzi, and two or more ears are called mihindi. Each ear symbolises a child in the family, and thus one ear is placed on the mkeka for each child in the family. If there are no children in the home, two ears are still set on the mkeka because each person is responsible for the children of the community.

During Kwanzaa, we take the love and nurturance that were heaped on us as children and selflessly return it to all children, especially the helpless, homeless, loveless ones in our community.

Thus, the Nigerian proverb “It takes a whole village to raise a child” is realised in this symbol (vibunzi), since raising a child in Africa was a community affair, involving the tribal village, as well as the family. Good habits of respect for self and others, discipline, positive thinking, expectations, compassion, empathy, charity, and self-direction are learned in childhood from parents, from peers, and from experiences. Children are essential to Kwanzaa, for they are the future, the seed bearers that will carry cultural values and practices into the next generation. For this reason, children were cared for communally and individually within a tribal village. The biological family was ultimately responsible for raising its own children, but every person in the village was responsible for the safety and welfare of all the children.

Mishumaa Saba: The Seven Candles

Candles are ceremonial objects with two primary purposes: to re-create symbolically the sun’s power and to provide light. The celebration of fire through candle burning is not limited to one particular group or country; it occurs everywhere.

Mishumaa saba are the seven candles: three red, three green, and one black.

The black candle symbolises Umoja (unity), the basis of success, and is lit on

December 26. The three green candles, representing Nia, Ujima, and Imani, are placed to the right of the Umoja candle, while the three red candles, representing Kujichagulia, Ujamaa, and Kuumba, are placed to the left of it.

During Kwanzaa, one candle, representing one principle, is lit each day.

Then the other candles are relit to give off more light and vision. The number of candles burning also indicate the principle that is being celebrated. The il-

ment, and the fruits of the harvest.

Kinara: The Candleholder

The kinara is the centre of the Kwanzaa setting and represents the original stalk from which we came: our ancestry. The kinara can be shaped – straight lines, semicircles, or spirals – as long as the seven candles are separate and distinct, like a candelabra. Kinaras are made from all kinds of materials, and many celebrants

belongs to the ancestors.

During the Karamu feast, the kikombe cha umoja is passed to family members and guests, who drink from it to promote unity.

Then, the eldest person present pours the libation (tambiko), usually water, juice, or wine, in the direction of the four winds – north, south, east, and west – to honour the ancestors. The eldest asks the gods and ancestors to share in the festivities and, in return, to bless all the people who are not at the gathering. After asking for this blessing, the elder pours the libation on the ground and the group says “Amen.” Large Kwanzaa gatherings may operate just as communion services in most churches, for which it is common for celebrants to have individual cups and to drink the libation together as a sign of unity. Several families may have a cup that is specifically for the ancestors, and everyone else has his or her own. The last few ounces of the libation are poured into the cup of the host or hostess, who sips it and then hands it to the oldest person in the group, who asks for the blessing.

Zawadi: Gifts

During the Karamu feast, the kikombe cha umoja is passed to family members and guests, who drink from it to promote unity

luminating fire of the candles is a basic element of the universe, and every celebration and festival includes fire in some form.

Fire’s mystique, like the sun, is irresistible and can destroy or create with its mesmerising, frightening, mystifying power.

Mishumaa saba’s symbolic colours are from the red, black, and green flag (bendara) created

by Marcus Garvey. The colours also represent African gods. Red is the colour of Shango, the Yoruba god of fire, thunder, and lightning, who lives in the clouds and sends down his thunderbolt whenever he is angry or offended. It also represents the struggle for self-determination and freedom by people of colour. Black is the people, the earth, the source of life, representing hope, creativity, and faith and denoting messages and the opening and closing of doors. Green represents the earth that sustains our lives and provides hope, divination, employ-

create their own from fallen branches, wood, or other natural materials. The kinara symbolises the ancestors, who were once earth bound, understand the problems of human life and are willing to protect their progeny from danger, evil, and mistakes. In African festivals, the ancestors are remembered and honoured. The mishumaa saba are placed in the kinara.

Kikombe Cha Umoja: The Unity Cup

The kikombe cha umoja is a special cup that is used to perform the libation (tambiko) ritual during the Karamu feast on the sixth day of Kwanzaa.

In many African societies, libation is poured for the living dead whose souls stay with the earth they tilled. The Ibo of Nigeria believe that to drink the last portion of a libation is to invite the wrath of the spirits and the ancestors; consequently, the last part of the libation

When we celebrate Imani on the seventh day of Kwanzaa, we give meaningful zawadi (gifts) to encourage growth, selfdetermination, achievement, and success. We exchange the gifts with members of our immediate family, especially the children, to promote or reward accomplishments and commitments kept, as well as with our guests.

Handmade gifts are encouraged to promote selfdetermination, purpose, and creativity and to avoid the chaos of shopping and conspicuous consumption during the December holiday season. A family may spend the year making kinaras or may create cards, dolls, or mkekas to give to their guests.

Accepting a gift implies a moral obligation to fulfil the promise of the gift; it obliges the recipient to follow the training of the host. The gift cements social relationships, allowing the receiver to share the duties and the rights of a family member.

Accepting a gift makes the receiver part of the family and promotes Umoja.

(Excerpted from the book: The Complete Kwanzaa Celebrating Our Cultural Harvest. Copyright 1995 by Dorothy Winbush Riley via history.com)

Ramsammy’s Ruminations A year of disappointments turning optimism to pessimism

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t is with a hefty portion of trepidation, worried about our future that we anticipate 2016.

We entered 2015 with a relatively optimistic outlook, and we find ourselves at the end of the year with an awful feeling of pessimism and distrust of our Government.

The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) now finally admits that the economy in 2015 was disappointingly anaemic, with every sector underperforming. After 20 years of impressive economic growth under the People’s Dr Leslie Ramsammy Progressive Party (PPP), 2015 will break the cycle of continuous growth. The President, and others in APNU/AFC, now promise that 2016 will see robust economic growth.

This promise is not reassuring to most Guyanese because APNU/AFC has shown a propensity to make promises it is unwilling to or cannot keep. We are now familiar with their lies, fabrications, hypocrisy, corruption, flip-flops and clueless development strategy. Most Guyanese now have little trust in APNU/AFC. In Opposition, the APNU/AFC had chastised the PPP for Cabinet salaries that were extravagant and unaffordable and promised during the election campaign they would reverse this shameful abuse of the Guyanese taxpayers. Their message resonated with people. But one of their first strategic moves in Government was to grant themselves hefty salary increases.

In betraying the Guyanese people, APNU/AFC exposed their “Cadillac Lifestyles in a Donkey Cart Economy” message as just political charlatanism to fool people.

In a year when APNU/AFC told the people that the treasury was bankrupt and denied ordinary Guyanese, like pensioners and school children, their benefits, they made themselves the highest paid Cabinet in the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

The country with the lowest economic development in Caricom, outside of Haiti, is the country with the highest Cabinet salary burden in the Region. No wonder few Guyanese trust this Government.

For years and during the election campaign, APNU/AFC claimed they had ample evidence of corruption and if given a chance to govern, they will immediately “lock-up” PPP Ministers and senior public servants that served the PPP. This was another message that resonated well with the people.

People genuinely believed APNU/AFC and fully expected them to keep their promise to “lock-up” people. They have been in office now for eight months, what has happened with the evidence they had of brutish corruption by the PPP? No charges have been made and no property has been confiscated.

APNU/AFC now admits they had lied; they had no such evidence in their hands. The President himself admitted recently that they were forced to spend more than $133 million so far, to try to dig for some sort of evidence in forensic audits, even though they had claimed they had the evidence in their pockets.

Far from keeping their promises, they will “lock-up” PPP people, they are clutching at straws to demonstrate they were right about PPP corruption.

On corruption, the Guyanese people have had a rude awakening. APNU/AFC which campaigned heavily on accountability and promised to root out unfairness and treachery in awarding contracts, which they alleged the PPP was guilty of, is flagrantly guilty of the most brazen acts of corruption in awarding contracts. The forensic audits themselves were corruptly awarded to their friends without any tender.

The Fedders Lloyd contract to build the Specialty Hospital is only the most recent example of tender and procurement corruption and brutish arrogance by APNU/AFC. Ramjattan, for example, responded to protests to recall the contract by saying that Fedders Lloyd will build the Hospital regardless of what anyone says.

In 2015, after 20 years, businesses have had their worse year, rice farmers are reeling from the lowest paddy prices, sugar workers have been denied wage increases and API for the first time, thousands lost their jobs because of discrimination and public servants received meagre increases for just six months and crime is spiralling out of control, pensioners have been betrayed and school children were denied cash grants.

These are just a few examples of why the majority of us do not trust APNU/AFC. The list of reasons why we are distrustful of APNU/AFC is too long for this column. But what is certain is that the promise by the President of a better 2016 is not reassuring.

We truly want a better Guyana, no matter which Government we have. But after just about eight months, we miss the PPP and we feel betrayed by APNU/AFC. Even with the disappointments of 2015, I wish all a Happy New Year and look forward for a better 2016.

(Please send comments to doc_ram@hotmail.com)

17

news

wednesday, december 30, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Rose Hall sanitation staff Man’s body dumped at GPHC strike for Christmas bonuses – taxi driver arrested

T

he body of a man believed to be in his mid-thirties was dumped outside the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Tuesday evening.

Guyana Times understands the body is suspected to be that of Hilbert Bennett of Lot 17 North Road, Georgetown.

This newspaper was told that the body was dumped from a yellow taxi and the driver has since been taken into custody.

Reports are that a security guard at the Hospital noticed the car lingering in the area and subsequently noticed the driver trying to lift a body out of the vehicle and quickly contacted the Police.

The body was picked up and taken into the Hospital and the driver of the taxi was arrested and handed over to Police.

At the Hospital, an employee identified the body and contacted family members.

A relative of the dead

man told Guyana Times that while he was still at a loss about the incident and has not seen the body, they were told it was identified as that of Bennett by a relative who works at the GPHC. This newspaper was told that Bennett had left home for the East Coast of Demerara ‘line top’ to purchase food.

Attempts were made to contact the young man all afternoon, but to no avail, a relative said. An investigation into the matter has since been launched.

Suicide victim’s relatives reject abuse allegations

By Jillicia Pinder

F

amily members of Lorenzo James, the young man who committed suicide on Boxing Day after allegedly beating his girlfriend of four years, are contradicting the abuse allegations made by the relatives of the young lady.

James was arrested after the incident, but subsequently escaped Police custody and took refuge at a friend’s home in South Ruimveldt. It is believed that this is where the young man ingested a poisonous substance.

The young man’s older sister, Carolina James, on Tuesday told this publication that her family was hesitant about the relationship from its inception, but allowed it since the girl’s mother had agreed to the relationship.

“We thought this to be a good move instead of the young people hiding the relationship and sneaking around, we figured it would be good to just come clean and if both parties are ok, we’ll let it be,” the sister stated.

She added that her brother had been living with the young lady and her mother for the past six to eight months, and she was very surprised when she heard of the abuse allegations.

The sister claimed that Lorenzo was always good to his girlfriend and would spend his last ‘dime’ to assist her and her family. She added that the

The dead man’s sister Carolina James (left) and mother Orian Ossorio

young lady had also worked with her family from time to time.

“Everybody has their good and bad ways, and I admit my brother was not perfect, but they can’t put all the blame on him. My brother worked several jobs just to sustain the girl’s family. He paid the house’s utility bills, for the girl to go to school including CXC (Caribbean Examination Council) exams, for dancing, and everything else she needed,” the young man’s sister explained.

“I don’t know what could have triggered him out, to this day. I just hoping God would ease all this,” James’s mother, Orian Ossorio told this publication.

Ossorio added that no one from the girl’s family had ever complained about any abuse.

Reports are that on Boxing Day James went to his girlfriend’s home at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara and as-

Dead: Lorenzo James

saulted her with a knife.

The young woman was rescued by her mother, who made a decision to return home after several calls to her daughter’s phone went unanswered.

Upon entering the house, she saw her daughter’s boyfriend, standing over her daughter with a knife. The taxi driver and a neighbour managed to arrest James and he was subsequently handed over to the Police.

After several hours at the police station, he escaped and drank a poisonous substance.

He reportedly wrote a letter and asked for it to be delivered to the young woman. (jpinder@guyanatimesgy.com)

E

mployees of the Rose Hall Municipality in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) have begun strike action in protest over the non-payment of Christmas bonuses.

The strike, which began on Tuesday, has resulted in heaps garbage being accumulated in some sections of the market. The labourers attached to the sanitation department of the municipality downed tools and refused to pick up the garbage.

According to them, they were denied a Christmas bonus, which was promised to them before Christmas Eve. The striking workers told Guyana Times that they will not resume work until the issue is properly addressed.

This newspaper was told that this is the third year that the sanitation department was not given Christmas bonuses.

Garvin Yaw, one of the employees on strike said that the department was promised a 30 per cent bonus for Christmas but they are yet to receive word about the payment from head of the Interim Management Committee (IMC).

“I have a family and need money like anybody else,” Yaw told this publication. Another worker said he will not be returning to work until the bonus is paid.

“Government give public servants $50,000 and when we are to get our money, they don’t want to give us.”

The workers’ action is being fully supported by the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) – the Union which represents the workers.

Garbage at the Rose Hall Market

According to Natasha Griffith, a GLU representative, the IMC has refused to allow the money to be released to the workers.

“At this point in time, they feel it best to do so until the Council comes to some resolution. The GLU gave them the green light to go ahead with their action. We had a discussion this morning [Monday] with the Chairman [Winston Hope] and I told him about the workers grievance at the moment but there is no amicable solution to the problem.”

When this newspaper contacted Town Clerk Lisa Punch, she said that the blame lies directly on the IMC’s Chairman, noting that he has not given the permission for payments to be made to council workers even though the Treasurer said that it could be afforded. “And so when the 30 per cent was taken to the statutory meeting, the Chairman stated that the Government

promised $50,000 and therefore we should wait and see if they will receive a payout from Government and so the 30 per cent was put on hold

GLU representative Natasha Griffith

to see if we will get $50,000.”

Punch said she has since written a letter to the Ministry of Communities on the issue and is still awaiting a response.

Efforts to get a comment from Chairman of the IMC Winston Hope were unsuccessful.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESday, DECember 30, 2015

ARCHIE

You can expect a gift, winning or financial gain to come (March 21- your way. Invest in your skills April 19) and don’t settle for anything less than what you want.

Negotiate wisely.

ARIES

Talks will lead to new TAURUS deals, knowledge and the (April 20- chance to engage in someMay 20) thing novel. Business trips will pay off, and expressing your ideas will persuade others to jump on board.

dilbert

Approach joint ventures GEMINI (May 21- with caution. Don’t get drawn June 20) into unrealistic plans that you cannot afford. A child or loved one will use emotional manipulation to get your attention or financial help.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

Don’t get into financial disputes. If someone wants you to invest or spend money, take a pass. Put your effort into your own creative ideas and improving your home and family.

Take a break, and sign up LEO for a relaxing or stress-reliev(July 23ing activity. Romance is highAug. 22) lighted, and planning upcoming projects and trips with someone special will bring you closer together.

Calvin and Hobbes

Attend functions that alVIRGO low you to share ideas with (Aug. 23your contemporaries. Making Sept. 22) a kind gesture will leave you feeling good. Refuse to let someone you love use emotional blackmail or guilt tactics.

Time is of the essence.

LIBRA (Sept. 23- Work quietly behind the Oct. 23) scenes to avoid interference.

Change is necessary, but how you go about it will be crucial.

Don’t let anger dominate your mind.

SUDOKU

Mull over your plans and SCORPIO consider locations, organiza(Oct. 24tions and people who could Nov. 22) contribute to your success.

Make connections and establish your strategy. A change at home will be misleading.

Focus on home, family and SAGITTARIUS the changes you can make to (Nov. 23- ensure that you are ready to Dec. 21) head into the new year with greater optimism and stability. Romance is highlighted.

solution for Last Published Puzzle

Take the safe route and CAPRICORN pay attention to detail.

(Dec. 22- Financial choices must be Jan. 19) handled shrewdly, especially if emotional issues are involved. Don’t donate or lend money. Invest in yourself, not someone else.

AQUARIUS Check out new invest(Jan. 20- ment or business prospects.

Feb. 19) Avoid purchasing a product that promises the impossible.

Focus on personal improvements that are a result of proper diet and fitness.

Don’t share personal sePISCES (Feb. 20- crets. Getting involved in gosMarch 20) sip or meddling in someone else’s affairs will lead to trouble.

Innovative ideas will lead to good fortune. Don’t overspend when trying to impress someone.

wednesday, december 30, 2015

19

Blatter gives up on FIFA, says fighting Goal-happy Barca set for his honour − Bunte sights on scoring record B F

resh from propelling Barcelona to their fifth trophy of 2015, their prolific strikers are now seeking to break the Spanish record of goals

ning the treble last season with 122 goals.

With the European Super Cup also in the bag, the only trophy to escape them was the domestic Super Cup

FC Barcelona’s Luis Suarez celebrates scoring their second goal with Neymar and Lionel Messi (Reuters photo)

in a calendar year when they play Real Betis on Wednesday.

Luis Suarez hit five goals in two games as Barca beat River Plate to lift the Club World Cup this month and they now have 176 goals this year, two less than the record set by Real Madrid in 2014.

Incredibly, 134 of those have come from Suarez and strike partners Lionel Messi and Neymar who were instrumental in Barca win-

which they lost to Athletic Bilbao.

Barca take on Betis with Suarez in particularly strong form with 24 goals from as many games and despite playing a match less they are still top of the table, if only on goal difference from Atletico Madrid, due to slip-ups by their rivals.

Barca’s match with Sporting Gijon was postponed due to their involvement in the Club World Cup but Real Madrid’s defeat

by Villarreal and Atletico Madrid’s loss at Malaga left the Catalan side in pole position.

“We have Iniesta, Pique, Busquets who are all great players but to have been able to bring together three players like Messi, Neymar and Suarez is something unique,” club president Josep Maria Bartomeu told reporters.

“I have never seen players before of that quality that combine together so well. We have the best trident in the history of football for sure. When you see the players you see success but behind that is a lot of work and effort.”

Real, in third and two points off the pace, take on Real Sociedad after a disappointing year and with continued speculation over the future of coach Rafa Benitez.

Real won the Club World Cup last year but missed out on trophies last season which led to the largely unpopular decision to dismiss coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Benitez has since been unable to win over many fans and the Madrid media, even a 10-2 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano in their last match doing little to ease the pressure on him. (Reuters

Sport)

anned FIFA president Sepp Blatter feels “abandoned” by the global football body and will now focus on clearing his name, the 79-year-old Swiss told German magazine Bunte.

FIFA’s watchdog last week banned Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini for eight years for ethics violations. Both men immediately denied any wrongdoing and said they would appeal to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“I now no longer fight for FIFA,” Blatter, who led football’s governing body for 17 years, said according to a preview of an interview with Bunte. “They abandoned me. I am now only fighting for myself and my honour.”

Blatter had come out swinging against the ban, holding a news conference to tell reporters that he was sorry only that the president

Sepp Blatter

of FIFA was being treated as a “punching ball”, adding: “I will fight for me and I will fight for FIFA.” He told Bunte that he was re-energised by the “false claims” against him.

“After Christmas I will start to fight back,” Blatter said.

The inquiry by FIFA’s ethics committee began after the Swiss attorney general’s office opened criminal proceedings against Blatter over a 2 million Swiss franc (£1.36 million) payment to

Platini in 2011.

Switzerland’s prosecutor is also investigating FIFA’s award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals to Russia and to Qatar, a small, wealthy desert country with no real football tradition.

The ethics committee said it had not found evidence that the payment, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, constituted a bribe, which meant the men were spared potential lifetime bans.

In the United States, prosecutors have indicted 27 current or former football officials over allegations that they ran bribery schemes connected to the sale of television rights for football competitions. These include eight former FIFA Executive Committee members and the current heads of both the North and South American federations. (Reuters

Sport)

Squeaky clean Cech eyes another title with Arsenal

A

rsenal’s Petr Cech is hoping to provide the perfect platform for the club to win the title after the goalkeeper celebrated a record by keeping his 170th

league clean sheets over 11 seasons at Stamford Bridge.

“I have to confess that I started thinking about the record. The most important thing was to win the game

achieved such a record is a great personal achievement,” the Czech Republic international added.

“What makes me happy the most, probably, is that

and once we got the 2-0 lead and it was going towards the end of the game,” Cech told reporters.

“In the last 10 minutes, I was checking the clock.

“I feel really proud because I believe that this is the best league in the world and one of the most difficult leagues to play for a goalkeeper, and so to have

these clean sheets have so far brought four Premier League trophies. So, hopefully, we will add clean sheets this season and we will celebrate at the end of the season. This is far more important.”

Arsenal host third-frombottom Newcastle United on Saturday. (Reuters Sport)

WADA finds Manning allegations concerning

A

llegations that American football legend Peyton Manning took human growth hormone should be investigated, says the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

Wada also described the allegations, which Manning dismissed as “complete garbage”, as “very concerning”.

Al Jazeera reported that Denver Broncos quarterback Manning was treated with human growth hormone (HGH) during his recovery from neck surgery in 2011.

Its source - Texas-based pharmacist Charlie Sly has since recanted.

The Al Jazeera documentary linked players from the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) with performance-enhanc-

Peyton Manning

ing drugs.

“Al Jazeera’s allegations are very concerning, particularly as it relates to the NFL’s and MLB’s testing programmes,” David Howman, director-general of Wada, said in a statement.

“While the NFL and the MLB are not signatories to the world anti-doping

code, in recent years Wada has been working with them and other professional leagues in the United States to try to bring them closer to Wada’s programme.

“As it relates to the particular allegations by Al Jazeera, Wada expects that they will be carefully investigated by the relevant authorities and that, if warranted, necessary and appropriate steps would be taken.”

The NFL collective bargaining agreement, ratified in 2011, banned HGH but players were not tested for it until 2014. No NFL player has tested positive for HGH. MLB said it would investigate allegations made in the documentary that several of its players took banned hormone supplement Delta-2. (BBC Sport)

Petr Cech

Premier League clean-sheet.

The 33-year-old surpassed the 169 shut-outs recorded by former England international David James as Arsenal beat Bournemouth 2-0 on Monday to go top of the table.

Cech joined the club in the close season following a trophy-laden career at Chelsea, having kept 162

20

guyanatimesGY.com

wednESday, december 30, 2015

NSC pleased with work Retrieve Raiders through to final due to forfeit done thus far T T

By Akeem Greene

he National Sports Commission (NSC) over the past months has been extremely active in helping to promote the development of all disciplines in Guyana.

Director of Sport Christopher Jones is of the view that his tenure in office has seen significant improvements. “I would categorized it as somewhat fruit, as we got the chance to meet with various officials, on December 12; in fact that will set the course we will pursue in 2016”, Jones revealed.

Jones explained that a collaborative effort is needed between the commission and various associations to strengthen them with the aim of creating more efficiency. The Director revealed that during the various meeting the aim was to provide a more supportive role for the various associations. “When we meet with them [associations] it was with the aim of the national sports commission supporting those associations in significant way”. Jones said.

He further added that the aim is “to works those associations lagging behind as it regards their accountability

and constitution”.

Any effective sport system would need to have guidelines that give clarity over conduct. Jones said in this regard, “there will be the realization of a national sports policy document”.

The new National Sport Policy will seek to lift sporting standards in Guyana, starting from the level of the youth. Developed collectively through a process led by stakeholders’ engagement,

Director of Sport Christopher Jones

the new policy will allow for the adoption of best practices in moving the country forward in sports development.

The current policy is been reviewed, a policy that was formulated since 2009.

In creating a greater fusion with important sporting

bodies in Guyana, Jones explained that “we have meet with the Guyana Olympic Association; we have twined some agreements where both units will be working together to train persons from those associations as it relates accountability and proper management”.

The director of sport also indicated that 2016 could see a community ground enhancement projects in an effort to provide more facilities for athletes of persons alike. “We want to spend a minimum of $10M per Community Ground and this would happen through the NDCs [Neighbourhood Democratic Council]; if we start in 2016 we can target 20 NDCs across the country”. According to Jones, the community ground enhancement project are not only to ensure that the ground is prepared but there is fence, there is light and also we have to ensure that we space for creative arts The Commission is contending that investing in the infrastructural aspect of the development of sports in Guyana, coupled with strengthening the administrative bodies will create a stronger structure for sports to thrive under. (akeemg@guyana-

he Retrieve Raiders advanced to the final of this year’s Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s Malta Supreme Christmas Open basketball championship via a forfeit.

Amelia’s Ward Jets refused to continue their game on Monday evening with the scores reading in the second quarter 21-10 for the Raiders with 8:17s remaining due to what the Jets termed as improper playing surface due to earlier rainfall in the afternnon.

It was an abrupt end to the first semifinal contest where the unbeaten Raiders were ranked number one after ending the preliminary round with an unblemished record. The Jets who lost to the Raiders in that round robin play complained that MSC surface was not proper to play on.

However, the court was not wet according to the game officials and after giving the jets some time to

consider the conditions the team, through its captain Parrish Cadogan indicated its decision to not play.

Secretary of the LABA, Joseph Chapman said that he personally intervened be-

were present watching the encounter.

The LABA official said that the matter will be dealt with soon by the association and sanctions will most likely follow.

fore the game was called off and explained that the game officials were the ones making the call on the conditions of the surface.

Chapman said that the Jets bluntly refused to continue their game in the presence of scores of fans who

The other semifinal between Half Mile Bulls and Victory Valley Royals had to be postponed as well as play ended after the first quarter with the score on 11-7 in favour of the Bulls due to rain at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.

McKenzie shines with cross-country win

– Foster continues dominance

timesgy.com)

Finn puts England on course for victory

Steve Finn led England’s victory push with three wickets.

(Getty Images)

S

teven Finn made the vital incisions for England as they remained on course for victory in the opening Test at Kingsmead. He claimed three wickets, continuing Hashim Amla’s horror run of form and then snaffling Faf du Plessis in the dying moments of the day, to leave South Africa 136 for 4 after they had been set 416 or 140 overs to survive.

South Africa’s slim hopes were left with AB de Villiers, who was unbeaten on 37 at the close. However, England could have been further advanced towards a win in the opening Test of an away se-

ries for just the second time since 2004 had they taken a chance offered by him on 33.

Facing Moeen Ali, de Villiers came down the pitch and was beaten by sharp turn and bounce from round the wicket, but Jonny Bairstow could not gather the stumping chance. Until then it had been a positive day for Bairstow, who struck 79 off 76 balls to swell England’s lead but, while acknowledging it was a tough chance, his latest error will do nothing to quieten the debate about the wicketkeeping position.

It appeared de Villiers and du Plessis, who had revived

memories of the second innings in Delhi with his deadbatted defence, would take South Africa to the end of the day in a position from where they would have had visions of a draw. Then, in what became the final over, Finn produced a terrific lifting delivery around off stump which forced du Plessis to play and Alastair Cook held on at first slip.

Whether South Africa bring out another blockathon only time will tell, but they began the innings with a positive intent as the fifty came up in the 10th over. But Ben Stokes, who initially appeared to be struggling with a foot problem, provided the first breakthrough and Finn produced a telling four-over spell which brought 2 for 12, removing Amla and the inform Dean Elgar, as conditions turned gloomy and the floodlights came on.

Stiaan Van Zyl, who nipped in with 3 for 20 to finish off England’s innings for an injury-hit South Africa attack, quickly avoided a pair and although he offered a sharp, low chance to short leg on 6 played some fine strokes in the period leading into tea as he took on the pace bowlers. However, after six meaty boundaries he failed to cover the line of a Stokes delivery from round the wicket which squeezed between bat and pad. With Stephen Cook making a big hundred in the current round of Sunfoil

Andrea Foster

Matthew McKenzie

alented middle-distance junior athlete Matthew McKenzie continued his rise as one of Guyana’s better prospects with a win in a 6km crosscountry event held in the National Park on Sunday as the Athletics Association of Guyana’s final event of the year.

McKenzie breezed to a

comfortable Under-20 boys’ win, stopping the clock at 23:29.23s, but finished third overall, while Troy Hestick was second in a time of 26:33.5s for the Under 20s.

Dorway Logan, who finished second overall, won the Masters 6km event in a time of 25:33.90s. Franklyn Archer copped the second position in the Masters event

matches he could face a nervous wait to see if he holds on to his place.

His opening partner, Elgar, is far more secure and until he edged a full delivery from Finn to second slip - where Joe Root did well to react to the catch, which came from an unusual angle with the batsman jabbing at the ball - he had spent every moment of the match on the field.

That wicket came eight balls after Finn had claimed Amla, who had actually looked much more assertive at the start of this innings. He was off the mark with a backfoot drive and then crunched Stuart Broad over midwicket, but facing Finn he played an indeterminate cut which

sent a thick edge through to Bairstow.

The first period of the day had gone as expected once South Africa did not extract a cluster of early wickets.

Dane Piedt bagged his maiden Test five-wicket, shouldering a heavy burden along-

T

with a time of 27:45.81s.

Samuel Lynch won the boys’ Under-18 4km crosscountry event in a time of 14:47.11, while Nathan Saul finished second in 15:23.08s.

Winning the boys’ Under-16 4km event was Jeremy Garrett with a time of 14:49.43s, while Daniel Melville took second with a time of 15:23.08s.

On the distaff side, World Championship representative Andrea Foster continued her good year of success with an easy win on Sunday by clocking 24:33.52s in the 6km event.

Claudrice McKoy, one of Guyana’s upcoming prospects, finished a close second with a time of 24:36.05s.

Maria Urquhart was third in a time of 25:45.81s.

The Under-18 4km event was won by Maria McKenzie in a time of 18:15.86s, while Serena Williams won the Under-16 version of the event in a time of 17:05.03s. side Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott in the absence of the injured Dale Steyn. However, Amla opted not to take the new ball and seemed content for England’s innings to take its natural course rather than force the pace. (Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD England 1st innings 303 214 South Africa 1st innings England 2nd innings 326 South Africa 2nd innings (target: 416 runs) D Elgar c Root b Finn 40 S van Zyl b Stokes 33 HM Amla* c †Bairstow b Finn 12 AB de Villiers† not out 37 F du Plessis c Cook b Finn 9

DW Steyn not out 0 Extras (b 2, lb 3) 5 Total (4 wickets; 47 overs) 136 To bat: JP Duminy, T Bavuma, KJ Abbott, M Morkel, DL Piedt Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-85, 3-88, 4-136 Bowling: SCJ Broad 11-4-25-0, CR Woakes 6-2-17-0, ST Finn 8-3-27-3, BA Stokes 7-1-261, MM Ali 15-3-36-0.

sports

YELLOW PAGES

Holder hurting after latest West Indies defeat J

wednesday, december 30, 2015

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ason Holder was left hurt by another West Indies defeat in Melbourne as Australia wrapped up the Test series with one match to play.

West Indies captain Jason Holder was left frustrated and disappointed after the tourists slipped to a 177-run defeat to Australia in Melbourne.

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The same could not be said for the top order as they all failed to convert starts into big scores, wickets falling regularly as Australia closed in on victory.

Mitchell Marsh (4-61) completed the win as Jerome Taylor (0) became his fourth victim of the innings, hand-

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services

Jason Holder

ing the hosts the series with one match to play.

“It hurts,” said Holder.

“You’re playing for your country and you lose games, it’s not a nice feeling, especially after all we’ve been through.

“Knowing everything going on around us it’s just disappointing but I thought we showed a lot of improvement from the first Test match.

“Obviously I’m still disappointed we didn’t put up a better fight but credit to the way the guys played, especially [Darren] Bravo in the first innings and Ramdin in the second.”

He added: “I thought the bowlers tried, and it was a better effort in this game.

“We’ve got to look at how we bowl, we didn’t come up the mark again. We didn’t control the game the way we would have liked, obviously the bowlers were going a fair bit, they need to take stock of what they are doing and understand a little bit more the situations in the game.

“Our bowlers need to be a lot more disciplined than we are at the moment. We need to control the game more, we have to find ways to contain.”

The third and final Test starts in Sydney on Sunday.

(Digicel Sportsmax)

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lowly but surely, Australia worked their way through the West Indies for a victory that kept the Frank Worrell Trophy in their possession for 20 unbroken years, stretching back to the triumph of Mark Taylor’s team in the Caribbean in 1995.

Having fought hard over the final two days of the Test, West Indies lost their final four wickets for 32 in ten overs, allowing Steven Smith’s team to enjoy success inside four days after they declared before play began to set Jason Holder’s men a target of 460.

With the benefit of more time in Australia, the visitors put up a better show than they managed in Hobart, though the hosts were never in any danger of losing the match. It was more a question of time, and Holder was despondent at a checked drive to mid-off that opened up the tail to the second new ball with a handful of overs remaining in the day.

Mitchell Marsh claimed that wicket, and it was his fast-medium that did the majority of the damage for Smith. At times touching speeds in excess of 140kph and getting the ball to climb off the seam, Marsh vindicated the national selectors’ commitment to keeping an allrounder in their XI despite a logjam further up the batting order that forced the omission of his brother Shaun after a record stand with Adam Voges in Hobart.

Nathan Lyon and James Pattinson also contributed strongly, the offspinner’s seven wickets earning him the Man-of-the-Match garlands on a surface that remained good for batting throughout.

Lyon’s final victim was the debutant Carlos Brathwaite, who ended a memorable first Test appearance by having

his off-bail fall after it was grazed ever so gently by an offbreak.

C Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Holder and Denesh Ramdin all had something to take from the match, which showed that this young West Indian side may not be beyond all help. They have been awfully short of experience and confidence in recent months, but there were signs of promise over the past two days that will be cause for optimism in the mind of the coach Phil Simmons.

Kraigg Brathwaite and Rajendra Chandrika made a reasonable start, trying to score wherever possible and seeing off the opening spells of Pattinson and Josh Hazlewood.

However, Lyon has been a dominant performer for Australia in this match, and in his third over he coaxed K Brathwaite into an ill-advised cut at a ball too straight and too full for the shot. Duly cramped, K Brathwaite skewed a chance to slip, where Smith held it sharply.

Following his first innings resistance, Bravo began with similar intent to frustrate Australia, and with Chandrika also obstinate, the Australians were unable to go on to further

exploit Lyon’s initial break.

Fifteen minutes before lunch, Pattinson thought he had Chandrika lbw, and after Marais Erasmus declined the appeal, the Australians shaped to review the decision.

However they lingered in their deliberations and were overruled from referring by Erasmus on the basis that they had taken more than the allotted 15 seconds to decide. This was perhaps a blessing in disguise, as replays showed a shuffling Chandrika had been struck outside the line of the off stump.

Moments before lunch, Hazlewood procured an edge from Bravo, but replays showed that Hazlewood had none of his front foot behind the line and a no-ball was ultimately called. Hazlewood’s transgression followed two

by Pattinson on day three that also robbed Australia of wickets.

The assistant coach Craig McDermott doubtlessly will be keeping a close watch on the crease line in training for the third Test in Sydney.

Peter Siddle was more disciplined when he repeated the trick soon after the resumption, ending Bravo’s occupation after facing a total of 265 balls in the match. (Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD Australia 1st innings 551 West Indies 1st innings 271 Australia 2nd innings 179 West Indies 2nd innings (target: 460 runs) KC Brathwaite c Smith b Lyon 31 R Chandrika lbw b Pattinson 37 DM Bravo c †Nevill b Siddle 21 MN Samuels c †Nevill b Marsh 19 J Blackwood lbw b Lyon 20 D Ramdin† c †Nevill b Marsh 59 JO Holder* c Hazlewood b Marsh 68

CR Brathwaite b Lyon 2 KAJ Roach c Warner b Pattinson 11 JE Taylor c Pattinson b Marsh 0 JA Warrican not out 4 Extras (lb 7, w 1, nb 2) 10 Total (all out; 88.3 overs) 282 Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-83, 3-91, 4-118, 5-150, 6-250, 7-253, 8-274, 9-278, 10-282 Bowling: JR Hazlewood 20-640-0, JL Pattinson 17-4-49-2, NM Lyon 23-7-85-3, PM Siddle 9-2-35-1, MR Marsh 17.3-2-614, SPD Smith 2-1-5-0.

22

guyanatimesGY.com

wednesday, december 30, 2015

Adidas MLS Player Combine…

GFF awaiting confirmation on players' selection − Somerset, Lanferman relish shot at MLS

P

ele FC’s Jumane Somerset and Delon Lanferman of Alpha United said that the MLS Combine is something every top Guyanese player should at least be given a chance to attend.

The two returned to Guyana last week after participating in December 17-20 MLS Combine in Curacao; an event organised by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) through their partnership with USA’s Major League Soccer.

After joining other players from within the confines of the CFU and competing in front of professional scouts, Somerset and Lanferman are now awaiting confirmation from the GFF, who will be informed by the CFU if one of, or both Guyanese players were good enough

to gain an invitation to the annual Adidas MLS Player Combine in Florida on January 8-13, 2016.

“It was a wonderful experience and I hope other players will get a chance to at least be seen,” Somerset said in an interview upon his return. Somerset, 22, is described as one of Guyana’s top defenders, but the player is also yet to make his Golden Jaguar debut.

Pele FC finished third in the Stag Elite League (Genesis) and conceded a total of 14 goals in their 16 matches played. Only league champions Slingerz FC (9) and Alpha United (11) conceded fewer goals.

“It wasn’t easy at all, and I think that I did my best.

The coaches were hard on us and treated us like professionals. Apart from doing

Delon Lanferman

Jumane Somerset

drills, we played couple of games against a local side,” the Pele FC defender said.

Asked about the level of play, he added, “I honestly expected more but I think our league level was way higher because I had a more difficult time mark-

ing players like Lanferman, (Vurlon) Mills and Daniel (Wilson) but I think I did my best so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

Meanwhile, for Lanferman, it was something he said that could not have come at better time in

NAGICO Super 50…

Barnwell looking for breakthrough season

his career.

Lanferman finished the League (Genesis) as the highest goal scorer (11), one more than Pele’s Gregory Richardson. He played a pivotal role in his club’s success this year, despite them finishing second behind Slingerz Football Club.

The 20-year-old Lanferman is yet to make his Senior National team debut, though representing Guyana at the U-20 and U-23 levels.

“The level wasn’t all of that as I was expecting and I think it was good for me and Jumane because we were playing all the time so it was nothing new, but it was exciting” Lanferman said.

The CFU/MLS Combine caters for players between the ages of 18 – 22 years-old and is an annual showcase

GBFA to launch Corona Beer National Beach Soccer League

− “I need to capitalize on my starts” says all-rounder

By Akeem Greene

T

he name Christopher Barnwell is certainly known by many on the cricket circuit for his robust batting ability.

Commonly called “Bull” when he is at the Demerara Cricket Club, Barnwell hosts immense ability with both ball and bat but unfortunately he has not lived up to expectations by being a more consistent performer.

When Guyana Times Sport spoke to the allrounder during the Guyana Jaguars training, Barnwell was full of confidence and sited this season as one where he hopes his performances can speak for themselves.

“I’m feeling confident leading up to the one day tournament, going back to the four day tournament, where I had a few good innings , so the confidence is there”, the cricketer said.

Barnwell made his Twenty20 debut for Guyana against Bermuda, in the Stanford 20/20 tournament in Antigua in 2008. Later in 2008 he made his List A debut for Guyana in the regional 50-overs competition, opening both the batting and bowling, and scoring a fifty.

His T20I debut for West Indies was in April 2011 in the home series against Pakistan. He also played in the one-off T20 match against India on June fourth 2011, in which he scored an unbeaten 34 off just 16 deliv-

eries.

In the 2012-13 Caribbean T20 competition, Barnwell returned an all-round performance of 88 runs (49 balls) and spell of 1 for 19 in four overs against Jamaica

we went semi final and the last year we went the final, so it’s time we complete the job”, Barnwell said.

In a Guyana team that has more often than not been dominated by

to be a more constant face in the regional side due to his undoubtedly ability.

With the World T20 tournament to be held next year in India, and the lucrative offers that players can capitalize on, healthy

T

Rollin Tappin

he Guyana Beach Football Association (GBFA) will host the flagship Corona Beer National Beach Soccer League, slated to commence on January 31.

The opening event, scheduled to take place at the Bayroc Beach Soccer Park, Wismar, Linden will be marked by an official ceremony and cultural extravaganza.

Barnwell about to take a catch during practice

to take Guyana to the final. That performance went a long way in earning him a USD 50,000 worth contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2013 IPL Player Auction. Now the former Guyana Captain, in retrospect to the teams previous performances believes they complete the job this year around, Looking back at the previous two years,

the spin of Bishoo and Permaul, Barnwell's considerable pace provides balance in the bowling.

On his day his pacy legcutters can be a handful.

Capable of batting well enough to open, he can also switch to power hitting, which has helped Guyana to a couple of regional Twenty20 titles. At 28 years old, many pundit would expect him by now

performances will be vital but Barnwell is seemingly relaxed as his emphasis is on making sure Guyana wins the competition. “ I’ m just looking forward to tournament, taking one day at, time; I would love to play the World Cup [T20] but if I get performances that will deal with selection for itself; If I get a good match performance the team will benefit from

of Caribbean football talent organised jointly by MLS and the CFU, with the inaugural Combine being held in January 2014.

The Combine provides opportunities for Caribbean players to be observed by MLS scouts with the hopes of being invited to the MLS Combine, an invite-only showcase event held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida prior to the annual MLS SuperDraft.

The Combine is part of an agreement between the two entities as they try to promote football development throughout the Caribbean region.

Gregory “Jackie Chan” Richardson is the first and only Guyanese player so far to be signed by an MLS club following his 2009 deal with the Colorado Rapids.

it”, the Demerara Cricket Club player explained.

The player who wears the number 90 on his back in the shorter version of the game, averages 20.40 with the bat from 26 games with just 3 half centuries in the 50 overs format. With the ball he has picked up 21 wickets at an average of 34.14 with the best bowling performance of 4-31. In assessing his ability he has revealed that he needs carry on more and produce the big scores. “I need to capitalize on the starts, I have been getting decent starts, but not carrying to get big scores, so I think that’s what needed this tournament ; whenever called upon to bowl, I execute my plans when up front with the new ball or in the death overs”,

Ten teams from across Guyana will vie for one million dollars in cash and prizes. Games are expected to be played once weekly; every Sunday at the Bayroc Beach soccer park and at Kuru Kururu on the Sosedyke, Linden highway.

Competing, will be six teams from Linden, two from Georgetown, one from the East Bank of Demerara and one from East Coast.

GBFA President Rollin Tappin said the objective of the League is to "foster growth and development and to spread the game in the eyes and ears of all of Guyana".

He added that through this league, the GBFA intends to roll out an aggressive development plan focusing on all facets of the game for senior men, boys and women, as well as coaching, refereeing and financial empowerment for clubs.

the right hander said. It would surprise no one if Chris Barnwell develops into a good West Indies all-rounder, but he needs to build consistency at the highest levels.

In looking at the team train, they seemed to have a step in their confidence and the results from the first practice game showed that are heading in the right direction. Barnwell is of the view that the team is eager to go and perform well as they have been doing in the longer formats.

The training squad plays a day/night match at the Providence National stadium today beginning for 14:00 after which has already been picked will be named. (akeemg@guyanatimesgy)

wednesday, december 30, 2015

UDFA GT Beer Competition…

23 Defeat at MCG equals another unwanted WI record guyanatimesGY.com

Semi-finals on tonight at MSC Ground T

By Avenash Ramzan

− Winners Connection face Topp XX, Net Rockers tackle Silver Shattas

Colwyn David (Silver Shattas)

D

efending champions Federal Winners Connection will be challenged by a determined Topp XX side and Net Rockers face the upstarts Silver Shattas in semifinal clashes in this year’s Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) GT Beer third year-end soccer championship at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground.

The first heavy weight clash involving the champions Winners Connection and Topp XX which is being seen as a virtual final for football pundits who considers the clash to hold the probable winner of the tournament.

That being said Topp XX must be at their best

Marmalaque Davidson (Winners Connection)

to suppress this Winners Connection side which for the past two years have won this championship.

Their coach/ player Collie Hercules has decided to come off the bench to allow him time to most likely finish the game. But this would mean the forward line of Shawn ‘Dash’ Daniels and Terrence Aaron must be able to handle the defence of Winners Connection.

Also the midfield of Topp XX is strong and with Hercules adding to the presence of starters Travis ‘Chicken’ Waterton, who is a solid player, Quacy Johnson and Ryan Noel, should allow Topp XX to pose a threat to Winners Connection.

Meanwhile, the champions are confident with their front line being led by the experienced Rawle ‘Boney’ Gittens and young Marmalaque Davidson; at midfield there will be the

capable Keon Sears, Gary Thompson and Chris Young while the defence has veteran Marlon Maxius, upcoming Derrol Dainty and Linden Nicholson.

The second semifinal brings together the Silver Shattas side which is still concerned about their fitness coming up against the running Net Rockers side which demolished Milerock 5-1 in their last game.

While the Shattas have some talent this will be a test for them, and how they respond will determine the outcome of this important game.

They will rest their hopes on the courageous goalkeeper Kellon Adams

Denzil Pryce (Net Rockers)

who will have his work cut out; and just ahead of him leading the line of defenders is the Shattas captain Leon ‘Woody’ Clement. The midfield is centered around Jesse Waldron and the forward line is their most potent area with Rawlston Fraser, Colwyn David and Ronald Matthews taking care of business.

Net Rockers will spare no time in attacking this Shattas side and with the possible return of central defender Omeion Wills, along with Deshawn Joseph they will be assured of some steadiness in their play.

Their schemers are Orande Wills and Jermain Fordyce and taking care of their offense going forward are

here has been plenty of talk about West Indies resilience for the better part of the second Test against Australia at the MCG, as for the first time since 2012 they were able to bat out 80-plus overs in both innings of an overseas Test match.

Their best effort on the tour still resulted in defeat however, albeit in four days as Steven Smith’s Australians tightened their grip on the Frank Worrell Trophy, which they have been holding since that infamous series in the Caribbean in 1995 when Mark Taylor’s men started what would eventually become years of terminal decline for the regional side.

Despite some level of fight in the Boxing Day Test, this latest defeat equalled the record for the number of Test losses by the West Indies in a calendar year, as it represented the third time that they have lost eight matches between January and December.

They also lost eight in 2004 and 2005, but in those years they had played more Test matches. During the last 12 months, the West Indies were engaged in 10 Tests, while they played 11 in 2005 and 12 in 2004.

In terms of percentage of matches lost, only once have they fared worse: in 1928 they lost three out of three, compared to eight out of ten this year.

All told in 2015, the West Indies played four Tests against Australia, three against England, two against Sri Lanka and one against South Africa. Apart from a draw in Antigua and a five-wicket win in Barbados, both against England, the West Indies were subjected to heavy defeats, two by an innings and another two by over 175 runs.

The year started with an eight-wicket thumping at the hands of South Africa in Cape Town, and that was followed by the high-

scoring draw against the Englishmen.

Defeat number two of the year, a nine-wicket drubbing by England, took place in Grenada, and the very next Test match, the Windies recorded their lone victory of the year to secure a creditable drawn series against Alistair Cook’s team.

As has been the case on numerous occasions during the past two decades, that

captain was glorified by the Clive Lloyd-led selection panel.

“He is a young man that all of the selectors, people in the Caribbean and worldwide believe has several of the qualities that can take our team forward,” Lloyd said after Holder’s appointment in September last.

He added, “We felt the time was right for a change and we feel he will do as well as he did when he was

The ever-dependable Shivnarine Chanderpaul was dropped in 2015, leaving a gaping hole in the middle-order

win provided false hope, as the West Indies slumped to six consecutive defeats to end another year with more questions than answers.

The off-field distractions, the unavailability of key players, and the abrupt sacking of the region’s most capped Test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul certainly did not help the team’s cause, as twin defeats to Australia by nine wickets in Dominica and by 277 runs in Jamaica prompted a change in leadership, with wicketkeeper/ batsman Denesh Ramdin relieved of the captaincy role and the responsibility placed on the shoulders of young Jason Holder.

With only eight Tests to his name, Holder was still at the embryonic stage as an international cricketer, but his appointment as

elevated to the position of One-day International captain ahead of the World Cup. We had a number of detractors when he was appointed ODI captain, but he showed during the ODI series in South Africa and the World Cup that he had the qualities that were needed to take our team forward.

We expect to get new thinking and new dynamism from him. Jason commands respect. He is a fine young man, very intelligent and he seems to get the best from the players because he is a straightforward guy. I think the players will warm to him. He has a young bunch of players and we feel he can guide them in the manner that is required for internationals.”

Opinions were split following his elevation to the role, and what was to fol-

PCB rejects Azhar Ali resignation over Amir

A

Shawn Daniels (Topp XX)

Shane Luckie and Denzil Pryce. The Net Rockers coach ‘Ax-man’ Wills said no stones will be left unturned as they seek to reach the final, but at the same time they will attack with caution as they are not underrating any opponent. The final is set for Friday January 1.

low was a rude baptism, as the West Indies lost to Sri Lanka by an innings and six runs in Galle and then by 72 runs in the next Test in Colombo.

The Australians were in no mood to spare Holder’s men either, as the first Test in Hobart ended in an innings and 212-run loss inside three days, followed by the 177-run defeat in Melbourne.

West Indies highest total in 2015 was 350-7 against England in that drawn Test, while the lowest was 114 in the huge loss to Australia in Jamaica. In 20 innings during the year, there were only three totals above 300, and seven under 200. The West Indies also conceded nine totals over 300.

There were only five individual centuries with Darren Bravo, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Marlon Samuels and Holder getting past the three-figure mark. Bravo was the leading runscorer with 644 at 35.77 with one hundred and five fifties, followed by Blackwood (616 at 34.22), Brathwaite (485 at 24.25), Samuels (484 at 26.88), Holder (454 at 28.37) and Ramdin (379 at 19.94).

On the bowling side, Jerome Taylor captured 28 wickets at 29.89, followed by Holder (18 at 39.50), Devendra Bishoo (15 at 34.06) and Shannon Gabriel (10 at 43.90). There were only three five-wicket hauls, with Brathwaite claiming 6-29, Taylor 6-47 and Bishoo 6-80.

At the post-match conference following the latest defeat in Melbourne on Tuesday, Holder said, “Obviously, proud of the way the guys showed some fight in the game. So disappointed that we didn’t put up a better fight, but still credit to the way the guys played.”

The West Indies first Test in 2016 starts on January 3 in Sydney, and it would take a lot more fight to turn around the flagging fortunes of the past year.

zhar Ali has agreed to continue as Pakistan’s ODI captain after a request by him to resign, over the presence of Mohammad Amir at the training camp in Lahore for the national team, was rejected by the PCB. “Azhar Ali met the chairman PCB [Shaharyar Khan]. He tendered his resignation. The chairman didn’t accept his resignation, Azhar Ali agreed and he will continue as captain,” the PCB said in a statement.

Azhar, along with Mohammad Hafeez, had refused to join the camp

Azhar Ali

earlier, but had finally relented following a meeting with Shaharyar Khan.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Azhar had agreed to join the camp, but had

said he would need time to decide on his role as captain.

Amir is in the selection mix for the first time after his five-year ban for spot-

fixing in the 2010 Lord’s Test. He was one of the 26 probables named for Pakistan’s pre-season conditioning camp. Azhar and Hafeez were originally scheduled to join the camp after completing domestic matches, but they did not do so. Azhar went on to state that he would not attend the camp “as long as Amir is there”. After their meeting with Khan, though, the PCB chairman had said: “I do respect their concerns but some of them, I told them, are not acceptable. So they understood and confirmed that they are on the same page with us.” (Cricinfo)

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

WEDNesday, december 30, 2015

Australia v West Indies, 2nd Test, Melbourne

Australia seal 20 years of Worrell Trophy dominance against lowly Windies Pg 21

Australia celebrate after retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy, (Cricket Australia/ Getty Images)

Defeat at MCG equals another unwanted WI record Pg 23

Darren Bravo was the West Indies’ leading Test runscorer during 2015

Jason Holder has endured a torrid time as Test captain

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