11-12-2016

Prince Harry’s visit will boost Guyana’s P13 Tourism – British Envoy Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 3038

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Saturday, November 12, 2016

PRICE

Joint Services in massive exercise against “domestic security threat”

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

GTT, PUC clash again over P9 increased landline rates

Page 3

… citizens asked to cooperate

Charlestown man gunned down in Albouystown Page 10

Bandits beat, rob Bagotstown friends

Budget 2017

PSC gives growth stimulation recommendations P16 to Govt

Page 10

GPHC’s X-ray department P12 out of commission Cousins P11 nabbed with 44Kg ganja ExxonMobil moves rig for next Guyana P3 wildcat

Police issues wanted P11 bulletin for fraudster Santa’s coming to town: Scores of families came out in high spirits to witness the annual Courts Christmas Tree Light Up on Main Street, Georgetown on Friday

GRDB slapped with $99.6M lawsuit Page 7

2

saturDAY, november 12, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

news

3

SaturDAY, november 12, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Demerara – Saturday, November 12 – 14:30h-16:00h and Sunday, November 13 – 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Saturday, November 12 – 14:20h-15:50h and Sunday, November 13 – 15:05h-16:35h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Early morning sunshine is expected to give way to light rain showers which are expected throughout most of the day. Sunny weather is expected to return in the late afternoon with partly cloudy skies expected in the evening. Temperatures are expected to range between 25 degrees and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly to easterly between 2.68 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 02:27h and 14:48h reaching maximum heights of 2.64 metres and 2.78 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 08:20h and 20:48h reaching minimum heights of 0.54 metre and 0.40 metre respectively.

Joint Services in massive exercise against “domestic security threat” …citizens asked to cooperate

O

ne day after Head of State, President David Granger sounded an alarm that the recent uptick in criminal activities is in fact a part of a coordinated effort to embarrass the Government and the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the administration says it has received credible information related to a potential domestic security threat and will respond with a massive security crackdown.

According to the Ministry of the Presidency, the security exercise will be conducted by the Joint Services— the GPF and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

“Citizens are asked not be alarmed, but to cooperate with security forces where necessary… The safety of all residents and visitors to Guyana remains a top priority for the administration,” according an official notification from the Ministry of the Presidency.

The Ministry said that

Citizens are asked not be alarmed, but to cooperate with security forces where necessary

the action is in response to the credible threat it has received, “coupled with increased criminal activity (that) has resulted in the decision by the Administration to institute security measures in targeted areas.”

The security crackdown begins today and according to the Ministry, “citizens can expect to see helicopters providing aerial coverage and an increased number of Police Officers, along with members of the GDF on the ground in certain areas.”

Granger on Thursday met with members of the local media corps for his ‘The Public Interest’ television programme and said, “I am suggesting that the pattern of crimes that we have seen is part of a campaign.”

According to the Head of State, “I get the impression that these crimes, they are crimes, they are almost to embarrass the Police Force, to embarrass the Government.”

The President was adamant that “we have to be

very careful that people are committing crimes because of some ulterior motives…

Maybe it is to show that the Police Force is weak or the Government is weak.”

The operation also coincides with a very public spat between Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud and his likely successor David Ramnarine, which the President said could in fact embolden criminal elements.

Lamenting on the fact that the matter has in fact been playing out in the public domain, Granger called the state of affairs unseemly and of concern, since it could in fact not only have a negative impact on the morale of the ranks of the force, but can embolden criminal elements looking to do mischief.

He suggested too that such high-level quarrelling in the hierarchy of the Police Force can also undermine the public trust in the institution.

ExxonMobil moves rig for next Guyana wildcat

saturday, november 5, 2016

LOTTERY NUMBERS D

8

4

10 12 16 27 22 Bonus Ball

FREE TICKET

Friday, November 11, 2016

Daily Millions

5

10 14 18 20

LUCKY 3 7

1

8

3

Afternoon Draw

Draw De Line 4 11 12 17 18

4

0

Evening Draw

19 20

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

E

xxonMobil has mobilised drillship Stena Carron to the Payara wildcat offshore Guyana where the US oil exploration giant will test the third prospect on the same block at its massive Liza oil discovery.

The drillship left the Liza 3 location early Thursday for a 10-mile move northeast to the Payara location, where ExxonMobil and its partners will drill the latest wildcat on the sprawling Stabroek block.

US independent Hess and Nexen, a CNOOC subsidiary, are partners in the oil exploration activities being undertaken in Guyana and according to Chief Executive John He, Payara was a "very similar stratigraphic trap and same kind of reservoir sequence as the other Liza wells."

estimated recoverable resources to be at the upper end of the previously announced range of 800 million to 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent,” Hess said, when announcing its third quarter results.

Turn to page 11

Drillship Stena Carron

Results from Payara are expected in January.

The Stena Carron had drilled Liza 3 to a total depth of 18,100 feet in 6000 feet of water on a location about 2.7 miles (4.3 kilometres) from the Liza 1 discovery.

The Liza 3 well hit around 200 feet (61 metres) of net pay “in the same high-quality reservoirs” as the first two Liza wells, according to block partner Hess.

“Based on the Liza-3 results, we now expect the

4

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURday, november 12, 2016

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

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

Editorial

Trump and immigration

T

he world is still trying to come to grips with the fact that, in spite of what many believed and even what the polls said, Republican candidate Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America after defeating his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in last Monday’s election.

It is no secret that the recent election was one of the most bitter and divisive US election campaigns in the history of that country. Trump campaigned on a narrow, divisive anti-immigrant and American nationalistic agenda and it was bought by a majority of American voters. As happened in Britain over the Brexit vote, many citizens were fed up with the current establishment and thought that it would be good to push for a change in the status quo.

In sealing the victory that stunned the world, Mr Trump won what are called the key battleground states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as Wisconsin gaining an overall total of 276 Electoral College votes in his race for the Whitehouse.

Many Guyanese kept a close watch on the US election, as there is a close connection with that country considering the fact that at least every family here has a relative or a close friend in that country. Given Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail - from his description of Mexicans to his attitude towards Muslims and minorities; it is fair to say that the majority of Caribbean citizens residing in the US perceived Trump to be prejudiced and divisive. For this reason, many of them, including thousands of Guyanese residing there had hoped for a Clinton victory.

They thought that a Clinton presidency would better represent their interests, chief of which is the issue of immigration. It is well known that many Caribbean nationals, including Guyanese are among the millions of illegal immigrants living in the US and they were anxiously waiting for the day when they could have their status regularised.

Based on what Clinton had promised, this would have been a central part of her immigration policy; that is to offer a path to citizenship for those illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria. Now that the Republicans have regained control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, this may just be wishful thinking.

It is therefore natural for immigrants to be anxious about what the future holds for them in relation to their immigration status, especially considering the many threats Trump made to deport illegal immigrants. Many are fearful that immigration amnesty will be taken off the table.

Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Sir Hilary Beckles was quoted by the regional media as saying that the Caribbean should be prepared for returning nationals and other migrants, adding that Trump’s philosophies and policies could lead to a demographic change in the Caribbean overtime.

He was also quoted by regional media as saying that Trump’s victory will have an effect on the global recession, predicting it will “have an adverse impact on the global economy”. For Sir Hilary, World trade has always been driven by certain kinds of multi-lateral and bi-lateral ideologies and philosophies. He believes that the assertion of these value systems in the current space will have an adverse impact on global trade; and this is something the region should be prepared for.

That said, it is too soon to predict what a Trump presidency would mean for the other key areas of regional and international cooperation; such as trade, AID, security, climate change etc. Many countries in the region, including Guyana, have had good relations with the US for many years and regional leaders are optimistic that this would continue under the Trump Administration.

Certainly, regional heads will be looking carefully in the coming months to see how the new Administration proceeds in dealing with the many complex issues affecting the world, more so the Caricom region itself. The hope is that the new administration would place a renewed focus on creating and building opportunities for partnership and cooperation between the region and the US since maintaining economic growth and development for the benefit of the peoples of the Hemisphere is very crucial.

Staff of the Guyana Tourism Authority greeted incoming passengers with Guyana flags and a taste of Guyanese at the Eugene F Correia International Airport, Ogle East Coast Demerara, as part of Tourism Awareness Month activities on Friday (Dexter Ceres photo)

Is history repeating itself?

Dear Editor, The Government, in the height of a crime wave, is speaking about too many legal guns being around. It seems that someone misled the President into saying that some legal gun owners rent their weapons to criminals. The way it was put, one gets the impression that the President believes that this is a widespread practice.

However, no proof, no examples were offered to substantiate that claim. If the President had made that statement in Parliament, he might have been asked by the Speaker to leave the chambers due to lack of evidence.

Persons have already pointed out that every legal weapon has to have had a forensic test by the Police.

They keep those records and check them whenever a

crime is committed to see if they can find a match from their records.

This is widely known. We have had no reports of this phenomenon.

Therefore, we may ask why is such a statement being made when there is no case, or at best very, very few?

Is this a preparation by the regime to rescind the licences of some persons?

When the PPP/C came to office is 1992, it established a system of priority for granting licences. Three categories were identified.

Business persons, the reason for this is clear, this group of persons are the main targets for bandits; farmers, to protect their crops and livestock; and Amerindians, this is important for them in their pursuit of hunting.

Historically, the PNC, due to their anti-people

policies, had denied these groups permission to own their own weapons.

Indeed, one of the early moves of the PNC regime, when it took power in 1964, was to take away the shotguns from farmers that an earlier PPP Government had granted.

This was seen as racial discrimination, since Indian-Guyanese farmers were the victims of that policy.

Now too, at a time when the crime rate is high, this announcement appears to be ominous.

The first target would be the suspected PPP/C supporters. Disarming these people would make them even more vulnerable to the criminals. With the knowledge of an unarmed business sector and unarmed farmers, criminals will become emboldened.

It is also of interest to note that whenever bandits are captured or killed during robberies, the regime makes statements of condemnation. Recall, too, the riots in the Georgetown Prisons when the Government sent two senior ministers to speak with the prisoners.

Contrast that with the attitude towards the victims of crimes. No sympathy has been expressed or no visits have been made by members of the regime.

Maybe the criminals have sensed this; that is why when the two bandits were captured in Eccles earlier this week, they were cursing the crowd.

Is history repeating itself?

Sincerely, Donald Ramotar Former President of Guyana

An exercise of colossal time-wasting and massive public deception Dear Editor, Once again the Georgetown Municipality has embarked on an exercise of colossal time-wasting and massive public deception. And by this I refer to the preparation of its estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2017. Up until now the 2016 budget has not been presented, nor made public. What has been made public is a fancy budget speech, but no facts and

figures.

But this seems to be in keeping with a trend developing at the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, and that is making all of its documents which should be public record, into highly classified documents. The notorious parking meter contract is still a top secret document and so is the 2016 budget.

In fact, all of their accounting records are top secret as

they have not been audited and qualified for over a decade.

But the time-wasting and deception has to do with the usual fancy plans and programmes, this time with the talk by City officials of a Green Economy, ensuring efficient and effective solid waste management, enhancing the Engineer’s Department to deal with the increasing high-rise buildings, designing cycling

lanes, etc. All pipe dreams and poppycock!

When all is said and done all that will happen is that the Council will continue to be insolvent and penniless in 2017 as they usually are.

This is of course, if no forensic audit is held; an exercise that will allow for the capturing and prosecuting of all responsible at the top.

Sincerely, Debra Gibson

guyanatimesgy.com

tuesday, november 8, 2016

5

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

Careless printing Why the City Council of wrong numbers is always broke

Dear Editor, The Ministry of Social Protection cannot be exonerated from blame for the careless printing of wrong numbers on the November payment vouchers which was responsible for several old age pensioners in Region 2 not receiving their money for this month.

With much surprise the same problem occurs on the vouchers for the month of December which inevitably means that they would not be able to get payment for that month as well.

Questions have been raised as to how they would be able to survive without pension money for two consecutive months through no fault of their own while re-

ferring to the saying “Who feels it knows it” in a can’t do better situation with the festive Christmas season being just around the corner.

The mistake was detected at the Suddie Post Office last Friday (2016-11-04) where it was observed that the identical seven digit numbers usually printed at two places on the vouchers were not the same.

As can be seen with the book presented by me on authorisation from my wife to collect her November money the left side of the voucher under O.A.P bears the November 07173-16 with the other on the rightside with a larger print out having 071734-16. It remains the same way for the month

of December.

On the basis of the numbers not corresponding payment to me was refused with the advice given from a postal attendant to bring the anomaly to the Ministry’s Office at Ann Regina for corrective measures to be taken.

Many other pensioners affected likewise were quick to castigate the Ministry for putting them in this predicament when better needs to be done to avoid a recurrence of such mistakes ever so much detrimental to them.

The only consolation coming from the Anna Regina office was that to err is human with no sympathy being shown to those so affected for the difficult times ahead of them in the present situation.

No time frame could have been provided as to how early corrective measures would be taken, but it is expected that the subject Minister will ensure that expeditious action is taken for this to be done within the shortest possible time.

Pensioners do not deserve to suffer an unnecessary discomfort or inconvenience in their daily activities with the state having an obligation to protect their wellbeing at all times.

Yours Faithfully, Baliram Persaud

Dear Editor, Today I witnessed the main reason why the Georgetown City Council is always broke and bankrupt.

Whilst standing outside a popular hotel after having a meeting with a foreign delegation on Main Street, I observed the arrival of two gangs of workers from the Mayor and City Council, comprising weeders and sanitation workers. Soon after, I overheard the men retorting in loud and animated tones that the work they had been brought to do was already done by a popular contractor.

The major distress by the Council’s workers that were left to stand there without work and idle all day, was that this contractor was given all the work that they were employed to do and which they were doing for all the years, and more egregiously, he was being paid hundreds of millions of dollars, whilst they were receiving their paltry salaries weeks late each month, due to the bankrupt state of the Council.

Surely, the Council must know that they can’t ‘have their cake and eat it too’. If they are going to continue to

pay their special contractor hundreds of millions of dollars to clean and maintain the city, then they should terminate the services of their own sanitation workers.

Of course, the only logical reason for pursuing such a course of action would be to fill the pockets of the contractor and, as a consequence, line the pockets of the ‘Big Ones’ at City Hall through kickbacks from this highly favoured contractor.

This would be a heartless and brutish act, but it is not beyond the capacity of the greedy and merciless admin-

istrators at the Council.

Of course, what needs to be done is to get rid of this contractor who is bleeding the Council dry now that the clean-up for the Jubilee is over, and let the Council’s workers do the maintenance, seeing that the municipality is obligated to pay their workers anyway, and meeting their wages would no longer be an issue, seeing that they would save hundreds of millions of dollars with the dismissal of the said contractor.

Sincerely, Mark Roopan

NEWS

11

SATURday, november 12, 2016 | guyanatimesgy.com

Pensioners to receive allowances through electronic system

P

ensioners will now be able to access their allowances with ease through the Social Protection Ministry’s automated system.

Assistant Chief Probation and Social Services Officer, Ricardo Banwarie told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that through the automated system, checks and balances will be carried out to ensure the pensioners are receiving their pensions faster.

Banwarie explained that it is a system where pensioners will sign on the coupon booklet and access their cash. The pensioners’ information will be entered into the data base for the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) to keep record of pensioners in the system.

“Added to that, we will be

Assistant Chief Probation and Social Services Officer, Ricardo Banwarie

having the agents, for persons who are shut-ins, persons who are not capable of going to the Post Office to uplift their pensions.

We will be able to have the names of the persons who

are going to be authorised to uplift the pension on behalf of the pensioner in our data base,” Banwarie explained.

This new system will not take away the coupon booklet system, but will run parallel with it. Banwarie explained that, the system will be more transparent. He added that if a pensioner has to relocated, he or she must inform the Post Office. “They would not be able to uplift the coupon booklet where they relocate to if they don’t inform us, so it is important that when they move, they let us know so we can document it.”

The Assistant Chief Probation and Social Services Officer noted that the schedule for the new system will be in the print media this weekend. Pensioners can also check with the distribution centres in their re-

Police issues wanted bulletin for fraudster

T

he Guyana Police Force has issued a wanted bulletin for a 33-yearold man, who is alleged to have been engaged in a fraud incident.

According to a release from the Police force on Friday, “Vishaul Moonilal” is wanted by the Police for fraud which occurred in July 2016 at Scotia Bank, Carmichael, Georgetown.”

Moonilall’s last known addresses were given as Lot 44

Wanted: Vishaul Moonilal

Bel Air Park, Georgetown, and Lot 44 Houston, Greater Georgetown.

The Police is asking anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Vishaul Moonilal to contact the police on telephone numbers 225-6411, 227-2128, 2261389, 226-7065, 226-1389, 226-7476, 227-2610, 2277065, 911 or the nearest police station. It is advised that all information will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Cousins nabbed with 44Kg ganja

T

wo cousins were on Friday nabbed at their Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown apartment with close to 44kg of compressed marijuana.

Reports are that Police ranks acting on information went to the duo’s 2nd Street, Turkeyen apartment and conducted a search, during which 26 taped parcels were unearthed in a bag that

was hidden in a plastic barrel in one of the rooms.

The illegal substance was weighed and amounted to 44kg. The men, ages 20 and 36, were taken intoPolice custody and are expected to be charged on Monday.

Guyana Times understands that the two men have been under Police radar for quite some time.

ExxonMobil moves rig...

All the wells are located on the giant 6.6 million acre Stabroek block, which runs almost the entire length of Guyana's offshore zone.

Only recently ExxonMobil’s Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to exploration and said this year’s deep-water oil discovery off Guyana would be “easily” viable for development at today’s prices.

“We’re going to continue… the vibrant exploration programmes that are identifying new large resource opportunities,” Tillerson said.

“Yes [Guyana] is a deepwater development, but I can tell you that development is very viable at today’s prices, easily. We already know so much in terms of how to develop these kinds of resources and we’re taking advan-

tage of market conditions,” Tillerson said, referring to ExxonMobil and its partners in Guyana, US upstream company Hess and China’s state-controlled CNOOC. The resource estimate for the find offshore Guyana follows the much-watched drilling of the Liza-2 well, the second exploration well in the Stabroek block, which ExxonMobil operates with a 45 per cent stake.

The well found more than 190 feet (58 metres) of oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs after drilling to 5475 metres in 1692 metres of water.

In announcing recently that ExxonMobil’s exploratory well offshore Guyana named SkipJack had turned up dry, the company said it will continue with plans to develop the Liza well with its declared capacity of ap-

from page 3

proximately one billion barrels and also look for other possible targets for drilling.

The SkipJack was spud on July 17, 2016, but turned up dry.

ExxonMobil’s Liza 3 spud on September 4 and, like its predecessor Liza 2, the well will focus on testing the flank of the Liza structure to determine the aerial extent of the reservoir.

Liza 2 hit more than 190 feet of net pay and caused ExxonMobil, along with partners Hess and CNOOC subsidiary Nexen, to boost their estimate of the recoverable oil in place at Liza between 800 million to 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

In July, ExxonMobil submitted a development plan for Liza to Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency to begin the environmental review process.

gion for more information.

Banwarie pointed out that there are offices in all 10 administrative regions and there are officers to serve them, especially in the hinterland communities.

“Those areas are serviced by probation social officers

and we can access information through the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) because officers will be liaising with the Toshaos and the councillors and other volunteers in these communities to get the message out,” Banwarie explained.

The Ministry will distribute the updated pension booklet on Monday.

Banwarie pointed out that pensioners must uplift their nine-digit Identification cards or they would not be allowed to uplift their pensions.

14

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, NOVEMber 12, 2016

Regional

3 dead as plane crashes Trinidad woman arrested into house in Jamaica in drug bust in St Kitts T A

he heart wrenching cries of grief echoed across several communities in Jamaica on Friday morning even as investigators returned to the scene of Thursday’s deadly plane crash which claimed the lives of a flight instructor and his two teenage students.

Romone Forbes, 18; Dansheer Gilmoore, 19; and Jonathan Worton, 31, perished in the tragedy which sent shockwaves through the nation.

According to Police reports, what started out as a regular flying lesson for Forbes and Gilmoore, with instructor Worton, went horribly wrong when the Cessna 172 plane owned by the Caribbean Aviation Training Centre developed mechanical problems soon after takeoff.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade said it received a distress call around 13:34h, shortly before the small plane crashed into a house in the Greenwich Town area off Marcus Garvey Drive, in the South-eastern parish of

joint law enforcement operation in St Kitts netted one kilo of cocaine on Tuesday.

The person arrested for the bust is reportedly a female native of Trinidad, who recently arrived in the Federation for a few days.

The bust reportedly took

place at a guesthouse in Basseterre where the woman was staying.

Police confirmed that the drugs were found when a search warrant was executed on the room of the establishment at which the woman stayed.

Several taped packages

of cocaine were hidden in a secret compartment in the suitcase the woman arrived with.

The woman was taken into custody on Tuesday; however, no charges had been laid up to press time on Thursday. (Caribbean News Now)

Haiti faces a 'major food crisis', its interim President says No one was in the house when the plane crashed into it and burst into flames

St Andrew.

Police reported that all three men sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital where Worton and Gilmore were pronounced dead on arrival. Forbes succumbed to his injuries around 22:00h.

Families who ventured to the scene were in disbelief after seeing the mangled plane.

Opposition Leader Portia

Simpson-Miller, who is MP for St Andrew South, was also on the scene. Fire official Emilio Ebanks told the Jamaica Gleaner there were no reports of residents being injured.

A team of investigators from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, led by an investigator-in-charge to be appointed by Minister of Transport Lester Henry, is probing the incident. (Excerpt from

Caribbean360)

Archbishop to host special mass for 133 inmates in T&T T

Tens of thousands of people are living in shelters after the hurricane destroyed their homes

A

rchbishop Joseph Harris will be hosting a special Mass for incarcerated persons at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception today.

Over 130 inmates at the nation's prisons have been invited to the mass as part of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that Pope Francis

has called from December 9 to November 20.

The service follows last Sunday's Mass at the Vatican for one thousand prisoners from around the world. It is the first time that the Prison Service would be allowing so many inmates to leave the Prisons at the same time to attend

an event. There will be inmates at the cathedral tomorrow from every prison in the country.

Bishop Claude Berkley, the Bishop of T&T and other members of the clergy would be in attendance. The Commissioner of Prisons, Sterling Stewart, is expected to deliver an address.

(Trinidad Guardian)

Nafta can be discussed, but not renegotiated, says Mexico

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will meet Donald Trump, possibly before his inauguration in January

M

exico is willing to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with US Presidentelect Donald Trump, the Government says.

Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Mexico would try to explain the "strategic importance" of the deal for the region

to Trump, who has heavily criticised it.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said he was open to talks.

Nafta came into effect between the three countries in 1994. Trump has called it the worst trade deal the US has ever signed.

Mexico and Canada fear losing access to the US mar-

ket, on which they heavily depend.

The Mexican peso hit a record low following Donald Trump's unexpected election victory and fell again on Thursday after recovering slightly. "We're ready to talk so we can explain the strategic importance of Nafta for the region," Guajardo said.

"Here we're not talking about... renegotiating it, we're simply talking about dialogue," he added.

Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu said Mexico was willing to aim to "modernise" Nafta with a Trump government and Canada, but also ruled out renegotiation. Trudeau said it was important to be open to discussion on trade deals. "If the Americans want to talk about Nafta, I'm more than happy to talk about it," he said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

he international community is falling short in its commitment to Haiti's recovery, the country's interim President Jocelerme Privert says.

Jocelerme Privert told the BBC that devastating losses from last month's Hurricane Matthew were equal to the country's entire national budget.

Privert said Haiti was facing a "major food crisis" and worsening levels of malnutrition. He urged governments around the world to do more to help.

Hurricane Matthew ripped through Haiti on

October 4.

The Category 4 storm, the strongest to hit the Caribbean in a decade, devastated large parts of the country and affected 2.1 million people.

The Haitian government estimates 1.5 million people are in need of immediate assistance, including more than 140,000 people who are living in temporary shelters.

Speaking from his home in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, Privert said that he "didn't want to see Haitian people die because of the unavailability of international assis-

tance".

The President warned that without immediate financial support to replant crops destroyed

by Hurricane Matthew, Haiti's situation could worsen further. "If we don't manage to re-launch agriculture then in three to four months we'll find ourselves with a major food crisis," he told the BBC. "Our projection is that we need between US$25 million (£20 million) and US$30 million to resolve the farming issue. Right now we have US$2.5 million." (Excerpt from BBC News)

Venezuelan Govt, Opposition renew dialogue amid low expectations

V

e n e z u e l a ' s Opposition and the Government of President Nicolás Maduro were set to meet on Friday as part of a Vatican-backed dialogue process meant to ease a political standoff taking place amid a spiraling economic crisis.

Neither side appeared optimistic, with the Opposition insisting on a recall referendum against Maduro and the Government showing little indication of agreeing to that.

The Government released a small group of jailed Opposition activ-

ists following the start of talks last week, and the Opposition postponed a political trial in Congress against Maduro and canceled a march to the presidential palace.

But Jesus Torrealba, Executive Secretary of the Opposition's Democratic Unity coalition, on Friday said Maduro's adversaries were ready to resume confrontation.

"The truce is over, what's coming is struggle," said Torrealba. "There is no contradiction between struggle and dialogue."

The meeting is scheduled for late afternoon. The

first meeting between the two sides, held on Sunday October 30, stretched well into dawn hours.

The political crisis intensified in recent weeks after elections authorities scuttled an opposition effort to request a recall against Maduro following accusations of fraud in a preliminary signature drive.

The opposition accuses the 53-year-old president of being responsible for the country's crisis, which includes triple-digit inflation, a recession and shortages of food and medicine.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

saturday, November 12, 2016

guyanatimesgy.com

15

Around the world

Mosul battle: IS hangs Facebook bug 'kills' of 40 civilians from users in 'terrible error' bodies poles in Iraqi city, UN says

S

A

n unusual bug on Facebook briefly labelled many people as dead. The error on Friday caused the social network to show a memorial banner on user profiles for people who were still alive.

Users posted status updates to reassure friends and family they were not dead, despite Facebook's message. "This was a terrible error that we have now fixed," a Facebook spokesperson said. "We are very sorry that this happened."

The message, intended for "memorialised profiles", erroneously appeared on the profile pages of a large

number of users - including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. "We hope people who love Mark will find comfort in the things other share to remember and celebrate his life," the banner on his page read.

Both technology reporters and Facebook users, however, saw a humorous side to the story.

"Why Is Facebook Saying I'm Dead?" asked the New York Times' Katie Rogers.

"At first, I was indignant.

I was definitely not dead.

(Was I? It had been a long week.)"

"Facebook is capping one of the longest weeks in American history by tell-

ing everyone that they are dead," quipped The Verge, a technology website, in reference to the presidential election.

The memorial feature was introduced by Facebook in 2015 after a number of high-profile cases where family wanted to access the social accounts of deceased loved ones.

User can opt to have their account turn into a memorial page upon their death, where Facebook contacts can leave message and share memories. An alternative option is to have your account deleted after your death. (Excerpt from BBC News)

o-called Islamic State (IS) shot dead 40 civilians on Tuesday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul after accusing them of treason, the United Nations says.

Their bodies were then hung from electricity poles in several districts, the office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner said, citing sources.

A man was also reportedly shot dead in public in central Mosul for ignoring an IS ban on using mobile phones.

Iraqi security forces are continuing their push to take Mosul back from IS. The killings of the civilians appeared to have been carried out on the orders of self-appointed "courts", according to the UN report.

The 40 civilians were accused of "treason and collaboration" and dressed in orange clothes marked in red with the words "traitors and agents of the ISF" (Iraqi Security Forces). The UN says 20 civilians were also shot dead on Wednesday

evening at the Ghabat military base in northern Mosul, supposedly for leaking information.

The UN also expressed concern at IS's deployment of teenagers and young boys.

Children are apparently seen in an IS video issued on Wednesday shooting dead four people for spying.

IS also announced on 6 November that it had beheaded seven militants for deserting the battlefield in the Kokjali district of eastern Mosul, the UN says.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Japan, India sign agreement on civil nuclear power

Chinese official Meng Hongwei to head Interpol J

Abe and Modi are seeking to advance business and security cooperation

apan has signed a controversial deal to sell civil nuclear power equipment and technology to India, despite resistance from campaigners, as the two countries seek to boost business and security ties.

The pact, signed on Friday in Tokyo by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi , marked the first time Japan agreed to such a deal with a country that is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The treaty bans nations

Chinese Vice Public Security Minister Meng Hongwei was elected at Interpol's General Assembly meeting

A

senior Chinese official has been elected head of global police cooperation agency Interpol.

Vice Minister of Public Security MengHongwei is the first Chinese citizen to hold the four-year post. His appointment begins immediately.

Amnesty International fears the move could help China pursue political dissidents who have fled the country.

But Meng said he was ready to do "everything he could towards the cause of

policing in the world".

His role will see him become president of Interpol's Executive Committee, which provides guidance and direction to the organisation.

"This [appointment] is extraordinarily worrying given China's long-standing practice of trying to use Interpol to arrest dissidents and refugees abroad," said Nicholas Bequelin of Amnesty International.

"I think having this particular person in charge seems to conflict with the organisation's mandate to

work in the spirit of the universal declaration of human rights."

However, Interpol does not have the power to send officers into countries to arrest individuals, nor issue arrest warrants. It may issue a red notice, an international alert for a wanted person.

"Interpol does not have strong operational power, but it does have considerable influence as the world's largest police organisation," Bequelin told the BBC. (Excerpt from BBC News)

other than the five permanent members of the UN Security Council from developing and possessing nuclear weapons.

Critics in Japan, the victim of US atomic bombings in the final days of World War II, have previously raised concerns about a risk of the country's technology being diverted to India's nuclear weapons programme.

Yet, the deal is limited to peaceful commercial use, and Tokyo can terminate it if India conducts a nuclear test.

The pact allows India to

reprocess fuel and enrich uranium, though highly enriched uranium that can be used to make nuclear weapons is not permitted without written agreement by Japan.

Abe and Modi insisted the agreement will contribute to peaceful use of clean energy.Abe's pro-business government seeks to export nuclear power plants to counter shrinking sales at home since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and has discussed similar deals with Vietnam and Turkey. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

At least 4 killed in Taliban raid on German consulate in Afghanistan

A

Taliban suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a wall around the German consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing at least four civilians and wounding scores of other people, officials said.

A Nato spokesman said the explosion late on Thursday had caused massive damage to the building, where about 30 people worked. Heavily armed attackers followed up the blast, battling with Afghan

and German security forces late into the night.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for Nato airstrikes against a village near the northern city of Kunduz last week in which more than 30 people were killed.

The Islamist movement’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said by telephone that heavily armed fighters, including suicide bombers, had been sent “with a mission to destroy the German consulate general and kill

whoever they found there�.

Noor Mohammad Faiz, the head doctor in Mazari-Sharif provincial hospital, said four dead bodies and 120 wounded had been brought in and that the numbers might rise.

The attack highlighted the security problems spreading across Afghanistan in recent months, with heavy fighting in areas from the volatile southern province of Helmand to Kunduz in the far North. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

guyanatimesgy.com

India v England, 1st Test, Rajkot, 3rd day

saturday, november 12, 2016

19

Guptill left out for Pakistan Tests; Raval, Todd Astle picked

Pujara, Vijay tons lead India's response to 537 O C heteshwar Pujara scored an emotional century in the debut Test for his home ground of Rajkot. M Vijay complemented him with a more temperate defensive display of 126 off 301 balls to take India closer to safety after they had conceded 537 in five sessions on a pitch expected to become difficult as the game progressed. The 209-run partnership between Vijay and Pujara made them the most prolific duo for India since the start of 2010.

The pitch didn't deteriorate as much as expected, but to look at scores of 537 and 319 for 4 and conclude that it was a featherbed that produced boring cricket will be a disservice to the batsmen and bowlers who showed a lot of discipline and persistence.

There was always something to work with, but whenever the bowlers got it right, Vijay and Pujara, who came together when Gautam Gambhir's feet got him into a messy tangle to the seventh ball of the day, worked hard to thwart them. In the first session Chris Woakes tested them with a five-over spell of six runs and three body blows for Pujara.

Pujara came out and attacked Moeen Ali - out twice to the offspinner in 53 balls before this Test, he used his feet to disrupt his length. India had added 41 in nine overs to their overnight 63 in this period as Pujara raced away to 25 off 29.

Once Woakes was done, England went to the man who makes things happen for them. This followup after that stranglehold

Cheteshwar Pujara raises his bat after completing his second consecutive ton

was crucial with half an hour to go to lunch. Stokes, though, began with a halfvolley second ball. Pujara's intent meant he was on to it to drive it to the cover point boundary. Then a straight ball was glanced away, and Pujara had found his flow again. From 118 for 1, India added 44 in this period of eight overs to own the session. In the space of 25 balls, Pujara hit six boundaries to double his score of 31.

Vijay at the other end had his own flow. For long periods of time you only noticed him when a possible two was kept to one because Pujara is not the quickest runner. Otherwise he would be leaving balls outside off, defending those at the stumps, and taking ones or twos only when they were too short or too straight.

Vijay was there for his partner, though. After Pujara had been hit for the third time, he got right

behind a ball in defence.

At the non-striker's end, Vijay's bat went in the air, and the glove knocked it in applause, reassuring his partner that he just needed to get through that period of play.

There was no spurt in the middle session in which 66 runs came. The drama in the middle session belonged to the Pujara family. Ansari's reintroduction brought the first bit of natural variation. Pujara was caught right in front, but given the bounce in the pitch - earlier a Rashid googly had failed to draw an lbw verdict because of that reason - and also with the reviews to be reset in 10 overs, he challenged the decision. Finally Arvind showed emotion, that of visible relief as his son, whose cricket has been his preoccupation for more than a decade, was allowed to go for the 14 runs needed to bring up his century.

(Cricinfo)

Brazil 3-0 Argentina: Neymar & Coutinho score as hosts win World Cup qualifier

N

eymar and Philippe Coutinho each scored as Brazil beat Argentina 3-0 in their 2018 World Cup qualifier.

Coutinho drove in a shot for the opener before Neymar, who might have conceded a penalty for handball earlier, slotted in to extend the hosts' lead.

The visitors and star player Lionel Messi struggled to make an impact and Paulinho added Brazil's third.

Argentina are now sixth in the 10-team South American qualifying group, with the top four automatically qualifying.

The fifth-placed country in the group will go into a play-off with the Oceania group winners.

Argentina have 16 points from 11 games, one point adrift of fourth-placed Ecuador but eight behind leaders Brazil, who have 24 points.

"When they hit us hard,

we struggled to recover," said Messi, who plays alongside Neymar at Barcelona.

"We are more than aware that we have to change a lot.

Of all the bad points, the good one is that we depend on ourselves but we can't be giving away any more points."

All teams have seven games remaining, with the next round of matches on Tuesday when Brazil visit Peru while Argentina host Colombia. (BBC)

pening batsman Martin Guptill has been left out of New Zealand's squad for the upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan. Uncapped Auckland batsman Jeet Raval and allrounder Colin de Grandhomme have been picked, while allrounder Todd Astle, who played his only Test in November 2012, has been recalled.

Raval, who was in the squad for New Zealand's Test tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa earlier this year, is set to take Guptill's place at the top of the order.

The 28-year-old left-handed batsman averaged 55.71 in last season's Plunket Shield and in three matches this season has scored 244 runs at an average of 40.66.

Guptill's form in Tests this year has been a worry for the side. In nine matches, the batsman scored 393 runs at an average of 24.56 with two fifties, struggling for runs in the home series against Australia and on the tours of South Africa and India.

Astle has taken 116 wickets in the last three Plunket Shield seasons, and 14 in this edition of the tournament. He has also contributed with the bat for Canterbury, scoring 267 runs, including a careerbest 195 against Northern Districts in the first round.

De Grandhomme, who has played an ODI and four

Martin Guptill’s Test form this year has been a cause of worry for New Zealand

T20Is for New Zealand, has been picked as an all-round option. He has scored 216 runs in three Plunket Shield matches so far, including one century, and has taken five wickets for Auckland as a seamer. The century, an unbeaten 144, came in tight two-wicket win against Otago, in a run chase of 373.

The first Test will be played in Christchurch from November 17, while the second Test starts from November 25. Astle

and de Grandhomme have been withdrawn from the New Zealand A squad for the tour match against the Pakistanis, with Kyle Jamieson and Luke Woodcock taking their place.

New Zealand squad Kane Williamson (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Jimmy Neesham, Jeet Raval, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (Cricinfo)

Bravo’s form cost him better contract – Dave Cameron

D

arren Bravo has been underperforming for the past two years and is why the West Indies number three batsman was offered a C-level central contract by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

A WICB ‘C’ is valued at US$100,000 while a ‘B’ contract is valued at US$115,000.

An ‘A’ contract values US$135,000, while an A-plus is set at US$150,000.

The offer to Bravo was revealed on Thursday by West Indies Cricket Board president Dave Cameron while speaking on the SportsMax Zone. He said only opening batsman Kraigg Braithwaite and Marlon Samuels were not offered similar contracts.

Braithwaite was offered an A contract while Samuels was offered a B contract, Cameron revealed. Bravo rejected the contract, but according to the WICB presi-

Darren Bravo was offered a C contract

dent, the batsman has not been performing up to par. “"It's explicit that if your averages are not above a certain level, it tells you what contracts you get. His averages over the past two years have been declining,” Cameron said. “So what do we do, reward poor performance or do you encourage him to get better?”

The 27-year-old righthander played nine Tests in 2015, scoring 644 runs at an

average of 35.77 while in 2016 he has averaged 31.88 from eight Tests, having scored 445 runs.

When asked, by host Alex Jordan, whether demoting the player by offering a C contract would not be demotivating, Cameron said, “If you continue to give him an A contract then what is the motivation to get better? If you keep giving him an A contract and he hasn’t done well, why is he motivated to do better?”(SportsMax)

20

monday, november 8, 2016

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

YELLOW PAGES saturDAY, november 12, 2016 | www.guyanatimesgy.com

Business Opportunity Complete package, key cutting machine plus 1000 blank keys:.Price: $450,000. Vers Realty: To Rent Office Space & Store Front, 17 Brickdam & Smyth Street, Stabroek, Georgetown Guyana.

Tel: 2231217 Or 600-5759

CAR RENTALS Need a car to rent? Then call 611-1018 for the best cars at great prices.

Progressive Auto Rental: Cars from $4000 and up. Tel: 219-3900, 643-5122

dentistry Dentures provided in 72 hours from as low as $4500. Contact Dr B Stuart, 209B Charlotte St, Lacytown. Tel: 225-5034

Driving School Shalom Enterprise Driving School 2 Croal Street, Stabroek. You can obtain an International Drivers Permit Covering 131 Countries. Tel: 2273869, 644-7052, 659-3381

EDUCATION REGISTER - learn to play drums, guitar, keyboard and train your voice NOW OR in the Summer. Call 225-1151/ 6578404 Learn to Play Music at Foundation7 : Call NOW: 225-1151/6578404

FOR SALE Powerline Battery Water/wholesale.

1 litre and 0.5 litre sizes. Tel: 6803863 Clean Garden Earth. Also excavating, grading and leveling done. Call 627-9977 Road to Belwasa and A Dip at the Sangam, Indentureship Novels at Austin’s Book Store and Lachmansingh Drug Store. Tel: 2265053.

py for all mental and behavioral health problems. Call (592)-6901824 Mondays-Saturdays 9am3pm. Email; healthworldhc@ gmail.com

lAND FOR SALE Land for Sale. 1.5 Acres WBD. Close to Plantation Walk, VreedEn-Hoop. Call: 658-0115 Land at La Grange Public Road, Size 4 Acre, could be used for commercial or housing scheme. Tel: 6251514 Formerly Globe Cinema, Corner lot, Church and Waterloo Street Size 125 ft x 133 ft Tel: 610-2234 Transported Land for Sale at Logwood Enmore, ECD. Contact Tel: (592)-622-5824 or (592)-6715395.

property for sale House and land available for sale.

Contact Pacific Development Inc. Tel:- 223-6035/227-8274 House Lot, Diamond New Scheme between 2nd & 3rd Ave. Contact: 638-1529 Eccles: $27M Neg. Enterprise Sec C: $20M Neg. Mon Repos: $30M Neg. South Ruimveldt Park: $20M Neg. Broad Street: $80M Neg. Charlotte Street between Camp & Alexander: $55M Neg. Providence (land): $6.5M Neg. Parfaite Harmonie (land): $4.5M Neg. Contact: 6911521 GOOD HOPE AND OGLE. CONTACT: 673-5546, 222-3066, 682-7257, 679-0987

flowers

House for sale leonora market housing scheme, west coast demerara. 2 Floor, 3 bedroom, 2 shower, 2 kitchen, yard, double garage, tel: Amar 225-3737, 651-7078

Available: Fresh long-stemmed roses, fresh dried and silk floral arrangements, gift items, bridal boutiques and wreaths. Nesha’s Flowerland. 78 Church Street (opposite St George’s Cathedral). Tel: 227-3553/225-3315

ONE CHURCH BUILDING NOT IN USE AND ONE TWO STOREY BUILDING AT THE BACK OF 180 CHARLOTTE STREET BOURDA. (L 120 X 30 ) NEGOTIABLE, VACANT POSSESSION. TEL 624-7341 / 2265183/2276817

immigration

services

Immigration & Visa Services We handle all Canadian, USA and UK immigration and visa matters. Self sponsorships, holiday/visitor’s visas, work permits, students visas, family, class, immigration forms, embassy enquiries, appeals for refused cases, US green card lottery, business class waivers, pardons, etc. Get your visa approved. High success rate. Balwant Persaud & Associates.

Certified Immigration Consultants, 68 Sixth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown (Between Cummings & Lights Sts) Tel: 225-1540, 622-8308, 655-3105. Email: balwantpersaud@ yahoo.ca

House plans & estimates, weeding of grass and spraying done within 48hrs. Call: 216-0671; 622-0267; 692-8464

IMMIGRATION SERVICES PROFESSIONALLY PREPARED BY IMMIGRATION CONSULTANT. PASSPORT AND VISA APPLICATIONS (PERMANENT/VISITOR) FOR USA, CANADA, UK, CHINA, INDIA, ETC. SABITA’S IMMIGRATION SERVICES. TEL: 225-6496/662-6045

KEY CUTTing Professional Key Shop, 125 Carmichael Street, Georgetown.

Phone: 225-3923, mobile: 6213249. We cut any type of key, service and repair all types of locks. Get your extra key today.

optician Da Silva’s Optical. For Your Eyes Only, Look Better See Better. Phillip A Da Silva OD, Shannon L Da Silva OD, Natalie Da Silva OD. 248 South Road, Bourda. Phone: 227-3529, Linden: 444-6376, Corriverton: 3393536, Meten-Meer-Zorg: 275-0322, Grand Cayman Islands: (345) 9431515 for the perfect trendy touch.

health Healthworld Clinic – Providing professional psychological thera-

337-5103. For healing, deliverance, financial difficulties, marriage issues call now. Jesus Cares.

Ifa Temple – Are you having serious problems and urgently need spiritual help? Call 621-0552 now. Email: anew-life@live.com

SPIRITUAL HEALING: REMOVE BLOCKAGE , VOODOO, HEXCURSE, BLACK MAGIC, SPELL, BUSINESS, UPLIFTMENT, PREGNANCY, LOVE & MARRIAGE PROBLEMS, CLEARANCE ETC. Contact: 612-1975, 683-5228

taxi services GR Taxi, 24 hours. Phone: 225-7878, 219-5000 or 227-2100

VEHICLES FOR SALE FOR SALE 1 FLAT TRAY NISSAN PICK UP. VERY GOOD CONDITION. CALL: 662-3997 OR 610-4897 1 TOYOTA IPSUM (7-SEATER) IN EXCELLENT WORKING CONDITION WITH MUSIC (5800 W): CONTACT 653-1003 JUST ARRIVED: TOP QUALITY RECONDITIONED VEHICLES; TOYOTA NOAH; TOYOTA VOXY; TOYOTA IST (NEW SHAPE); SUZUKI SWIFT; DAIHATSU MOVE (660CC); MERCEDES BENZ C200 KOMPRESSOR; COROLLA AE100 WAGON; TOYOTA HIACE MINIBUS RZ; PITBULL-STYLE FREEZER VAN; LAND CRUISER (FULLY LOADED); MAZDA PROCEED 4WD EXTRA-CAB PICK-UP; TOYOTA HILUX 4WD EXTRA CAB PICKUPS - 3RZ, 5L, 3L SOLID DEFFERNTIAL; MITSUBISHI CANTER TRUCKS 4 TONS FREEZER; 3 TONS OPEN TRAY; 2 TONS 4WD; NISSAN ATLAS 2 TONS OPEN TRAY TRUCK. PRE-ORDER YOUR UNITS EARLY AND GET THE BEST PRICES. FULL AFTER SALES SERVICES AND FINANCING AVAILABLE. DEO MARAJ AUTO SALES, 2 CHIMNEY ROAD, CHATEAU MARGOT, ECD. 624-0762, 220-5177. A NAME AND SERVICE YOU CAN TRUST

Repairs and Spares, Air Conditioning, Car AC, Washers, Stoves. Call Nick: 683-1312, 627-3206

WANTED Wanted One Gasoline Mechanic to work on the ECD. Contact #: 623-0318 WANTED 1 COSMETOLOGIST. APPLY IN PERSON, SHARON’S BUILDING – CHARLOTTE AND KING STREETS. SALES GIRLS WITH EXPERIENCE PLEASE BRING WRITTEN APPLICATION AND CV TO TRISTAR ELECTRICAL, BRASSONIC Bldg. (MAIN ENTRANCE 42 WATER ST. G/Town. 231-7101

223-7230-1 (Ext: 35) NOW!

TO let 3-Bedroom apartment at 482 Herstelling, EBD. Contact: 265-3307 or Whatsapp: 1-917-502-4302 2 Bedroom Furnished Apartment, close to the University of Guyana, Teachers’ Training College and Texila American University. $55,000 (Utilities Included) Contact:- 6859127

spirituality Dutch spiritual healing in removing evil spirit, bad luck, evil sickness, spells, reuniting lovers and prosperity to business. Call: 612-6417, 687-5653 Surinamese spiritualist. Resolving all problems. Money, love, blockage etc.

Call 223-6834/600-7719.

Suriname’s Astrology, Palmist and Hindustani Spiritual Healer, solve all purpose problems, 100% confidential guaranteed. Phone: 602-8997 HEPHZIBAH MINISTRIES 24 hrs Prayer Line 322-5081, 322-5738, 3225788, 337-4510, 337-4259, 337-3070,

223-7230-1 (Ext: 35)

21

sports

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturday, november 12, 2016

Caribbean Motor Racing Championships….

Region’s super powers bringing the heat to Guyana

B.M. Soat Costume Match a success

1st Place Winners Ryan McKinnon (centre right) & Jagmohan Bassoo (center left) pose with other prize winners

Barbadians! (L-R) Team Manager Kurt Seabra, Shawn Eversley, and Tremaine Forde-Catwell

F

our countries, one track, 39 races, one country title, come Sunday South Dakota is expected to be war fare with each driver and rider seeking to earn points for their country as the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships comes to end in grand style.

Even before this leg, Guyana would have been dethroned as champions since Trinidad have 1151 points, followed by Barbados on 504, Jamaica 465 and then the home team on 358 points.

At a press conference on Thursday at the Guyana Motor racing and Sports Club, the Trinidadians lead

by Franklyn Boodram and in their brief utterances stated that they are coming here to have but Boodram in particular says he will be seeking to win the group four 2WD drive title but knows he will face a stiff challenge from Barbadian Mark Maloney.

Zachary Boodram, who was also scheduled to be a

the Caribbean and I believe that we are looking forward to being competitive.”

The other members of the team are: Bridget Singh, Luke Bhola, Yazid Ali, Che Carrington, Damien Nesbit, Haresh Nanan and Marc Gill at the Group Two level while Group Three has Paul Vieira and Ronald Wortman.

The Bajans are also coming to have fun and compete but will hoping that they Maloney can bring home some championship honors.

Their surprise packing will be teenager Tremain-Forde Catwell who will be driving a Dodson 1200 says that his age is just a number and that he can beat the group 3 drivers.

Group Three competitors Shawn Eversley is not worried about his chances, though he has singled out a few competitors to watch on race-day, saying “Guys like Paul Vieira are very fast.

Danny Persaud once the car is working is very fast too; so it’s just to work together and see if we can get some

as well as Trinidadian Franklyn Boodram and Jamaican Peter Rae. The other members of the team are the Thompson brothers Kurt and Mark, who will be in Groups 3 & 4 and 2 & 3 respectively, as well as Steve King (3 & 4) and Kenrick Husbands (2 & 3).

The Jamaicans who would arrived in the country last night says that they will be rearing to dominate the track.

They explained, in their statement that “we will be tearing up South Dakota over the weekend both in the Gp4 4Wd and go 4 2Wd classes.”

“Without a doubt Jamaica will be taking home the 4Wd championship whereas I am fighting to move from 3rd place in the 2Wd class with some strong competition ahead!

Norman will be exciting the fans on two wheels,” it continued.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank Fly Jamaica for moving

T

he Annual B.M. Soat Costume Steel Challenge shooting competition was once again safety completed at the Guyana Defence Force range in Timehri last Saturday.

The organisation of the match was facilitated by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association affiliate, the Guyana Sport Shooting Federation (G.S.S.F.) The federation seeks to promote the safe use of firearms in sport for its members and commits to continue hosting such competitions following international sport shooting regulations while upholding all regulations for firearm use in Guyana.

There are also several notable contributions are made to the sporting body from the reputable vehicle importer and auto sale headquartered on Croal Street Georgetown. The car giant has not only been committed to sponsoring matches but has also acknowledged the GSSF's ability to provide an avenue for the sharing of firearm related knowledge.

The annual costume match seeks to give local shooters a chance to experience the sport from a fun based outlook while at the same time being competitive and upholding stringent safety rules. There is something about dressing up in a costume and undertaking any

serious task which results in laughter.

The recent match was no different, shooting three stages simultaneously setup on the range with the abovementioned steel plates; competitors enjoyed the afternoon in cloudy skies over the Timehri range, breaking the silence repeatedly with the sound of gunfire and metal hitting metal to make the musical pings on the various steel plates. The SCSA stages shot last Saturday were: Accelerator, Speed Option and Speed Option.

Shooters stepped up to the shooting boxes and brought fierce competition in the two S.C.S.A. divisions: Limited and Wildcat. ‘Super Girl’ Vidushi Persaud- Mckinnon traded places with ‘Arrow’ Mohammed Qualander who ultimately finished second, chasing ‘Farmer’ Ryan Mckinnon who established a daunting lead from the get go in the Limited Division.

The folks in Wildcat Division would not be left undone by the action in the high powered Limited Division… they also blew some serious smoke, with ‘Cricketer’ Jagmohan Bassoo smashing some serious boundaries to beat into second place ‘Racer’ Rajiv Latchana who crashed out of the race for first place. He was followed

by Contractor ‘Roberto’ who finished third.

Limited Division Overall Results 1st Ryan McKinnon – 66.19 2nd Mohamed Qualander – 74.58 3rd Vidushi PersaudMcKinnon – 97.66 WildCat Division Overall Results.

1st Jagmohan Bassoo – 134.82 2nd Rajiv Latchana – 160.58 3rd Roberto Hochand – 281.46 The Guyana Sport Shooting Federation wishes to thank the Chief of Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Lewis, GDF Colonel Doodnauth, GPF Commissioner Persaud, GPF Asst. Commissioner Ramnarine, GPF Commander Hicken, GPF OC TSU Superintendent Dehnert, GPF Corporal Dunn and the ranks of the GPF Armoury and TSU. The Federation also expressed sincere thanks to Bashair Mohamed, Vimala Priya Mohamed and Rameez Mohamed of B.M. Soat for their usual kind support of this Annual Costume Steel Challenge Match.

The GSSF, an affiliate of the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA), will continue to host this actionpacked shooting sport to local shooters by organizing such matches on a regular basis.

4 teams record wins in WDCA Independence T20 The Trinidadians! Franklyn Boodram, Frankie Boodram, Timothy Joseph

part of this weekend’s activity had to pull out after suffering a wrist injury, though that will see the return of one of the sport’s older heads in Frankie Boodram stepping in to fill the gap.

“I’ve won Champion Driver here many times, I’ve been racing here since the 70’s so that track is like my backyard and I know it very well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Timothy Joseph who represents the riders contended that “the bikers in Trinidad really admire the guys here in Guyana. I believe that they have the standard for

points.”

“As soon as we get the containers, we are going to get out there and feel the track, look to get a good qualifying position and look to finish all the races,” he continued.

Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the remainder of the team, Kurt Seabra contended that Team Barbados are a well put together unit out to cause some amount of trouble come race day.

He predicted tough battles in the various classes including the Group Four twowheel drive (2WD) where Mark Maloney will take on the best of the Guyanese

us across the Caribbean seas safely and in style, Seaboard Marine for their endless support of the CMRC and the safe passage of our race equipment.”

“Finally a BIG thank you to the GMRSC for their invitation and efforts in having our race equipment delivered to South Dakota on time.”

The team consists of group four two-wheel drive (2WD) contender Peter ‘Zoom Zoom’ Rae, fourwheel drive competitor Doug ‘Hollywood’ Gore and super-stock rider Norman Chung

F

our teams secured wins on the second weekend of the West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA) Independence Cup T20 Competition. Among the winners were Mc Gill Super Star, Zeeburg, Independence Sports Club and Belle West.

At Joe Vieira, Sarfraz Esau spearheaded Independence victory over Players Sports club by eight wickets with a commanding unbeaten knock of 96. Esau blasted 10 sixes and six four as his team raced to 171-2 in pursuit of 169 to win the match. It took the winners just 16.1 overs to complete the task. Ashkaya Persaud supported with 53 which included five sixes and two fours.

Earlier, Players were dismissed for 168 in 19.1 overs,

with Yogendra Ramanan top scoring with 38 while Reaz Esau and J. Paton collected three wickets apiece.

The win was Independence team’s second in as many matches.

Mc Gill Super Star registered another win in the competition when they defeated Sawpit Sports Club by 26 runs at Canal Number 2.

The game was reduced to 16 overs due to wet outfield. Mc Gill won the toss and elected to bat first as they posted 126-8 in 16 overs. Sudesh Persaud 35, Travis Persaud 31 and Shafiek Deen 21 were the main contributors with the bat. Imran Khan 4-36 in four overs Ganesh Puran 2-14 in three overs were Sawpit’s best bowlers.

In response Sawpit managed 100 all out in 13.5 overs, with Avinash

Rameshwar 33 and Zaheer Khan 39, scoring in their thirties. Sudesh Persaud 5-11 from four overs led with the ball for Mc Gill.

At Meten Meer Zorg, Belle West won by 65 runs over MMZ B. Belle West took first strike and reached 138-9 in 20 overs before restricting MMZ B to 73 all out in 13.3 overs. Safraz Shakur claimed five wickets for Belle West.

Meanwhile, Zeeburg defeated All youths in their second match of the tournament.

Scores-(Zeeburg 170-9 off 20 overs A. Rai 43, B. Shivpersaud 35, Mark Jeffers 26. All Youths in reply all out 126. Bowling for Zeeburg, Richie Looknauth picked up 4-17 and Yutesh Dhanpaul 2-19.

saturday, november 12, 2016

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Palm Court throws support behind GMR&SC trio

From left: Ravin Prashad, Danny Persaud, Sasha Lewis, Peter Morgan and Steven Vieira at the presentation at Palm Court on Friday

GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, News Hotliine: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230,223-7231,231-0544, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 SALES AND MARKETING - lezas@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.